My ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This was a good read. I got a little worried after I requested it purely based on the author’s name and then read the description that it was her first book and an updated Harlequin novel, but I must say it wasn’t what I expected a Harlequin novel to be… and I can’t really say for sure what I thought that was exactly.

Body Check was a fast-paced, sweet and spicy read that was a lot of fun. Hayden only wants a one-night stand when she meets Brody, but Brody is determined to turn their fling into something more. Little do they know that they share a connection through hockey and when they are thrown together again, it’s hard to deny the spark between them. These two are adorable together and their push and pull relationship is full of flirty banter and a sizzling chemistry that lights up the pages. Body Check was full of heat and heart and was the perfect read for a rainy day.

Body check is not like Elle Kennedy other hockey romances. Which I absolutely love by the way! This a team owner daughter trying to find sun in her break while visiting her dad and Brody the hockey player ends wanting more when they hook up. Her dad is a hot mess divorcing his younger wife, drinking heavily and causing scandal within his team. This a good read but it didn’t hold up for me to Elle’s other sports romances.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Body Check
By: Elle Kennedy
Publisher: Harlequin
Pub Date: 7/2/24

This is a 2009 reprint.
But don’t let that stop you from reading this one!
When Hayden’s dads life begins falling apart with an expensive divorce and then rumors he bet on his own hockey team, the Chicago Warriors to lose, she packs up her life as a professor in California and goes back to Chicago to help him.
She wants to use this time to take a break and really think about her current relationship. She’s involved with another professor who she doesn’t see a future with.
While in a bar with her best friend she strikes up a conversation with a guy at the pool table. Only she has no idea he’s a hockey player, let alone one of her father’s players. As Hayden and Brody begin to spend time together she starts to see a future with him. With so much going on in her dad’s world, can she get past her hate of all things hockey to follow her heart and stick it out with him?
Thanks to Harlequin, Elle Kennedy and NetGalley for this ARC.

I received a ARC of Body Check, and absolutely enjoyed this book! These two hook up in the bar, one not knowing exactly he is and trying to be spontaneous while on a break from her boyfriend. Fast forward she finds out her father owns the team he plays for, and her father is under scrutiny and there cannot be anymore scandal. But..... they cannot resist each other and replaing their night.
A fan of Elle Kennedy! Recommend.
4 stars!

It’s Elle Kennedy + Hockey Romance. Meaning, I obviously really enjoyed this book. I was able to read it in one sitting. 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 was very entertaining. It’s sweet, spicy, and the perfect quick read. Brody + Hayden are absolutely adorable together. I also liked that this book wasn’t completely predictable. It was a nice change. Overall, a very fun read. If you’re a hockey romance fan then you definitely do not want to miss out on this book!

"𝑰'𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒉𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒕." 🥹🩵

𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 is re-releasing on July 2nd.

Tropes:
🏒 ʜᴏᴄᴋᴇʏ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ
✨ ʀᴇꜰᴏʀᴍᴇᴅ ᴘʟᴀʏʙᴏʏ
⛸️ ᴛᴇᴀᴍ ᴏᴡɴᴇʀ’ꜱ ᴅᴀᴜɢʜᴛᴇʀ
💘 ᴏɴᴇ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ꜱᴛᴀɴᴅ
✌🏼 ᴅᴜᴀʟ ᴘᴏᴠ
🪞 ᴏᴘᴘᴏꜱɪᴛᴇꜱ ᴀᴛᴛʀᴀᴄᴛ

Thank you Elle Kennedy, NetGalley, and Harlequin for providing me with an ARC of 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 🫶🏼

I had so much fun reading this one! Elle Kennedy is one of my favorite authors & her hockey books are always unmatched. Body Check was quick & the steam level was perfect!

This is a super fast, steamy, easy sports romance book. I really enjoyed this book. It was spicy and satisfying! I’m loving how many romances now have great epilogues as well!

I liked that Hayden and Brody were a bit older and they seemed a bit more mature than I was expecting. Hayden is in Chicago because her dad is going through some legal issues and she wants to be there for him, but that doesn't mean she can't have a meaningless hookup while she is there. Brody is done with the one night stands, he is past his puck bunny phase and wants to finally settle down. When Hayden decides to take home a stranger in a bar for the night, she doesn't know that he is a famous hockey player, and she doesn't know that he plays for her dad's team.
Hayden isn't looking for the hockey life anymore. She lived it when she was young and wants something nice and stable now. Brody is none of those things. He is in his prime playing hockey and she knows that she's looking for more, but Brody knows this comes along once in a lifetime and he isn't ready to let Hayden go.
There is a lot of legal drama regarding Hayden's dad and lots of twists there and I just felt terrible for her. I could relate and it just made me like her all the more. I loved Brody though. He was the one to fall first and fall hard. Even though this was an instalove situation, which I normally don't love, I got butterflies when Brody confessed how he felt and how much he wanted to make it work.
I love hockey romance and this one is no exception!
Thanks to Harlequin, Netgalley and Elle Kennedy for an early copy.

Classic hockey romance!

Art professor Hayden Houston intended to take the time she was in Chicago supporting her father through his divorce to figure out what she wanted while she was taking a break from her boyfriend. But she never thought she would have a one night stand with a stranger that she met at the hotel bar.

Hockey player Brody Croft thought it would be just one night with Hayden. He never expected to find out that Hayden was the daughter of the team’s owner and he couldn’t get her out of his mind. But there was major complications between them with a game-fixing scandal and her dad was suspected of throwing games and he was going to be a free agent at the end of the season.

I’ve read Body Check before being expanded and you will like the updating because you have more book to read!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I think this book was originally published like over ten years ago? It has the same kinda writing vibe that The Deal has, and that one wasn't my vibe. I think Elle's writing has gotten much better over the years, as many authors do! I think the "new content" and the new cover weren't enough for me to move past the writing. But it's an otherwise easy smutty read!

I found this a disappointing read. I enjoy sports romances and I thought a hockey romance was the perfect read while the NHL playoffs were going on. The book bills itself as a “spicy hockey rom-com.” And I guess that’s accurate. But it felt like that the book was mostly sex scenes with a bit of plot thrown in.There was an intriguing plotline as the heroine, Hayden, has come to Chicago to supposedly help her father who was going through a painful divorce amid accusations that he’d paid bribes to a couple of players to throw games he’d gambled on. Meanwhile, Hayden had had a spicy one-night stand with a star player for her father’s team, Brody Croft.

I was interested in the gambling storyline and what effect such a scandal would have on the team as it competed in the playoffs. There was a bit of that, but it seemed like a sideshow to hot sex scenes between Hayden and Brody.

And I just couldn’t believe that Heyden was a professor of art history at Berkeley. We find out at the end of the book that she hadn’t even completed her PhD. At the most, she was a lecturer. She wouldn’t have been even an adjunct professor without her doctorate. And professor’s jobs in the humanities are really tough to find. Berkeley wouldn’t have needed to settle for someone without a PhD.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

3.5 Stars Body Check by Elle Kennedy was initially published 15 years ago, but it's back with added content and a new cover! If you are looking for a short and spicy sports romance, you'll like this one!

Art history professor Hayden Houston is in Chicago for the summer taking a break from her currently off-again boyfriend and supporting her father, the Chicago Warriors hockey team owner, through his divorce and a team scandal. Since hockey has dominated her life for too long through her father, Hayden wants nothing to do with it. That is, until she hooks up with Brody Croft, who Hayden didn't realize was on the team. Though it was only supposed to be a one night stand, her connection with Brody is everything she's been missing in previous relationships, so they decide to have a fling while she's in the city. Once a playboy, Brody knows a good thing when he sees it and it's his relationship with Hayden. She may only want a fling, but Brody is ready to fight for what he wants--her.

When I picked up this one, I didn't realize how quick of a read it would be and was done in a day. It's a fun read and the chemistry between Hayden and Brody was palpable. There's a little bit of a mystery as to what's going on with the scandal that Hayden's father is involved in and you'll be questioning who else is involved as well. I didn't like that Hayden wasn't all the way broken up with her boyfriend (just on a break) when she started things with Brody. Other than that, this was a fun, short sports romance and worth a read!

3.5⭐️ rounded up.

This was a solid romance book! I liked Brody and Hayden. I was not a fan of the 3rd person POV for this book (just a personal preference lol). The 3rd act conflict kept me engaged. The book did feel a bit long a times. Elle Kennedy’s other hockey books remain my favorite, but this was a fun change up from the briar university world. I liked how this dealt with professional sports instead. There was a good amount of angst that I just ate up!

What's not to love about a hockey romance? This was my first by Elle Kennedy but will definitely not be my last.
I enjoyed this one cover to cover and look forward to more!

Sadly this one didn’t work for me.
I do like spicy romcoms - and this one opens with a bang - and hockey is one of the main kinds of sports romance I like. But I also need a good plot or to at least feel a connection to the characters, and I didn’t feel that here.
I also felt that it looked on the majority of female hockey fans as puck bunnies and as an actual female hockey fan that already feels like she spends enough time defending/proving she isn’t ‘one of those girls’ I’m too tired for this in fiction too.

I wasn’t expecting all the high level spice for some reason, it was great. There was plot and character growth also actual hockey playing. An enjoyable read.

3.5 Rounded Up!

BODY CHECK seemed right up my alley. It's by Elle Kennedy, who I adore. It's also a hockey romance. And everyone who knows me or follows my account knows that I am in my hockey romance era. And while this book was HOT and was a fun read, I had a big problem with the execution of the story.

This hockey romance was really fun and such a great, easy read. It is honestly the perfect beach read. If you are looking for something with spice to take with you on your vacation this is the read for you, especially if you like hockey romance. And, as with all Elle Kennedy books, this one has lots of drama, making it like a soap opera.

Now, for my problems. This book is a redo of her original book, which was published in 2009. With all authors, as they write, their skills grow. This book did not highlight that growth. This was light on plot and there was much more showing than telling. There was too much going on. I think this book, if it really wanted to be redone well, needed to be simplified with an emphasis on deeper character development, more relationship building, and picking one or two things to focus on rather than the many subplots that occur here.

This, honestly, is a book you can't take too seriously. If you are interested in a book with a decent story, but it's meant to just be a vibe featuring a good author and hockey romance, this is the book for you. But if want a bit more depth and fleshed out characters in your romance, this might be a pass.

Thank you to Harlequin Romance and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I was underwhelmed by this book. I'm a fan of Kennedy's books and was curious about this title since it's a re-release, however, it wasn't my favorite of hers and isn't one I would recommend to people if they didn't know where to start with her books. I found Brody to be underdeveloped and didn't feel like he had a personality or like I knew him at all. Hayden was annoying and a coward and by the 60%ish mark in the book I was just getting fed up with her. I know this is one of, if not Kennedy's first book, so I know her writing has developed since this was first published, but all around it wasn't anything I'd re-read or suggest to others, particularly in comparison with her other books.

I was in the mood for a really short, hot sports romance, and this one filled the bill perfectly. I had forgotten how hot the Harlequin Blaze books can get, because at times this one bordered on the erotic. It was a pretty steamy read about an Art History professor (Hayden) looking for a 'fling' to spice up her stale love life before she settled down with Mr. Safe and Boring, and a sexy, formerly bad boy hockey star (Brody) who was tired of a life of 'flings' and was now looking for something more fulfilling. There were some tough times in the relationship, including the fact that Hayden's father (who just so happened to be the owner of the team that Brody played for) was implicated in a game fixing scandal, accused of having some players on his team 'throw' the games, and then betting on the outcomes. There were plenty of scorching moments between the H/H as Brody tried to convince Hayden that their relationship was more than a temporary thing based only on sex.