hockey – GoodeyReads

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Emma St. Clair
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: August 5th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In this enemies-to-lovers romance, school nurse Josie and her brother’s best friend–hockey player Wyatt Jacobs–are tricked into spending a summer together that’s anything but smooth sailing.

When Josie’s brother sends her to a random address for their (sometimes) annual Super Summer Sibling Extravaganza, she finds neither siblings nor extravaganzas. Instead, ends up at a run-down cottage on the Northern Neck of Virginia occupied by a hockey player she knows and loathes.

A hockey player who isn’t just one of her sports agent brother’s clients. He’s also his best friend. And Josie’s sworn enemy.

Oh–and her brother wants Josie to help Wyatt recover from his injury.

Dragging grumpy hockey players to physical therapy is a far cry from bandaging skinned knees, but for the price her brother offers to pay, Josie is willing to try.

Even if it means sharing what she dubs the quaint little murder cottage with Wyatt.

Begrudgingly, Josie starts to see a little more of the man behind the grumpy exterior. And when she finds out he was supposed to sail the Intracoastal Waterway south to Savannah scattering his uncle’s ashes, Josie surprises even herself by offering to be Wyatt’s first mate.

Smooth sailing is nowhere to be found, and Josie begins to wonder if they’ll be able to make it home without killing–or kissing?–each other.

And yet, the longer they share cramped quarters and canned food, the more of Wyatt’s layers she peels back until Josie realizes she misunderstood him, their shared history, and perhaps herself as well.

Thank you to Emma St. Clair for the gifted ARC.

OH HOW SOFT.

You know what we all need sometimes? A soft and sweet summer romance that just gives you the warm fuzzies. I adored this story. It was an easy read and I loved watching these two souls who were so oblivious to their love work it out sailing together. And did I mention that Wyatt is down bad? BECAUSE HE IS AND I LOVE IT. There were so many small moments that truly added to their love story. I love the quiet actions. Those always speak the loudest and make my heart burst.

I loved the few cameos from some of my favorite Appies and the growth that Wyatt showed throughout. I love watching grumpy characters soften and have some core realizations about their life. Josie was steadfast in taking care of Wyatt and I can’t tell y’all how many scenes I was giddy over. Your friendly reminder that closed door romances can bring the heat.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low
Content warnings: grief depiction, loss of a loved one (recounted)

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fiction + Sports
Length: 432 pages
Author: Fredrik Backman
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: April 25th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Man Called Overeturns with a dazzling, profound novel about a small town with a big dream—and the price required to make it come true.

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

AN IMPORTANT NOVEL.

This left me awestruck. What an amazing and poignant story that brought to life so many things wrong with our culture.

I connected a lot with the life emphasis on hockey. As someone who knows the depths of Southern football, it can rule your life. The pressure to win, be the best, and always do right can be intensely overwhelming. These boys are under way too much stress from parents and other adults who care a bit too much about hockey.

Because I swear, if I heard one more character mention “putting the club before anything else.” I was going to through my Kindle through a window. HOW DARE THEY. Oh I was so angry. Which I’m sure was the intention, which is also why I loved this book so much. I felt so many feelings and reevaluations run through my mind.

As a parent I feel like the story itself hit me on an even more emotional level. I can’t even began to fathom this happening and knowing what to do about it. The strength and courage that some of these characters exhibited in a horrid and disgusting situation was stirring.

I could not put this book down. The rotation of the point of views throughout the story allowed an insight into so many character minds and rounded out the effects this type of story has on an entire town. Each character responded uniquely and while I didn’t love some responses I appreciated the importance of seeing all sides.

Note: contains strong subject manner that is detailed and hard to read, please read at your own discretion

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary fiction + sports
Language: a lot of strong language (one of the only things I would change)
Romance: none
Violence: physical & verbal assaults – see Trigger warnings for more details
Trigger warnings: aggravated rape, teenage drug & alcohol use, off & on screen domestic abuse, sexual harassment, suicide, suicide ideation, depression, homophobia