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!

ᴀʟʀɪɢʜᴛ ɴᴏᴡ ᴛᴏ ᴍᴇ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ꜱᴀᴘᴘʏ ᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ᴀᴍ ɴᴏᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀʏ ɢᴏᴏᴅʙʏᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪꜱ ꜰᴀᴍɪʟʏ! ɢʀᴀᴄᴇ, ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴋɴᴏᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀʀᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ɢᴀᴠᴇ ᴜꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴇʀꜰᴇᴄᴛ ᴡʀᴀᴘ ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇꜱ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ. ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴀᴠᴇ ᴜꜱ ꜱᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴀᴍ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋꜰᴜʟ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ ᴏɴ ᴍʏ ꜱʜᴇʟꜰ. ɴɪᴋ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ʜᴀᴅ ᴍᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ʜᴏʟᴅ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇɢɪɴɴɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ɴᴏᴛɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴏɴɢ ᴛʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜʏ ɪ ᴘɪᴄᴋᴇᴅ ɪᴛ. ʜᴇ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ʜᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴜꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɴɪᴄᴋɴᴀᴍᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ɪꜱᴀʙᴇʟʟᴀ 💕 ꜱʜᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ʜɪꜱ ꜱᴜɴꜱʜɪɴᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜱᴇᴇᴍᴇᴅ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴇʀɪᴇ. ɪ ᴅᴏɴᴛ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ᴀ ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ ꜱɪʙʟɪɴɢ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀᴍᴀᴢɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ꜱɪɢɴɪꜰɪᴄᴀɴᴛ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀꜱ ᴀʀᴇ ᴀʟᴡᴀʏꜱ ᴏɴ ᴀ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ʟᴇᴠᴇʟ.ɪ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴀᴍ ᴇxᴄɪᴛᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴡʜʏ ɪ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ɴɪᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴏꜰꜰɪᴄɪᴀʟʟʏ ᴀᴅᴅᴇᴅ ʜɪᴍ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴄᴋᴇʏ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ʙᴏʏꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅ ʟɪꜱᴛ, ʜᴇ ɢᴇᴛꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴊᴏɪɴ ᴄᴏᴏᴘᴇʀ. ᴄʜᴇᴇʀꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀʟʟᴀʜᴀɴ ᴄʟᴀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ʙᴇɪɴɢ ꜱᴡᴇᴇᴛ 💕

˗ˏˋ ꒰ thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to receive an arc! ꒱ ˎˊ˗

☼ This book is brothers rival, college romance, athlete x athlete (volleyball x hockey) I like how this book is pretty fast paced. I was pretty hooked from the beginning. I do think the book was a bit dragged out, some parts bored me a bit and made me lose a bit of interest.

☼ Isabelle is a college volleyball player who thinks that she’s not in the right position in her team. She talks to her coach & her coach gave her a chance (after lots of begging) but the condition is, she CANNOT be distracted!! I’m glad she found another passion besides volleyball. I think wedding planning made her a lot happier than when she was playing volleyball.

☼ Enter Nik, her summer fling & college hockey player. Nik recently got kicked out from his University & his grandpa made him transfer IF Nik agreed to work for the family business & not pursue hockey seriously after college. Nik wants to continue what him & Isabelle had during the summer, but how will it go when Isabelles brother, Cooper, forbade anything romantically happen between them two.

☼ Listen, at the beginning I wasn’t a huge fan of Isabelle, she was an entitled rich brat. When the coach was talking to her while she begged. I’m glad that she is trying even if it’s only in front of the coach. I related with the fact that I also suck at math. I felt bad for Nik, trying to love & pursue a career in hockey but having guns grandpa undermine his talent & just compare him to his father sucked. I’m happy he had a cousin who still believed in him & wanted Nik to play professionally. Them being together was kinda cute, even if we mostly read about their sex life. They seemed a lot more relaxed & comfortable with each other.

So brothers best friend is one of my favorite tropes.. BUT brothers RIVAL?! R U KIDDING?! I ate this book UP. Izzy and Nikolai have an insane amount of chemistry. I felt for Nikolai. He’s had a rough life and he doesn’t feel good enough for Izzy. Izzy has her struggles too. Not in the same way as Nikolai but struggles all the same. Nik had me swooning from the prologue to the very last page.

⭐️: 4/5
🌶️ : 3/5 (2.5 rounded up)

Forbidden romance with her brother’s biggest hockey rival? ✔️
An unforgettable summer fling? ✔️
Never having to see Nikolai again? ❌

Nikolai and Izzy had the perfect summer plan, enjoy each other’s company for the summer and when it ends they go their separate ways. It was a good plan … until an incident at UMass gets Nik transferred to McKee University for his senior year. The downside: joining his rival hockey team under Cooper Callahans captainship. The plus side: being in Izzy Callahans immediate vicinity again. When their fling starts to heat up again, lines start to blur. What happens when you don’t bench your feelings?

I’m a huge hockey romance reader, but I can’t say I’ve ever read a hockey x volleyball mix but it didn’t disappoint. I was drawn in with Nik and Izzy right from the start. I was curious how they’d interact once back in each other’s bubbles and I think they worked great together (on all aspects). While at times they had a hard time sticking up for themselves, they certainly had no problem sticking up for each other or giving the other the encouragement they needed.

I really enjoyed the character growth and development from both characters. They both had issues they needed to work on and you see them working through that in different ways. It’s important to have the hard conversations because it’s the first steps in healing. I really admired the way Nik went about his healing journey and realized that in order for him to take his own life back in his own terms, he needed to keep promises - to other people but most importantly himself.

I think it was also noteworthy to mention that a lot of athletes struggle with the pressure that comes along with sports. I think Grace did a really nice job of including the mental and emotional aspect it can on an athlete.

Wicked Serve is the 4th and final installment in the Beyond the Play series. This book is an interconnected standalone, however it’s always fun to know the backstories of other characters in the story and keep updated tabs since seeing them last. The epilogue in this was cute and tied together all the character updates perfectly!

✨ Sports Romance (Hockey x Volleyball)
✨ University
✨ Brothers Rival
✨ Forbidden Romance
✨ Found Family
✨ Mental Health

— Please take note if the trigger warnings as this book contains mentions of serious subject matters including: domestic violence, alcoholism, disordered eating and panic attacks —

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and Harper Voyager and of course Grace Reilly for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Grace Reilly, Valentine PR, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Wicked serve follows Nikolai, a hockey player, and Isabelle, a volleyball player, as they navigate their relationship while fighting low self confidence, feelings of unworthiness, and past trauma. Both of them are super supportive to each other and build each other up while dealing with their own poor mental health. Grace Reilly does a great job of writing about mental health in a sensitive way.

I, however, felt that this book dragged on a little too much. There were too many conflicts. They'd work through a conflict, stabilize, then have another conflict they needed to work through. I also felt the spice overtook the plot in some spots.

Wicked Serve is for anyone who loves spice with their hockey players and good girls.

This is the book I was waiting for and I couldn’t be happier with it! Grace Reilly puts something special in each one of these books- they’ve all been so amazing. Every character is just so enjoyable to read, and the emotions are so tangible throughout.

I felt for Nik so much through this book. His struggle with his future and his difficulty opening up to his mom was heartbreaking.

Izzy- oh my goodness. I can see her struggle, watching her brothers be amazing athletes and dominating their chosen sports-I’m sure it’s easy to assume the worst about yourself and begin to lose self esteem. I can’t get over how much I LOVE their family dynamic though- they are so loving and supportive! Every one of them supports each other unconditionally.

This book is fun, sweet, and a LOT spicy!! Grace Reilly really knows what we want when it comes to spice, and boy did she deliver with this book!
Make sure to pick this up if a brother’s rival, summer fling turned more story sound up your alley!

Such a bittersweet moment for the final Callahan sibling book / series to be over! I was really excited for this one for a few reasons: both were college athletes, brothers rival and I love when a series is just wrapped up! I thought Grace did a really good job including all the characters from the other books, it made it really come together and close well. I felt like this book was extremely mature for the characters ages, which was pretty unrealistic in a lot of ways. I also felt like it was just a little too long. It was super spicy and hot but I felt like the plot was rushed in the end and a smutty scene could’ve been removed to balance. I really liked how these two communicated well, even if they didn’t at first, they always worked through their problems together and there was very minimal miscommunication which was great. Other than the few those few things I really enjoyed Nik and Izzy so much!!

✨College sports (hockey x volleyball)
✨Brothers teammate/rival
✨Secret relationship
✨He falls first
✨Found family
✨dual pov

I am sad that this is the final book for the Callahan siblings but we finally get to have Izzy’s story. Wicked Serve focuses on volleyball player Izzy and her brother’s hockey rival Nikolai. There was plenty of spice from the beginning and I also loved how Izzy and Nik knew how to communicate when there were disagreements. This is such a sweet sports romance but there were also some heavier topics like childhood trauma and domestic violence that are written gracefully and respectfully. Nik takes control of his life and I loved his personal growth throughout the book. We also get to have glimpses into the lives of the other Callahan couples and the epilogue ties everything up in a nice little bow!

A cute romance for anyone in their ice hockey era. I won’t lie, there wasn’t anything unique about this book compared to the other hockey romances I’ve read, but still a light read in between other books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing the ARC.

So this book has me conflicted. Did I enjoy it? Yes. Did I think the writing, characters, and story were good? Also yes. Did I think it was too long and dragged in a lot of places? Very much so.

I love a good forbidden romance and a brother's rival is a pretty good premise for a story. I'm also a sucker for a good hockey romance, and this had it in spades. What I needed to happen with this book is more focus on moving the plot along and less focus on the simple mundanity of two people being in a relationship with each other. I found myself having to push through spots where It just felt like the same self-flagellation over and over with no growth from either Izzy or Nikolai. But when the story finally moved on and actually gave a bit more to the plot, the book really started to pick up for me.

It's not a terrible book, just a bit on the long side with a lot of character focus that doesn't lead to a lot of growth right away. Still enjoyed it thoroughly.

I love sports romance books. One of my favorites is where both the FMC and MMC are athletes. Where the FMC is just as much of a badass as the MMC. Isabelle is a volleyball player who somehow bears the brunt of the Callahan family name as her coach thinks she got on the team by name alone.

Nikolai is a hockey star that took the blame from a young player at his old school and is now playing with his rivals at Isabelle’s school.

Theirs was a summer romance that gets a reboot now that they are at school together. Nik has been obsessed with Isabelle since the summer but is cognizant of Isabelle’s brother being the captain of his new team so they start to date in secret.

With both MCs fighting to be successful in their respective sports and the hot romance between them, this was an easy book to get into. I enjoyed the chemistry between Nik and Isabelle and that there was no miscommunication. But overall, I thought the book could have been shorter. Parts of the story seemed more like fluff rather than carrying the story forward.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this eARC. Wicked Serve is out Aug 13th!