Thanks so much to Grace Reilly, Valentine PR, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of Wicked Serve. I am so very sad to see this series come to an end, but I’ve been looking forward to Isabelle Callahan’s book for seemingly forever so quite a few mixed emotions going on!
 
Wicked Serve follows the youngest Callahan, Isabelle, and her love interest, Nikolai (her brother Cooper’s rival). After a whirlwind summer fling that ends suddenly, Isabelle is ready for the school year to begin at McKee University where she hopes to forget all about Nik and go after her desired position on the volleyball court, setter. However, after getting kicked out of his old school (for taking the fall for another player’s mistake), Nik has now transferred to McKee and he has no desire to let their summer fling stay in the summer. I loved how the two of them had a backstory coming into this book and that we got little glimpses into that time. The way the two of them learn to open up to each other as they get closer, Isabelle with her fears about volleyball and not living up to expectations and Nik with the truth about his father (TW: domestic abuse), was beautiful to read and I loved getting their story so much.
 
Wicked Serve was a strong finish to Grace Reilly’s Beyond the Play series and I am so excited to see what’s coming up next from her!

Happy release day to Wicked serve by Grace Reilly!! Thank you @netgallery and @authorgracereilly for the ARC!

You’ll love this book if you love these tropes:
🏒 College sports romance (Hockey player x Volleyball player)
🏐 Brother’s rival
💕 Insta-love
✌🏼 Dual POV
🥰 Second chance
🏡 Secret relationship
🧠 Mental health rep

Isabelle is striving to for the setter position in volleyball and needs to gain her coach’s trust. Nikolai, a hockey player who is forced to transfer schools, end up at McKee University where Isabelle’s brother is the team captain.

This book had me hook from the start!! The insta-love trope made this read feel fast paced and I absolutely ate it up! Both characters were so supportive of each other as they work towards their own goals and dreams. ☁️ Those bedroom scenes thoooo 🥵🌶️

Wicked serve is Book 4 in the Beyond the Play series. I read this book as a standalone and I didn’t feel lost in the storyplot. Some characters from the previous books appeared but it didn’t take away from the story! 4⭐️s for me!

I absolutely loved Nik. I loved his past and the pain and growth he went through. I loved that no matter what he did everything to be different from his past.
Isabelle was exactly what I pictured her as in the other books! I loved that they started love over the summer and all came full circle.
I think the growth and love we got to see build was perfect ! 🤗

I loved this series and loved this book ! Could t put this down!!

If you need a slow paced romance where the couples are obsessed with each other, but they are trying to keep it casual and a SECRET, this is it. Add to it, a flirty male interest with a smart mouth, Russian accent and traumatic past.
* Sports romance
* Brother's friend
* Summer fling turned to more
* Supportive caring, relationship
* Secret relation & sneaking around
* Good family and friends circle
* Really spicy - 4.5/5
* TW: DV, panic attacks
I really enjoyed the romantic moments, the friendship/ family circle. It has so many moments with the couples from previous books in the series, so those who love them will get it as the cherry on top.
Overall it was okay. I found the pacing slow for my liking. There could have been more tension or sneaking around to keep the intrigue. I liked Nikolai, even though Izzy was caring and supportive, I also found her little pushy.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for this advanced copy. You can pick up Wicked Serve on August 13, 2024.

This was one of the spiciest hockey romances I've read yet, and if you're a fan of lots of sexy scenes and fun banter, then this is definitely your book! I'll admit I found it a bit unnecessary and repetitive at times, especially when we could've seen more emotional character development instead. But it mainly comes down to personal preference.


I loved the sibling interactions and ways that family played into this story, though! It made the character arcs feel more satisfying by the end, and lead to a happy conclusion for the series as a whole.

While I likely won't pick this one up again, I can definitely see how other hockey romance stans will love it -- especially if they enjoy forbidden romance, brother's rival, forced proximity, and he falls first.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“You’re everything to me, Isabelle. You’re stubborn warmth and wild summertime.”

✨Wicked Serve is a new adult college sports romance that is full of swoony moments, heat, sports, and secret dating. I loved Nik and Izzy’s story. They’re two characters who have inner insecurities that they have to work on, but still support each other anyway they can. This book felt like it was healing me with their character development. Nik has a traumatic past, but he didn’t let that get in the way. He did anything he could to make Izzy happy. Izzy felt as if she were in the shadows for a long time but found her own strength and worth. Ugh I truly adore them 🥹

“мой любимый“

✨Wicked Serve has:
🖤 Sports romance
❄️ Secret dating
🏒 Hockey / volleyball
🩷 Cute nickname
🐈 Trauma
💎 Forbidden romance
🖤 Brother’s rival

✨Blurb: Nikolai
Hockey is my life, and I need to make this last season count. But when I’m forced to transfer to rival school McKee University for my senior year, I risk pissing off the captain, who happens to be the older brother of Isabelle Callahan: the gorgeous beam of sunshine I messed around with in secret this summer. Rekindling our fling could risk her brother icing me off the team-not to mention the fact that my scarred past makes having a real relationship impossible-and yet the moment I see Isabelle again, all my wild, burning feelings come rushing back.

Izzy
I have two goals for sophomore year: win back my old volleyball position, and forget I ever knew devilishly handsome hockey defenseman Nikolai Abney-Volkov. As the youngest and only daughter in a family full of athletes, failure isn’t an option. But when Nik crashes back into my life, I can’t stay away from his broody charm. I’m determined to guard my heart this time, but between the furtive hookups and the heartfelt conversations, the lines between friends-with-benefits and more begin to blur.

Thank you for this ARC 🫶🏼

Being able to read all about the Callahan siblings from beginning to end was such a journey and it ended perfect with Izzy and her man Nikolai. Their love story is fun and bubbly from being friends with benefits to them getting a second chance. Both dealing with their own struggles 🥲

•Ice Hockey / Volleyball
•Found Family
•Child Trauma
•Mental Health rep
•Secret Romance

Nikolai ends up going to McKee university to play alongside Cooper (still my favourite from the series, sowwie) and he meets Izzy again, still smitten with her from the summer prior. Moments had me laughing and swooning! 🤍

I loveeeeeeed the other siblings being part of the book, it was so enjoyable to read. Everyone is just hard to dislike imo. It was such an adorable read🥲

Full of cute moments and spicy ones too 😏 I was pleasantly surprised how naughty Nik was! 🥵

So sad to see this series end! It will always be one of my favourites 🥹 can’t wait to see what more comes from Grace in the future 🤍🤍

4.5/5 stars
2.5/5 spice

hockey player x volleyball player, college, secret relationship, he falls first (and hard), grumpy sunshine, brother's rival

Oh how I adore this series from Grace! I've loved every book and I'm SO SAD to see the series ending. Nikolai and Izzy met over the summer (before the books starts) and fell hard until he disappeared on her. Flash forward a few weeks to the start of school and suddenly guess who has showed up on her campus? That's right, Nikolai is back and they just can't stay away from each other. These two were magnets, it's like no matter how hard they tried they couldn't help but be together. Throw in a rivalry between Nikolai and Izzy's brother Cooper along with some sneaking around and we're in for a good time.

On a more serious note, Grace never shies away from deeper issues. Watching Nikolai deal with his past/parental issues while also seeing Izzy come of age and into her own all made my heart happy.

Thank you Grace, VPR and Net Galley for an ARC of this story!

DNF....

I so wanted this to be my book as I played club and school volleyball but immediately when I got a whiff of toxic coach ESPECIALLY from a woman coach to a girl athlete..This just brought painful memories that I just dont wanna live through so I dont think this is the book for me....

Okay first things first Grace always knows how to give us everything we crave, and we have been building for Izzy's book for years now...and it was worth the wait.

side note - I love when you get a sports romance that is different and not talked about all that much, here we get hockey and volleyball! Which I love. Watching Izzy on her volleyball team and going through the motions and her drive is epic!

Okay now back to the review.

Nik and Izzy have a summer romance that burns hot, but it ends before it could really start...until trouble strikes and Nik is no longer at his old college but checking in to Mckee. The college where Izzy is studying, as well as her brother and his biggest rival in hockey. It is all the ingredients for a perfect storm and that is exactly what Grace delivered.

🏐 Sports Romance (hockey mmc & volleyball fmc)
🏐 Brothers Rival turned Teammate
🏐 Secret Relationship / Forbidden
🏐 Panic Disorder Rep
🏐 Found Family

I will say that at times I feel like we were getting a lot of side story drama, which I loved the snippets from the other couples in this series, but if you haven't read books 1, 2 & 3 it might feel like a lot of extraness. So my recommendation is to read the other books in the series. Yes this can be read alone, but we see so much of them (specifically Cooper & Pen which is breakaway book 2) that it helps tie the story together and you get a feel of Izzy along the way.

Also I understand why Nik is who he is and I love that he doesn't try to put up a front of anything with Izzy. When he can't talk he can't talk and he communicates that. She knows he's not telling her things, but he doesn't come off as the type to make her worry about what he could be insinuating.

I received a copy of Wicked Serve as an ARC from Net Galley and the author and I'm giving my honest review.

All in all it was a great read for me. I 10/10 recommend to everyone, especially as we're ending summer and going into the school season. We get to spend holidays with the Callahan fam in this book, I mean does it get any better than that?!?!?!

Wicked Serve is college hockey/volleyball romance with a sprinkle of millionaire boyfriend vibes. The fourth in the series, it does feature previous main characters in the series and mentions events that occurred previously, but as someone who has only read one other I do think you can read it as a standalone.

This book is light on plot and heavy on smut, which is a problem given how long the novel is. Sometimes the characters read thirty and sometimes they felt sixteen. Overall I had a fine time, but I got very frustrated that the characters had the exact same fight with the exact same response multiple times. No growth or no acknowledgment which left it feeling stagnant.

Do I believe they care about each other? Absolutely. Was I rooting for them? Sadly, no.

CW: child abuse, domestic violence (not between the main characters), panic attacks.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an Arc in exchange for an honest review!

i literally cannot believe this series is over. when i discovered grace reilly, i instantly fell in love with her writing style and these characters. the found family is so incredible within this series and it just the family aspects in general. i really adored this book & nik and izzy! nik was the absolute sweetest and i loved how he handled all the hardships he had experienced in life. izzy was so sweet and so supportive of nik and i really was rooting for them the whole time. i love the whole summer fling turned soul mates trope so much and truly believe nik & izzy are characters that would be together forever 🩷 im so sad that i wont see these characters again but am so excited to see what grace reilly blesses my shelves with next 🙏🏻

RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
SPICE: 🔥🔥🔥

I’m so happy this book is finally out in the world and everyone gets to fall in love with Nik and Izzy, because I sure did!

TROPES ⬇️
✨ Brothers Rival
✨ Summer Fling
✨ Hockey Player x Volleyball Player
✨ He Falls First
✨ Broody Hero c Sunshine Heroine
✨ Found Family

This book was the perfect ending to our time with the Callahan family and I’m so happy that Izzy was the one we ended it with. When Izzy feels a bit unsure about her future plans and her place in her wildly talented family, she takes a summer internship with a wedding planner. Nik is her boss’s Dom, a great defenseman and someone her brother Cooper loathes. Nik and Izzy were supposed to be a summer fling, but when he ends up at McKee, sparks come crashing back in!

I just loved Nik and Izzy desperately so loving them together was easy. I loved Nik chasing his dreams and his growth from trauma in his past, but also that he saw Izzy so clearly for who she was and not just her family. I also loved that Izzy was an athlete as well because it brought so much to her story.

I couldn’t put this book down and if you have never met the Callahan’s run to pick them up now! And if you have, that epilogue is a perfect place to leave our favorite family.

So I didn't realize this was the fourth book in the series, but I still enjoyed it as my first read of Grace Reilly's. I do plan on reading the other three though because the other characters sound interesting and I'd like to see how they got together. I'm glad that Isabelle and Nik didn't take too long to get together. I understand why Nik was hesitant to truly be all in because of his father. We often compare ourselves to our parents and wonder if bad behaviors are inherited. I think it was clear that Nik had a handle on his anger, but I'm glad he still got help with is emotional baggage. I love how Isabelle likes color pink because of Legally Blonde. While pink isn't my favorite color I agree it's a good movie. I felt like I could identify with Nik in terms of father's. I have complicated feelings about my dad. My dad hasn't always made the best choices and at times let his anger get the better of him. I still love him, but I've learned to set boundaries. I loved the epilogue to. It was very sweet.

Wicked Serve: 4.5 ⭐️ 3.25 🌶️
Izzy and Nikolai might start off as a summer fling but when things go sideways for Nik his senior year, they're back in each other's orbit once again. Nik and Izzy have incredible chemistry and constantly push each other to be better at their sport and as people. I have loved Grace's writing for years and this is no different!

The way Grace tells a story is so beautiful. Nikolai and Izzy both have issues within themselves they have to work through. Grace handles hard topics well and with such care. As a person who has had a panic attack, the feeling of drowning is so intense that it really comes off the page in a perfect depiction.

This is the perfect wrap on the Callahan siblings and I love the extended epilogue she included at the end!!

4.5 Stars

It's no lie that I haven't loved this series, but feelings about the series did change with book three, Stealing Home. Now, after reading this book, I'm kind of obsessed. I pushed through this series for a few reasons. One, it's extremely rare for me not to read a series in order, even when they are written so you can pick up whichever one you want. Two, I was curious about all of the siblings, and three, I really wish more volleyball romances existed. So when I saw this was a volleyball romance and what the tropes were, I couldn't pass up the chance to read this one. And I'm so glad I did.

The chemistry between Nik and Izzy was palpable. I loved their connection and their story. I loved how the two of them interacted with each other, I loved how their relationship developed, and I loved how the two of them cared for each other. I really enjoyed their own personal stories and the personal growth they both had over the course of the book. I liked how everything with Cooper played out in the story, and I loved the little cameos from everyone in the previous books.

While this really can be read on its own, this one did a great job of tying the entire series together, and I loved that little easter egg for anyone who has read the whole series. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read, and I'm excited to see what Reilly does next.

✔️ Fling/No Strings
✔️ Quasi Second Chance
✔️ Brother's Former Rival Turned Teammate
✔️ Sports (Volleyball and Hockey)
✔️ Broken/Tortured Hero
✔️ First Person Dual POV

This book had me feeling all the feels! I was not expecting for this book to get me this quickly but damn this was absolutely incredible. The way Nik was with Izzy was absolutely amazing and I half the stuff he was doing for her made me squeal and giggle. The way she was with him as well made my heart melt. Having both of their point of views were amazing. I’m definitely going to go back and read this whole series! I’m obsessed

I really, truly loved Nik and Izzy! Nikolai fits absolutely seamlessly into the Callahan crew, and I couldn’t be happier for the baby of the Callahan siblings. Nik’s willingness to go through the tough things to rebuild after his past to show his love for Izzy is the best, and Izzy’s unwavering support makes them perfect for each other. I could go on and on with how much I loved Nik and his Russian words and his dirty whisperings and how hard he loves Izzy, because he’s just that good! 🫠 Getting to jump back into the lives of James, Cooper and Seb was the cherry on top!

If you love …

🏐 Brothers Rival
🏒 College Romance
🏐 Found Family
🏒 Past Trauma
🏐 Hockey Player/Volleyball Player
🏒 Secret Romance
🏐 Boy Obsessed
🏒 Spice!

… then you’ll love this!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5) /🌶️🌶️🌶️

3.25✨

I looked forward to reading this book since I LOVED the previous one. Unfortunately, this book was not it for me. Overall it was still a cute romance and don’t forget the spicy scenes. They are there! Don’t let the cover fool you :)

Recommend this book if you’ve read the previous books because it's so good to get to know the stories of all the characters 🥹❤️.

As a standalone, I’d say no. This book compared to the previous one felt a bit dull for me. They met during summer and the book starts when they are back to school which made me feel I had missed most of their ‘relationship’ already and I think this was why I couldn’t connect with them enough. The book also felt a bit too long. Also, him speaking Russian and calling her Russian nicknames felt a bit odd to me in a contemporary romance. I think this works better in dark romance.

Nik & Izzy are full of all the feels. Izzy is a girl after my own heart with her love of pink, and Nik is a sweetheart. I loved seeing the ways he showed up for her! These two both have so much going on—Izzy struggling with never feeling good enough and Nik dealing with the trauma from his childhood. They certainly are not short on the chemistry, but I enjoyed seeing them find their person and having someone be there for them. This one did feel a bit long (not sure if it was more the book or my mood at the time), but I enjoyed Nik & Izzy’s story!