This was such such a good book! grace never fails to make me fall in love with the characters and the story (she even makes me love the conflicts)
4,75 from me

Nik & Izzy’s story was a good ride. It had everything you could want in a book. A good one to read over a weekend. Loved it!!

4.75⭐️ 3🌶️

ARC Review:
This book is so cute and has all the feel good feelings!
Nik and Izzy met one summer and started hooking up with no strings attached. But when he moves to McKee to play hockey, there’s no denying there chemistry now.

At first they are hiding from her brother who’s on the same team and has given a very extensive warning about him going for Izzy. But after awhile the hiding and random hookups can’t be tamed anymore and they both decide for more. But that takes Nik opening up about his past. And he learns he’s not the monster after all.

I love Nikolai and Isabelle. They are a cute couple. The way he takes such good care of her and how she just patiently waits for him. She nurtures and helps him through his panic attacks. Is the healing piece between him and his mom. Her family is amazing for welcoming him in open arms.

I couldn’t get enough of this book and wish it wasn’t the final one in this series!

Pros
- like the backstory and characterization
- like the chemisty
- the perfect amount of spice
- lots of sex scenes which I like

Cons
- dragged a bit in the beginning and middle
- anal sex that’s completely unprepped for, which I get is unsexy but randomly having anal sex one night is so unrealistic that it pulled me out of the story for a minute

If you’re looking for cute and fluffy this is it.

Nik was the perfect brooding book boyfriend, with a refreshing focus on his mental health, which is different from the standard hockey player cookie cutter.

Isabelle was sweet, patient, and understanding, so there wasn’t much relationship angst which I would have enjoyed more.

Isobel and Nikolai reconnect after a whirlwind summer romance. They didn’t expect to see each other again, but Nik quickly realizes that won’t be the case, thanks to a school transfer. He also knows he won’t be able to keep the distance he promised himself.

My only negative was this book was longer than it should have been.

**Tropes:**
- Established Relationship
- Brother’s Rival
- Non-toxic Relationship
- Open Door
- Secret Relationship
- He Falls Harder
- Tortured Soul MMC
- Family Bonds

#BookReview #SportsRomance #TorturedHero #BookBoyfriend #RomanceBooks #MentalHealth #RomanceTropes #MustRead

First of all, A huge thank you to NetGalley and the respective publisher for this Arc in exchange for my honest review.
This was a such a cute, heartwarming and fluffy romance. I have lately been into Sports Romances a lot more than before and this ARC came at the right time.
The story is about Nikolai and Isabelle who hooked up for the summer. But they are both aware that is the extent of it and Nikolai is Isabelle’s brother’s rival so they cannot make it into anything else. But is that reason enough to stop there?

I felt like this book was a 100-150 pages too long. We could have still had the same story without some unnecessary scenes.
However, I did enjoy the book for how easy it was to follow and that it was free of misunderstandings and miscommunications for the most part. Overall, it was fun to read. Spice was good too. Nothing too extraordinary but a cute sports romance book.

Thank you Avon, Netgalley, and Valentine PR for the review copy.

Nikolai and Isabelle have a summer fling but it ends when they return to their respective colleges, seeing as Nikolai is Izzy’s brother’s hockey rival and that would not go over well. But an incident goes down and suddenly Nik is at the same school as Izzy, so instead of leaving the past behind they sneak around their relationship to avoid any brotherly interventions. They find that their feelings are much stronger than just physical, but being together isn’t completely simple and straightforward either. Families meddling, coaches expectations, and their future careers are on the line as the book unfolds.

I played volleyball from fourth grade through senior year of high school, plus some adult sand volleyball leagues after grad school, so needless to say I was pumped for a romance with a volleyball player FMC. I haven’t read any of the other sports romances in this series, but you don’t need to as this can be read as a standalone. If you are a fan of Icebreaker, I think you will like this book as it has a strong college hockey presence with a pinch more emotion and backstory for the characters. This book could have been 100 pages shorter and still been as emotional, without as many “on again, off again” moments. With that said, it was a very spicy sports romance with two firecracker main characters figuring out how to love each other.

3.5 stars

This story held a lot more angst than I expected. Nikolai has had a rough life filled with too much (mostly negative) attention for the first half, and no attention whatsoever after that. Izzy shows so much maturity and compassion when it comes to Nik’s emotional blocks, considering she grew up in a supportive and loving family that always shows up for each other.

Even with the great family Izzy has, she has insecurities too. It’s only natural with three older brothers who excel at all that they do. Izzy loves them all dearly and never wants to make anyone feel bad by speaking up about what she needs so her insecurities only grow. Nik sees this and does all he can to bolster her. Nik and Izzy are amazing together, I love their connection.

Unfortunately, this book suffered from the same pacing issues as the previous book. It was also longer than it needed to be. Since I enjoy the emotions and storyline this author writes I will continue to read her stories…for now. She’s still a relatively new published author and I expect she will hone her craft the more she writes.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC of “Wicked Serve” by Grace Reilly in exchange for my honest review.

Wicked Serve is book 4 in the Beyond the Play series. It follows the story of Isabelle and Nikolai. Izzy is the little sister of the Callahan boys. Nik is Cooper’s hockey rival and is off limits. Izzy and Nik cross paths while she’s interning for his mom and start up a fling but it abruptly ends at the end of summer. Nik is forced to switch schools and becomes Cooper’s teammate and once again crosses paths with Izzy. Nik is forced to confront his traumatic past while learning to heal and move on with a future with Izzy.

It honestly wasn’t my favorite storyline of the series. However, overall I enjoyed the series as a whole. I enjoyed the 5 years later epilogue with updates on the other couples. I love a good sports themed romance, therefore, if you enjoy these storylines, I’d suggest you give it a read too.

I loved this series and think this book did a great job at wrapping up the loose ends. I am sad we wont get to see more of these characters.

This is such a wholesome and cute book. Loved the hockey and volleyball components. both characters dealt with real life struggles and I really loved that they both grew and worked on themselves to be a stronger couple.

This book was more than the sports that they both play. It was about what you truly love and want to do in your life. Isabella and Nikolai have a strong connection, and it shows throughout the entire book. When things get hard, they stick together and figure out how to get thru it. For college students, they are very mature and have the communication down very well.
I will say this book is heartwarming, swoon worthy, and an all-around good book. There's steamy scenes in it as well. I gotta say that I loved how mature her brother handled the relationship and the aftermath. I mean, by the end, they were best friends. l also thought it dragged a tiny bit and was a bit long but it was needed to get everything in it.
I loved both characters and the journey they take to heal and truly be in happy in life.

3.5/5⭐️
3/5🌶️

This series started off really strong for me & I was really excited to dive back into this world, especially for this book just based off of the tropes I knew were included, however this one was a bit of a let down. It just felt extremely long for what it was. I found myself bored and skimming through quite a bit. I also didn’t really feel the chemistry between the characters unfortunately. There was a good bit of spice in this book but I just wasn’t feeling their connection. It felt a bit forced.

Thank you to Grace, Avon, & Net Galley for the ARC!

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

Grace Reilly never fails. Another book I'm in love with and thinking about it daily!!!!

Nikolai lives in my head rent free. Him whispering in her ear sweet and sexy russian words is my new kink tbh.

Izzy my gal. Love her so much, she's such a mood. I love that she's playing volleyball and i was so impatient to read her story!

I really like how Grace also touches on heavier topics such as childhood trauma, child abuse, and how it effects your mental health as well as future relationships with such respect.

This book also navigates on anxiety, panic attacks, and an overworked mental health.

Tropes:

•brother's rival turned teammate
•he's Russian!
•secret summer romance
•hockey and volleyball
•found family
•spice

Isabelle is a girl often overshadowed by her super athletic older brothers. With a father who was in the NFL, an older brother who followed in his footsteps, another brother NHL bound, it’s no wonder she strives for the that same perfection for herself. I think every girl at some point in their life feels like they aren’t enough therefore so many will connect with Isabelle and her struggle. Nik is the one boy that saw all the awesomeness that is Isabelle but Nik also has his demons he battles. The son of a former NHLer, Nik is set to follow that route post graduation. What Nik doesn’t let out is the abuse both he and his mom dealt with at the hands of his father. The relationship between Isabelle and Nik is seamless and their characters ooze chemistry. I love that they both helped the other with their struggles and even if I’m the beginning they didn’t define what they were you could tell they would be end game for sure.

Wicked Serve ARC Review 🏐🗽🎀🐨🏒

Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Let’s be honest, I absolutely devoured this arc once I sat down to read it. I did not want to stop, it’s that good of a story.

I think out of this whole series, this one is my favorite. Like I loved reading about Izzy’s brothers but her story just really hit home for me. Not that theirs aren’t relatable, but hers I don’t know, to me just I could very much see myself as her in some parts.

When it comes to Nikolai, I enjoyed his character story line. The struggles he went through and trying to be someone better. It was very inspiring. Because we all know I’m an emotional reader, obviously I cried when reading this. Some aspects just brought me to tears.

Overall, thank you Grace Reilly and Valentine Pr for giving me the opportunity to read the final book in the beyond the play series.

4⭐️
3🌶️

🏐 Sports romance
🏒 Second chance
🏐 Brother’s rival
🏒 Grumpy x sunshine
🏐 FWB

This is the last book in the Beyond the Play series so of course I had to read it since I read the other 3 prior to this one. I enjoyed getting glimpses of Izzy in the first 3 books so I was looking forward to getting her book. I loved that she was also athletic and that it wasn’t just the MMC who played a sport and volleyball is so different than what you normally read about. I loved Nik and Izzy’s relationship from the start when they were hiding everything over the summer to when they first started seeing each other again. Nik has his reservations and for good reason after you get the background of his childhood, but he hid a lot from Izzy and she was so supportive of him. She helped him to open up and work through a lot and it kinda bummed me out that it wasn’t enough at times. I enjoyed this book, but felt like it was a bit longer than it needed to be and could’ve ended at multiple different times.

Another great read by Grace Reilly! Wicked Serve was honestly my favorite of the series ☺️☺️. If you haven’t picked this book up yet, what are you waiting for? Nik’s possessiveness is some of the best stuff I’ve read in awhile.

When all you’ve done your entire life, is play hockey, what do you do when it’s time to give it up? Nik gave more than blood, sweat and tears to the sport. He gave up his childhood to be the perfect player his dad forced him to be. When the time comes that he has to give it up, may be it is best to leave all the trauma behind him, so his family can move on from the past. However, when Izzy comes along to give him avenues to come to terms with his past life, he’s already promised this would be the last year he would play hockey, the NHL isn’t part of the plan. Izzy has seen his bad, his sad, and his ugly, yet she’s shown him people will stay when they say they will. But what happens when life shows you that not everything can be perfect, there is always another shoe that will drop?

Izzy didn’t mean to fall for Nik, yet here she is. His biggest supporter, his biggest cheerleader, and yet he won’t stand up for himself and do the one thing he was meant to do. Play hockey. Izzy has an uphill battle of her own to climb, she has also put blood, sweat and tears into volleyball and her coach won’t give her to the chance to shine in a position she knows she can do. Yet, Nik won’t let her quit. Why is it so easy for him to support her, but not support himself? As Izzy starts to fall in love with volleyball again, she’s determined to get Nik to show love for hockey the same way. Too bad he’s the most stubborn person she knows, but she can be as stubborn as well.

The way these 2 support each other through everything is amazing. There was no miscommunication, or angry talks. It was all love and support. I absolutely adored this couple and can’t wait to see what the future has in store for them!! Another great book in the series for Grace!

Cute story about hockey player, Nik, and volleyball player, Isabelle. At first, they have to hide their relationship from her brother, who plays hockey with Nik. There is discussion of domestic abuse and Nik shows signs of PTSD.

absolutely enjoyed reading this book, I do have to say a few things icked me out while reading. I loved the relationship between the characters and how it was friends to lovers, which is something I don’t really like in books, but I enjoyed in this one. This book does shine light on mental health which I liked as well!! I do think that this book should not have been 400 pages though, I feel like it could have been a lot shorter without the unnecessary bits.

Isabelle is a volleyball player who had a summer fling with Nikolai who plays hockey. When they believe their summer fling is over when they go back to their different collages, state lines separating them, Nikolai unexpectedly transfers to McKee University and joins her brothers (his rival) hockey team. Now what happens when they run into each other and feelings begin to stir up again?

Nikolai definitely doesn’t stand up for himself to his grandfather and never would have if it wasn’t for Isabelle. Also his nickname for her (Sunshine) is so sweet and was perfect, ugh just swoon worthy. I also loved that there wasn’t really any miscommunication (not my favorite trope). Definitely recommend reading this book!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

yall this is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read!! everything about it was absolute perfection and I would give it way more than 5 stars!! I felt for nikolai and all of his hardships but man does he have the biggest heart!! this is one of those books that once you pick it up you cannot put it down! nikolai and isabelle are so incredibly perfect for one another! this is one of those books that once you pick it up you will not want to put it down!!