I enjoyed this book but didn’t think it was the best in the series.

An enjoyable storyline, I loved the struggles that the author gave the characters and the way the family rallied and supported them. I liked each of the characters but just didn’t love them as much as I had the others

Also the book seemed long, there were lots of points I kind of wanted to hurry up to get to better stuff

I’m a sucker for any and all hockey love stories and boy did this one not disappoint. I loved Izzy and Niks story and it had me on the edge of my seat. I read this book quickly as the chapters were short (where I just kept saying oh what’s one more), the characters were engaging and the spice was there. I loved the theme and going on the journey with each of the characters. Such a phenomenal story, one I will definitely read again. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the advanced copy.

I struggled with the beginning of this book. It took me a while to be invested in the relationship between Izzy & Nikolai.

They had a lot of cute/sweet moments together and I truly loved Nikolai. He went through a lot throughout his life and was still a gentle giant. He loved Izzy and always did what he could to take care of her and make sure she was happy. Izzy was a bit go a brat at times - running away and then being upset he didn't chase her, going out to party because things don't go her way, constant whining that she isn't as good as her brothers. I wanted Nikolai to talk more and her to talk less.

I did cry at parts - which is uncommon for me - and I really enjoyed the relationships within the Callahan family, and especially the way they treat Nikolai.

I read this as an ARC and I am grateful for the opportunity!

I loved this book. I received an ARC of this and i devoured it. To finally get Izzy's book after her brothers was the best last piece. This was a hockey/ volleyball forbidden romance. Also add on the brothers team mate to the pot and its spicy!!! I think the author balanced the spice with the story plot in a way that was perfect and I could not put this down. Our sexy MMC was a russian dirty mouthed hockey player. Can't get any better than that. Also expect pop ups from the rest of the Callahan gang. This book touched my soul in such a good way. This was hands down a 5 star read. I have never felt such a connection with a character. Huge mental health rep and in such a good and healthy way. Such a fun read. Best out of the series. Need another one with their kids pleasssseeeee

What to expect:
☀️Hockey x Volleyball
☀️Brother’s rival turned teammate
☀️family drama
☀️broody x bubbly
☀️panic disorder rep
☀️he falls first

This is my first book that I’ve read from Grace Reilly from the beyond the play series and I can’t wait to go back and start from book one!
But back to this story, I enjoyed getting to read both Izzy and Nik’s pov. I loved their chemistry, and their relationship! I really loved the relationship between Izzy and her brothers! The Callahan family was wonderful and they were so accepting of Nik and able to build friendships.

There are the topics of self doubt and dealing with trauma from childhood. This couple helped each other overcome and work on their thoughts and traumas and move forward together. I love when a book incorporates mental health and how the characters navigate having it and I was so happy to see it worked on in a positive way!

•be sure to check cw!!
Thank you to Grace Reilly, Valentine PR and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc! All opinions are my own.

Nikolai & Isabella / “Iceman & Solnishko”
I love their love so much. Brother’s teammate. Sneaking around. Hockey romance. They both fall hard and fast. Past trauma. Mental health rep. So much and so good.

Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly, the fourth book in the Beyond the Play Series, Isabelle “Izzy” Callahan is a sweet girl who is about to start her second year at McKee University and is determined to regain her position on the volleyball team, her family is made up of athletes so it's important for her to regain her love for the game and show that she can do it better, but for this she must earn the trust of her coach and concentrate on her studies and the game, without distractions, but she'll have a hard time fighting off one the biggest distraction when her summer fling transfers to McKee and begins hiis senior year there, and even though she tries she can't stay away from him. Nikolai Abney-Volkov is a handsome but brrody guy, he is a talented hockey player, with a promising future, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he is blamed for something that is not his fault, he must transfer to the McKee University in his last year, there he must concentrate on continuing to do well and must start by staying off the bad side of the captain of the hockey team, who has been his rival for many years, but that is not going to go really well when the ray of sunshine that stole his attention since they met in summer is the little sister of the guy and more when for him is going to be almost impossible stay away from her. Izzy tries to protect her heart, but that will be almost impossible when Nik is so special to her, and what starts as a friendship with something else will soon become something more, but Nikolai must be able to overcome the ghosts of his past to give a real opportunity to what he feels for Isabelle.
Wow, this story is full of emotions, where you are going to laugh, cry, fall in love and swoon alongside the characters. Izzy is simply wonderful, a rosy ray of sunshine who loves and supports Nik with all her heart, and Nik is just perfect. I enjoy their personal growth and as a couple. This is my first book by this author and I will definitely go to the beginning for the story of the Callahan boys. I really enjoy this beautiful love story from beginning to end and fell in love of all the characters. Totally, and Absolutely Highly Recommended!

3.75⭐️
2🌶️

If you love:
-Dual POV
-Hockey Romance
-College Romance
-Secret Relationship
-Found family

This book is for YOU! I love LOVE a good fluffy low stakes romance and this book gave me exactly that. I have never read anything from this author but I was pleasantly surprised by this.

The tropes here aren’t usually what I would personally pick but I was surprised on how well done this was. This is an excellent book to read after you read a heavy fantasy book or Dark romance, because even though it does have some serious issues(PTSD, Panic Attacks) I feel like it doesn’t take away from the fluffiness of the story, just makes it more realistic.

My favorite part of the story was the Found Family aspect, and how we see the FMC overcome her impostor syndrome. 💕🫶🏽

I am a sucker for a long contemporary romance book so the length had me excited, but honestly I hate to say it was just not necessary in this case.

I am thankful to the author and Valentine PR for my Advance Reader Copy!

WORTH THE WAIT!!

While it took me longer to read than I wanted it to (school started and I was BUSY) it was still so good and easy to jump back into after a couple of days of not picking it up. I loved Nik SO MUCH. Izzy needed somebody to really see her and her insecurities and that's just what Nik did while also being the more supportive and encouraging person.

A hockey and volleyball romance filled with secret flings and the complexity of navigating familial expectation.

This book is great through about the first 50% the characters are fun, the chemistry is there, the world is built up and we even get what I think would have made a fine third act break up. Just to see you're not even halfway through the book. I think ultimately this book had too much it wanted to try and do and get to.

ARC Review ✨️

☆Nikolai & Izzy♡

Nikolai plays hokey and just so happens to be the biggest rival of Isabelle's brother. Isabelle plays volleyball and ends up having a little fling with Nikolai. They know they can never be together because of her brother, so where does that leave them?
I completely devoured this story! I enjoyed the characters, and the secrets fling was so fun to read. This story was also filled with so much spice 😍 The author's writing was perfect! I haven't read the rest of this series, but it's on my tbr now!

Thanks so much to the author, Valentine PR, and Netgalley for the ARC!

I have enjoyed this entire series and think its safe to say that the two titles featuring hockey as the sport are my favs! I enjoyed how hard the mmc fell and I enjoyed the development of their relationship.

This book covers some pretty heavy topics so please make sure to read trigger warnings before reading <3

This book contains a lot of the tropes I don't normally read, but it is just so good that I loved it so much. I didn’t expect to fall head over heels in love with. I already admired Grace Reilly, but I didn’t anticipate loving this book as much as I did. It’s real, messy, and raw. While friends-with-benefits is not typically a trope I gravitate towards, this book is so much more than that.

I adored Nikolai. I appreciated that he had a genuine disorder and sought help for it. He was an excellent book boyfriend, and I loved that he’s more than just a typical hockey player. Despite his trauma, he does the work to address and heal from it. His choices at the end, where he prioritizes his own well-being to be better for himself and then for Izzy, were particularly meaningful.

Izzy was another highlight of the book. She’s sweet, stands up for herself, and is the perfect match for Nikolai. She supports him through everything while also deeply caring for him. I also admired her dedication to her studies, even while in a relationship. The chemistry between the two main characters is fantastic, and the sex scenes are written exceptionally well—they're incredibly steamy.

There is so much emotion packed and this book touches on hard topics, but addresses them in an appropriate way.

I loved everything about this book. Go check it out!

I loved this book so much because it really shows you that it’s okay not to be okay 👏🏼 I really appreciate when authors not only have mental health representation in their books but when they portray it in their MMC’s, it’s not always just women who struggle with anxiety and panic attacks.

Izzy and Nik’s relationship was so beautiful, it may have started out as just a fling but it quickly developed into so much more and I loved every second of it! I loved how supportive they were through each others struggles and I’m so so happy that we got to see so much of Izzy’s family and even some of Nik’s there at the end. The epilogue was chefs kiss and of course made me cry 🥹

✨3.5/5✨

One things for sure, I am deep in my hockey romance era. Wicked Serve by Grace Riley is the 4th book in the Beyond the Play series but I feel like it could definitely be read as a standalone (which i did) it’s easy to follow along with the characters that were most likely mentioned and developed in the first 3 books. This story follows Nikolai and Isabelle. Nikolai is Isabelle’s hockey rival and what started as a summer fling has quickly turned into more. This does have spice but the overall story is actually really sweet. I love how supportive Isabelle’s family is of her despite some of her insecurities. I do think the story dragged on a little with a few different plot twists but overall it was a good read. I’d recommend this to anybody in their hockey romance era!

Thank you to @authorgracereilly @netgalley and @avonbooks for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

I had to DNF at chapter 16. I tried and tried to read but it just could not keep my interest. I didn't have a single care in the world for these characters.

4.75 stars

I adored this one! It is easily one of my favorite hockey romances I have read so far. I also liked the balance of volleyball and hockey elements. It was refreshing to see two talented athletes fall in love. The blend of tropes as a whole is just so great. It checked a lot of my boxes and did so skillfully.

I wish we could've seen a bit more of their summer fling in the past that started it all. There were a few flashbacks, but they didn't provide the context I was hoping for. They are so cute, and I would've loved to see more of how Nikolai pulled Isabelle at the beginning.

The one part that confounded me was how everyone continually brought up how purple everything was at the university. It seems to be building up to some kind of plot point and then it just... disappears. It was a failed Chekov's gun moment. If you are going to bring something up over and over, it should contribute to the plot in a significant way.

I love how there are a whole host of LGBTQ+ side characters. I noticed at least two lesbian characters and one gay character. It was a nice blend of queer culture being naturally integrated without feeling forceful or there for brownie points. In a sizeable friend group on a college campus, there are likely a few queer people. It helped ground the story in a bit of realism.

There were a lot of moments that made me laugh out loud. The guys in this story were particularly amusing. Especially when James locked Cooper and Nikolai outside in the snow to work things out. I also smiled at all of the bonding moments including the matching sibling tattoos.

The one part of this story that I didn't love so much was the aggressive daddy issues. It makes sense for Nikolai's character but less so for Isabelle. Her conflict would be much more effective if it was strictly centered on her brothers. Not every older male needs to be a threat or source of tough conflicting feelings.

I really admire Reilly for the way she employed the setting to propel the plot forward. Each setting served a purpose for the story in a sensical way. It felt deliberate and calculated effectively.

This book has a good bit of spice but this spice contributes to the character development. If you are not a fan of spice, I do not recommend this book.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to the hockey romance fans. It is full of characters with depth that also bring about a lot of humor. There are a lot of daddy issues so prepare yourself for that before going in.

I received this book as an arc from Valentine PR. My review is honest and voluntary.

Grace Reilly hit it over the net AGAIN! We return to McKee University and watch everyone’s favorite little sister, Izzy, live her own love story with Nikolai. It was so fun to learn more about Izzy and watch her develop on the page. This has been one of my favorite book series, and I’m so glad it ended with this story! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an early copy.

This was SUCH a cute read and I absolutely loved Izzy and Nikolai! I'm a sucker for a grumpy meets sunshine dating trope and this one didn't disappoint! Plenty of spice with great pacing that also did a great job at addressing serious topics sensitively. Thanks so much for the ARC!

🏐 Book Review 🏐

Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly
🏐
This book was so cute! It is the perfect summer fling to secret romance book. Nikolai is broody, broken, secretive, and closed off. Izzy is girly, loves pink, and is sunshine personified. They are complete opposite, but they completed each other perfectly because they supported each other, but also pushed back when they felt like it was in the other person’s best interest. I loved Nikolai’s Russian heritage and the Russian words, phrases, and nicknames that are sprinkled throughout the book. It does deal with some heavy topics from Nikolai’s past, but it was done very well and with sensitivity. It was the perfect ending to the series, and now we have books for all of the Callahan siblings.
🏐
My rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
🏐
Read if you like:
▫️he plays hockey and she plays volleyball
▫️brother’s rival and teammate
▫️damaged hero
▫️found family
▫️dual POV
🏐
Thank you to Valentine PR, Avon, Harper Voyager, and Grace Reilly for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.