I'm so sad this is the last book in the series! These sports romances are so fun and off the charts spicy. Hockey is my favorite sport, and I really enjoyed this romance between Izzy and Nicolai.

This was a fast read, but it still could have been shorter than 400(!) pages. I skimmed a lot and felt that there was a lot of fluff that could have been left out to make the flow better.

I loved that we saw some of the characters from the earlier books in the series. It really ties it together and made me smile.

The "summer fling reunited" trope was fun too, and I liked the 'brother's rival" bit too.

After not loving books 2 and 3, as much as #1, this one was a much better book!

I will start this one stating I'm glad I had this one in audio because I'm not sure I would have finished it if was in print. Nik and Izzy are a second chance, sports, spicy (sort of), college story. Nik gets in trouble at his previous school and his grandfather pulls strings and gets him transferred and now he is on a team where his rival is the captain and just happens to be the brother of the fling he had the previous summer. Izzy wants nothing more than to get back where she was on the volleyball team but her coach is doing everything in her power to keep her down. When she crosses paths with Nik on campus all bets are off and BAM they start back up again. Hockey and volleyball and family and lots of a lot happening to get to the end.

This was such a fun, banter and chemistry-filled sports romance. I'll read any that Reilly puts out!

Grace Reilly’s “Wicked Serve” is a captivating addition to the hockey romance genre, delivering a perfect blend of passion, conflict, and heartwarming moments. As a fan of sports romance, this novel exceeded my expectations in many ways.

The story follows Izzy and Nik, whose lives intersect in unexpected ways, setting the stage for a rollercoaster of emotions. Reilly’s portrayal of the hockey world is both vivid and authentic, making it easy to get lost in the fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled environment. The detailed descriptions of the games and training sessions provide a realistic backdrop that enhances the narrative.

The characters are well-developed and relatable, each with their own strengths and vulnerabilities. Izzy is a compelling protagonist whose journey of personal growth and self-discovery is inspiring. Her chemistry with Nik is electric, with sparks flying from their first interaction. The fact that he is the first man to give her the big O says a lot about their chemistry!

Reilly’s writing style is engaging and fluid, with dialogue that feels natural and scenes that are richly detailed. The emotional depth of the story is one of its standout features; it explores themes of trust, perseverance, and the importance of support systems in the face of adversity.

One of the highlights of “Wicked Serve” is the way it handles the complexities of relationships, both romantic and platonic. The secondary characters are not just background figures but play significant roles in shaping the protagonists’ journeys. The camaraderie among the hockey team members adds an extra layer of warmth and authenticity to the story.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I liked the cast of characters but wasn't into this book really at all. The growing friendship between the male lead and her brother was more compelling to be honest.

Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly is a fun, flirty, and steamy romance that effortlessly combines sports, passion, and the thrill of unexpected love. With its captivating characters, witty banter, and sizzling chemistry, this book is perfect for readers who enjoy fast-paced, heart-racing romances with a side of humor.

Hockey Romance, need I say more? This was a great fun romantic comedy that had me laughing and sometimes wanting to cry a bit. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to read more from this author!

I did not finish this book. I was drawn in by the cover and the tropes of secret relationship, brother's enemy, and ice hockey from the provided summary. However, I found issue with glacial pacing and lack of differences from other similar stories led me to keep putting it down. Eventually, I never picked it back up.
For the characters, there isn't much that sets them apart from the crowd or really makes me want to root for them to become a couple. I took fault with many of their actions. Why did Nikolai feel he needed to take the fall and implode his life for a teammate? As for Izzy, why should I feel bad for her having to overcome nepotism? Does she deserve a chance to prove her immature, ice cold coach wrong? No, I could see caring if Izzy was moving on to professional of Olympic dreams, but she wants to be an event planner and doesn’t appear to take anything seriously.

This book just solidifies how much of a fan I am of Grace Reilly! I loved this story between Nik and Izzy- the chemistry in this book was on FIRE! I found the mental health represented in the book super relatable, this story blended such a great mixture of emotions and feelings! Please do yourself a favor and read this book and series!

This book gives off second chance romance vibes without a fully tragic breakup which fills a very big gap I think in the bookish community. Grace Reilly does such an amazing job of showing multiple layers in her characters and seeing the softer side of Nik had me swooning! I love that each character has their own individual journey as well as their relationship made the book feel more immersive. I related to Izzy so much as a youngest daughter and the moments with her parents had me in tears (happy ones)

Okay I'm bummed and also excited to find out this is the last oook in the Beyond the Play series of standalone novels with interconnected characters. It didn't take away from the story at all! But I'm definitely going back and reading the others now!
Wicked Serve was a fun fluffy read that also touches on a few serious topics. I enjoyed that though Isabelle and Nikolai's relationship is a secret, it's still so sweet and full of peace and support. I genuinely loved how they were together. The most encouraging partners.
The biggest reason I want to go back and read the other books is because I LOVE Izzy's family dynamic so much. It plays a huge role in this story as Nikolai's family history is very rocky and he often finds himself lost and wanting in that department. I adored seeing Izzy's relationships with her siblings, especially Cooper with how close they are.
I feel like the plot got lost a little at times so l didn't think it needed to be as long as it was. But I still very much enjoyed the story and recommend it for all my sports romances fans!

I love sports romances, especially hockey! I was super excited for this second chance, older brother’s rival turned teammate love story. Unfortunately, this story did not hit for me. While I loved the premise and the overall themes, I was frustrated by the female main character’s very privileged attitude and I had a very hard time sympathizing with her. The male main character had a truly traumatic childhood with real trauma responses and her responses felt selfish. Plus the stuffed animal, everything needs to be pink attitude was a bit childish and hard to relate to as a reader.

That being said, I loved how supportive the male main character was of her dreams and goals and was willing to better himself for their future. It was very sweet. Also the spice was perfect.

Overall, while this story was not my favorite, I did have a good time reading it.

"When I’m around her, I can’t focus on anything else. We could be in the middle of a hurricane, and I’d just stand there like a goddamn fool, cataloging the raindrops on her face."

This was a really sweet college romance, filled with spice, sneaking around, and emotional swoonworthy moments.

Read if you enjoy:
🏒College/Sports Romance
🖤Secret Relationship/Sneaking Around
🏒He Falls First
🖤Found Family
🏒Close Proximity
🖤Teammate's Sister

✨ Review ✨
***
Wicked Serve was so good!! I loved Nik and Isabelle. Their relationship and love was so beautiful. They were both so supportive and caring. I loved their chemistry and their love so much. The writing was so good and all the characters were amazing. I loved the found family feel and the love between everyone. Nik was amazing and so easy to love. His story was heartbreaking but his HEA was perfect. The spice was so hot and unexpected. The ending was beyond amazing and left me so happy.
***
Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Romance: 🩷🩷🩷🩷

The perfect ending to this series! I was so excited to finally read about Izzy and when I learned that the MMC was going to be Nikolai I was so intrigued. I loved learning more about both of their backgrounds. When you know characters from other books in the series I always love to dive deeper and see inside their minds, and Grace did an amazing job in this book giving readers the best insight into the characters that we already knew. So sad this series is over but I had so much fun reading it while it lasted.

sabelle Callahan is coming off of a summer interning in NYC, where she had a fling with her brother's hockey rival, Nikolai Abney-Volkov. She's ready to go back to school and move on, even if her feelings for Nik were starting to grow beyond the easy-breezy nature of their summer together. When Nik gets expelled from his school and ends up at McKee where Isabelle goes to school, they're unexpectedly in each other's orbit once again.

I really liked this book! I love an angsty love story so this one really worked for me. I love a spicy romance, but a spicy story PLUS angsty, emotions, and real issues is catnip to me! Nik was such a sweet guy under the grumpy exterior, and I loved how Izzy brought out his playful side. They both had challenges to overcome, but they were always supportive of one another and willing to do anything for the other. My heart broke when reading the story of Nik's parents and what he and his mother went through, but facing his trauma head on led to such a beautiful result. I also loved seeing all of the other couples from this series and felt like this was the perfect ending to the series!

TW: Domestic violence, violence against a child, trauma, PTSD

Overall, I love the storyline for both main characters and their own separate struggles they were both facing. I feel like both characters achieved so much growth through the book separately which made them grow together too. The epilogue was the perfect ending to complete this series and we get a little into all their futures.

The only downfall to me was it seemed overly drawn out and repetitive. For a while in the middle I did consider DNFing but ultimately decided I wanted to see how it all played out. I loved the characters and the relationships but there were some things I didn’t love as well

While a cute read it could use a good edit to cut out many of the pages, this was just unnecessarily long. I got bored part way through as it just didn't feel like it was moving forward and some of the same content repeated.

I actually loved Isabelle and Nikoli's story. They both have similar backgrounds with a family of sports, but that's where it ends. Isabelle has the loving family full of athletic people and she strives to fit into that athletic roots. Nik comes from a family full of alcoholism and abuse. His mother ran back to America when he was thirteen escaping his father.

Isabelle and Nik have a summer fling that fizzles out, but when Nik gets into trouble and has to change colleges it allows them to get to see where things could really go with them.

Nik has a haunted past and Isabelle is so supportive helping him and working through some of his nightmares. I love how Isabelle is able stand up for what she really wants and blends everything together. Both characters grow a lot over the course of the book and it really adds to the story.

If you can just turn the page when the crawling scene comes up, then this is a great book by Grace. It's just unrealistic and laughable in my opinion. This is also a part of a series and I haven't read the other books and don't feel like I'm missing out either.