Book Review: Check the Halls (The Ottawa Otters #2) by K.M. Gillis

December 13, 2025November 6, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: K.M. Gillis
Publisher: Literary Lupin Publishing
Release Date: October 15th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

She thought her future was set…until her past skated back into her life.

On paper, Madelyn Clairmont has it all: a dependable fiancé, a dream job in a new city, and a bright future planned. But when she comes face to face with the man who stole her heart a decade ago, she’s left wondering if the “perfect” life she’s planned is the one she’s meant to live.

Ben Michaels is known for being a player, both on and off the ice. But lately, the all-star NHL defenseman has been working hard to clean up his act. A chance encounter with Madelyn—the one who got away—only confirms what he’s always known: he never stopped loving her. Unfortunately for him, she’s engaged to someone else.

When Madelyn needs a host for her Christmas charity gala, Ben doesn’t hesitate to step in—as a friend. But their time together stirs up old feelings and unanswered questions. She’s afraid of repeating past mistakes. He’s determined to prove he’s not the same man who let her go.

Love doesn’t always go according to plan and this holiday season, their second chance might be a real game changer.

WHERE WERE THE HOLIDAY VIBES?

I had a good time with this book. My favorite is the first one [for now] but I still had no problem picking this up and reading it as fast as I could. I love this hockey team and I’ve missed hockey romance!

I loved that the flashbacks only took up a few paragraphs each time. I don’t like long winded flashback chapters and this delivered on the little glimpses of the past and how they fell in love. And how communicative Ben was??? Good heavens YES. I LOVED IT. The man is so down bad. Y’all know that’s my kryptonite.

I did miss the holiday/Christmas moments. There were a few mentions but it definitely didn’t stick out enough in the plot to necessarily call this a holiday romance.

I’m still dialed into this series and I can’t wait for the next book!!

Overall audience notes:

Hockey Holiday Romance
Language: moderate
Romance: 3-4ish open door
Violence: low

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Book Review: My Merry Mistake (Holidays with Hart #3) by Courtney Walsh

November 29, 2025November 11, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Holiday Sports Romance
Length: 412 pages
Author: Courtney Walsh
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: November 1st, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Sometimes the perfect gift is standing right in front of you. . . You’re just too stubborn to see it.

I don’t like to make mistakes. Ever.

Especially when those mistakes are witnessed by the same person—flirty Finn Holbrook—who can’t seem to leave me alone. Can I really trust him not to tell anyone that the night we met, I tried to kiss him? Or that I fell apart after I got fired from a job I loved? Or that I’m not as strong as I want everyone to think I am?

The simple fact that he’s boomeranged back into my orbit after all these years feels like a great, big cosmic joke.

Only now he’s a professional hockey player, and while he doesn’t look like the goofy college bartender I met all those years ago, he still acts like one—immature, flirty, and unable to take anything seriously.

Which is why I never, ever fall for his game.

I know better than to get swept up in romance. I don’t have time. I’m busy making myself irreplaceable in my new job with the Chicago Comets. Work isn’t just something I do, it’s who I am.

And while my sisters are constantly on me to slow down and take breaks, those things aren’t on my schedule, so . . . I push on. Do more. Load up my schedule. Overcommit. Until eventually, my stress lands me in the emergency room.

The prescription? A month off. No emails. No work. No distractions.

Unless you count Finn Holbrook, who keeps showing up at my door, determined to leverage his positive, golden retriever energy to show me there’s a great, big world outside that I haven’t bothered to explore, most of it covered with white twinkle lights and Christmas decorations.

I begrudgingly go along with his grand plans, and little by little, I start to see there really is more to life than work—and more to Finn than flirting.

Which makes me wonder . . . how can someone so obviously wrong for me start to feel completely right? And more importantly . . . how do I make those feelings go away?

My Merry Mistake is an opposites attract hockey romance with all of the sizzle but none of the steam. It’s the third book in the Holidays with Hart series, but can be read as a stand alone.

OH, OH THIS BOOK.

While highly relatable on many levels for I’m sure lots of people, this one hit me square in the face as a fellow eldest daughter. DAMN. The amount of times I’ve literally ran myself into the ground and ended up having to rest (which I hate resting sooooo). I GET IT RAYA. I GET IT.

But let me tell y’all FINNNNNNNNNNN? The softest of golden retriever’s EVERRRR. I loved his temperament and the fact that this man has been down bad for YEARS. I LOVE TO SEE IT EVERY TIME. The banter and ridiculous chemistry between Finn and Raya will have you begging them to kiss. The slow burn is torturous.

And there is definitely enough holiday cheer to say this is without a doubt a Christmas book. It had me craving everything December. I’m also obsessed with how close knit both of these families are too. I don’t think that’s written in books often enough and it is one of my favorite tidbits. The sibling dynamics, facetime chats and showing up in the hard moments made me want to sob. THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE.

An official *all time great* for my holiday book recs.

Overall audience notes:

Holiday Sports Romance
Language: none
Romance: kisses
Violence: low
Content warnings: loss of a sibling (recounted), grief depiction

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ALC Book Review: Moms of Mayhem (Mayhem Hockey Club #1) by Aimee Vance

November 25, 2025November 23, 2025 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Hockey Romance
Length: 428 pages
Author: Aimee Vance
Publisher: Revel Books
Release Date: September 5th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Starting over was never part of the playbook.

Fresh off a failed marriage and years of putting everyone else first, Emmy Hudson returns to her small hometown determined to rebuild a life for her and her teenage son, Jace. With her brother close by and Jace joining the once-elite Mayhem Hockey Club, it seems like the perfect second chance.

Beckett Conway is back in Linwood for the worst a blown-out hip, a tanked NHL season, and a mom whose health is declining too fast for his liking. Coaching the local youth hockey team wasn’t on his rehab checklist, but watching Jace sneak onto his backyard pond to practice brings back everything he loved about this little mountain town.

Too bad Jace’s mom is sarcastic, stubborn, and somehow the most attractive woman he’s ever bantered with. As if that wasn’t enough, Emmy is his best friend’s sister and in charge of clearing him to play again.

Sparks fly, lines blur, and before long, Emmy discovers that maybe finding herself means letting someone else in, even if that someone was the last person she expected to fall for.

Thank you to Aimee Vance for a gifted ALC.

HOW I LOVED THIS.

I legit gobbled this book up. I’ve been a big fan of Aimee Vance for awhile and was so excited to get my hands on her latest romance. I’m back in my hockey era and I love it.

While I think this book can be loved on many levels, it was super relatable to motherhood and watching your child grow up, protecting them, and finding yourself too. Many of those sentiments and themes hit me in the chest full force.

I loved the dynamic between Emmy and Beckett. Sparks were flying from the first time they met each other [again] and I loved the way Beckett showed up Emmy AND Jace. It was important and memorable and made this book so dang good.

The spice is spicy but I did find it easy to skip over. And I loved all of the different types of relationships this book presented too. From friendships, family relations, romance, teammates, etc. They all held weight and they all pushed the book forward in amazing ways.

I am sat for the rest of this series.

Overall audience notes:

Hockey Romance
Language: strong
Romance: 4-5ish open door
Violence: low
Content warnings: divorce (cheating mentioned), a parent with Parkinson’s

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Book Review: Season’s Schemings by Katie Bailey

October 20, 2025October 26, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★☆
Audience: Holiday Sports Romance
Length: 262 pages
Author: Katie Bailey
Publisher: Eleventh Avenue Publishing
Release Date: December 1st, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

‘Tis the season to get even…

When Maddie Grainger’s longtime boyfriend dumps her on TV for the entire world to see, she thinks she’s hit rock bottom.

Until her parents announce that they’re spending the holidays with her ex’s family… And he’ll be bringing the woman he left her for.

All Maddie wants for Christmas is to stick it to her cheating ex. But how?

Enter Sebastian Slater, the NHL’s most infamous player.

On a drunken night out in Vegas, Maddie asks the superstar athlete to pose as her new boyfriend. She’s kidding, mostly. But Seb shocks her by making a counter offer: he doesn’t want to date Maddie for the holidays… he wants to marry her.

Show up at her ex’s cabin alone, or with a surprise new hockey-playing husband? Maddie opts for the ultimate level up.

Because maybe, just maybe, revenge is a dish best served betrothed.

Sparks fly and Christmas cheer is abundant in this festive marriage of convenience rom com. Season’s Schemings is a closed door/fade to black romance that includes mild language, innuendo, and tons of sizzle without the spice.

PLEASANTLY SURPRISED.

I didn’t know what I was going to get out of this one. It was coming on the heels of TWO two star holiday romances and I needed a win. And oh how grateful I am that it was a win. It was a little bit too chaotic for me in the beginning but found its footing and I was charmed way by Seb.

I love marriage of convenience. If I see it, I’ve got to have it and this was clever and fun. I liked the set-up and all of the following holiday shenanigans. It’s cheerful and on the lighter side and I though the audiobook was great too. AND it’s also a hockey romance which is another tally in the win column.

One of my favorite FAVORITE aspects was that this was steamy without the spice. I loved that this had actual closed door material and brought the heat without the explicit scenes. This is my true favorite place to be and I want to to read more from Katie Bailey purely for this reason alone.

Overall audience notes: