4.5 stars

In Wicked Serve, Grace delivers a captivating blend of sports drama, romance, and personal growth, making this new adult college romance a compelling read. The novel centers around Nikolai Abney-Volkov, a passionate hockey player forced to transfer to McKee University, where he faces the dual challenge of his rival's disapproval and rekindling a secret summer fling with Isabelle Callahan.

Nikolai's internal conflict between his athletic aspirations and his burgeoning feelings for Izzy adds depth to his character. His past traumas and the tension of being the new guy in a rival school create a rich backdrop for the story. Isabelle Callahan, on the other hand, is portrayed as a strong and driven character, grappling with her own goals and the complications of reuniting with Nikolai. Her struggle to balance her ambitions with her feelings for Nikolai is both relatable and endearing.

The chemistry between Nikolai and Isabelle is electric, and their dynamic is expertly explored through heartfelt dialogues and intense, emotional moments. The author skillfully weaves in the elements of sports and romance, with the added charm of koalas bringing a unique touch to the narrative.

The story has characters with genuine emotions, are well-developed, and keep the reader thoroughly engaged. Wicked Serve stands out as a must-read for fans of college sports romances, offering a satisfying mix of swoons, spice, and heartfelt moments that leave a lasting impression.

Honestly, I almost DNF'd this book. I am glad I finished it, and I could recommend it to those who like steamy sports books. The writing is not the best, and the male love interest made me roll my eyes many times. When describing Izzy, Nikolai says, "I knew the moment I first saw her, that she was special, and special doesn't come around every day." See what I'm talking about? And it's hard to actually see what Nik finds "special" about Izzy. She plays hockey, and maybe even is a very good player, but she keeps not showing up for her team. She convinces her coach to give her a second chance after she already showed up to an important tryout hungover, but then she oversleeps and misses the bus to be with her team because she was up late with Nik. Girl doesn't know what her priorities are.

There's also a plot with Nikolai and his very Russian mob family, who are basically Succession about their business. All Nik wants to do is play hockey and sleep with Izzy, Their sex is fine. This book is described as "steamy" but I think I have to believe in the couple more to really buy it. Izzy is your stereotypical "sunshine" (she is described this way SO many times) who secretly likes rougher sex.

Overall, nothing in this book is mind-blowing. It's a quick read, and if you want to read about sports lovers, this might scratch your itch.

I'm sorry to say this book is entirely forgettable. I never really connected with either character...perhaps because this was the first book of the series I've read, but perhaps not. I thought the book had a lot of potential, but overall it was too long and drawn out. Maybe some fluff could've been removed to shorten it about 100 pages and then it would've had some meat?

**Thanks NetGalley via Avon/Harper Voyager for access to the ebook prior to publishing in exchange of my honest opinion.

I'm going to be honest, I got to about 40% of this book and decided to DNF.

I loved the first two books in this series (admittedly, I skipped the third) but I just could not get into this one, which is such a bummer because I was really looking forward to it. It just kept feeling like there wasn't much happening??

I waited for a while before officially deciding to DNF because I kept going back to it after a few days, but it felt like a chore to read and so I eventually just had to give up. Maybe it was the wrong time for me and I think others could definitely enjoy it. I would be willing to try out the audiobook.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5
🌶️🌶️🌶️/5

🏐 🏒 College Sports Romance
🤫 Secret Summer Fling
💕 Brothers Rival Turned Teammate
🔗 Book 4 in an Interconnected Series

📚 Description:
Nikolai and Isabelle have a scorching hot Summer fling. What they thought was "just for the summer" turns into more when Nikolai transfers to McKee University, where Isabelle is a Sophomore. While Isabelle tries really hard to resist Nik, it is futile because he is a boy obsessed. He wants here and makes it very well known.

✨ Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book. It was spicier than I originally thought it would be, which was a welcome surprise to me. I think it was a strong finish to the Callahan sibling's series.

I had such high hopes for this book. I loved the first 3 in the series, and the glimpses of Izzy in those books were so promising. Honestly this book fell kind of flat to me. The characters seemed very one dimensional and wishy washy. For the first half of the book there was this hatred that was obviously a farce, and the two of them would be openly mean to each other but in the next paragraph Izzy would be loving and smitten with him. It was so unrealistic. The transitions between chapters or even just between paragraphs were rushed and rough. I think Nik's deal with his grandfather didn't really stand up to water. It being struck over him helping the two of them get out of Russia seemed thin and weak. He could have made the deal over Nik's inheritance or anything else and it would have seemed like more of a moral quandary. The way it was written made it too easy to break out of. The second chunk of the book was better, and the story was cute, but overall I had hoped for more.

DNF @ 20%. I really tried with this book, but I just can’t keep pushing through. Isabelle annoys me. And Nik needs to go to therapy and figure out his issues. Though the best parts of the story was Nik struggling with his relationship with his dad. I also wish that instead of constantly referring back to the summer that they slept together, we were shown it instead. With the premise that it has, I expected more of a will they don’t they. Instead, Nik, after feeling frustrated from his conversation with his dad takes Isabelle into a closet and finger bangs her. And she’s just lets him because she doesn’t like when he looks sad. Even though she’s pissed at him for leaving without a trace.

As a former volleyball girlie I immediately knew I wanted to read this book.

Izzy comes from a family of athletes and is currently playing volleyball in college. But over the summer she works as a party planner in NYC and meets a college hockey player.

A hockey player who just so happens to be her older brother’s nemesis on the ice. Nik. They can’t fight their attraction and have a whirlwind secret romance in the city and promise to let it go when they go back to school in the fall. Unfortunately Nik ends up getting transferred to Izzy’s school. Which is great for them, with the exception that now Nik is on the same team as her brother.

I loved their dynamics and the way Izzy tried to help Nik with childhood trauma and panic attacks.

Thank you NetGalley and VPR for this advanced readers copy of this book.

i liked this book just fine, but i do think it went on for a little too long. i feel like it could've been 20% shorter and still achieved what it set out to do but it was fun and pretty quick and i'd definitely read from this author again!! probably a 2.75 star rating but i'd round it up to a three because i enjoyed the dynamics between the characters -- they were sweet and unlike most sports romances, it didn't feel toxic or like the guy was a mjor douchebag -- bonus points for that!

3.5⭐️

I loved, loved, loved Nik and Izzy’s story, but I struggled with the pacing. This book was SO LONG and I feel like a lot could have been cut out to help with the flow of their romance. It was fun seeing the rest of the Callahan family and the spice was top notch, but overall, I had higher expectations for this series finale.

The book is fun for the first half with the premise. There's fun tension and flirtation and banter and the characters are very sweet to each other. I love the book description, but it does lose some of the tension a little more than halfway through the book. I do love the main characters and how aware they are and how they work on being better for each other. Overall, a fun and lovely book that makes me. yearn for something more when I look at my own romantic relationships. This book reminds me not to settle!

Isabelle comes from a big happy family filled with successful people. All of them are excellent athletes and she is an excellent volleyball player. Now that she is coming close to the end of college she is struggling to figure out what comes next. Nik gets kicked out of college and ends up finding his place at Isabelle’s college. He has a journey finding his place on the hockey team while dealing with family issues. Can their secret summer fling turn into forever love or will they discover that there are too many stressors keeping them apart?

Isabelle was a good character with interesting layers. I like that she is struggling with her place on the volleyball team. Her growth curve as she learns how to balance everything on her plate was really good. When she finally talks to her family about her struggles, I thought it had a good emotional punch. Nik’s relationship with his family was sad. He has an abusive father, distant mother and manipulative grandfather with no one to love and support him for who he is. The fact that his dad is a famous Russian hockey player put a lot of pressure one him. When Nik finally stands up for himself and tells everyone what he wants, I was so happy. I felt like he had earned all of it. The author takes the time to let Isabelle and Nik fall in love and learn about each other. There are lots of side characters. They all add to the story. The author gives an excellent epilogue that is worth the read.

The one thing that frustrated me was that Nik got kicked out of college for a drugs. The author glossed over that. I was willing to accept that because the drugs weren’t Nik’s (that’s not a spoiler because it is the first this the reader learns). Then there are his former team mates. I had expected them to support him and stay friendly. I felt like that storyline was a missed opportunity that could have added so much to Nik’s story.

This is a contemporary college romance. It is a grumpy/sunshine, second chance romance between two successful, driven college students. It is a really satisfying read. I will read more from this author in the future.

Look, this book is so dang good. I love Nik and his back story broke my heart. I love Izzy and her present situation makes me mad because she is goodness. I love Nik and Izzy together way more than I should! That's the feeling I always want from my books. I want to go read every Grace Reilly book if they are this good!

I have really enjoyed this series as a whole so far! We saw glimpses of Nikolair and Izzy in the previous books so I was excited for their story

I really loved Nikolai and how Grace represented his mental health. And when he calls Izzy ‘my sunshine girl’ I swooned every time. Their relationship had alot of cute elements and steammmm. The support they have for one another and the discovery they go through was really sweet.

I did have a tough time getting through some of this one which is unusual for me, but it felt very long with very little happening in some parts. It was hard to stay locked in on their characters when I thought they had so much potential.

Tropes:
- Sports Romance
- Hockey Player x Volleyball Player
- College Romance
- Brother’s Rival
- Secret Relationship

Thank you to Grace, VPR, & Net Galley for the early read!

This book is adorable! I loved the found family, the romance, the VOLLEYBALL (especially the way it lines up with my experiences as a volleyball player). It is enjoyable and I can see this book as a 3.5 star book. I love when books portray men's mental health in a positive light and getting help for it and I love when books portray supportive couples.

An aspect I didn't quite get was that this wasn't the first book in the series, but all the family aspects and resulting couplings were explained, and not too hard to follow, but I do feel like I missed out and would've enjoyed it more had I read the others first. But that is not the fault of this book, just that I read out of order.

Thank you, Grace Reilly for allowing me to read your ARC. It brought me some joy from a sport I don't really get to play anymore.

I loved the relationship between Nikolai and Isabella, such a healthy one and cute.

Tropes: Summer fling, stranger to lovers, secret relationship, brothers rivalry, forced proximity, hockey romance
spice:🌶️🌶️🌶️

Isabella is the selfless extrovert girl and baby of the family. Nikolai who is an introvert and felt alone most of his life.

About 50% of the book is good with short and cute chapters , but it went downfall pretty quick. The book was too long and so many unnecessary scenes without relation to the plot. The relation between Izzy & Nik felt more of lust and didn’t have that spark.

What I loved is Nikolai prioritising his mental health before jumping in a forever with Izzy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Ok I liked this one but I didn’t love it. It didn’t stand out in the huge world of hockey romance to me.

So starting with the fact that they already have a relationship…this is a personal thing for me in a book. I really like to be able to read about when they meet and how they get to know each other and all that cutesy stuff. It’s some of my favorite parts and we got none of that.

I also felt like this was so much longer than it needed to be. It probably could have been half as long and been just as good if not better because there wasn’t unnecessary fluff in it.

I did end up liking Nik and Izzy though as characters and as a couple and it was great to see their development throughout.

All in all 3/5 stars.

Love this one! It was such a fun ending to this series! I loved the tension - the spice was soo good!

DNF
This book was about spoiled, rich collegiate jocks. I read about 30% and just couldn't move on from there.

★★★★★ (5+/5)
🌶🌶 (2/5

When i started this book i had a feeling it would be a 5 star, but when i finished i was so sad the book was over because it was amazing.

Everything about this book is perfection. The plotline is interesting and fun, the characters are loveable and complex, the relationships are deep and understandable, the writing is magnificent and fitting and the spice was original and well-timed.

I think this book portays mental health flawlessly, i genually have no comment, i have never seen a book be so accurate about how it feels to have parental issues, the book made you feel what the characters were dealing with, you felt for them and you cared about them.

The relationship of the main characters was exceptional. I could point a perfect relationship dynamic it would be them. They had chemistry and knew how to talk to each other, they were perfect.

I wish i could read this book all over again, seeing the cameos of the main characters of the other books in the series always makes me happy and i always say makes the whole story come togather well and seem real. I dont really know what else to say this book deserves more than 5 stars and i think everyone should read it, 200% recomended.