I was grateful to recieve an early E-copy of this story to review. The tropes drew me in immediately. I love a sports romance, especially if hockey is involved.

Nikolai and Isabelle had a secret fling over summer, and circumstances quickly find them back in the same city. Nikolai is Isabelles brothers new teammate so she is off limits - but is that really going to stop them???

This story shows Nikolai struggling with his mental health but I loved the way he finally put himself first in order to work through some things. Isabelle is just complete sunshine, who is was kind and caring, always putting everyone else first.

Wicked Serve was fun, lighthearted at times, completely pull-on-the-heartstrings at other moments and it pulled me in. I felt some parts of the story were a bit drawn out and there were a few scenes that didn't add much to the story, but it still managed to keep my interest.

It just started out as a summer fling and that's all it could be. Then Nik left her their last morning without even a goodbye. He knew that nothing could ever happen between them. He's her brother's biggest rival both on and off the ice and also he's afraid he'll eventually turn out like his father... just not good enough for her.
In a family of sports stars, Izzy felt like she'd never measure up, always seeking her father's approval and never feeling good enough. When events have Nik playing hockey for her college, they can't seem to stay away from each other. They agree to dating in secret because her brother - his teammate- would never approve. But what happens when she gets tired of all the lies?
I liked these two together, Izzy being so supportive of Nik and his trauma and panic attacks. They help each other with some tough decisions and learning to stand up for what they really want. The story was good but I feel like it could have been a little shorter as some of the chapters didn't really do much for the story. No fault to the author because I'm a lot older than her target demographic, but I had some trouble connecting with the characters, especially Izzy with her pink mentioned in every chapter and her hundreds of stuffed animals. Some of their decisions just seemed so obvious from the outside looking in. I'm happy they finally worked up the courage to live their own lives and stand up to family for what they really wanted.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Huuuuge thank you to Grace Reilly and Valentine PR for the ARC of Wicked Serve. It was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, and getting to read it early was just perfection *chefs kiss*

Y’all, I’m so freaking emotional over the end of this series??? Do yourself a favour if you haven’t read it yet, and do it 👏🏼ASAP👏🏼

Wicked Serve follows the love story of Izzy, our youngest and final Callahan sibling, and Nikolai, who happens to *also* be Cooper Callahans biggest hockey rival. We get to see them sneaking around, working through trauma and insecurities, and most of all, their endgame 🤩

- Sports romance
- College romance
- Fling to forever
- Secret relationship

This is a very cute story. I did have a bit of a hard time connecting with the characters since they are a bit younger than in the stories I usually read. But I did enjoy the development of their relationship.

Isabelle and Nikolai are in the middle of an intense fling at the beginning of the book. Both realize it's only for the summer, but ultimately, neither can stop thinking of the other. Their relationship is casual and secret since Isabelle is interning for Nikolai's mother and Nikolai is the captain of the rival college's hockey team.

However, when Nikolai finds himself booted from his college, his choices are limited. His grandfather will only help him get into another school if Nikolai gives up his dreams of joining the NHL after graduation and instead works at his grandfather's business.... Despondent, Nikolai agrees to his grandfather's conditions.. The bright side to this? He will be going to school at the same college as Isabelle.

Nikolai really wants to pick up things again with Isabelle, but does she feel the same way?

Okay the first 25% of this book had me HOOKED and I was enjoying it so much. And then the book just WOULD NOT END. It was incredibly too long for there to be not much conflict. I loved Nik and how his mental health was dealt with care. I wish we would've gotten some flashbacks from the MCs getting together because I feel like their sex scenes were made out to be kinky but the build up to that wasn't explored or shared with the reader. Overall just an okay read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader. All thoughts are my own.

Oh my gosh, I am in love with these characters. They deserve everything. Nikolai is fighting his past, doing everything he can think of to not be like some, and with the pressure he feels with his family, all while falling in love. And Isabelle feels the pressure to live up to her family name and hide the fact she is falling for her brother's rival. She goes from working super hard at volleyball to spending all her energy on her brother's wedding. And a little side piece of info: Nikolai helps her with ice skating. These two characters are perfect, and I'm so glad they got their happy ending. There are some mentions of panic disorder and abuse, so check out the trigger warnings, but this book was definitely worth the read. 5-stars from me! It was cute and fluffy and some spice; I loved it all.

Arc Review
Wicked Serve By Grace Reilly
Available August 13
4.5⭐

First off i would like to thank @netgalley @Avonbooks and @HarperVoyagerUS for a gifted e-arc of this book.

This story follows Izzy & Nik. Both are college athletes. Izzy is striving to get a better position on her volleyball team & Nik is trying to figure out how to work on his new hockey team (once his rival school) The tension. The chemistry. The spice 😘🥰

Izzy is a strong confident woman. She is very outgoing & selfless. Shes open about her feelings to an extent. She cares about her family & always stands up for herself and her loved ones. She is trying to focus on volleyball & get her old position back and not get distracted by her attraction to Nik.

Nik is a hockey player who is struggling with some mental health issues. He isn't very open about his past but when he does 😘 . He is a kind gentle protective soul who is obsessed with izzy from the moment he laid eyes on her at a game. He is trying to focus on hockey & do his best on his new team without causing waves. He works on his mental health for a better future for himself & izzy.

5/5 recommend this book. Grace is a new to me author & her writing is effortlessly & beautiful. This is my first book by her & her storytelling is done beautifully. I will read the rest of her books. 🥰💚

🏐✨Wicked Serve✨🏐

4.5⭐️
3.5🌶️

B L U R B
He's my brother's biggest hockey rival... but he's bringing the heat for me.

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.

Isabelle - 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.

R E V I E W
Damn, this was so good! Absolutely loved it. Nikolai is amazing, everything he goes through is so brutal and yet he's still such a sweet heart! I loved reading about Isabelle and Nik, their chemistry was palpable. I will say this was quite long for a romance. I personally enjoyed reading all of it but objectively, I'm sure that some of it is a little unnecessary to some readers. If you love to read about two people who are perfect together, whether no one knows about them or everyone knows, then this is absolutely the book for you 💚

Please check your trigger warnings before reading 💚

Wicked Serve is coming out August 13! Don't miss out!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review Wicked Serve.

I’ve been a huge fan of the Beyond the Play series ever since the beginning and was looking forward to reading this as soon as stinking possible. Izzy has always been more in the background of the other three books, so my anticipation was at an all-time high.

I truly loved getting to know Izzy and Nikolai. It was incredibly refreshing to jump into things toward the end of their original fling, even though I briefly missed the origin story of their relationship.

Another incredibly rare thing (but nice to see!) was that Izzy’s fling and situation with Nik were never viewed in a negative capacity. Even her brothers (for the most part) were super respectful of what she was doing and we didn’t have to encounter any of the, “You’re too young!” Or “Is he taking advantage of you?” Or “You’re using her to get to me,” energy.

I loved loved the mental health rep we got in this book when dealing with panic attacks and anxiety, and appreciated watching a relationship maneuver these topics as well.

Overall, big fan of Izzy and Nik as characters (Izzy’s confidence when she’s in control is amazing to see) and this was a lovely wrap-up to the series and the Callahan siblings. That moment 3/4 through when James, Cooper, and Sebastian included Izzy in a family tradition had me smiling through soft tears.

Huge fan of an epilogue where we get a nice bow on everyone’s journey and cannot wait to see what Grace Reilly does next!

He’s my brother’s biggest hockey rival… but he’s bringing the heat for me.

What a cute and fluffy read. I am slowly getting into the sports romance genre and they are fun.
I love that this relationship is showing us what a healthy relationship is like. Romance, respect, and love.

If she’s sunshine, Im the guy who hopes it never starts raining.

ARC REVIEW
Isabelle’s story is one that I’ve been looking forward to since starting this series. This book did not disappoint. Nikolai and Isabelle’s story is beautiful, but their growth individually is what makes this story so fantastic. Both characters have so much thrown at them and they continue to step up and rise to the occasion.

Hockey and volleyball? What an interesting but fun take. I loved the mental health representation, support, etc in this book. It’s truly important and was well done here.

I did find some of this book to drag on just a tad. But overall it was a good read and I’ll be recommending! I haven’t read the authors other works but I’m interested to hear back and read them now.

I can appreciate how there was a lack of fighting between the FMC and MMC! That was refreshing compared to many books.

There is also spice but I wouldn’t say it’s to crazy either, just in the right spot for everyone!

I've loved the beyond the play series so far and couldn't wait to dive into this one! While wasn't fully needed, I wish I had reread the other three first just because the series is so good and this was a perfect continuation.

Nik and Izzy fell, and fell hard, when she was interning for his mom over the summer. When he unexpectedly transfers to the university she attends, joining the hockey team her brother is captain of, they rekindle their slightly forbidden romance (Nik and Cooper, despite being teammates now, very much are rivals).

It was so fun to revisit the beyond the play series in this story, it definitely had some heavier moments and allll the spice, and the epiloquge was just 🥰🫠🥰 perfection.

Foe those living in their sports romance Era, you'll definitely enjoy this one, and the series as a whole!!

Thank you Netgalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review!

It's so rare to find a volleyball romance so I am very grateful for this one. Nik and Isabelle are so cute and I am obsessed. The two of them were never going to be just a fling. When he came to the school and they were basically dating without calling it that. They were such adorable idiots.

I received an arc from valentine pr.

🏐🏒ARC REVIEW🏒🏐

Thank you @authorgracereilly & @valentine_pr_ for my ARC copy of Wicked Serve.

This was an emotional one!
I loved the mental health representation in this one. As a person who’s been medicated for panic/anxiety attacks, it felt very relatable. Nikolai always looking after everyone else while internalizing his own pain made me feel SEEN. You callin me out, Grace? 🥴🤪

Anyway. I actually found Izzy to be a very mature and cool FMC. The communication between the two was so refreshing and enjoyable.
Honourable mention to the spice we all know I love hehe. 😏🥵

Wicked Serve is the 4th instalment in the Beyond the Play series, but can be read as a standalone, and will be released in 3 days!!! Mark your calendars for August 13th!

In Wicked Serve you’ll find:
🏐volleyball player FMC
🏒hockey player MMC
🏐brothers rival
🏒sports romance
🏐family drama (check trigger warnings)
🏒panic disorder rep (check trigger warnings)

Nikolai is in the last season of hockey in college and is forced to switch colleges. So now he is playing with his enemy, who is the brother of Izzy. Hm and Izzy had a summer fling and didn't think they would see each other again.
Their feelings are back but they need to keep things from her brother. But then the brother and him start becoming friends.
Izzy plays volleyball and wants her position back but for some reason the coach has it out for her. So she has to prove herself and get what she wants, Both the position and Nikolai.
I found it a cute romance and enjoyed reading it.

3 stars.

"Wicked Serve" by Grace Reilly feels like an excuse to have a book that's 85% spice. I love spicy scenes just as much as the next romance reader, but this book has *too much of it* (something I didn't think was possible!) and not enough interesting plot or emotional connection between the two main characters. It's basically this formula: Isabelle and Nik do the deed, they part for a few days, then they sneak around and do the deed, then they take a few days away from each other, then they do the deed, Isabelle argues with someone in her family, she and Nik do the deed, rinse, lather, repeat until the book ends. It felt like the thrill of them sneaking around was greater than any emotional affection or love between them. I didn't believe they loved each other by the story's end, but I darn well knew that they loved doing the nasty with each other...that much is painfully obvious! I am positive this book will make all of the booktok girlies go wild and swoony. I am sure I am in the minority on my feelings for this one, but it didn't grab me like I hoped it would. The pining is there only because of the forbidden romance aspect of the story, but other than that, I felt no spark between Isabelle and Nik. The writing is not bad, it just feels like it was written with booktok/social media in mind. It checks all the boxes: overloaded spice, hockey romance, k1nky, cutesy cartoon cover. I would have preferred less $mut and more connection. The book as a whole feels a little too long to me. Certain parts feel repetitive, and other parts feel like they drag on a bit too much. Some of it is obviously page filler. All of this being said, I did not have a terrible time reading this one. I do like and appreciate the examination of the mental health aspects of the story. It's fine, but I likely won't remember reading it in a few months. I know this is billed as a standalone book, but I wish I had gone back and read the other entries in this series. This family and the characters in it clearly have an established rapport that would be better served having read all of the books before "Wicked Serve."

Thank you to NetGalley, Grace Reilly, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

WICKED SERVE – Grace Reilly
Beyond the Play, Book 4
Avon
ISBN: ‎ 978-0-063-38714-0
August 13, 2024
New Adult Romance

Moorbridge – Present Day

Nikolai Abney-Volkov loves playing hockey, but he’s caught between his Russian father and his mother’s father in New York City. He makes a deal with his grandfather: he will complete his final year of college and play for the hockey team, but when the year is up, he will come to work in his grandfather’s company. Of course, attending college in Moorbridge means that Nikolai will encounter Isabelle Callahan, the gorgeous sister of his fellow hockey teammate, Cooper. Nikolai and Isabelle had already had a blistering fling but he’s playing with fire if they get involved again. However, fate doesn’t care…

Isabelle plays for the college volleyball team and wants to win the coveted position of setter on the team. With Nikolai in town, she finds it hard to concentrate, especially when she can’t help but run into him. Soon, they can’t hide their attraction and passion erupts. Cooper will be unhappy to learn that his sister is involved with Nikolai. Will their affair prove to be distracting for both of them? Her coach is hard, while Nikolai is trying to make the best of his last season of hockey, even as his father, a man he hates, keeps calling him from Russia.

Whew! WICKED SERVE is sizzling hot as there are lots of sexy, sensual scenes between Isabelle and Nikolai. While they tried to avoid each other at first, that proved to be hard. Meanwhile, this tale has lots of emotion as both are torn over their future, which includes what will happen to their relationship. Nikolai spent most of his childhood in Moscow, Russia, but after his father hit his mother, his parents divorced, and he moved to New York City with his mother. His maternal grandfather wants Nikolai to follow him into the business, while his father wants him to come to Russia to compete in ice hockey. He also has an offer from a United States hockey team. But hockey may be in the rear window if he goes along with his grandfather.

Isabelle feels like she is qualified to be the setter on her volleyball team, but her coach is making it tough for her. She is falling for Nikolai even though she knows their being together will be tough. One thing Isabelle soon learns is that he is a complicated person. But he makes her feel good and they get along well sexually. Yet they feel like they are riding a ticking time bomb. Once the year is up, will their affair end? As Isabelle deals with Nikolai’s swinging emotions about his father and his future, she finally learns the reason for them. Can she help him deal with them? Will he do as he promised his grandfather and quit hockey once the season ends? Meanwhile, his father’s calls are becoming more persistent. Come to Russia is his father’s message. But can he get past what his father did?

Will Isabelle and Nikolai finally be together at the end of WICKED SERVE? They have a tough road to finding the right path. Discover how it all ends by picking up this intriguing tale.

Patti Fischer
Romance Reviews Today

This was such a cute book, definitely my favourite from this series.Their support and encouragement from each other was one of the best parts!

The mental health representation was a great aspect of this book as well, Grace really delivered in that department

However, I felt like the book was really long and dragging, I disconnected a bit mid way towards the end

Nevertheless, it's sad to say goodbye to the Callahan siblings. The love and support they have from each other it's so heartwarming, love them so much 🫶


Thank you Grace Reilly and Valentine PR for the arc 🙏

Grace Reilly continues her streak of writing genius with Wicked Serve! I stumbled onto Reilly and the Callahan Clan with First Down. By Breakaway, Reilly had me fully sucked into world, fully devoted to these brothers. I was foaming at the mouth for Stealing Home. But Wicked Serve is by far the highlight of the entire series. Not only does Izzy steal the show from her brothers with her sunshine demeanor, but together with Nikolai, they are the powerhouse couple of the series. The softness, the delicious spiciness, the range of emotions and depth of exploration into mental health. All around top tier characters packaged in an engaging storyline. Loved it, couldn’t get enough!! Grace Reilly is the gift that keeps on giving!