4 Stars ... a sweet romance

This is a friends-to-lovers romance with a side of a single dad. Ford made me laugh with his rigid schedule ... he had a hard time adjusting to the non-schedule of a baby. I felt so sorry for Andi ... her ex-husband was a piece of work ... good riddance. The banter is very realistic especially between the hockey teammates. Then there's the chemistry between Ford and Andi ... it's off the charts and full of spice!

Ford is the goalie for the New Jersey Storm NHL team and he has worked hard over the summer break to become the best. But when a one-night stand shows up with his 3-month-old daughter, all his plans and schedules go up in bottles and diapers. Andi's husband left her for her best friend, but she got their neighbour Ford in the divorce. Ford has helped Andi with many household fixes, so when he asks her to help with his daughter, she feels obligated. Andi doesn't know the first thing about babies because she's never wanted to be a mother, but her heart melts when she sees Ford holding his daughter. All she has to do is keep her heart out of it and she'll do just fine.

I received an ARC courtesy of Boldwood Books through NetGalley.

The single dad trope is one of my favourites and this was done really well. I don’t find it as common for the child to be a baby. Especially as young as Matilda. I liked that you could see all the common issues you can have with a baby. It wasn’t that the baby popped up conveniently when needed. The 3rd act drama/hiccup was also only minor and quickly resolved which I do prefer aswell

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Droping by to start with the stars.
Full review coming soon, detailed and all.
I need time to write everything down
will be editing this soon, stand by 💖

I really like how Kelly Jamieson creates unique people and beautiful stories.
Ford is an ice hockey goalie with a slew of superstitions, quirks, and severe need for order and schedules. What's nice is that Ford recognizes this in himself and does what he can to manage and cope.
Clearly this is all thrown out the window with the discovery and delivery of his daughter.
In comes neighbor Andi, who's just as inexperienced and clueless about babies, but she's willing to help out. How great to recognize that women have just as much to learn about babies as men do!
I found the whole set up refreshing.
There connection was palpable and the spicy scenes were hot. The "big" conflict was rather minor and resolved without anything big for either character, although the instigating event was quite sad.
Supporting cast helped enhance this couple and create space for future books.

A wonderful friends-to-lovers story, “Keeping the Score”, by Kelly Jamieson, features two amazing lead characters who get involved in a relationship full of affection, then love, humor and tenderness.
The chemistry and attraction between Ford and Andi blend with genuine fondness and enjoying each other's company.
Ford and his love of planning, organizing and order along with his fierce loyalty and devotion make him such an enticing hero.
I also loved Andi, and how she adapted so well to a new reality to which she thought she wasn’t prepared at all.
I enjoyed how the author wrote about Ford’s obsessions and superstions and how they, along with the need for order and routine, are a part of his personality, a consequence of his upbringing, and not a clinical condition.
The scenes and dialogue between the main characters and with baby Mathilda are lively, funny and endearing and show how both are so giving, kind and tender despite assuming the opposite.
There is so much love for the baby, who becomes the chore and the center of their lives so naturally.
Some scenes made me laugh, but there’s also loss and grief in the story.
I also appreciated how the leads’ jobs are a part of the story and enjoyed the secondary characters.

Hockey romances are one of my favourites at the moment, and after reading the first book in this series I was SO excited to read this one.
Andi and Ford are a brilliant couple, their attraction was obvious from the start and I loved the way their friendship evolved into more. This book held more emotion than most sports romancws I've read, with the added element of a baby. I loved Ford in dad mode!
Spicy, but with all the feels.

I loved this book - it made me laugh and cry and feel all the feels!
This is the second book in the series about the hockey team „New Jersey Storm“ but it can absolutely be read as a stand-alone. If you have already read „Crossing the Line“ you will enjoy meeting Mabel and Ben again.
Goalie Ford and divorcee Andi are nextdoor neighbours and friends. They do help each other out occassionally but have never had a closer relationship. Both are happily single and have no intention of changing that status. But then Ford finds out he has a daughter and the baby is left in his care he turns to Andi to help him take her of baby Matilda. They are both in completely over their heads at first but together they learn and improve and of course spend a lot of time together and get to know each other so much better…
I enjoyed reading this book sooo much! I loved both main characters from the start. Ford is a bit quirky but he is a great person and Andi is just as lovely. The story felt a bit unrealistic to me at first (why would a mother leave a baby with the father who didn’t know she existed?) but then of course we learn why and it was so heartbreaking.
This book was really a perfect romance for me.

This is a five-star read that simply scores so easily. Ford and Andi are just so adorable, and the story will make you cry, in the best way possible. Ford has his quirks, and at first you could find him a bit annoying, but then you get to really know him and see underneath his façade and quirks and you can’t help but love him so deeply. Andi has her shields up and you can understand why, when Matilda hits the scene she creates simple madness, but brings about a whole heap of love and joy in only the way a baby can. This is a great story and I am so hopeful that we will hear from more players of The Storm, as there seem to be some really great stories there.

I love a good hockey romance and this book was a great hockey romance. Ford and Andi are a great couple. Start off as neighbors who have an attraction that they don't act on and help each other out from time to time then Ford has a surprise baby dropped off on his door step. Tilly up ends his life and surprise ends up turning Andi's life upside down too but in the end it ends up in the best way. I loved this book. Willa's story was heartbreaking but I ate this story up in one day.

Fun, steamy friends to lovers hockey romance. Throw in a surprise baby, humor, and some deep character growth, and this book kept me invested throughout. A great read!

A super entertaining book that I flew through. The pace was great, and the writing captured my attention. I liked the hockey action and the banter between the characters. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I love a good hockey romance. And single dad, friends to lovers with the neighbour? Hell yeah

When it comes to single parent trope I do enjoy it, usually preferring single mum to single dad though. But this one was just sweet. I did feel like there wasn’t a ton of baby interaction even with it being part of then plot.

This is a good romance. Friend to lovers is a favourite of mine because of the friendship first. You can really feel when the chemistry grows and it gos from this is my pal to hubba hubba. I will say I did get ripped out the book when during a sex scene he called her vagina, her “kitty”. I mean why.

There isn’t a third point breakup which is always nice. And really I just thought it was a very cute book. The FMC and MMC are both written well with flaws but they are so good together. I very much enjoyed this book.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the early chance to read and review “Keeping The Score.”

I really enjoyed the latest hockey romance from Kelly Jamieson. I found the premise of a hockey player who suddenly discovers he has a 4 month old baby intriguing and I was excited to see how his relationship with his recently divorced neighbor Andi would unfold. Like the previous novel in this series, the final act was more emotional than I was expecting but it made for a satisfying conclusion for the reader. I hope that some of the other players on the team, such as Smitty, Crusher, and Alfie, get a chance to have their stories told as well. Overall, I rate this book a solid 4 stars.

A very cute friends-to-lovers with a suprise single-dad troupe, and spice!
It's a sports-romance setting with a male maincharacter giving both golden retriever and alfa-male vibes!
There is a lot of heartwarming moments and self-healing - and especially the female maincharacter really finds her self.

An easy fun romance with a suprise baby, a Daddy and spice!

A thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

This has a lot of emotions tied to it. Sadness, grief, happiness, hope, worry. All of them. And somehow? Somehow, it just all fits together perfectly. You see, Andi and Ford are friends. Neighbors. But then they become more. Partners in unexpected baby-raising. More than friends. And while I was stunned to know that Willa could walk away, the truth is so very much more than I’d imagined.

This is an excellent story of rolling with the punches, figuring out how to change routines when necessary, and letting love have the wheel. To know what a sacrifice is made for the good of the future by one, to see just what a mother’s love is, and to know that two people who never wanted “responsibility” for an innocent life just makes this a book you won’t want to put down. It’s really that good. Yes, you’ll tear up. Maybe some will spill over. But it’s worth the ride in the end. Trust me.

I have mixed feelings about this one.
There were some parts I really enjoyed- hence the 2 stars- but overall it wasn’t really for me.
I struggled to connect with either main character and felt that for a lot of the book Ford was just using Andi as convenient child care, that he completely took for granted. She felt she owed him it but it wasn’t ever really clear why, and she went way above and beyond just helping occasionally.
I didn’t see the twist near the end coming and would have liked a trigger warning for it, so I hope there is one in the final published book (though I appreciate it is also a spoiler) but I did like that it explained the biological mother’s actions that for most of the book didn’t make any sense.
The ending was nice, and I’m intrigued by Smitty and the pop star.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

Keeping the Score by Kelly Jamieson
What does a Goalie in the NHL do when a former one-night-stand shows up and says this is your baby, and leaves the baby....
This is a heartwarming story with just enough spice. Single dad x neighbor. Surprise baby and all the chaos and crying that comes with a new baby and two adults who have zero experience with a baby.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Keeping the Score but it does have some heartbreaking elements in it, as well as fun and funny moments.

Keeping the Score was a lot of fun to read. Ford and Andi have been neighbors for years. Andi recently went through a yucky divorce and Ford has stood by as her friend. When Ford finds out he's a father when a baby is dropped on his doorstep, Andi steps up to help him. Neither has wanted kids or knows anything about babies but they figure things out together. Parenting together brings them closer together in ways they never planned.

I loved how honest this story was about the characters not knowing what to do with a baby and maybe not ever wanting to do anything with one at all. Usually, it's the woman sweeping in instinctively knowing or having had experience taking care of the baby. That wasn't the case here and I found it refreshing. The way Ford and Andi worked together to figure things out and fell in love along the way was really sweet. Little Matilda was adorable. It was fun to see characters from the first book in this series, and I hope there are more to come.

I freaking LOVE this series. Now, I am honestly not sure if it is being called a series because these are definately stand alone books but this is the second book referencing the same hocket team and players and I absolutely adored it. Ford was an intriguing character during the first book and I am so, so happy he got his own story with Keeping the Score.

Ford is a slightly nerotic, set his his way, goal-focused goalie that doesnt have time for true relationships or anything outside his highly regimented schedule. Until an adorable, and unexpected, baby is dropped on him. So now Ford's whole life is upturned and he needs help. In comes Andi, his amazingly sweet neighbor who is getting over a recent divorce, like him doesnt want kids or have time for relationships. Together they navigate some emotionally shark infested waters (IYKYK).

Beyond the fact that this is just a flat out well written hocky trope romance, it also has heart. The characters are ones you want to invest in and the story is well developed. I also love that there are characters and references from the previous book that are woven into this one. Both Ford and Andi are flawed, but not in an over the top way. Instead, their challenges are absolutely relatable making this a binge worth book with an absolutely satisfying happy ending.

My only suggestion? Add a recipe for those beer meatballs because they sound awesome!!

5 stars. Loved this!

After reading the first of this series, I was so happy to receive the ARC for the second part of the series. And oh boy I loved this even more than the first part!

This had a different take on the surprise baby trope. Ford has to care for his baby who he didn't know existed. He doesn't know anything about babies, and neither does his neighbor Andi. However these two have to take care of the baby. We also see a lot of Ford's teammates who undoubtedly will have their own books later.

This made me feel both sad and happy. I literally had tears in my eyes at one part. I love how this series is spicy and fun but also handles mental health themes and sadness, and these themes are handled well.

I can't wait for the next part of the series!

WHAT I LIKED: I loved Ford and Andi together. It was well described how they didn't want the baby at first but how they both very quickly started to love Matilda. I liked how they had some problems with communication but they understood how important it is to talk!

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: I have to admit that there was nothing too irritating, it was overall a very good book!

WHAT TO EXPECT:

Pov: dual, 1st person
Heat: open doors
Pacing: slowburnish
Communication: mostly healthy communication
Third act: hiccups
Ending: HEA

Main characters:
* Alpha Hero
* Cinnamon roll hero
* Friends to lovers
* Millionaire
* Single parent

What?
* Dirty talk
* Forced proximity
* Found family
* Sports romance: hockey

Where?
* New Jersey

Drama?
* Surprise baby

Other vibes:
* Mental health rep
* ”We’re just friends”