⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (3.5 stars)

Three Pucks and a Baby is a light, fast-paced read with plenty of heart, heat, and hockey. The premise is delightfully over-the-top — three pro hockey players and a surprise baby — and the found family vibes are strong throughout. It’s easy to root for the characters, who are each charming in their own way, and the writing has a fun, self-aware tone that doesn't take itself too seriously.

That said, as someone who doesn’t usually gravitate toward why-choose romances, I found myself less emotionally invested in the romantic dynamic — but that’s entirely a matter of personal taste rather than any fault of the book. Fans of the genre will likely love the playful banter, steamy moments, and unconventional love story.

If you’re looking for a cozy, spicy, and trope-filled escape with a lot of heart (and a lot of hockey), this could be the perfect pick.

guyssss it was an accidental pregnancy not signle mum romance AND IM IN LOVE.
i couldnt out this down. I LOVE THIS.
i am proud to say i love accidental pregnancy, rh and hockey romances and i dont give a fuck what you say.
3 men worshipping a woman is amazing. its also reverse age gap shes 30, and the 3 dudes are 23.
THE SPICE WAS PERFECT. it was sooo, realistic too.
the fact theo was in denial about being bi after fucking a man is insane but im glad he came to his senses.
it showed the struggles of have unsupportive parents, and it was over all just super real. i felt soso connected with all the characters. they all had there flaws but thats what made me love them.
i LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE THIS. i will end up rereading this again this month lmao
This did not disappoint and deserves more hype

✨pre-read✨

REVERSE HAREM, SINGLE MUM, HOCKEY ROMANCE. FUCK YES. THIS BOOK FUCKING BETTER BE AMAZING OR IM THROWING HANDS


Thankyou so much netgalley for provide me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!!

Three Pucks and a Baby is an MFM-turned-MFMM-turned-MMFM reverse harem why choose romance that kicks off with a hockey superstition and quickly becomes something more. It reminded me of Emily Rath’s Pucking Around, though I wasn’t as emotionally invested in the characters here.

Out of the four main characters, Theo had the most noticeable character development. I do wish we got to know each character a bit more individually, but I appreciated that the story doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s entertaining, sexy, and chaotic in the best way.

If you're looking for good smut with swords crossing and a surprisingly heartfelt storyline, this might be up your alley. I really enjoyed the emotional and physical chemistry between the MCs as none of them expected the lasting impact they’d have on each other (or the feelings that followed). It’s messy, yes, but ultimately grounded in care and connection.

I knew this would be smutty but it kind of wasn't as much as I expected.
Vivian, a university library, ends up in a quad poly after a one night thing with three university hocket players ends up with her pregnant. There are growing and complicated quad dynamics, tons of emotions (both due to pregnancy and the fact that the guys are all in their early twenties), and only a small amount of infighting.
This was a breezy, easy read and the narrator was easy to speed up and get through this one.

Thanks to Netgalley for the e-arc!

Thank you Net Galley for giving me an ARC of this book! This review is my own opinion.

Vivian, our FMC feels her thirtieth birthday looming over her and decides she wants to live a little. Embracing her word of the year “Live”, she ends up in a threesome with two hockey players from her college. The story follows Vivian and these men as they navigate the repercussions of this one-night stand and what it means to each of them.

I haven’t read any Katie Ashley books; but after this one, I am eager to try another one. It was an easy read with some fun, spicy moments. The characters are hard not to love and root for. I will be recommending this Why Choose to my friends.

So grateful to have been chosen as an ARC reader for this book. I’m an ice hockey romance girlie through and through, and I might be a teeny tiny bit obsessed with why choose!

Loved the fact that the FMC was a 30 yo librarian that totally fell for three younger men. I feel like there’s still a big stigma on women being older than their partners nowadays, which is totally ridiculous if you ask me. Seeing this being a big part of the book, made me giddy! Also, the queer representation in this book made my heart happy! I love myself a MM(FM) romance, and this one reminded me of Pucking Around by Emily Rath, which was the first why choose ice hockey romance I read, so it will always hold a special place in my heart! Accidental pregnancies are normally not my thing, but in this book it was perfect.

I’d definitely recommend this book!

I have just finished reading this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I even read it all in one sitting!

Honestly I don’t tend to pick up reverse harem/why choose books typically, but I am so glad I did!! There was a great amount of humour in this book and I feel each character played their part well in terms dialogue and I could imagine each character saying what they did.

The only thing I would change about this book is to add a small bit of buildup at the beginning so we know a tinyyy bit more about the characters before jumping into the smut. However we did get this throughout the story so I still really enjoyed it!

Thank you for letting me read a copy of this book! Katie Ashley you have just got yourself a new fan!!!

When I saw this book on NetGalley I can’t believe I didn’t request it at first and am now so happy I went back and not only requested an advanced copy, but was awarded one! I enjoyed this book so so much and had a hard time putting it down, resulting in many extra coffees to get through the work day, lol!

Vivian was such a strong and independent woman and I loved how she had no issues putting these boys in their places! Theo was as Gray called him the “alpha asshole”, and it suited him at first. After learning his family history, I understood where it was coming from and happy he sought out help. Gray was the self proclaimed cinnamon roll and he was certainly that with a great sense of humor. Then we have sweet ol’ Bennie Boy, his unrequited crush really tugged at my heart strings for him and I am so happy they all got their HEA as they all should! Everyone deserves an EPIC love story!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book.
Three Pucks and a Baby offers a steamy and entertaining take on hockey romance with a reverse harem (MMFM) twist. The story starts off strong, with an engaging setup that pulls you in, even with the familiar pregnancy trope at play. The chemistry between the characters is sizzling, and the spicy scenes are especially well done, making it an enjoyable read in that regard.
However, there were several elements that detracted from the overall experience. One recurring frustration was the offhanded comments about the FMC being "old" at 30, which felt unnecessary and out of touch. While the concept had great potential, parts of the plot felt unbelievable or too basic, and I found myself wanting more depth—both from the storyline and the character development. The timeline was also confusing at times. Early chapters were prefaced with helpful markers like “one month later” or “two weeks later,” but this faded as the book progressed, leaving transitions unclear. This inconsistency made it harder to track the characters’ growth as individuals and as a poly group, particularly with the added complexity of pregnancy and evolving emotional dynamics.
Additionally, the book was riddled with spelling, grammar, and name/POV errors—especially toward the end. In some scenes, one character’s name would be incorrectly used, creating confusion about who was actually present or speaking. While this can be a common issue in Why Choose romances, the frequency of these mistakes was distracting and undermined the story’s flow.
In the end, Three Pucks and a Baby has a lot of promise, and I genuinely enjoyed aspects of it. But due to the structural issues and lack of polished character development, it fell short of being a standout in the genre.

A cute and spicy read, one that i immensely enjoyed. I was super entertained reading it, and laughed more than a few times.

While there were a few inconsistencies that sometimes took me out of the story, I enjoyed my time with this book! Another hockey romance banger for the books.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, the publisher, ans the author for an arc!

Vivian -sweet university librarian Vivian is heading for her 30th birthday and somehow an innocent dinner invite with a hockey hottie would end up in a threesome (sports superstitions are very real) with his roommate, until third bi-curious roommate joins in and Vivian has a 30th birthday year to remember- especially after she sees the pregnancy line positives- who is the dad, can they make this work while waiting to find out who the lucky dad is, all four are grappling with feeling and emotions that were not a part of their night out. - this book shows that love is not always conventional and you find it where you least suspect it sometimes- i hope we see more of this poly fam!

I’ve only read one Katie Ashley novel before (her Smartypants Romance, Green Valley Public Library series contribution), but I absolutely loved it. When I saw this pop up and it was RH and hockey - I just had to grab it! Two of my favourite things!

This isn’t a new concept by any means… heck, a few other huge names in romance have RH hockey series out right now, but you can never have too many. Give me more!!

I just loved and devoured this one! I loved the way the first set of roommates had their player superstition about needing the ménage before a game to play well, and seeking out their college librarian specifically. The reverse age gap was a really great twist from those other series.

I really loved the addition of the third roommate and just exactly how he came to be involved.

The very best part was what happened after their single night - but you all have to read it to find out exactly what it was! This is how this plot varies a lot from all of the others.

It’s a very risqué read and perfectly steamy. Fantastic! RH done exactly how it should be. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Victory Editing NetGalley Coop for an advance copy. This is my honest feedback.

A cute story with all of the tropes we have come to expect in a hockey romance, but enough knowledge of how the game is played that Katie Ashley manages to avoid a lot of the mistakes many authors in this genre make.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Three Pucks and a Baby is a fluffy, sweet read with an endearing premise and plenty of heart. If you’re looking for a cozy romance with found family vibes and a feel-good atmosphere, this book delivers on that front.

That said, while I enjoyed the lighthearted tone and easy pacing, the story ultimately fell flat for me in a few key areas. The characters lacked depth, and much of their development seemed to happen off-page, which made it hard to feel truly connected to their growth. I also noticed several plot holes and inconsistencies in the timeline that pulled me out of the story. Some dialogue felt unnatural or out of sync with the character dynamics, which made it harder to stay immersed.

This book has real potential, and I did enjoy reading it—but I couldn’t rate it higher due to the structural and character development issues. I’ll be curious to see what this author does next, especially with a bit more polish.

This was light, chaotic, and kind of exactly what you'd expect—three hot hockey players and one surprise baby. It had sweet found-family moments and some fun banter, but everything stayed pretty surface-level. The characters didn’t feel super developed, and the plot leaned more silly than satisfying. Still, if you're in the mood for low-stakes, tropey fluff, it does the job.

I’m new-ish to the why choose romances so take this with a grain of salt. Overall I am a big fan of hockey, surprise pregnancies and MMCs who are obsessed with the FMC. I also enjoy MM so this was right up my alley when I requested this book on netgalley.

The storyline is interesting and it’s easy to keep up with the major plot line, Grayson is a charming cinnamon roll jock with sex on his mind, Theo is kind of an asshole who loves being in control and Bennett is a sweet man with a hot accent. Vivian on the other hand is a mature woman entering her 30s with the goal to be more adventurous and live her life while enjoying her work as a librarian and a historial nonfiction author.

I thought Vivian’s character reflected her state of mind in the sense that she is well balanced and what she thought was often reflected by her actions. Maybe it was the obvious age gap between her and the men but Grayson and Theo came across as immature college guys who only had sex and hockey on the brain, which is true and thankfully there is emotional development with these two, while Bennett clearly gave off emotionally mature older brother if you know the type.

The reason why I’m not ranking it higher is because the plot line seemed to have too many things going on at once, which I get happens with so many main characters but it also felt like nothing really got a deeper sense of working out, everything was wrapped up too nicely for the complexity of a polyamorous relationship between 3 men and a woman, with dealing of homophobia, sexual identity crisis, the clash of older generations/parents finding out about the poly relationship, the lack of empathy from Theo’s family who cut him off emotionally but not financially, the bigotry from Bennett’s dad as well as the joint homophobia from his parents and the way Bennett’s mom dealt with the reconciliation at the baby shower among so many other scenarios.

We all want a happy ever after romance and this was clearly going to be one, however, I feel like when dealing with such complex emotional situations, there has to be more depth to how your fix/move on from these issues. I will praise the acceptance from the rest of the team as well as the mental health rep in the team when suggesting Theo get help and go to therapy.

I enjoyed the book but I’m giving it a 2.5 star rating because I felt like it could have faired better with a better ratio of plot to smut.

*** a technical issue I found in the book is during the scene where Theo and Bennett talk on the phone after Bennett confesses his love for Theo and Theo rejected him is a mistake in which Theo calls Bennett Grayson my mistake and the scene continues.

*arc review*

Was a fun read! I enjoyed the dynamics between the quad couple but did feel like some of it was a little strange. I wouldve liked to see more about the baby and that day to day life but overall it wasnt bad! thank you for the arc & i would love a book on carlee *hint hint*

ARC Review

-Multiple POV
-Accidental Pregnancy
-Why Choose
-Hockey
-Reverse Age Gap

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spicy: 🌶️ 🌶️🌶️

I enjoyed reading this book, a librarian that ends up with not one, not two but thee college hockey men?!?
Overall it was a good read. Grayson is such a golden retriever. I would have wanted more of Theo and Bennett’s relationship side of things. I felt like it skipped through their character development.

thank you netgalley for a copy of this book!

i was a little disappointed reading this book because i thought i would’ve liked it more. the characters felt lackluster and their chemistry slightly forced. the relationship between them all felt very quick as well since she had only seen them each 2-3 times before deciding to date them. it also felt as if they all only started dating because she got pregnant and they all thought the sex was good. the romance between theo and bennett only felt as if it was there for the MM smut. theo hadn’t expressed any interest in bennett or men in general even after they had kissed. i liked grayson since he was a sunshiny happy guy. i thought him and vivian were the only ones with chemistry and i enjoyed reading their parts. this book also felt like majority smut which i don’t mind but it didn’t hit since the characters didn’t feel like they actually liked or loved each other

I think the book had great potential. It was written in a casual and approachable style, light and funny at time, but unfortunately it was riddled with spelling and formatting errors that were quite distracting. There were some really heavy topics that were just glossed over, which I think was a missed opportunity to add depth to the plot and characters. A few of the hockey facts were unclear/boarding inaccurate.