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!

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley and Valentine PR. This is my honest review.

Nikolai and Isabelle are fantastic together! I loved how they met for the summer and really connected and was a bit frustrated with Nik for ghosting her. I'm glad they got a second chance and that Isabelle made Nikolai work for it the next time around.

I'm also glad the secrecy didn't last too terribly long since I'm not really a fan of that trope. I was able to make it through for this book and I'm glad I did.

Both characters are dealing with personal issues in this novel. Some heavy hitters too and things that should have been addressed a long time ago. I'm glad they both have each other in their lives because the only reason they were able to get the help they needed was because the other stepped in and made sure they found the right people to make those positive changes.

I'm glad I got the chance to read this book and I'm sure one day I'll read the rest of the Callahan clans HEA!

4.25 for me!
I love a sports romance and I love a hockey romance even more! This is a great read and you will fall in love with Nik and Isabelle. I loved their communication, chemistry and their family and friends. I hadn’t read the other books in the series and will definitely be adding to my TBR!

I’ve been a huge fan of the Callahan boys but Isabelle Callahan may be my new favorite sibling. The pressure is on for Izzy to earn her spot on the volleyball team and with all her successful siblings, failure isn’t an option. She tries to stay clear of distractions, but when her summer fling transfers to her school, everything becomes a little trickier. I was obsessed with Nikolai from the start as he felt very genuine and had undeniable chemistry with Izzy. This has been one of my favorite sport romance novels of the year as it was filled with spice, fun banter, and character growth. I definitely would recommend!

This story ended up being more emotional than I was expecting. I thought, "Ah, yes volleyball and hockey. Two of my favorite things. Perfect. It'll be so cute." And it was. It definitely had cute, sweet moments (and spicy ones), but it really dealt with some heavy, emotional feelings as well. I enjoyed seeing both Nik and Izzy grow as people and work through their hang ups.

Thank you ValentinePR for the ARC.

After spending one hot summer with her brother's hockey rival, Nikolai, she doesn't expect to see him again. But when he unexpectedly transfers to her college... and her brother's hockey team... Izzy can't help but be in his orbit. They both know rekindling things is dangerous, with brother looking over their shoulder and Izzy fighting for her spot on the school's volleyball team with a coach who seems to hate her guts, but their attraction is strong.

There's a trend of new adult sports romances being exceedingly long--perhaps to make room for all the spice? But this book is about a quarter to a third longer than it needed to be to get the story across and is standard for an adult romance novel. It also felt a bit contrived, especially how exceedingly wealthy everyone in this book is. However, I enjoyed it. I really did. Izzy and Nik are great characters, who I obviously shipped, and their sports subplots really buoyed the romance. It also brought that steam in all the best ways. I guess I shouldn't really be complaining about the length, ha! Dare they cut some of the best parts...

Thanks to Avon for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 8/10

Izzy has a problem. The guy she hooked up with all summer long that is now transferring to her college for his senior year is her brother's hockey rival. Sparks fly the second they come back together.

This was a cute and spicy romance! Here's what I liked.

Nikolai was amazing. I loved so many of his scenes. While Izzy was great, I really loved how Nik dealt with things in his life and turned his attention on Izzy,

The spice. This one was hot and heavy. All of those scenes were well put together and super hot. Loved it.

All in all this was a good NA spicy hockey romance,

Thank you to the author and publisher for the gifted copy.

I was not expecting this book as I have not read the other books in the series so I thought I would be confused. This is an interconnected standalone from the Beyond the Play series and is book number 4 following the youngest in the Callahan brood Isabelle. She thought her fling was over until everything changed.

I enjoyed this book. I loved the goofy parts and the series parts that made me tear up. I gave this book 4.25 ⭐️ and 2 🌶️ there was some scenes i will not look at a hairbrush the same and a mirror scene 🥵. If you are a fan of a good sports romance then this is a good one. It was a quick and easy read for me.

Happy reading everyone 📚

#wickedserve #beyondtheplay#hockeyromance #volleyball #weddingplanner #brothersrival #sportsromance #bookstagram #booktok #spicybooksofinstagram #spicybooksrecs #spicybooktok #spicyromancebooks

I should have know Izzy would be my fav Callahan sibling.

This book was perfect from start to finish. From the get go Izzy and Nikolai don’t make sense. She’s his rivals sister and interning for his mom’s wedding planning company for the summer. Anything happening between these two would be set for failure. But after a steamy summer fling, Nikolai ends up at McKee instead of back at Umass awhile Izzy knows it would be smarter to stay after from the broody defenseman, but the two end up rekindle their summer fling instead.

Such a great ending to the series. 🩷

I absolutely loved this book. It was deep, it was flirty, it was sad, and it was beautiful and happy. It was just everything.

Grace Reilly outdid herself on this one! I am now in a reading slump and simply don’t know how to move on.

4.5⭐️
Wicked Serve is the fourth book of the Beyond the Play series of interconnected standalones. This was my first book by this author and I will for sure be going back and reading the other books in this series! Both Nikolai and Izzy are such lovable characters. Nikolai is going to live rent free in my head for a long time! The way he whispered sweet and sometimes not so sweet things to Izzy…whew! He is definitely swoon worthy! The only complaint I have was I felt the book was too long. I found that it dragged a little towards the end. It is still a great story that I would definitely recommend.

Wicked Serve is the sweet story of Nikolai and Isabelle… Volleyball and Hockey romance. Loved the volleyball rep, as you don’t see that often in a sports romance! 🏐 I loved that, although this was a forbidden romance, there was no miscommunication between the MCs! Such a refreshing read! Overall, good spice between the MCs. A light, fluffy, feel-good read! Thanks so much to Net Galley and VPR for the chance to review!

I really enjoyed this. This was the first book I read in the series and I immediately went out and bought the first three after I finished!

I adored Nik and Izzy. I loved how they balanced each other out and they had a really healthy relationship for how young they are. They didn’t have a lot of miscommunication which I loved! And there wasn’t a lot of unnecessary drama! I also loved that both of them were athletes. They both had different struggles surrounding their sport and I loved seeing both of them work through them and be supportive of each other.

I really enjoyed seeing Izzy and Nikolai’s growth throughout the book. They both had their own issues that they were dealing with and I loved that they were able to find the resources they each needed to grow. I did love Nik’s decision to grow on his own but still keep his promises to Izzy and come back to her.

This book definitely had its quirks but I think its biggest flaw is that it felt way too long. I did love most of the plot and spicy scenes but there were a few that just seemed a little unnecessary and made the book feel longer.

Thank you to Valentine PR, Avon Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

✨8/13 - Book Review: Wicked Serve✨
Author: Grace Reilly

Look, I know I keep saying this for almost every new author I read, but I’m going to say it again. This was my first Grace Reilly novel and it definitely won’t be my last! I’ve ordered the other ones that are already out so I can begin those ASAP! Give me a good dual POV college romance AND I WILL EAT IT UP EVERY TIME.

I liked that while this book was “part” of a series (each book focuses on a different sibling) you can technically read it as a stand alone. It’s a little spoilery, but it really did make me want to go back and read the other books as I got glimpses of Izzy’s brothers. This was a great summer read, especially since our main characters start their relationship as a hidden summer fling.

I absolutely loved our MMC Nikolai. He was charming and sweet and he definitely fell first and harder. While most people would have written him off as a player, he really isn’t one, simply not choosing the FMC from the beginning because he didn’t feel like he was good enough for her.

Izzy is a great FMC and was extremely relatable. Sunshine on the outside, but full of worry about truly fitting in with a family she sees as perfect and more accomplished than her. Izzy and Nikolai were the perfect people to help each other grow. Izzy with Nikolai’s panic attacks, Nikolai with Izzy not feeling good enough for her family. This book had great mental health representation, especially at the end.

If you want a college romance with great angst, the right amount of sweetness, and some toe curling spice, get this book ASAP.

CW: Off page/past spousal abuse and domestic violence, controlling family members and panic attacks.

I dnf this book, for one reason and one reason only. I had a problem with how it feel more like a high school romance then a college romance for me and that bothered me. But other than that the story was not bad.

3.5 stars

This one is a cute, easy, lighthearted sports romance book. I enjoyed it but it also had a few flaws.

What I loved is the relationship between Nikolai and Isabelle. It is just so pure and healthy. There was so much support and encouragement and it wasn’t toxic at all. Also I loved all the cameos of her brothers in this book aswell. Seeing their family bond made me so happy.

Honestly I don’t really need to say much about Nikolai cause he is just PERFECT in every way. He is so kind, supportive, caring and protective. I definitely fell in love with him🤍

I didn’t really enjoyed Isabelle as a main character though. Don’t get me wrong she is very confident, fashionably, knows what she wants and she plays volleyball which I loved. But she was just so immature, self centered and pushy at times. Like girl you don’t push people to tell you about their past. That’s an absolute no go just give it time!! Also the color pink doesn’t have to be mentioned in every chapter.

And lastly in all honestly 400 pages was just a bit much for this story. I read longer romance books before but this one just really dragged on at some points and it just felt like there were a lot of filler scenes that felt unnecessary.

Overall I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely recommend it but it wasn’t one of my faves.

Thank you so much to Grace Reilly and @valentine_pr for the chance to read and review this Arc.🫶🏻

#Review: *Wicked Serve* - ARC - Grace Reilly [18+]
4.3/5✨
3.5/5🌶️

I applied for this book a while back and I was super happy that I was eventually accepted for an e-ARC! Thank you so much Valentine Pr and Grace Reilly!

In front row we have Isabella and Nikolai. They met one summer and they both felt that strong attraction to one another. So, they decided to have a fun summer, with no strings attached. They were sure they will not see each other again after that beautiful summer. But Nikolai gets into a bit of a mess and, with the help of his grandfather, he ends up at the same school as Izzy.

Seeing Nik again was a total shock for Izzy, but she couldn't stay too far from him, even though things haven't ended the they she wanted the first time. And they embarked into that rollercoaster again - thinking is a beneficiary thing for both of them. But, of course, real feelings grow for them both and they cannot deny them furthermore. After some huge mistakes everything changes for them in better.

I don't know if I've expected this book to be so spicy 😅. Yes, the chemistry between Nik and Izzy was perfect and it was the same behind closed doors. Nik was always very attentive with Izzy, especially because she had a really ugly break-up from her ex-boyfriend.

I liked that besides the spiciness it was present the part of the real life of the characters and the struggles they have to face. Izzy needs to heal from her last relationship and how she has been treated by him. Nik needs to get over a trauma from childhood, which was induced by his own abusive father, to decide what he should do in the future, because he loves playing hockey, but his grandfather constraints him into taking over the family business.

Overall, I think that this book had leveled up a bit, for me, in the second half of the story, where I had the chance to get to know the characters better, not only that strictly physical way. I recommend it to the ones who love smut books, because it has a lot 🤭.

✨Tropes:
#SecretRomance
#BoyFallsFirst
#BoyObsessed
#SportsRomance
#Hockey
#Volleyball
#Athlete
#BadBoyGoodGirl
#Angsty
#CloseProximity
#ComingofAge
#ForcedProximity
#Grumpy/Sunshine
#FoundFamily
#TragicPast
#TorturedLead
#OppositesAttract
#SecondChance
#SoulMate
#DualPov

Such a good read that I enjoyed! I'm so glad that I got the chance to read it early and will definitely be recommending it to multiple people who enjoy these types of novels. I enjoyed the characters and especially enjoyed the writing by this author. I'm excited to see what the author comes out with next as I'll definitely be reading it! Thank you to the publisher for my early copy of this book!

This was a really cute book! It gave me Elle Kennedy vibes. I loved Nik and Izzy together. I really enjoyed that they got together very quickly, but I did feel like the book kind of dragged towards the end. I think it could have been wrapped up quicker and maybe had 20 less chapter. By the time I got to chapter 53 I was ready for the book to be done.

I finished this book in a day! I was pulled in so fast and didn’t want to put it down.

I’m learning I really love sports romance books but this was all that and more! And the spice was SO GOOD!

I really felt connected to the characters and the storyline touched on heavier topics that made everything more real. I teared up more than once.

Nikolai is officially added to my book boyfriend list. He had so many moments and phrases that will live rent free in my head.

-he’s Russian
-brothers rival
-hockey and volleyball
-secret relationship
-dual POV
-found family
-mental health rep(childhood trauma, panic attacks, am I enough, abuse)

This was my first book from this author but definitely won’t be my last!