Wicked Serve by Grace Reilly
Release date: 8.13.24
Tropes
🏒 Hockey x Volleyball romance
🏒brother’s rival-turned teammate
🏒secret relationship
🏒found family

Rating: 5/5

I absolutely loved this book! This is the first book I have read in the Beyond the Play series (yes, I know I’m reading them out of order). This is a book about Isabelle Callahan, a sophomore volleyball play at McKee University. She had a summer fling with UMass hockey player Nikolai who is set to play for the NHL after he graduates. After an incident at UMass has Nikolai expelled, his grandfather manages to get him onto the McKee hockey team, which is also the team Cooper Callahan plays on (Isabelle’s brother). What they both thought was just going to be a summer fling turns into more, but with some added twists and turns.
I loved the characters in the book and how the author wrote their growth. My favorite part of this book is how there was spice, but the spice was never cringy in my opinion. I also enjoyed how every character had distinctive personalities, which led to an interesting plot. The author also did an amazing job at writing about childhood trauma and panic attacks which is something I greatly appreciate. Something about the book that I found enjoyable was seeing the Callahan family and how they interact with each other since they all have some sort of thing making each family member special. This is a part of interconnected series similar to the Off Campus series, but I feel like it could be read as a standalone. I never felt like I was missing too much information since I have not read the first two books in the series, except for the epilogue which shows all of the series characters in the future. This was my first book by Grace Reilly and I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future. I already have two of her other books on my physical tbr and I am excited to dive in!

I received this ARC through NetGalley

I really liked the connection between Nikolai and Izzy. It was refreshing to read a book without toxicity between the couple. They fell hard and supported each other throughout. I'm a sucker for grumpy/sunshine characters and I love a good hockey romance. I don't typically read the college hockey romances because I'm older (I mostly read the ones where they are in their 20s/30s), but I heard such great things about this series that I wanted to give it a try and I really enjoyed it. I appreciated seeing characters prioritizing mental health. There are some darker themes, but I felt like the journey and growth of the characters as they worked through them was well done. Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books, and Harper Voyager for providing me with an eARC!

“𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕞𝕖, 𝕀𝕤𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕖. 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕓𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕟 𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕥𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕦𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕚𝕞𝕖. 𝕪𝕠𝕦’𝕣𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕖.”🌷🌞🎀✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️

this book was the perfect way to end this series. i was not expecting all of the emotions that came with nikolai and izzy’s story but i am so grateful for them🥺

the amount of healing and growth that goes on in this book is astounding and i feel like it is very true to real life relationships. nikolai holds himself accountable and really tries to be the best version of himself for izzy and we love that😭😭

a few of my fav things about this book
— nikolai’s dirty talk, because obviously lol
— the koala’s
— their comfortability with each other
— the hairbrush scene + the library closet scene
— them being each others biggest fans
— 🍑stuff lol
— protective izzy 🥹

if you’ve been following this series and read first down, breakaway, and stealing home—the epilogue to this will probably have you in tears (like it had me).

as always, this was an easy 5⭐️'s to give to Grace— congratulations on finishing the Playing for Keeps series on such a lovely note🫶🏼🩷

Add this book to your TBR or pre-order it doesn’t disappoint 😊

This book was great! I’m in my hockey romance phase and this book is top notch! When you get the 🌶️🌶️🌶️ and a good story line=winning! 👏 Grace Reilly never disappoints! So thankful to @netgalley @avonbooks @HarperVoyagerUS for the opportunity to read this eARC

Grace Reilly knows how to make a reader swoon and Wicked Serve is no exception. This fourth and final installment of the Callahan clan is a solid way to wrap up this series.

Wicked Serve revolves around Izzy, the youngest of the Callahan siblings, and her secret summer fling Nikolai, who happens to be her brother's hockey rival. When Nikolai ends up transferring to Izzy's school and becoming her brother's teammate, can their reignited fling stay secret?

The premise might be simple and straightforward forward but what Grace does really well with all her books, is write characters struggling with deep, personal conflicts. Wicked Serve is a college sports romance, but the conflict isn't necessarily between the two in love but rather their internal struggles. Without giving too much away, the love Izzy and Nik have for each other is storybook-worthy. Their healthy relationship is depicted in a way that is super refreshing. Nik worships Izzy in a way that places him at the top of the best book boyfriend list. And those bedroom scenes...🌶️ 🥵🌶️

If you're looking for a book with a lot of conflict and angst, this might not be for you. Overall though, I loved how delicate this story tackles overcoming personal trauma in order to be better for the person you love. Plus if you've read the other three in this series, this one ties it up nicely with all your favorites making appearances.

Tropes and Elements:
❤️ Second Chance Romance
🏒 Brother's Hockey Rival
🏡 Family Bonds
🌶️ Spicy
🩷 He falls harder
⚡️ Childhood Trauma


Thank you NetGalley, Grace Reilly, and Avon Publishing for this e-ARC. All thoughts and reviews are my own.

Such a sweet book, filled with love and support in a healthy relationship. Both characters were so caring and understanding to each other. It was so nice to read!

Let me start by saying how happy I am to have read a book that showed us a college relationship with no toxicity and a whole lot of support for each other.

Even if you haven’t read the other books in the series this is a wonderful hockey romance. It was very spicy but heartfelt. Both Izzy and Nik had things to work out on their own before moving forward with their relationship and while some of what Nik went through got a little dark, it definitely allowed for amazing character growth.

Now, this wasn’t my favorite in the series because I feel like the pacing was a little off in the middle of the story, the mention of the color pink so many times in every single chapter started to drive me bananas, and I feel like the bits of Russian we got in the book could have been better placed in the story. Sometimes it felt like the words were just thrown in randomly.

If you like college sports romances, brothers rival, he falls first AND falls harder, or secret relationships then you should give this book a try!

Thanks so much to Netgalley, Grace Reilly, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was such a sweet read! Although it was my first book in the series, I'll definitely be going back to read the rest. Izzy and Nikolai were so easy to root for, and it was so nice to dive into their relationship of true support and deep understanding. The family antics were a ton of fun, and I loved the full cast of characters.

A very solid 3.5 stars from me! Can't wait to read more from Grace Reilly.

I loved this book!!! Could not put it down!

Nikolai was just the perfect mix between sweet and alpha male. Coming from russian heritage was a perfect addition to him. The perfect boyfriend, an athlete through and through, healthy, mischievous and altogether just yummy. Had a complicated past but super sweet underneath the hard exterior.

Isabelle was a super sweet girl who thought could do casual but ended up having feelings for Nikolai. Athlete too, and they both helped each other overcome so many things from their past.

The story is super sweet, I loved that it wasn't the typical story wealth-poor couple. They both came from wealth and that was super refreshing. Loved every part of the story! Read it! You'll love it!

As a Callahan Family/Beyond the Play booklover I was so excited to be given a chance to read this. Thank you to Avon/Harper Collins for the opportunity to read early.

Izzy Callahan is everything you loved about her brothers and more. If James & Bex gave us some family struggle, Cooper & Penny brought the spice, and Sebby & Mia the found family… then buckle the truck up babes because Izzy, like all little sisters does it all but better.

Grace captures the hard work & dedication of her McKee athletes in all of the Beyond the Play books but oh damn does she really do right by Izzy and Niko. This is the perfect goodbye to the Callahan Family.

˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙ 3.5 ☆˙⋆ ༶ .⁺ ˖

This book is so cute showing us a relationship without any toxicity, a lot of support and encouragement from each other and they fell so hard since the summer they met💖 I enjoyed most of it💕

➴ College Sports? ✔️🏒

➴ Secret Relationship? ✔️🙈

➴ Brother’s Rival? ✔️🤯

➴ He falls first and harder? ✔️💘

➴ Healthy relationship? ✔️🥰

➴ Family Bonds ✔️💛

➴ Friendships Bonds? ✔️💕

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

❥ Isabelle 💗 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹

➳ she is so confident, extrovert, generous, supportive, caring, and very fashionable👑💅🏼

➳ she was so selfless and sometimes she needed to care more for herself. But I loved that she cared so much for her family and how supportive she was with them. Also, she was so supportive of Nik helping him to follow his dreams💗

❥ Nikolai 💙 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹

➳ a hockey player struggling with mental health who is obsessed with Isabelle since the first time he saw her in a game. He is so kind, supportive, gentle, caring and protective. He had a lot of gestures with his sunshine so heart-melting☀️🌷💖

➳ my respect for him for putting his mental health first and working on himself to get better and be able to be the best version of himself. Nik does this to get the future he and Isa deserve to have together😭💛✨

❥ My thoughts 💭 ˖⁺. ༶ ⋆˙⊹

➳ this book was very entertaining and for the most part, I enjoyed it✨ like those sweet moments between Nik and Isa and how healthy and domestic their relationship felt since the beginning. Also, the family and friendship bonds💕

➳ I loved that Isabelle knew how to stand up for herself and her loved ones. More than Nik because he only stands up for other people but not for himself and that was so frustrating. Like dude, you have to say something! Also, he just does whatever his grandpa tells him to do. He wanted Nik to quit hockey, so he was going to do so without a single fight. Uh? If it wasn’t for Isa, he wouldn't dare contradict his grandfather, talk to his mother, and follow his dreams.

➳ even though I loved the short chapters, there were too many😭 I feel like the book was too long with some scenes and plot that honestly didn't contribute anything.

➳ I didn’t like that Isabelle tried to push Nik to tell her about his past. I mean girl...chill! It’s a tough matter for him and he would tell you in his own time, not yours.

➳ I love the pink color, I really do. But it was mentioned in every chapter I swear. Like we get it girl, your favorite color is pink. We understood it the 9347238 times it was mentioned.

➳ I don’t know if it was just me, but all the Russian vocabulary mentioned felt so weird and many scenes were so cringy idk😭 anddddd this book was 70% smut and 30% plot

Anyways, despite all those things I didn’t quite like about this book, it was pretty entertaining and had a lot of cute moments I really enjoyed💫

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books, and Harper Voyager for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review! 💜

ARC READ ✨ I’m a sucker for a good Hockey romance, and this hit the spot. I loved having the aspect of our FMC also being a student athlete and them both going through their journeys together with their teams. I thought the storyline progressed at a perfect pace and loved seeing these two grew stronger together. I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait for everyone else to get this in their hands!

This books was absolutely perfection. This was my first Grace Reilly book and it did NOT disappoint. I can’t wait to read the rest of this series ASAP.

Nikolai was a MMC dream. He had a filthy mouth and a dominate side. He called Izzy sunshine and was a total golden retriever for her. The found family in this was top tier and made me so emotional. Isabels character was amazing and her character growth through the book was so perfect. I loved the healing and growth that this book showed with childhood trauma and I actually teared up at the epilogue. Pure perfection, absolutely five stars. I can’t wait to get my physical copy when it publishes!

I got the opportunity to read this book as an ARC through NetGalley.
For the most part, I enjoyed this book. It made me feel plenty of emotions from start to finish. I enjoyed the growth for both main characters. And there was plenty of spice throughout the entirety of it.
On the other hand, there are some things I didn't enjoy due to personal preference. For starters the book felt too long. It was harder for me to read after the main plot for the couple being resolved halfway through. I wouldn't say the whole plot was resolved by this point as well but, I also do not think it needed to take 200 more pages to get there. The only other thing I saw as a con was, even though I enjoy a spicy book, at some points it felt inappropriate.
All together i think it is a great read! When it comes out August 13th, I will be buying a physical copy for my bookshelf.

I was honored to be able to get an ARC of this book. I absolutely loved it! Izzy is the youngest of the Callahans with three older brothers. This past summer she interned with a wedding planner whose son happens to be her brother’s biggest rival, Nikolai. Izzy and Nikolai had a summer fling that both swore would stay in the summer. Nikolai is a hockey player who unexpectedly transfers to the same school where Izzy and her brother attend. What will happen to the chemistry between them now that they’re on the same campus? This story is so well done with more twists and turns than I was expecting but they made the story that much more interesting, the spice in the book is also more than I expected but I loved every second of it!

Possible Trigger Warnings:
- Discussions of an abusive spouse/parent
- Feeling of inadequacy
- Aggressive sex

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

4th novel in Grace Reilly’s Beyond the Play series, this story focuses on Isabelle Callahan, sister of the multi-sports-talented Callahans family. Izzy is a volleyball player at McKee University when hockey player Nikolai transfers from a rival school. Not only is he a rival player from another school on the same team as Izzy’s brother Cooper, but he is also her former secret summer fling. Drama, steamy scenes, and complicated family dynamics ensue.

I enjoyed this book. It was spicy but heartfelt. The two characters both have their own issues to iron out before landing together, and the baggage he carries around about his abusive father is dark but lends itself to good character growth. I also liked seeing volleyball in the mix in a sports-romance. I think that this book was a step above most steamy sports books - it had a lot of heart.

Thank you Grace Reilly & her publisher for letting me be an ARC reader for this book! I didn’t realize this book was apart of a series but it can definitely be read as a standalone.

Nik & Izzy have a sweet love story, full of so much love and chemistry. I loved both main characters and enjoyed their growth too. I loved getting to read about the side characters too. Since it’s part of series, but can be read as a standalone, I felt like this book had just enough information about the other siblings (main characters in previous books). I still felt connected to them without reading the other books.

This book is spicy, 🌶️ 🌶️🌶️/5 with a few triggers, such as DV.

I give this book a 4 out of 5. I loved the story but I felt in some parts it did drag which made the book a little long unnecessarily. However I did enjoy the book and would recommend to others 🩵

I loved this book! I hadn’t read the other books in the series but this could be read as a standalone and still be enjoyed! I enjoyed the fact that this story deviated from the typical third act breakup as well as the usual plot lines in hockey romance books. Overall I rated this 4/5 stars just because there was a slower beginning and the story did not pick up for a good chunk of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon and HarperVoyager for the eARC of Wicked Serve!

Once I started this book.. I COULDN’T PUT IT DOWN. This is my first time reading a book from Grace Reilly and I can assure you it won’t be my last. Nik & Izzy... the emotions.. the sexual parts…Wow lol I can’t wait to read it again! This is a couple I’ll continuously root for! And that epilogue was such a delight to read! :’)

Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for early access to Wicked Serve.
The utter excitement I had when I was approved for this read was through the rough. I enjoyed all thr books in the Beyond The Play series but this was by far my favorite one. The chemistry was & The spice? The depth in the story line... it was emotional and real. It was fun to see some pop ups from chracters from the other books too. This will be a definite reread for me!