A really cute book that committed one cardinal sin… here we gooooooo!

📕 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Puck & Prejudice by Lia Riley

📙 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: Standalone

📗 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘀: E-book ARC on Kindle. Courtesy of NetGalley

📘 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Historical romance

📔 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀: Sports (hockey), golden retriever MMC, marriage of convenience.

📖 𝗦𝘆𝗻𝗼𝗽𝘀𝗶𝘀: Tucker gets into a car accident and wakes up in 1812, where he meets Lizzy - a spinster who is desperate to find freedom from societal norms. While they try to figure out a way to return Tucker to present day, they decide to marry to stave off questions.

🌟 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄: After reading thousands of romance novels, I’m always searching for something new. And this was IT - a historical romance meets hockey playing MMC, a trip back in time… I applied for the ARC immediately.

And for all intents and purposes - it was a great story. I had fun reading it. I can see where the historical portions might be jarring to non-historical romance readers… but I have to give Lia Riley props for switching between genres so well.

Lizzy was funny and headstrong. Tucker was a lost puppy who lifted up three strong women. I loved the nods to Jane Austen. And the spice was pretty legit.

Cardinal sin? Tucker is a goalie… and on the cover of this book he is, well, not a goalie. That, and the fact that I could have used more character development on Tucker overall marked this down to a four. Otherwise, I really enjoyed it.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹: 3/5 🌶🌶🌶

𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝑨𝑹𝑪 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒙𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

I usually enjoy retellings of "Pride and Prejudice," but this one didn't quite resonate with me. I appreciated the connection to Jane Austen, especially the intriguing premise of Tucker being sent back to a time before Austen wrote the original novel. The individual characters have their own charm, which I liked.

However, the third-person narration made it challenging for me to fully connect with the characters and feel invested in their stories. Additionally, I found it hard to believe that when Tucker suddenly appears in this timeline, Lizzy's reaction is so nonchalant; she instantly accepts that he’s from another timeline.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for providing me with this advanced reader copy. My review reflects my honest opinion.

Pro hockey player Tucker Taylor gets into a car crash in modern day England and finds himself transported back to 1812. When Lizzy Wooddash finds him, she realizes he might be the answer to all her problems. She can marry Tuck and get her family off her back about suitors, and when Tuck returns home to his time she can be a widow who is left alone to live as she pleases.

I really enjoyed this one so much! The premise sounds kind of bonkers but it ends up being a really fun time! Tuck and Lizzy have fantastic chemistry, and I love how they come to respect and care for each other.

This book also has a few well placed “my wife” moments which are always a favorite of mine in a marriage of convenience!

This book has all the green flags before you even delve in - hockey romance, marriage of convenience, only one bed…
Admittedly I am not generally a fan of the time travel trope in any novel I read, but the premise seemed interesting enough that I wanted to give it a go.
Lizzy and Tuck are well written and enjoyable characters, the supporting cast are also great with entertaining personalities that make you giggle. Tuck really is an ideal book boyfriend.
The story was paced well and coherent keeping me engaged and entertained.
I will say that I was not a huge fan of the ending, but that is mainly because I (as mentioned) and not a fan of the time travel trope, so it still gets 5 stars because that’s my personal preference getting in the way.

This didn’t work for me :’)

I don’t love third person pov and I truly struggled connecting to these characters. I wish we had a bit more insight and tension leading up and through the story.

Thank you for the arc!

Let's start with the fact that I really did like this book. The story was fun and original and the dynamics between the main characters was adorable.

However, I feel like it would have been SO MUCH BETTER if it had been a first person dual POV instead of third person. I really would have liked to know more about how each character was feeling.

I also didn't love the ending. It wasn't bad -- but it wasn't necessarily what I was expecting either.

THIS is the mashup we all didn’t know we needed and now I only want more. A hockey romance (though, aside from the fact that our MC is a hockey player, there is no actual hockey in the story), flung back in time to the regency era a la Jane Austen- I mean, how could you not want to weird such a weird combination?! But the best part is that it’s actually good. The banter is playful and witty, the romance builds well, the spice is sizzly, it has all the good tropes (marriage of convenience, only one bed, time travel, cinnamon roll) and none of the bad (major miscommunication, surprise baby).

Here is what is missing. You know those funny thirst trap videos we all definitely scroll past and don’t actually watch (🍿) of hockey players “stretching” on the ice before the game? That energy is missing here. A little more hockey- and this is coming from someone who doesn’t know anything about the sport mind you- would have balanced the two subgenres better maybe? But this is really just a small stretch and isn’t really a big deal….just, team mates furthering the series would be awesome 👏🏻

4 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley & to Avon and Harper Voyager for this arc, in encouragement of my unbiased review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager | Avon for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I'm surprised by the amount of opinions I have in this novel. The entry point into this novel was very flat and boring and I almost DNF around chapter six. I decided to read other reviews and saw that many readers said the book was good, so I decided to persevere. Once it got going it improved but the characters didn't feel fully developed, some of the plot lacked real tension, the plot could have delivered so much more (I loved the concept but felt like the actual story fell flat), the pacing was either too fast or too slow throughout, and the ending was meh.

The opening scene was just boring. I hate when characters are debating literary topics and going nose to nose over whether Austen or the Brontes (or whoever) is a better writer. It's boring. I work at a university and if I heard students going back and forth like this, I'd roll my eyes and walk away. I also HATE when writers include real life people such as Austen, in their fictional work and make them a secondary character. It's done a lot and usually not well. When Tucker goes arrives at this strange place he seems to accept super quickly that he's gone back in time 200 years. Lizzy is even quicker to accept he's from the future. It happens at a lightning pace. This is what nearly lost me as a a read. I came very close to bailing.

The story eventually picked up. I wished there was more banter, more conflict, more tension. The plot seemed to unwind so easily. Spoiler alerts: They get married rather easily. Lizzy's family is mad but not too mad. They go to a ball and no one notices that Tucker is out of place except --super conveniently -- a fellow time traveler. Then they go back to Georgie's house and Tucker goes home in fairly easy fashion. The ending was sort of a clean way to tie it all up -- but I was bothered that Tucker never went back in time? Lizzie did all the traveling and Tucker got the girl and the career and his life? I thought it would have been better if he stayed in her time part of the year and they came back and forth together. Also did anyone let that other poor time traveler know his theory was correct?

Thank you, NetGalley for this e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I was SO intrigued by the synopsis. Time travel x Regency period??? Sign me up! But I ended up dnfing this one. It just wasn't for me.

It was a long read for me. The characters were under developed and the plot wasn’t well thought out. I don’t understand where hockey tied in. Tuck could have been a busboy and the story doesn’t change. I don’t think the author knows much about hockey. The book cover is deceiving to the story line.
I was excited for hockey, time travel, romance all in one. The time travel was written like it’s a common occurrence. The FMC spent her entire story talking about being her own person with career and self security and not tied down to domestic engineering. Then the author goes for the HEA that made me sigh and roll my eyes. This could have gone differently in so many directions.
Just wasn’t thought out - in my opinion
Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC
read in exchange for my honest opinion.

this was so cute!! i’m obsessed with how they both got their happily ever afters and how sweet lizzy and tucker are!! they’re so sweet together i’m obsessed. it’s less hockey romance and more himbo man dropped into 1812 who finds a spinster. the hockey only comes in at the veryyyy end

This was so fun! More time travel romances please!

I like that this book felt like both a historical and a contemporary romance at the same time, because I love a sports romance and a historical romance and this was the best of both worlds!

I’m not going to lie, there were some things that left me a little confused, regarding the time travel, but overall I really enjoyed this and it was a lot of fun and I loved the characters and I would totally read this again.

Thank you to Avon for the eARC in exchange for a review.

CW: Cancer

I really enjoyed this book. I combined both of my favorite things in one book, royalty and sports. I would definitely recommend this book.

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So forget the idea of it being an exact mashup of hockey (hence the puck) and Jane Austen (hence the & prejudice). A delightful play on a classic title, Puck & Prejudice isn’t what I was expecting. I’d actually not realize the hockey contribution if dropped into the story in multiple places, so I would say this leans more toward regency England meets time traveling hottie who happens to play hockey. If you like historical fiction and want something refreshing and different with a blessed lack of court gossip, this book is it!

I had so much fun reading this story. It’s not too serious, but not so much humor that you miss the romance element. It’s definitely outside my norm, but came at a time when I desperately needed a distraction from my typical romances and I’m so glad I was able to have the chance to read it! Puck & Prejudice is well written, it’s incredibly witty, and it’s an overall good time. The first time Tuck said “good girl” to Lizzy I about melted into a puddle. Someone get me a fan. I found this book to be a super easy read as well!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️.5

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This was super fun, wild, and entertaining. I have not read anything similar before. I had so much fun with this book and was rooting for our main characters and their friends the whole way. Combining my two favorites (hockey romance and a historical romance)? Sign me up!

This was such an enjoyable and made me laugh constantly. It has everything: one bed trope, a hockey player, yearning, and more. Jane Austen being Lizzy's cousin was such a fun touch to the story. If you are looking to a quick, easy, and funny read definitely pick up this book. I will be adding this to my physical to buy list.

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon/Harper, and Ms. Riley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

Quick summary: this book was a trope sandwich with a thick slather of WTF. It is pure escapism. I would not recommend this to a reader who values historical accuracy whatsoever (in fact, possibly also not modern accuracy, as Tucker's uniform is clearly not that of a goalie). Lizzie is a modern woman who just so happens to have been born during the Regency era: she does "not have a maternal bent", does not want to marry, wants to have a career, and prefers to live alone. Tucker Taylor, modern day goalie, accidentally time-travels through a pond near Bath and emerges in 1812 where Lizzie accepts his story with aplomb and very little disbelief. For reasons that seem flimsy, they feel forced to get married while they figure out how to return Tucker to modern times; in the course of their elopement they encounter several tropes, I mean, entertaining situations. They also come to realize that they have feelings for each other. Mostly, those feelings seemed to me like "lust", but apparently they also included love.

The entire story was goofy and preposterous. If you're reading to be entertained, you probably will be. Just be warned, you will have to suspend 110% of your disbelief in order to get through it. I wasn't really in the mood for absolute silliness which probably impacted my enjoyment of it.

This book is as surprisingly adorable. I requested it because it seemed so unique and had to be comical…and I was more than satisfactorily entertained. This book ended up being such a fun read! I mean how can you dislike Jane Austen references and a time traveling hockey player? The dynamic between the main characters seemed so impossible, but their chemistry was super sweet. I was expecting it to be so spicy, but I wasn’t complaining. Definitely glad I read this one!

I love accidental time travel stories and I also love hockey romances, so I had such a great time reading this book! Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the advanced copy. Puck and Prejudice comes out November 12!

A sports and historical romance in one? Sign me up. Puck and Prejudice features Tuck, an NHL player, and Lizzy, a woman living in 1812 who is a friend of Jane Austen. Tuck gets into an accident and strangely ends up in 1812. Tuck and Lizzy then embark on a marriage of convenience. This book was bonkers but really fun. For being so silly, it was also emotional.