This is my first read from Grace Reilly which means this is also my first read in the Beyond the Play Series. Reading the previous books would likely help the reader learn more about the family, each couple's specific story, as well as their dynamics, but you can certainly read it on its own!

This was a cute and entertaining read for me. Definitely has spice. This is a read for anyone who is a fan of:

- College sports (Hockey & Volleyball)
- Hidden relationship
- Brother’s Rival

Right off the bat, we learn of Isabelle and Nikolai's relationship as a fling during the summer. At the end of summer, the two think they will never have to see one another again, but of course, fate finds its way and after being expelled and dropped as hockey captain Nikolai finds himself walking the same campus grounds as Isabelle

Both of our main characters have their own struggles and insecurities. Nik with his past and his father, while Izzy deals with family/self pressure and expectations. I do feel for our FMC, comparing her life to her brothers, that is something I can relate to and understand the pressure she felt. I think they were cute for one another, especially since Nik totally fell hard for Izzy and she was his sunshine.

Couple things I wish I saw more of were more details about Izzy and Nik's summer. I think that would have helped showcase more of their relationship from the earlier stages instead of the middle. I also wish there was more rivalry between Nik and Cooper, that would have made the sneaking around/hidden relationship more of a reason. (If there is some kind of mention in Cooper's story, then that's on me for not reading it).

The book was entertaining while also having some mental health representation, but I do think it was a little longer than it should have been. I was shocked when I saw it was 74 chapters, though they are super short. Overall, it was an enjoyable, easy read. If you have read the series and/or a fan of the tropes above, then this is a read for you! Wicked Serve releases on August 13th

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books, and Harper Voyager for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved this book! I loved how protective Nik was over Isabelle. You can see how much they love each other. It was definitely an interesting read and it was nice to read a book where both main characters play sports.

First and foremost-- I have not read the other books in this series. I thought this was a standalone; however, while reading, it was pretty obvious to me that there likely were other books.

The other books being Isabella's brothers' love stories seems a bit far-fetched. I'm not sure I'd go back to read those. The tight knit family is cute in one sense, but they really do spend an inordinate amount of time together, getting along like best friends, and loving each other's significant others. The PDA and open discussions of sex- while very modern -also are not for me. I wouldn't want to see my siblings making out and lap sitting with their SOs, so reading about it just isn't necessary.

This was a pretty run of the mill YA/College romance. The actual college moments of attending class or completing homework/assignments was an after thought to the romance. I missed getting to see the beginning of Izzy and Nik's relationship the previous summer, and her "sneaking around" while living in a house with her brothers also seems a bit off. (Three siblings and significant others willingly sharing a college house? That's... a lot... I didn't realize that multiple siblings even liked to attend the same college at the same time, let alone live with each other an extra few years while there.) It also didn't seem like Izzy and Nik were hiding their togetherness given how often they were in public together; seems like many other people would've seen them together.

There is spice, but the wording of some of it made me cringe. !! PSA: Can we please stop using the word "seed"?! !!

After all that... I feel like it was a relatively quick read. The pacing kept me going. The individual characters were likeable, but I think I'd appreciate them more as friends than siblings/sibling adjacent. The decision to make all the characters rich was necessary for the elaborate gestures throughout the story.

Overall: 3 stars (I liked it)

**Thank you to NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

This book is well written and has very good moments of humor, spice, etc. I did enjoy what I could make it through. Overall it dragged. It was just too much for one singular book, and every time I thought it was coming to an end I'd glance down to find I still had a large chunk of the book to go. Way too long compared to the norm of sports romances.

Wicked Serve was a sweet sports romance. Nikolai is so strong but so vulnerable. Isabelle is outgoing but also insecure. Together they help each other tackle the things in life that are roadblocks for them. There were so many moments when I just wanted to hug Nikolai and tell him it would all be okay. He’s very lovable. Isabelle has a lot of hurdles in front of her but she finds her way and discovers who she is realizes she is capable of anything she wants to tackle, I loved the camaraderie between Nikolai and Isabelle’s very protective brothers. And I loved when Isabelle found her voice. Wicked Serve is a story about growth, love, and healing.

I appreciate how this book covered some pretty difficult topics. The characters each had their own struggles that were worked out throughout the book, both with each other and with professionals (i.e. therapists). I really liked the parts that focused on Isabelle and her family. It made me want to read the other books (oops for starting with book 4).

Now for some things I didn’t love:
- For a college sports romance, we got a whole lot of sports and romance, but almost no college. This isn’t the biggest deal, but it felt weird that as students, the main characters seemed like they never had classes. They were also incredibly privileged so it just didn’t feel like a college romance (the Australia trip was just insane).
- I think this book could’ve been shorter. It took me awhile to read it as I just wasn’t connecting to the characters and story as much as I thought I would have.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Grace Reilly is a new author for me and will now be a constant. It's a great sports romance with undeniable chemistry. Isabelle (FMC) and Nikolai (MMC) fall in love and their dynamic is so great! It's full of passion, banter, emotion, and humor, keeping this an absolute page-turner!

Read if you like:
- Brothers rival
- He falls first
- No third-act breakup
- Grumpy x sunshine
- Found family

This book was so much fun! Wicked Serve is a steamy sports romance that hits all the right the spots. It's funny, sexy, and emotional. I flew through this story! Nikolai's whole life is hockey and he's desperate to make it to the NHL. He won't let anyone or anything derail his plan until he crashes back into Izzy's life. Izzy was ready to back into volleyball and focus on school and is not prepared for Nikolai to come back into her life. They can't deny their feelings and fall deeper but things get complicated. They will have to decide to figure out how to make things works.

sadly this wasn;t for me. it's repetitive to other YA/NA sports romances and I just found myself bored reading nothing special.

Hockey X volleyball
- Family drama
- Obsessed boy
- Boy falls first
- Brother's rival-turned-teammate
- Secret relationship
- Dual pov

Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly
Beyond the Play - Book #4

I am so sad this series is over.
This was a fresh take on the summer fling turns into a secret relationship trope. I really enjoyed that it was not the toxic portrayal that usually happens. I wont share more to not give it away, but it was a nice surprise.

My favorite part was the progression of Nikolai's personal growth. He has some heavy trauma that he grapples with but he is actually aware of it.
You get a lot of the previous characters as well - but it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Pick this one up if you enjoy:
◾ Sports romance - hockey x volleyball
◾ Brother's rival turned teammate
◾ Secret summer romance
◾ Mental health rep
◾ Found Family

"You’re everything to me, Isabelle. You’re stubborn warmth and wild summertime. You’re sunshine."

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Spice & Blush-o-Meter: Scarlet - NSFW - Full body flushing, new undies please!
[4+ descriptive sex scenes including harsh, descriptive language. Soft kink exploration, dirty talk, and all the o’s]

3.5 stars – Wicked Serve is Book 4 in the Beyond the Play series from Grace Reilly. I have to confess that I haven’t read the other books in this series. This book is about our FMC, Isabelle Callahan (volleyball player) and the MMC Nikolai Abney-Volkov (hockey player). Their story is cute and the last of the Callahan siblings. We see both college students mature quite a bit during their relationship. In fact, sometimes they seem much older than 19-20 years old.

I really enjoyed their stories, but the book did have some challenges. It was too long. The main characters were a couple in the first third of the book and then we watched them each deal with their own personal baggage. Secondly, the story seemed to start partway into their relationship. Izzy had spent last summer working for Nik’s mother, and they began being a thing then, yet we don’t read about that summer at all in this book.

Also, please note that this book has a few triggers like childhood trauma, physical and verbal abuse, anxiety, panic attacks and alcoholism and eating disorders.

A big Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review an ARC. Now, I’m off to read the other books in this series.

I have quickly fallen in love with Grace Reilly's writing. I just love the way she tells a story, There is great plot, the character's always go through something but always come out on the other side, and the chemistry and spice between Nik and Izzy was really great. She gives you an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. I devoured this series and I cannot wait for whatever she decides to write next. I can't believe it is over.

When I tell you that I loved this book and its characters…….I say it with my whole heart! I was not aware this wasn’t a standalone when I received…..but honestly…..I’m so glad I read it anyway!

The dynamics of the MC’s relationship is delicious…..summer fling turned romance….with a brother’s enemy vibe! These MC have DEPTH though! This is not another hockey romance…….this is a romance with complex deeply developed MC and one happens to play hockey!!

Nickolai and Isabelle……swoon.

Whoa! Very sexy, swoony, and well-done banter. I think this will appeal to fans of Meghan Quinn and Bal Khalabra. Hockey romance lovers will be obsessed. It’s also just a very lovely and well written story.

Wicked Serve

Thank you NetGalley and HarperCollins Publishing for this advanced copy of Wicked Serve! I love a good sports romance but especially hockey romances.

Nikolai and Izzy were fun to get to know after seeing glimpses of them in Grace Reilly’s previous books. I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in the McKee University world once again. My biggest complaint is I felt like I had read this book before, specifically The Deal. I’m a fan of that book so for me Wicked Serve was great!

I loved this book! This is the last book in the beyond the play series, where each book follows a different sibling and they each play a different sport. This whole series was so fun but while also covering serious topics. I am sad to see this series be over. I really liked Izzy and Nik's relationship. We have brothers rival, secret relationship, steamy romance. Nik's backstory is so devastating and sad and he does have to work through some things. I do wish we got more from the beginning of their relationship since we start the book with them already in a friends with benefits sort of deal. Also there were some scenes that seemed to be mostly fluff and not add a lot of things to the story. But overall I did enjoy this book a lot and I would recommend this whole series!

Wicked Serve is a cute, easy to read book. It takes two college sport athletes and mixes up a little romance in the midst of their family and sport issues. Isabelle is the only girl in a family of athletic boys and parents. Her dad is a retired footballer and she feels she never quite measures up. The need to excel at her sport, volleyball, takes front and center in her life. Nikolai is a star hockey player who has to transfer schools his senior year. He has his own family issues he needs to work through due to his famous hockey playing father. The two not only have to navigate their personal family issues, but they also have Isabelle's brother (who is a hockey player as well) to contend with in order to be together. This novel has a lot of personal growth for both characters and a lot of love and support for one another. They have to decide how to navigate their personal lives and their love life in order to be together. I would recommend this book to readers who like contemporary romance, sports romance, or chick lit.

I appreciate the attempt at a story about Izzy but this felt very contrived and a story about two immature people and honestly it was difficult to get through the book.

So many phrases in the book were cringeworthy.
The story and writing were lacking for me.
A lot of tantalizing scenes to try to keep the reader interested I guess?
Tried to wrap it up with a nice bow with Nik taking the Callahan last name and having a new family with being on the same team as her brother.
Just felt so ho hum.
Nothing original, nothing compelling and nothing worth noting.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher Avon for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book for my honest review.

Wicked Serve is the 4th book in this series. You can read this without reading the rest, but also go back and read all the other Callahan sibling books. This book main character is Isabelle, the youngest of the Callahan children. I have read all the other stories and this one did not disappoint. Izzy falls in love with the Nikolai, on ice enemy of her brother Cooper. Izzy and Nikolai have their own struggles throughout the book that they have to deal with along with hiding their relationship in the beginning from Izzy's family.

Don't miss the final book in the Callahan series!

This is the fourth book in a series, I was going in blind having never read anything by this author. I attempted to read first book, First Down, a while ago. I read the blurb and decided to take a chance. I know this author is relatively known, I'm not sure if her popularity is organic or by Tik tok, which I usually steer away from.
Overall, I should probably stick to my guns about viral books. The author is a good at writing the story flow, I just did not like the plot. The whole premise of keeping their relationship secret made no sense to me, I know it is rival schools, but it is not emphasized in the story. There is no animosity being a rival from his new team. Is the author familiar with sports or non American, she keeps calling their jerseys sweaters?? The reason Nikolai got kicked out of his former school for drugs, but he has a really rich grandfather that can't get him a pass. is a little antiquated for a company to be inherited only by a boy/ preference for boy when his grandfather only had female children. The whole Izzy hospitalization plot is incredibly ridiculous, she gets mad, then drinks her pain away, then gets a concussion because of a boy. I understand she comes from a family that is athletic and the pressure she faces, but come on. Lastly, I didn't like the references "Legally Blonde," as an old movie, I knew then what the demographic this author was targeting and it made me feel old lol. Booktok books, I have found, are really for beginner readers who have graduated from young adult. I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.