Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m currently in my hockey romance era, and when combined with fake-dating / revenge plot, I was intrigued. Unfortunately, the relationship didn’t progress past surface level and lacked depth, relying mainly on the physical aspects to propel the relationship forward.

Additionally, the timeline felt too short and I think the book would’ve benefited from being across a whole season instead of the playoffs. That would’ve allowed for more character development and emotional intimacy.

Overall I wasn’t a huge fan of the FMC or MMC but it was a quick, dramatic, hockey romance that was still fun to read. I’m looking forward to Christian and Maya’s book, which I think will have much more depth and growth.

After being dumped by her hockey-player boyfriend, Elle seeks revenge by taking a photo with his biggest rival, Preston. When Preston escalates things by kissing her in front of the press, their fake dating scheme takes off. As Preston plays his best game ever, he convinces Elle to keep up the act—but soon, real feelings develop. Now, Elle must figure out if Preston truly cares for her or if it’s still about getting back at her ex.

This is a fun, fast-paced hockey romance with humor, chemistry, and a bit of drama. While the fake dating setup starts off immature, the story improves as their relationship deepens. Some of Preston’s behavior toward Elle and other women is frustrating, but overall, this is an enjoyable, light read—perfect for when you want something quick and entertaining.

This book promised a fair bit but I don’t think it delivered.

The premise is ok. Love triangle to some extent. The FMC Elle is wanting to make her ex Christian jealous so meets and kisses his arch rival Preston and then sort of fake dates him.

There were a couple of things that didn’t work -
* Elle didn’t really do much to help herself with her love interest/s. In fact she was a bit of a door mat. I feel bad for judging her as I feel we often do that while MMC’s get away with a lot more. But also. Worse aril she was a shifty friend to Audrey, her business partner.
* Preston - some of his dialogue was cringey AF. Plus near the end of the book he does something significant without consulting the person who is primarily affected. He oversteps the boundaries and I just couldn’t get past it. Nope, he’d be on my shit list forever.
* the storyline didn’t reach and great heights.
* despite lots of detail about things Elle and Christian did, there was a fade to black with Elle and Preston which was so not in keeping with what the rest of the book’s intimate scenes were like. Though the chemistry was a bit iffy between them IMO.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for giving me access to this early reading copy

As someone who reads a lot of sports contemporary romance, I was excited to pick up a new to me author. While reading I was not a fan of how the FMC , Elle thought and spoke about herself. Though some is understandable as the book starts off with her being dumped by Christian and then finding out they were not exclusive. It is understandable to feel bad and have doubts but I feel like she never started feeling any better about herself. After she was dating Preston he was very jealous and yelled at her several times. I didn’t like how he treated her either. Once we finally get some backstory into the Preston vs Christian rivalry, I did become very interested in the Maya, Preston’s younger sister and Christian plot line.

Revenge Puck follows the FMC who i screwed over by the hockey player she was seeing, and when he reveals he hates another rival player. she decides to get some revenge and team up with him. The MMC is grumpy and usually avoids all people, but was happy to team up with her to mentally mess with her ex and his enemy. Through their partnership and fake dating, they end up falling for each other.
This book was very easy to read and had some of my favourite tropes

I really enjoyed this book. It helped me out of a reading slump. I loved the tension between Preston and Elle. It was perfect. The spicy was spicing and I loved the over all lighthearted feel to this book!

I am obsessed with romance hockey stories and this one did not disappoint! A comfortable level of spice, banter and love is all I need for a good read. This is my first read of LA Hart and will not be the last!

This turned out to be a very fun and quick read, way more than I thought it would be. Just enough hockey to make it a sports romance without it being bogged down. The intimate scenes were well thought out and executed, even if I was a little confused how it was both open and closed door at the same time (once you read it, you'll get what I'm saying). There were several moments where I could have throttled each and every one of the characters, but I think that is just more of a testament to my good time. I love a little angry outburst with my plot development. Also, loved how the plot of the next book was so easily woven into this story. However, it's going to take a lot of explaining and redeeming for me to fully be on board with Christian. I suppose that's what the author was going for though and they succeeded. Despite me seeing Christian as an irredeemable douche canoe, I immediately went to find out when book 2 releases. It's all I can think about currently. A win's a win.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to review.

DNF 26%

From the description I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn't get into it. For me the plot and characters felt flat and never gripped me.

Also just a personal pet peeve of mine but if you write about hockey you need to know about hockey. No way Preston and Christian have played twice while being in the league 5 years. (And other inconsistencies)

So good!
This book is perfect for a light-hearted, well-written, easy to follow read. I loved the characters as well, there is nothing worse than a main character who is unlikable or unrelatable. The “twist” was a little predictable but sometimes predictable is exactly what a reader needs - in this case, it delivered. I will absolutely read any books to follow in this series AND by this author!

Revenge Puck by L.A Hart

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.5/5

This was a cute, little hockey romance. It’s perfect for when you don’t want to read anything heavy and just want a quick, fun read. I’m a firm believer that not every book has to be a masterpiece to be enjoyable. This one was enjoyable, and I had fun reading it, which is all that matters.

Our story starts with Elle, after she’s just been dumped by her hockey-player boyfriend. She seeks out his rival, Preston, and convinces him to fake date her to get under her ex’s skin and mess with his game right before the big championship.

I will say, yes it was a little childish in the beginning. These are full-grown adults acting very immaturely, but as the story went on, it got much better. I’ve gotten a smidge burnt out on the fake dating trope here recently, but I liked this one. There were also some nice side-plots happening that will have me reading the sequel when it comes out.

My complaint is with the mmc honestly. I was not a huge fan of how he treated the women in his life, fmc included. Without giving anything away, he did a lot of blaming, was super aggro, and played fast and loose with their autonomy and ability to make decisions for themselves. Yes, he rectified it in the end and learned his lesson, but even in trying to fix it, he still somehow managed to take away his sister’s autonomy. It was really annoying.

All in all, this would be a great book to use as a palette cleanser after a super heavy read or high fantasy. It doesn’t require a lot of brain power and is easy to get into and read.

Thank you to L.A. Hart, NetGalley, and Editor’s Choice Publishing for the ARC! All opinion stated are my own.

Review will be posted on Insta, Goodreads, and Amazon

Oh my lawd it’s been a while since i read a hockey romance and this one had me feeling like a giddy teenager. I loved this so much !!

Simply a really fun hockey romance. Is it going to win the price for best plot or most developed characters ever? No. Did it keep me very entertained for a weekend? Definitely. The book is quick paced, falls straight into the romance and has just enough drama to keep you occupied without it feeling like a soap opera. Do you want a quick and fun read without too much thinking? This book is for you.

Long review (spoilers ahead!):
We meet the FMC in the first scene. Her name is Elle, she owns a hair salon together with her best friend and colleague. She has been dating a famous hockey player, Christian, who ruthlessly dumps her because he wants to be free to sleep with all the ‘puck bunny’s’. Elle quickly spirals in self loathing, but her friend helps her decide on a plan to hurt Christian by pretending to date his arch nemesis, Preston. A whirlwind romance ensues, in which she learns to trust Preston and quickly gets over Christian and his manwhoring-ways.
Preston is a grumpy all-work-no-play hockey player. He quickly falls into instalust with Elle, followed very quickly by instalove, and decides to change his ways for her. We learn he’s a loyal family man, who may have some jealousy- and anger issues, but also takes great care of those he loves. We find out he, or more specifically: his sister, has a past with Christian, which becomes the set up for the second book.

Basic features:
- Grumpy MMC, sunshine FMC
- Fake dating turned real dating
- FMC and MMC instantly want to jump each other’s bones
- Plot reveal about the underlying conflict that everyone sees coming from a mile away

What I liked:
- I liked the way Elle treated Preston. She doesn’t take any of his crap, but doesn’t let him suffer unnecessarily either. All of it just felt realistic, like the way a woman that was actually interested in a man would behave.
- The story is fast paced and contained just the right amount of drama to keep me entertained without making me feel I was reading an episode of a soap opera.
- Both important male characters go through (some) character growth, and neither are really toxic, even if they have some hang ups and bad traits. I like that they are not too easily forgiven either, it balances the relationship.
- I’ve read a lot of criticism on the set up of the relationship of Christian and Maya, but I actually liked that we had some more to focus on.

What I didn’t like:
- I almost stopped reading because of the first chapter. If I’m supposed to get invested in the lovestory between Elle and Preston, I don’t want to start out with reading about Elle’s postcoital moment of bliss after having her brains banged out by Christian. It was such a jarring start to me, that I almost put the book away. I’m glad I didn’t though.
- I would have liked to read more about the actual relationship of Preston and Elle, once they decided they were truly in it. The epilogue was sweet, but felt a bit rushed.
- Shame that once the smut really got going, the doors were closed.

Once again, it’s not the greatest book I have ever read. There were definitely some plot wholes and motivations that felt a bit off to me, but all in all, I had a fun time. The book does what it sets out to do pretty well in a way that feels honest to me, and I can appreciate that. I would recommend it to anybody that wants to read a fun, easy going romance that’s light on the smut.

I was not a huge fan of this one. The dialogue tends to be immature & cringy which made it hard to get through. The characters didn’t feel super developed either and felt like we were just moving from event to event.

This book was surprisingly really sweet in a way.

I will say that at about half way into the story, I wasn’t really feeling the main couple. The attraction was there for sure, but since they were more uncertainty between the two MCs rather than romantic moments, I didn’t find myself rooting for them. It wasn’t until half way through the book where things really started to pick up for me.

Individually, I found the characters enjoyable. Elle was an interesting female lead - out for revenge from her ‘ex’ and using his enemy as someone who could get her what she wanted. From the beginning, it was her that set the stakes for the fake relationship with Preston, which is what probably through me off when SHE ended up being the who was pining and scared of the uncertainty. Preston wasn’t a bad person per se, but he had valid reason to be hesitant with her. He was hiding a HUGE secret - a secret that wasn’t his own to give out - but nonetheless, he took everything seriously from the beginning. I think when he started to show signs of a romantic attachment to Elle was when they should have talked things out, but of course that’s not how these stories work haha.

Once they were on the same page, things seemed to be smooth sailing. The witty banter between the two of them was funny. I specifically appreciated how Preston refused to sleep with Elle fully until he was sure that she was over her ex. Rather than taking advantage of the situation, he made sure to protect them both in someway and I really liked that! He did mess up majorly towards the end of the story, but I’m glad he had his moment of groveling, and ultimately, getting his girl back.

If you're interested in a quick but romantic read, I’d definitely recommend this book!

I really enjoyed Elle and Preston's story they were great characters. Preston, aka the Wooly Mammoth, is grumpy on the outside but a total softie in his personal life. Elle while hurt from her ex Christian, she is the complete opposite of Preston and they fit perfectly together. Elle wanted it to look like she was with the one guy that Christian would hate her to be with. But when they start getting to know each other it turns into so much more, for both of them. The trouble is they are both gun shy from being hurt in the past, and are scared to be honest. This was a cute read and I was shocked at the turnaround from one of the characters. I cannot wait to see what happens next with this series.

Received ARC in exchange for voluntary honest review.

Revenge Puck is a fake dating hockey romance . The story follows Elle and Christian and Preston. Preston and Christian play for rival teams.
The book is an enjoyable read.
Thank to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read this.

I would like to thank NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and L.A. Hart for the ARC copy of this book.

Elle gets dumped by her professional hockey player boyfriend, Christian. She thought it was serious, he thought it was casual. To get back at him, she starts to fake date his hockey rival, Preston. Preston has his own reasons for wanting to get revenge on Christian. Very quickly into their scheme, lines start to blur between pretending for the sake of revenge and real feelings.

This was a very fun, fast paced, steamy hockey romance. The characters were well written. The dialogue between the two main characters was witty and their chemistry was natural.

☀️Grumpy x Sunshine
💞Fake Dating
⚔️Multiple POVs

Thank you, NetGalley, and BooksGoSocial publishing for the digital ARC. I was scrolling through Netgalley and found this book as a hockey romance with fake dating. This was such a cute book and liked the characters. The pacing is kind of rushed and there was miscommunication that made this book a 3.5 stars for me.

If you love dialogue-heavy books, I would recommend this book :)

I would like to thank @netgalley & @booksgosocial for my first arc !

Revenge Puck by LA HART
4stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Spicy 🌶️🌶️

The book is about a hairstylist wanting revenge for being dumped by a pro hockey player Christian Reilly . What better way to get her revenge then to fake date his nemesis Preston Lawrence. A grumpy guy that likes to fight on the ice. Preston can not afford to mess up again.
Christian is a asswhole at first with a big ego. But it think he does that so people will think he’s tough and also I think going pro went to his head a little bit. I slightly changed a bit but really don’t know.
Preston is a great guy that’s been dealt a shitty hand. That what makes him so angry but he has a lot of growth in this book and I’m happy for him. His secrets get him into trouble and he has major trust issues and just jumps to conclusions.
Elle is a very insecure woman but I think it’s from the men she was with. She sees her self so lowly and needs reassurance from others. I wish I could have seen more growth in her a burst out of that insure of her self girl. I’m glad she had a good friend that wouldn’t let her ever dad mouth herself everyone needs an Audrey.
The plot was good. I could tell where it was headed but it threw a curve ball in the middle of it. It was a fast paced easy read. I like that they didn’t get in the romance so fast. They did well with not making it cheesy and super insta lovely. I think it could have gave a tad bit more in the epilogue about the other characters but I get it. I would definitely recommend to people who love drama and sports.
Quotes
“If they hurt you I’ll hurt them.”
“ that’s why I’m saying knock it off off before I start knocking I start knocking y’all’s teeth”
“Stop this shot and leave Elle alone. Say whatever you want about me, I don’t care. Just leave my beautiful girl out of it from now on thanks.”

#revengepuck #netgalley #arc #arcreviewer #bookish #romance #adult #explorepage