I had not read the rest of the series but I definitely will after this one. Reillys characters were wonderful and I’m so happy to have been introduced to them.
Nikolai was ah-mazing and I’m so happy to know him. He’s absolutely obsessed with our sunshine girl.
He is all she deserves and more. I’m glad she will be spoiled by him.

This was my first Grace Reilly book, and now I am a fan. I really enjoyed following Nikolai and Izzy’s relationship - a summer fling with the potential to be something more. They both have to deal with their own personal issues before anything could possibly go any further,

Thank you Avon and NetGalley for allowing me to receive a copy of Wicked Serve in exchange for an honest review!!

I am a big fan of watching hockey (I literally do not know much about it) and I sure am a fan of reading it now. This book was good! At some points I felt like I was giddy and giggling. I love the duo sports couple POV because it made it so fun to read and I am IN LOVE with the found family trope so I very much appreciated that as well.

Thank you to NetGalley, Grace Reilly & Avon for the chance to read Wicked Serve in exchange for an honest review. Wicked Serve is the fourth and final book in the Beyond the Play Series that follows the Callahan siblings. In order to grasp the full story, I purchased the prior three books and became very invested in the family and how Grace Reilly would end the series. Wicked Serve centers around volleyball player and youngest sibling, Isabelle Callahan "Izzy," and hockey player and brother's biggest rival, Nikolai Abney-Volkov "Nik." They met and had a fling during the summer, but an incident at school finds Nik transferring for his final year to Izzy's school. Although they intended to keep the fling short and under wraps, their chemistry makes is difficult to ignore and they soon find themselves back together and facing all the challenges that come their way.

I loved the way Grace focused on both players, highlighting moments of their athletic programs, college life and future careers. It felt very realistic to see these characters struggle with the balance of it all and yet learn to prioritize in a way that ensured their success. I also enjoyed the sibling dynamic and the return of these beloved characters. Grace also tackled some difficult subjects with accuracy and empathy and you can't help but cheer for these two to get their happily ever after. I adored this book and am excited for whatever Grace Reilly will focus on next!

Wicked Serve was a good book but didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I loved that both main characters were invested in their own sports, and I liked the premise of love with the brother’s rival. The book kept me interested so I gave it 3 stars, but my biggest critique is that the first half of this book felt very separate from the second half, and there were characteristics of each MC that didn’t really get built into the beginning of the story to make it cohesive. Additionally, I felt like it could have been a bit shorter in length.

I will still give this author another chance because maybe I just wasn’t the right audience for this particular book.

Although this is the 4th installment in the Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly, this is my first read by this author at all. Being introduced to all of the brothers and their partners near the same was a bit overwhelming initially since I didn't already know them, but I got over it quickly, as this story certainly focuses on Isabelle and Nik.

I generally enjoyed this novel and the smut. and how the smut was dispersed throughout! I'm new-ish to sports romances and I liked that this wasn't solely focused on one sport. Nik plays hockey, Isabelle plays volleyball, and others in her family play/played football and baseball. I thought Nik and Isabelle's acceptance of their real feelings for each other was really cute and I enjoyed seeing their relationship progress throughout.

I prefer short chapters over long, and Wicked Serve delivered in this regard. On the whole, this felt a ~little~ long, but Reilly also packed a lot of content into here! Check the CWs below on this one for sure. I liked Nik's Russian nickname for Isabelle, but at other times, the Russian thrown in throughout felt out of place/unnecessary.

CWs: anxiety, panic, domestic abuse, childhood trauma and abuse, estranged parent, strained parental relationship

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher Avon & Harper Voyager for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Izzy & Nikolai meet over the summer in NYC while she is interning with his mom. They have a summer fling with the intention of no feelings attached, and then he disappears on their last morning together. He gets expelled from his college and has to go to McKee University to play hockey where Izzy is also a student. Oh, her brother is also his biggest rival & new team captain!

Grace snuck so many feelings and emotions into this story. Izzy & Nikolai were both so clearly invested in each other beyond the physical attraction, even though they tried to fight it for so long. I loved the way they tenderly cared for each other and gradually showed their feelings and emotions.

The found family in this book was perfect. Nik’s childhood came with many red flags, but the Callahan’s accepted him one by one through this whole book.

Favorite moments:
•every time the Callahan’s had Nik’s back or reached out to him
•when they saw Izzy’s ex over Christmas
•the epilogue

• college sports • volleyball / hockey • summer fling turned secret relationship • brothers rival • found family • complicated father/son relationship • 4th in Beyond the Play series •

CW: domestic abuse talked about & flashbacks

Wicked Serve is your standard college romance with elements of sports, love, family, and friendships.

This is book four of the Beyond the Play series. I haven’t read any of the previous books, but that didn’t seem to take away from this one. There ~are~ spoilers for the others, though, if you happen to read this one first.

Overall, I thought the plot was fine, it had a lot more emotional depth than your typical college/sports romance, but it could have been flushed out a little more. It would have been nice to have some summer flashbacks throughout, too. The pacing was also off, with some chapters days or even weeks or months ahead, and the book itself felt like it was a little ~too~ long. It was a good read that didn’t particularly stand out to me, but if you like college/sports romances I think you’ll enjoy this one!

Before reading, I would check the trigger warnings. There’s several potential triggers including domestic abuse, abuse, divorce, panic attacks, extreme anxiety, etc.

And finally - thank you so much to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was adorable! It was an emotional rod involving sports, friendship, and feelings, and many more unexpected things. Don’t even get me started on koalas!! This was very cute and full of banter and I can’t wait to read more from this author!

After spending the summer working as a wedding planning intern and having a summer fling with her brother’s hockey rival Nik (who is also her boss’ son), Izzy is ready to focus on the new semester at McKee University and the new volleyball season. After Nik gets expelled from his school and hockey team, he is forced to transfer to McKee University and become teammates with Cooper Callahan (a.k.a. his hockey rival and Izzy’s older brother). Sharing the same campus means that Izzy and Nik constantly find themselves in close proximity and they eventually resume their secret fling. But when the line between “friend with benefit” and boyfriend begins to blur, Nik realises that he needs to be honest about his mental health and past childhood trauma or risk losing Izzy forever.

Wicked Serve is the fourth and final book in Reilly’s Beyond the Play series of interconnected standalones about the Callahan siblings at McKee University. Wicked Serve is a sports romance featuring the forbidden/secret romance, forced proximity, rival turned teammate’s little sister, grumpy with sunshine, and boy obsessed tropes. This would be perfect for fans of the Beyond the Play series to fans of sports romances like The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy, The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson, Quarterback Sneak by Kandi Steiner, Catching Feelings by Maren Moore, Playing Hard to Get by Monica Murphy, or The Rule Book by Sarah Adams. Some themes and topics present in Wicked Serve include mental health and panic attacks, PTSD and trauma, abuse, marriage and divorce, love and heartbreak, self doubt and self esteem, legacy, as well as family and found family.

I have to admit, Penny and Cooper from Breakaway (book two in the Beyond the Play series) are still my favourite, but Izzy and Nik are for sure a close second! Wicked Serve is probably the spiciest of the Beyond the Play books with lots of sneaking around and secret hook-ups, but it’s also super sweet and swoonworthy with cute nicknames and even a romantic surprise involving adorable koalas. Izzy and Nik’s story was also surprisingly emotional towards the end, I even found myself tearing up a bit, which I was not expecting. I loved Izzy’s girly aesthetic and enjoyed reading about her preamble into wedding planning (without spoiling anything, Izzy even gets to plan a significant character’s wedding!). Having already read the first three books in the series, I enjoyed how all of the Callahans made appearances throughout Wicked Serve and the epilogue of Wicked Serve as well as the overall ending of the series was perfection.

There really wasn’t much about this book that I didn’t like, but I will say that Izzy and Nik’s story had more conflict in it than I typically like (I’m a big fan of no third act break-ups).

Overall, I really enjoyed Wicked Serve and would highly recommend it to fellow sports romance readers. I’m sad that this series has ended but I’m excited to see what’s next for Grace Reilly!

This one is your run of the middle hockey/sports romance. The relationship was cute and it was just the right amount of spice. If you're a fan of Elle Kennedy this is one for you.

Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly is a captivating hockey romance centered around two brothers who are rivals both on and off the ice. The palpable tension and sizzling chemistry between Nik and Izzy will leave readers swooning. From the thrilling moments on the hockey rink to the steamy encounters behind closed doors, Wicked Serve is a delightful read that keep me hooked from beginning to end.

This is the last book in Beyond the Play series and I loved Isabelle and Nikolai. They read age appropriate and I thought their character growth was well thought out. The Callaghan family cameos were some of my favorite scenes and I really enjoyed how they brought Nik into the fold.

While I loved the characters in the book, I found myself getting bored and wondering when the story was going to end at 60%. The secrets from Nik's past could have been revealed all at once instead of spaced out. It made the scenes in between feel unnecessary and made me want to skip to the final conflict and HEA.

Readers who enjoy longer books will probably enjoy this one, but it was not my favorite.

Brother’s rival hockey romance! It’s such an easy read. I do love this series and I’m happy with this. It’s an easy read and had a bit of spice but not too much.

I am so sad to be writing this review as I was looking forward to this book! The rest of the series was enjoyable for me, but I had a hard time getting through this one.

There were definitely some enjoyable parts to this book, but most of it just fell pretty flat. I had a really hard time with Izzy as a character. She kept going back and forth in what she wanted, which is understandable her being a college student, but it was really repetitive and took away from the plot in my opinion. And while I felt for Nik, I really wish he would have spoke to his family/a professional sooner because he definitely had the resources! There were so many opportunities for real/serious issues to be addressed and they were glossed over or used as excuses.

I really wish we could have seen Nik and Izzy together more during the summer so there was a foundation for their attraction/friendship. It seemed rushed and hard to buy into at times, especially when there were quite a few detailed spicy scenes that felt out of character.

I thought Nik's relationship with Izzy's family was great though, especially with Cooper (once they got over their issues) and Sebastian (who I thought was the most mature out of all of them - parents included). I did enjoy the humor and seeing their growth, but it was hard for me to fully come back from everything else.

Thank you to Avon & Harper, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I’m so sad this series has come to an end, because I really loved my time with the Callahan family. I especially enjoyed all the cameos from the family in this book, especially the epilogue. I did feel like the story was a bit long in places it could have been shorter. And then the ending felt a little rushed, and the epilogue quite short (I honestly would have liked more). I also really loved watching Cooper & Nik become such close friends, just as much as I loved watching Nik & Izzy’s love story develop.

This was definitely another Sporty and Spicy read from Grace, and I think fans of the series will really enjoy this sweet ending to all of it.

In general, I've enjoyed this whole series and was so happy to finally read Isabelle's story!
First, it is always nice to see a relationship with a younger couple that isn't toxic, is supportive, and has a solid foundation. But also, who doesn't love a secret relationship for the spice level (which is a lot)?
After reading the brothers' stories previously, it tracked that Isabelle is a generally strong and confident girl and it was nice to see the girl in the relationship be the stronger, supportive, and guiding one. With that being said, Nik needed more of a backbone at certain times, especially with his family. He didn't even argue or put up a single fight with his grandfather's plan. I get he was struggling with this relationship with hockey because of his dad but he could have voiced it more. I also get trying to incorporate his culture and background but the Russian language didn't make sense to me and in general just doesn't sound (or read) romantic so it didn't work for me.
I'm assuming this series is completed now, but I'd be ok with some spin off stories! Just maybe not 400 pages.
Is it believable that so many attractive and sports talented people came from one family? No. But it sure is entertaining to read about!

DNF due to trigger warnings. Maybe Netgalley can find a way to incorporate them into the book description before one requests it, when they are available.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wicked Serve is the fourth book in Grace Reillys Beyond the Play Series revolving around the Callahan siblings.
This installment is about Izzy, the youngest of the family and a college volleyball player, and her casual (and secret) relationship with Nikolai, her brothers ice hockey rival.
Isabelle is trying hard to be a good volleyball player in the hopes of proving her worth to her family full of outstanding athletes.
Nikolai has to fight his own problems with his traumatic childhood and family pressure to put his grandfathers business before his dreams of the NHL.
Their summer fling should have been the end of it, but when Nikolai is sent to her brothers hockey team to become his teammate they pick up right where they left off but this time they have to sneak around.

The only other book I read from this series is the second one, Coopers and Pennys book, and I remember giving it 5 stars and liking the writing style.
This one is also pretty well written. The characters struggles and inner thoughts are portrayed well and in a believable way.
The FMC was not as likable as Penny from book two, but I still liked her for bein real.
The MMC is not a typical romance novel alpha male without emotions or growth but rather a real person with real feelings and problems.
I disliked his treatment of her sometimes but find that he redeemed himself in the end.
Seeing how close the Callahans and all their partners are was heartwarming.
The spice level I'd say is moderate and fits the storyline without being too much.
The only critique I have, and the reasons I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is that we don't really witness Izzys and Niks relationship begin. They obviously had a summer fling that wasn't serious at all before he joins her brothers team and subsequently moves to her city, but it's only mentioned, not showed. So we didn't really see their chemistry build or or their first kiss. It's already all been done by the beginning of the book so that was a tad bit disappointing. I would have wished for the book to begin when their relationship began. Or at least some flashbacks.
Otherwise an entertaining read.

I was honestly bored and a little confused by the first 80% of the story. Because Izzy and Nikolai's romance starts off-page, the reader doesn't get to see what drew them to each other, therefore we don't have a solid foundation to understand how their relationship is rekindled.

And I cannot even believe I am writing this, but the sex scenes were too much and felt too disconnected from the characters. Every sex scene felt like I had been transported into a completely different story, with completely different people. It felt very much like the story was written as a closed door romance and then the decision was made to add a bunch of sex scenes. I want the sex scenes to explore something new about the characters or further the plot and these did nothing.

For me, the pacing was off. You go through, what I am sure are meant to be high conflict situations in the first 80% of the book, but they all feel unwarranted. Disagreements between Izzy and Nikolai feel overblown and unnecessarily exaggerated.

That said, I did enjoy the last 20% of the book - you finally see some character growth on Nikolai's part. I like when the male main character realizes he needs to make some changes before he can be the man her wants to be for the heroine and takes time for himself. But it definitely felt like Nikolai wasn't the only character that would have benefited from therapy.

I received an eARC of this book for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.