4.5 ⭐️

such a cute book and great end to the Callahan siblings! I loved this series and was so excited to read Izzy’s!

I normally don’t care for found family, if it’s there it’s there, but it was so good in this book!

Also, with forbidden romance, I usually like more conflict when other people find out about the relationship, and this is the only reason it’s not a 5 ⭐️. But the conflict with his father was a good storyline!

Thank you to NetGalley & HarperCollins Publishers for the arc!!

Without fail, Grace Reilly’s books always bring me immense joy. They are funny and sweet and feel so incredibly real.

Izzy and Nik have become one of my favorite book pairings. Meeting them after they already, deniably, started falling for each other was also a unique twist that I really loved. Watching them break down their walls and trust each other, and screw up too, made it easy to come to love them so quickly. Plus the spice was impeccable.

The Beyond the Play series is set up in a way that really feels like found family doesn’t even scratch the surface. It almost feels like catching up with friends from your home town.

A definite recommendation for me to anyone who’s looking for sports romances!!

3.5 Rounded up to 4 Stars

I was so happy to be back with the Callahan family in Wicked Serve. This time, we follow Izzy and her brother's hockey rival, Nik. I really enjoyed their dynamic and loved how the author wrote their issues.

At one point, I was worried it would turn into my most hated trope, miscommunication, but Grace really wrote these characters as mature adults. I appreciated that a lot.

Just a heads up: this book covers some heavy topics like physical and verbal abuse, and childhood trauma.

My only gripe is that it felt a bit too long. I think the story could have wrapped up sooner if some of the side characters’ stories were shortened.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and think it’s a perfect, easy summer read.

I'll round up to 4 stars, but this was a pretty solid 3.5 star book.

I hadn't read any of the previous books in the series, and it didn't change my enjoyment of the book at all. I thought this was a sweet story of a summer fling turned into a solid relationship. Izzy and Nik were a very cute couple and while their emotional maturity might not be realistic for a couple of 20/21 year olds, it did feel refreshing that the crux of the story didn't hinge on a simple misunderstanding. Izzy and Nik both confronted some deeper issues - history of abuse, deciding how to step out of the spotlight of your famous family members, and how to carve a path for yourself. Everything was light without feeling like the book was totally without substance. I enjoyed the plot and the spice (and...there is a lot of spice!) but nothing felt super memorable for me. This was fun to pick up when I had a spare moment, but I wasn't pulled to keep reading into the middle of the night or counting down the minutes until I could read this story again. The amount of supporting characters made it clear the characters had families and friends to rely on without being distracting to the story.

If you're looking for a quick beach read, this series is a good one to pick up. No need to read in order.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!

4.5💗💗

I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END🥹, I love these Callahan siblings, it was very nice and fun to read each of their books.🤍

I seriously love how Grace writes, her books are very addictive and quick to read and the best thing is that they have double pov, I LOVE IT.🛐

I loved this book, I was already excited to read Izzy's book, (the last of the Callahan siblings) and the book was very good.🥹💗

Izzy and Nik's relationship was very beautiful, I LOVE THEM💗, I loved their dynamics, their interactions, the mutual support between them, the tension of these two omg and their hot moments OMG!, apart from HE SPEAKS TO HER IN RUSSIAN🫦🫦 (he's Russian), I'm seriously in love, everything was very good, and the best thing I loved was that there wasn't much drama or unnecessary drama, I really liked the whole development of the relationship, especially Nik and since he wanted to improve as a person, the two of them are perfect.🥹

The epilogue is VERY beautiful, I WANTED MORE, I'm going to miss them a lot, these books are very great.😩

To say no more and avoid spoilers haha, I really recommend this series of siblings, which is very cute, you can read them independently but it is much nicer to read them in order.💗

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


Thanks netgalley, Grace and avonbooks/harpervoyager for the arc

This was my first book in the Beyond the Play series but it won't be my last! I loved the Callahan family and I loved Nikolai and Izzy's story. They were so good for each other despite desperately trying to stay away from each other. Their relationship progressed so beautifully and I loved how they supported each other throughout the story.

Nikolai and Izzy have a summer fling while Izzy is interning for Nikolai’s mom. While they both think it’s going great, Nik leaves Izzy one morning because he doesn’t think he’s good enough for her. He doesn’t think it’ll be a problem since they attend separate colleges, but then he gets expelled from his school and his only opportunity to keep playing hockey is at the one school that just so happens to be where Izzy goes. Nik should be ecstatic about the prospect to see Izzy again, but the problem? Izzy’s brother is captain of the hockey team, and does not like Nik. The two decide to continue their relationship in private while Nik adjusts to the new school and new team. This proves to be difficult since Izzy lives with her older brother, and further when he and Nik unexpectedly start up a friendship.

This is the fourth book in the Beyond the Play series featuring the athletic Callahan siblings. Izzy is the youngest and only girl in the family so it was interesting getting her story. I had read the first book in the series, but skipped the other two as they all can be read as stand-alones. In my opinion, this book was unnecessarily long. At the halfway mark, there had already been a resolution to the main conflict yet the book continued to drag on. I did appreciate the dual perspectives of the main characters and the fact Nik didn’t try to rely on Izzy to solve his mental health issues/childhood trauma. I would probably not recommend this book to many people, but if I was going to I would suggest only picking it up if you liked the other books in the series, enjoy sports romance, and/or you’re 18+ due to mature themes in the book. Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for providing me this book in exchange for my honest review.

Okay, I haven't read any of the other books in the series...and yet I devoured this one! I was drawn to it because I've been enjoying hockey romances lately...but I also played volleyball for ten years - so I knew this one would be right up my alley.

Initially, I thought it was a bit on the long side - but I ultimately appreciated that. Both parts of our main couple had their own storylines and obstacles to overcome, and I felt the author gave each of them their own time and stories - while also giving us a fantastic romance. It never felt like too much - but felt like we had whole, complete characters with independent stories outside of the central relationship.

As for the relationship - I truly enjoyed our friends with benefits, to actual lovers journey; you got the longing for more from both Nik and Isabelle, to the emotional outburst when they couldn't hold it in any longer. Plus, the steamy scenes were literally perfection.

I've already gotten the other books in the series on Kindle Unlimited - so am excited to spend a bit more time in this world and with these characters. But truly, I don't know if anyone will be able to top Nik for me.

3.75 ⭐️ | 📚 | 🌶️🌶️ (2.5)

First of all, thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyage for an ARC copy of Wicked Serve in exchange for an honest review.

This book is very cute while also being emotional. I thought that Nik and his background were written well and respectfully and I enjoyed his character, although something was holding me back from loving him. Isabelle was a very strong and empowered female lead and I loved her, except a lot of her “quirks” seemed very childish. I had to keep reminding myself that these characters are SO young so some of the things that seem juvenile to me as a 30-something, likely aren’t juvenile to someone so much younger.

I think the thing really holding me back from loving this book was the pacing. In theory, this book has everything: great characters, decent plot, development and emotion, found family AND real family, hockey and spice and usually I fall head over heels for books that check all the boxes. However, I found myself kind of bored in the middle and towards the end.

Overall though, this was a great wrap up to the Callahan Sibling series and I highly recommend for readers who are fans of Elle Kennedy and the Off Campus & Briar U series.

Final Note: I think since I know nothing about Russian customs and culture, it threw me off that Nik seemed to have about 100 names. But maybe that’s just me

One of those impulse requests because I'd seen stuff about this author on social media, and I'd listened to the other books in this series.

I'm still on a bit of a romance hiatus, despite the number of romance ARCs on my NetGalley shelf. I liked that Nik came back, thought I listened to the books so long ago before work got crazy pants, I barely remembered him. I liked getting to hear Izzy's story since she has little cameos in the other books.

It's definitely not as much of a standalone as the others can be. The brothers and little plot points in this book are references to huge plot points of the other books in the series.

Overall, it was fine. Glad I finished out the series. Thanks, NetGalley!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for this ARC.

I liked the potential of this book from the start, it was a secret dating but also friends to lovers which was really sweet.

What didn’t quite hit for me was

*the length of the book - it was too long. About 200 pages too long.

*you have to have a background understanding of volleyball to care at all about the VERY frequent purely volleyball scenes (which didn’t add a lot to the plot).

*the characters act very immature in their relationships, but then extremely mature with their sexual relationship. It was a bit confusing to keep up with especially since they are only supposed to be college age.

*the emotional trauma of the male main character and his mental health is used as a flimsy plot device instead of deep diving into the seriousness of the topics and creating a real narrative around it.

Overall, I think this was a great end for the Callahan sibling series for those who have read the first three books. If you are not invested in the series, this may not be a good read marketed as a standalone.

Great hockey book, love the story and the development.
Enjoy the couple a lot . This was fun and fresh. Definitely recommend

What started off as a summer fling ends up being much more in this novel!

I’m not one for “second chance” romance which to me this falls into that category (this is a ME problem so the rating is a reflection of my own personal flaws) However this was a solid read.

Their story was probably even better if you’ve read the books that came before this one - I had not. If you’re in the mood for a quick little spicy romance, this will probably fit the bill!

Nikolai and Izzy start out as a summer fling, and at the end of the summer they went their separate ways to the schools they would go to. Nikolai got kicked out of the school he was going to and his grandfather helped get him into McKee University, which is the school Izzy is attending. They reconnect and start sneaking around because they don't want Izzy's older brother who is also the captain of the hockey team, Nikolai, is on. The sneaking around was fun at first, but it became harder, and they decided if they were going to continue, it would be as boyfriend and girlfriend, and they would face the consequences of sneaking around. Once that was out in the open, they started to grow, learn, and become the person they are supposed to be at this stage of their lives.
They also faced who they were, and what they needed to do, in order to reach the goals they each had set. It wasn't easy, and they had to face up to many things, but they were there for each other, and helped each other make it through what they were going through. It wasn't easy, as they had setbacks, lessons to learn, they had to look at what happens and figure out how to get to where they need to be.
I enjoyed the book, with the fun they had with each other, the fun and spontaneous things they did together, and the growth they found along the way, I received an ARC from Avon through NetGalley.

I’ve loved this series and the final installment lived up to the rest! I enjoyed reuniting with characters from past books and seeing the sole Callahan sister get her HEA.

Tropes: secret relationship
TW: mentions of parental abuse

The tropes of romance included in this book are my favourite ones thus it definitely left me happy and satisfied with the read. Plus, the writing 🤌 as usual i absolutely love this author's creation hehe 💗
The characters were charming and beautifully penned down which made my reading experience more wonderful.

While I really enjoyed this typical college romance story, it also had very mature and coming of age topics and themes. It was fun to watch both of the main characters grow individually along with coming together as a couple. Sometimes romance stories have very immature characters with very little communication. This story was the opposite of that and I was pleasantly surprised. Perfect vacation or beach read!

Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for the ARC!

I was so excited to read this, because as a volleyball mom, finally there was a book about the sport. The book was your typically forbidden romance story and I think the same outcome could have been achieved with 100 less pages. Overall the characters were developed and likable. This was my first Reilly book and I am interested in going back and ready the others in the series.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

Izzy and Nik start as a summer fling only -- especially because Izzy's brother is Nik's hockey rival. After a few turn of events, only a summer fling doesn't seem that likely.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked how Reilly has created a whole universe in this series. Both Izzy and Nik dealt with some tough topics and emotions in this book, which Reilly handled well. Plus, it was quite the spicy read! I definitely want to go back and read the rest of the books in the series.

I requested this on a whim (I saw other works by the author on Booktok) and this hit. I am not always a huge fan of hockey romance. But the FMC, Izzy, was a fully fleshed out character and I thought she was fresh. So much more than a 2D caricature. I will now immediately be reading Grace Reilly's back list