Loved every moment of Cade and Clara's story. Single parent books are one of my favorite tropes to read.

Offside and Off-limits was funny, romantic, swoon-worthy, and easy to read. Kate did a great job of building the story with the side characters and town that play a part in the other stories to come. You become curious about the other plays and when they will have their chance at love.
Kate also did a great job of adding situations that can be found in the real world that we do not see in books. An example would be Clara CF condition. I've never read a book about a character having that character. There have more books released this year that have different conditions or situations for the main characters that make is easy to connect with the reader.

Tropes:
Small Town
Workplace Romance
Hockey Romance
Single Mom
Closed Door Spice

Loved this hockey romance that has all the tropes we love as well as fully developed characters and a surprisingly well developed plot.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review. The main characters are Clara and Cade. Cade is a hockey star and Clara is a social media manager. Her involvement is off-limits. During a conference call, Clara fell into Cades arms. If you love forbidden romance and single parent romance, this book is for you. This was an excellent read and I would recommend it. Grab a cup of hot coffee or tea whatever your preference and a good blanket enjoy!

i love the concept of this series. being able to follow different characters from the same community is my jam at the moment. and when done well it brings me joy. and this one was don so well!
i also love it when it allows readers to fall hard and follow or fall hard but not have to have read the books to follow. no one is left out or feeling confused.
in this book we have brilliant Clara and charming Cade. they each think they dont want the what the other is giving, or dont want to want it more like. but soon an incident means they are literally forced into each others arms, world, hearts. and then a force wraps around them that is way more real than either could have expected.
Clara is a woman who is struggling with chronic illness and just trying to make a go of things. shes strong, brave and determined. shes got herself the job of a social media manager for an ice hockey team and is read to put her head in the game and be a success. her contract does stipulate of course that there is to be no close realisations with the players. definitely not a problem for Clara right? but meeting Cade and seeing so much more in him that his playboy reputation has her wanting to finally take a few risks. maybe even with her heart.
Cade needs to realise that there is way more to Cade then she has been led to believe. but this could cause more complications to what shes been building here.
i love reading this story. i was fun, smiley and fulls of wit and banter you cant help but fall for and root for. i loved the interactions between our two characters. they were both so full of brightness and their vibes had me in a total feel good mood after reading.
great book.

I just love this series, so this was another great addition to these cute couples.

In this novel we follow Clara and Cade. Clara is a single mother struggling with CFS, and Cade is a hockey player for the Ice Breakers. When Clara starts a new job as the social media manager for the Ice Breakers, she immediately draws the eye of Cade. Clara is hesitant though, because she ex left her for having CFS and Cade is a known playboy. But after some playful banter, showing he understands chronic illness, and being so adorable with her son and daughter, Cade worms his way into Clara’s heart.

This was a soft romance, meaning the steamiest thing that happens is kissing and some innuendo. The closed door romance is just what I needed right now. It has fall vibes without actually being a fall book. I just loved it and can’t wait to see what happens next in this small town!

*An ARC was given in exchange for an honest review.

I unfortunately just could not get into this one and could not connect with the characters or the plot. The writing seemed cheesy to me like middle school level and the constant comparing to Jacob Elordi was a lot.

I really enjoyed reading Offside and Off-Limits. It has a good mix of small town charm, nosy neighbors, and Hallmark level romance. I liked that this was closed door. I feel like it helped show that connection and chemistry doesn't always have to include spice. As someone who also had a chronic illness, I felt like I could resonate with Clara. I feel like this book represents chronic illness and the struggles that come with it perfectly. I love the golden retriever energy from Cade. I do think that it felt a little bit rushed, but it doesn't take away from the story. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a small town, forbidden romance with Hallmark movie vibes.

This was short, sweet and very cute!

Cade and Clara are so sweet and their relationship was very wholesome. There’s a whole cast of characters and they’re hilarious, especially Mrs McCluskey - obsessed with that woman!

I really enjoyed the CFS representation, it was real and wasn’t dismissed like it tends to be.

But holy hell, Clara’s ex was nasty - he’s a way bigger villain than the CFS. Would have liked to read about someone hitting him with a puck.

Overall this was a nice read and I will be reading the rest as palate cleansers!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kate O'Keeffe for an ARC of this book!

Hockey player + single mom w/ chronic illness
He falls first
Small town vibes
Closed door romance
Forbidden love

This was my first book by this author, and I really enjoyed the story. Our MMC (Cade) is a reformed bad boy who falls hard and fast for our heroine (Clara) who is suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. As someone who has dealt with a lot of chronic pain and fatigue myself, I appreciated this representation, and it helped me connect with Clara more. This is a sweet, easy to read, swoon worthy romance with plenty of chemistry. It is a closed door romance, which I don't typically enjoy as much. Having said that, I still very much loved the story. While I saw that the books in this series are interconnected, it can be enjoyed as a standalone as well.