Romance Recs

Hockey Romance

• Jordan & Devonnie • Season 3 • Episode 10

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0:00 | 42:33

It's a pucking good time to enjoy hockey romance! On this episode Devonnie and Jordan share their favorite hockey romance recommendations. Everyone's heard of Heated Rivalry at this point (if you haven't you should probably look it up) so this is for readers looking for something new to them!

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Devonnie:

welcome to Romance Recs, We're romance obsessed besties sharing book res broken down by genre and trope so you can be sure you're getting exactly what you want out of your next read. Hey guys, dev here.

Jordan:

Hi. Hello.

Devonnie:

Jordan.

Jordan:

Hi. It's been.

Devonnie:

everybody. Yeah, we're back. Somebody played that song where she goes, she's back or whatever. Anyway Hey y'all. I'm currently reading. Oh God, do we have the time?

Jordan:

Yes, I have a list too. Just give it

Devonnie:

Okay. Okay, cool. So I am reading and listening to Weathering Heights because need a refresher. I can, I can't actually remember if I've read it and I'm going to see that movie next month. So gotta get it. I'm listening to, I'm Medusa really enjoying that so far. Yes. Oh my, so far it is. I'm loving the writing the way it's written.

Jordan:

I

Devonnie:

Delicious. Yeah. Yeah this next book by Tiffany Hunt. Tiffany Hunt is an arc. I'm still working through it. I wish I was going a little faster. I am enjoying it, but I don't know. The vibes just aren't vibing as well, but the title is so damn long. It is The Dark, the Dating the Dark Girl. I don't know. Tiffany, why is the book title so long Babes?

Jordan:

Because now you remember the book. You might not remember the title, but you'll know it and it'll

Devonnie:

Absolutely it is. Yeah. Tiffany, you did that. It is the Dark Lord's Guide to Dating and Other war crimes. It's a comedy, very much to me is reminiscent of the assistant to the villain series, but dark. So if you wanted like death more darkness this will give you that. And is that it? I feel like there's one more, but I'm gonna stop there just in case.

Jordan:

Oh good. Okay. And hello, I'm Jordan. Welcome back, or welcome to us if you're new. I am so excited to be here again. First time in 2026. I am currently listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Not romance, but it is fucking hilarious. And I'm listening to Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reed because it's heated rivalry and I watched the show and now I needed to read to see how close it was. I will say I'm listening because who has the time right? To Tom does the narration and it's not my favorite, but the story is just like the. The show. So loving it so far. I am also, I am reading an Arc of Plants and Playtime by Hazel Rockwood, and I'm also in between everything. I am reading The Tigers Ambush by Tate James. It's book six and her very first series that she ever read wrote. And that's where we're at right now.

Devonnie:

I love that. I love that. I did forget to mention that I just finished an arcane inheritance, like literally last night. I did enjoy it. So there's that. And that is by Camilla Cole.

Jordan:

Thank you. I would've felt really left out if you hadn't added that. I would've been like, but where's your most recent

Devonnie:

Yeah,

Jordan:

Where is it?

Devonnie:

I know you needed it, so I wanted to deliver, you know, I didn't want there to be any questions.

Jordan:

Yeah. You all can sleep soundly tonight.

Devonnie:

yes. And you're welcome. You're welcome. Anyway, so quotes, the quote I have for y'all today, unfortunately, has nothing to do with our theme. It's just a little bit of feminine rage that

Jordan:

Love to see it.

Devonnie:

Yeah. I wanna share. Okay. Men never truly understand the meaning of patience. You see men like you can't comprehend even the concept of suffering the lesson to be learned in it, especially not in silence. Her eyes never left his, but women, this is all we do. We endure, we wait, we survive. Honestly, I so that quote is from dagger mouth, by hm Wolf

Jordan:

Done. Sold. Absolutely. Wow.

Devonnie:

I don't even wanna tell you who says that quote. I'm not gonna tell you anything about it because you have to get there. You're basically towards the end of the book and there's too much reveal. So that quote alone skyrocketed the book to a five star. For me, it was like, yep, that'll do it. That did it. That absolutely did it. So happy reading. I know. Wasn't it so good? Yeah,

Jordan:

love it. Thank you for that. My quote is on brand for the episode today, but it does feature in the similar vein feminine Rage. So from Pucking Sweet by Emily, RAF. If you don't mind, mark, I'm gonna go ahead and speak and I'd like for you to listen and if I cry, please know, it's not because I'm too weak or too emotional to be a working professional capable of running your PR department. It's just that crying is a stress response to the amount of anger currently coursing through my body.

Devonnie:

Absolutely, because I can relate.

Jordan:

yeah,

Devonnie:

if I'm crying, yes, I'm a cancer and I'm a cry baby. Yes, I put my hand to the Bible. That's true. But also, if I'm crying.

Jordan:

Yes. You're,

Devonnie:

My blood is boiling. Okay. It is anger, it is rage as

Jordan:

Mine is absolute frustration. So as an Aries oh, I'm easy to get there, but like I'm not, I'm don't cry over really like sad things usually. I cry when I'm so upset, and I think it's from like in your quote and mine, it's as women we're expected to we have to hold it together, otherwise we're being blamed for being emotional. Right? Or then anything we said before that point and after that point is no longer valid because

Devonnie:

valid because

Jordan:

too emotional and you're too in it. So if you express those emotions, so then it just like builds and I'm so frustrated that you don't even know where to go with it. And then that's where it comes. And that

Devonnie:

Okay, now. Yes, which is what we're talking about today. Jordan, thanks for saying that. The theme is hockey. I know you guys are like so excited. I mean, between heated rivalry and just the way hockey romances have always been at the forefront of the romance sports genre. There are a lot of great hockey books. There are a lot of great hockey romances. And you can, I think honestly, there's a hockey romance for everyone. You can literally find what you're looking for in hockey romance. You want M-M-F-F-F-M. You could get everything. Why? You could get everything. Okay.

Jordan:

do you want Omega bursts? They have

Devonnie:

yes. Oh yeah. There is Omega verse hockey.

Jordan:

if you want. I mean, there's also a range, like you want minimal hockey. You just wanna know that's his profession, but you don't wanna see it. There's some of that you want play by play stats for all the characters. There's also that.

Devonnie:

Yeah. So you can totally find what you're looking for in a hockey romance. And so we're gonna share some of our favorites, some honorable mentions. Some we just came across and, you know, thought you might wanna look into them. But yeah, that's what today's episode is about. It's all about hockey, romance.

Jordan:

I know. I'm so

Devonnie:

You're welcome again.

Jordan:

Yeah. And I know everyone's been looking for some, so I will, there's the caveat. We're not gonna recommend heated rivalry because it's out there. You can go. There's plenty of stuff we're not gonna talk about Rachel Reed. All I'll say, I mean I already mentioned it'cause I'm currently reading it, but we've both watched the show.

Devonnie:

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Obsessed. Ooh, I other man that you're, but yeah, so that's there if you wanna read the Game Changers, is that the name of the series? If you wanna read that series by Rachel Reed, go ahead.

Jordan:

Yes.

Devonnie:

that. That includes he heated rivalry, I think is book two in that series. So.

Jordan:

Sheet.

Devonnie:

Yeah, y'all can go ahead and look up that, and I'm sure plenty of people are talking about heated rivalry if you want more information about what that story's about. Yeah.

Jordan:

He did rivalry. Tough guy. Common goal, role model. The

Devonnie:

Jordan's gonna get stuck in her Russian accent now.

Jordan:

You're welcome. Okay. Okay.

Devonnie:

All right. So you wanna start off, you wanna

Jordan:

Yeah, let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Okay, so the first one I'm gonna give you is an A LC that I listened to this past year. Thrown for a Loop by Serena Bowen.. I actually did my homework and I wrote up a little synopsis. I

Devonnie:

You think you're better than

Jordan:

Everyone clap? No, I just think I took the time, this time and. Here we are. Chase, Merrit, and Zoe. Carson met almost a decade ago at a figure skating camp. Zoe was on her way to the Olympics, but Chase was just trying to make it in the world and play hockey. Their teenage love burn hot and fast. After a scandalous night, Zoe was left confused, and Chase was angry. So a decade later, Zoe's career took a turn and she's found herself as the new skating coach for the New York Legends hockey team. And chase, their star player is in hot water. Management and he refuses to work with Zoe despite desperately needing her help. When an old video of their teenage ice skating performance from that summer goes viral, the team's PR pressures them into reenacting their routine for fans. Will their forced proximity force them to confront their pasts and make amends? The spark is still there. So is the repressed resentment?

Devonnie:

Yeah, that's how we like our ho Hockey romance full of angst

Jordan:

Yeah. So this is kind of like a second chance. So he came from a rougher background and he was given this opportunity to work at this. And help out at a skate a figure skating camp, right when he was in his teen years by a mentor of his, right. So through connections, because I think it's Zoe's uncle owned the camp or something like that. So anyways it was just so cute and it's one of those that goes back, it like goes back and forth timelines so you could see what happened to them as time went on. And it's very much a situation where neither one of them had the full story. Or I guess he kind of did, but like it, yeah. And it was really cute.

Devonnie:

Aw, cutie Petie.

Jordan:

Yeah. So it was really fun. And I do suggest listening to it. The audio was good. I think this would be good. Just red or listened to. I'm, either one would be good.

Devonnie:

Okay. I also have an A LC that I'm gonna share, but this series is not new. So I read Shattered Ice by Monty J. Now this is my first Monty J. Read. Was not familiar with their game. Really didn't know much about them. I've never read any of their books. This book is also. Depressingly short. I think that was my problem with the book. That was my only grievance, is that it was too short. It's about 230 pages maybe. But I listened to the A LC because I think the books are finally getting audio books. And so that's new. Shattered Isis Book three in the Fury series by Monte J, and it follows Malachi Petro. Ooh, and Charlotte Green. So here's the thing. This book starts off, and my heart is already breaking within the first 10 pages of the book. Heartbreak, devastation, tears. I have never cried that early in a book. Malachi.

Jordan:

That's How does it.

Devonnie:

Real. Yeah. Like it's, it is, it's hard. Malachi is Russian. He, we start off at a funeral, his mother's funeral. So there's a lot of feelings there. And basically his life was horrific. He is raised in the world of prostitution and drugs and he was kind of the baby that happened and his mom kept him instead of releasing him. And then having him stay in a life that. It was horrific. I don't even wanna go into what happens to him in that. But anyway, he finally get at 16, an aunt who never knew he existed, who lives in Chicago, came to her sister's funeral and basically takes him out of that world. So he gets raised in Chicago. He's six five now. He kind of stumbles into hockey. His goal was never really hockey. He stumbles into it. He really loves art. He is an artist and he's doing graffiti, murals and big paintings kind of in the same vein as Banksy all over Chicago. And so he's like building up a name for himself and it's really cute. And then one day he meets a girl. He actually saved her life. The thing is Charlotte. She's at this time, maybe she's in high school, so I would say 16 to 18 around that age range. And she's staring at a mural and she's entranced by it. The girl almost falls into traffic. He saves her they do a cute little exchange, go their separate ways, and then we

Jordan:

Wait, is he an adult at this point?

Devonnie:

He's not an adult. He's he's probably like 1920. He is a couple years older than her, but

Jordan:

I was like, you're saying she's 16 or

Devonnie:

right, right. No.

Jordan:

wait, is this like a grown ass man? Are we

Devonnie:

It is. No, it is one of those books that did time jump. So they meet when they're very close in age, never see each other again, and then.

Jordan:

Okay. Nothing on

Devonnie:

Flash forward, nothing untoward. It's very much, she thinks he's cute, but it's a like a 17-year-old with a crush vibe. She's oh my gosh. You know, she's more drawn to his work. Also, honorable mention, Charlotte is a bit of a genius and prodigy at the violin. So like she's, her brain fires on all cylinders, right? Anyway, they meet in the future and basically their world gets intertwined. He is now a famous hockey player on this team. The Chicago Fury. And he's book three. So you have a whole landscape of characters that you meet and see who, you know, have their own books and you can tell, you know, things have gone down, but you are very focused on Malachi or Kai's story and it's really cute. There's a lot. Of setup for the next book in this book, I think, which is nice, but I really wish it was longer so that you could really watch Charlotte and Malachi fall in love.'cause Malachi is very specific. His past has tainted his future, the way he interacts with women. How close he allows women to be, to touch him even. It's very much just like I'm very specific.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Devonnie:

like ChAARI, is that how you say it? The can tie me up, baby. Okay. So that's what he's into?

Jordan:

control and he doesn't.

Devonnie:

Yes. Yeah. And he doesn't like them to touch him. He doesn't wanna be touched. I know his beginning, honestly, his origin story would've made me a villain. And he is

Jordan:

Very knock

Devonnie:

this sweetheart. Yeah. Yes. Like tortured soul. Yes, that's exactly it. And then but better. Better. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And Charlotte is like this free spirit who like says what she feels and you know, it's just really cute. Hockey is not the prime objective. I don't know if the other. Two series hockey's more of a focus. You see that they have practiced. You see, you know, wins. But we are not getting play by play in this one. It's really focused on watching this tortured soul find love. And I love that. I do wish it was longer. That's it. So yeah. Shattered ice, that's my right. That was a really long-winded way for me to say I did enjoy it. And if you're looking for minimal hockey, lots of angst. This is it.

Jordan:

And to cry at the very beginning.

Devonnie:

Yeah. Honestly, crying at the very beginning was not on my bingo card. I was so confused. I was like, what?

Jordan:

Love it. Okay, my second wreck is the boyfriend goal by Lauren Blakely. Okay. It's basically she needs a place to live. And her brother, wait, why are we laughing?

Devonnie:

Okay, now she needs a.

Jordan:

No, she does. Okay. So I'm not gonna get into all, like all of her circumstances, like whatever, but. She does. And she's in this newer city and her brother lives there.'cause her brother plays on the hockey team. Right. He's a professional hockey player. She doesn't like taking things from people, she likes doing it on her own, but she's just in this place. Right? She needs a place to stay. She's been staying on her friend's couch and it's just not working out though. Like she gets locked out with a, like all this stuff. So her brother says, listen, I'm gonna get you somewhere to stay. You don't have to stay with me.'cause his. Wife just had a baby, whatever. So his teammate is like, fine. Like the rest of the team is well, doesn't he have, it's like you have a room. You have a room. So, you know, our MMC gets, you know, volunteered to, you know, offer his space up. So she needs a place to live. He has an extra room. The problem, her brother's new teammate and her. They don't realize who each other is because they had a one night stand the night before. And this is the first time she's ever done anything like that. Of course. She's not that girl. But like circumstances happened and then so she gets there and she's oh, hey, well you can't say anything. My brother's standing right here. Please do not tell my brother that. And he's this is my new teammate. I'm trying to get along with my new team. I'm not gonna tell him, but I just fucked his sister.

Devonnie:

right.

Jordan:

So they have no choice but to just roll with it. So she's also, throughout all this, going through her own personal journey and she's trying to get out of her comfort zone. She's very much a person of habit, but she's it's not working for her. And so she needs to get out of it. He ends up helping her make a list of things she wants to try, things that sound exciting, but are scary for her. And he not only helps her make this list, but he does a lot of these things with her or sets it up for her and it's so sweet. And of course they have this like roommate agreement where they can't cross certain lines or do things and the intention is there and it goes over a certain period of time and it's like the intention is there and they try really hard and go about their lives, but they just find ways that they're like supporting each other, even as friends while in the background. Like it's just really sweet because it has this underlying tension the whole time, but it's never like only about the tension. It's a lot of, like just getting to know each other and supporting each other as friends, as like people who care about one another. And I think for that it just, it was really sweet. And then once they kind of start giving into that tension, it just feels that much more meaningful and that much more exciting. So yeah, overall it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun.

Devonnie:

Oh, I love that.

Jordan:

Yeah.

Devonnie:

I love it. Good. Well, did you listen to that or read it?

Jordan:

I listened to it on Libby. I believe so check out Libby. I think a lot of Lauren Blakely's stuff is on Libby. Lauren Blakely, I feel is having a moment right now, and I don't know if that's because she's local and I see her everywhere. She's starting to like, she's doing great.

Devonnie:

it's like this resurgence of focus on hockey romance, I think. And then Lauren Blakely writes a lot of hockey romance, I feel like. Okay, so my next arc. Lc it's gonna be skated till you make it. This is by Ro Faith Maura. It doesn't come out until February 3rd, but yeah, let's talk about it a little bit. So, number one,

Jordan:

one? Is this the one? Nevermind. I'm thinking of something else. I'm thinking about the forbidden love. Nevermind,

Devonnie:

Oh no. Yeah, that's that. That's

Jordan:

That's next. Come back

Devonnie:

Buck in.

Jordan:

You're Gonna wanna, mm-hmm. Nevermind.

Devonnie:

yeah. Oh, I can't wait to talk about that one. No, you're fine. Okay. So skate it till you make it number one. You know what sold me two black people on the cover? Yeah. I'm I, that's all. Sometimes that's all it takes. I'm not gonna lie to you. She is the hockey player. She is the hockey player. She plays for team gb, which is Great Britain, and we are meeting, okay, first of all, let me let's just start. me give you their names. So we've got Ari and then we've got Drew. Now Ari plays for team GB plays hockey. Her team just got into the Olympics. Oh my God. So amazing. Wow. We love that. For her, drew has just dropped outta USC. He, there's family reasons why he did that, but he's basically thrown his whole life up. And his sister is also a hockey player. She plays for the US so he is currently in London doing things with his sister. They're sightseeing. Parents, grandparents, I don't know, to tell you the truth. I don't know what Drew's doing in London when he meets Ari, but here we are. It's New Year's Eve. He goes to a New Year's Eve party. He meets Ari and they hit it off. They have this, when they first meet they're basically talking and they kind of present all of their red flags to each other. It's a very comedic way, but it's pretty much saying, look, I'm never gonna see you again. Let's just put it all out online. This is why I suck. Tell me why you suck. We know we'd never work and then we can just kind of move on without wondering what if.'cause we have all our, you know how we have all

Jordan:

what I did when I was dating, when I was younger though, because I'm like, I'm gonna scare you really bad, and if you stay then that's great.

Devonnie:

yeah. And that's what they, and to be fair, these two genuinely, I don't think they planned on seeing each other after. It's just that you, of course it backfired. You learned all these things about this person and now you're like. I I like you even more. Yeah.

Jordan:

to me? No, it's

Devonnie:

No it's like orange or hot pink. So they like lay out all their things and Ari is like literally on the run from a toxic ex. She and the toxic ex is a snowboarder for Great Britain. So guess what? He going to the Olympics too. But he is. Misogynistic. He is the most awful human being, and he's super popular. Everyone loves him. He's like the golden boy, right? But he talks down to Ari so damn bad. Unfortunately, Ari like many of us, we go back and forth in toxicity. Not me, y'all be safe. But

Jordan:

But you know, like we do, but.

Devonnie:

Yeah. Yeah. So Ari keeps taking him back. Her friends are over it. Everyone pretty much assumes, oh, when Harrison comes back into her life, she's just gonna bend over backwards or whatever, and she is actively trying not to do that. All of this gets put on the line when she meets drew. Anyway, new Year's Eve, they do a little midnight kiss. They separate, they don't see each other again for two months. Where Drew is now a photographer at the Olympics. And Ari's obviously on the team, this does have fake dating because her ex is there and so she needs a way out. She sees the man that she saw Kiss on New Year's. He was sweet, so she. Kind of ropes him into the fake dating scheme. The underlying plot, though, is that one of the things that Ari mentions as one of her red flags is that years ago she played a practice game against a bunch of people and she almost ended another hockey player's career. It wasn't on purpose, but she hates that from that event, her team and her stature like. Status skyrocketed while that person didn't like, like it was kind of like that accident, launched her and her team and she's always felt guilty about it. Guess who that hockey player is? Jew sister? Yeah, Jew sister. Who? Who? Because she was injured, missed out on her first time going to the Olympics. So things get tricky, right? How we fake dating and you're my sister's enemy.

Jordan:

spicy.

Devonnie:

tough. Yeah, it's very spicy. It's not actually spicy though. There's no real spice. I think there's one spicy scene and it's closed door. Y'all know I hate to see a closed door if y'all don't unlock this goddamn door, so I can see what's going on in there. But yeah,

Jordan:

they really love each other? Like

Devonnie:

If they're not, if they don't want voyeurs, like what are they doing? You know what I'm saying? I wanna see what y'all are doing. We don't get that. But it is very sweet. It's it's written really well. Oops. But it's just a, I think it's a really fun time. I listened to it. I will say, I don't think the audiobook is that good. I think you'll probably be better reading it than listening to it. The narrator does a weird job of staying in each character specifically because you have an American and someone who speaks British English, and so you don't know who's talking at what time, and she never switches back to like just regular American English consistently.

Jordan:

just kind of dropped the ball

Devonnie:

Yeah, direct in that. Yeah. So I don't, I think if you listen to it, you'll like it less than if you just read it. But yeah I enjoyed it. I think it's cute. It's fun. Not too spicy if you don't want lots of spice. There is definitely hockey. The women are training. I wouldn't say you get play by play, but you see the women like skating and doing their thing on the ice a little bit. So yeah, that comes out February 3rd.

Jordan:

Very nice. Okay. My third and final rec is my favorite out of all of these, and it's an A LCI just got, because I am a part of Stephanie Archer's a LC team. The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer was so good. I know I've talked about other books in the Vancouver Storm series.

Devonnie:

That's part of the

Jordan:

Yeah, so this is book five in Vancouver storm series, and it is, my favorite. Hands down. So good. And I do recommend listening to this. I think the male ma, the male narrator was aaron Sheffield. Am I saying I think I'm, this is all just. Memory and the FMC before I get into the, what it's about, the FMCs name is Jordan. So when I tell you I got to hear some things with my name in it,

Devonnie:

I'll anything with my name in it that

Jordan:

I, oh boy. Yeah, so it, it hit especially different for me. So if you are also a Jordan and you wanna hear damn it Jordan, or like Jordan, come here. And just like things like that.

Devonnie:

Yeah.

Jordan:

okay.

Devonnie:

I'm so jealous.

Jordan:

Okay. So now about the actual story. All right. Our MMC is the coach in this one. So Coach Tate Ward, he is serious. He's controlled in everything he does. He is a single dad. He feels like such a well balanced character. He feels real. He does not feel like. One attribute overtakes the rest of his personality. Do you know what I mean? Like sometimes when you're reading, authors can focus so hard on either the brooding aspect or the con need for control or serious or the single da. It just felt like a well-rounded character. He felt real and I, and after listening to this, I realized maybe how rare that is to come across characters like that and really feel that way about them. So he is an an alcoholic, recovering alcoholic. So he like got clean nine, 10 years before then he hasn't touched it since. Like when he found out that a one night stand that he had was pregnant and she was gonna keep the baby he went to rehab. And his coach took him to rehab and he went and he got clean, and he's been clean ever since. He found his reason for, you know, bettering himself. And it was, I don't know, it's just, it was so sweet and the way he handles it, and that's kinda where his need for control comes from. And so he feels like he can't indulge in anything selfish. So like even sweets, so like even having candy, he feels like he can't have more than like one because that's what alcohol is. Was to him was like giving into that. And so it, it was so cool. So he has a really close, almost like father relationship with the owner of Vancouver Storm. Okay. What no one knows is that the, except for Tate Ward, is that the owner, his daughter? Is the owner of this bar, the dust dirty Flamingo that all the players go to after games. They go to after games. Anytime they go out. This is the local dive bar that they attend. She refuses to have any sports on the tv. She doesn't. She tells'em she doesn't wanna hear about hockey. When they first started coming around, she tried to get them out the door'cause she wanted nothing to do with it. She is estranged from her father. She has not talked to him in 10 years. So her dad sends Tate to every few months. To check up on her at the bar, but she refuses to talk to him. And this whole time, for all these years, Tate can't stand Jordan because he's you have this amazing dad who just wants to be a part of your life and you're being a spoiled brat. And he just sees her as a brat. And she is strong, independent. Wants to do it herself, has never accepted any of her dad's money. Obviously he doesn't know any of this. She's yeah I

Devonnie:

There's lore, there's a reason.

Jordan:

I grew up a Nepo baby, and I realize that. And so my, she, so her whole goal is to one, not only just do it herself, but also provide for as many people as she can. And she does that. She provides health insurance for all of her care, like all of her employees, no matter if they're part-time full, like all this stuff. So I'm like really going into the characters here. I just love them so much. They just feel so real. And so like anytime he. He comes in, she's fuck Tate Ward you're just checking on me for my dad, and you just gimme shit. And so she antagonizes him

Devonnie:

Mm-hmm.

Jordan:

and he is the most eligible bachelor in hockey, is what he's called, because he's this like hot young hockey coach, right? Former star himself. And, it kind of comes to a head when she he finds her outside, like trying to take care of this cat. All this stuff happened. So he is just let me take you home. Let me drive you home. So she drive, he drives her home only to find all of her stuff outside. Right? Like she's been kicked out of her apartment because it is in Vancouver. So like these landlords are it was a fixed. A fixed rent, and she's been there for a long time, and so he finally found an excuse to kick her out. And so she comes home and all of her stuff is out, so he's it's in the rain, everything's getting broken. She's trying to find her dead mother's like records and record player to make sure they're safe. And so he's reluctantly I can't leave you out here at 2:00 AM. She's I'll be fine. I'll figure it out. I'm a big girl, I'll do it. He's no, don't wake anyone up. Because her friend is now married to someone on the team and she's become friends with a lot of those women. So he's don't wake them up. Just come on. I have a spare room. Just come it's fine. Whatever. We'll grab your stuff. So he, she grabs, only the records goes, he takes her, he has like a guest house, kinda like a mother-in-law house, set away and he's out on. Property. So anyways, she stays there. She's with her ugly cat that she found in the, the dumpster and all this stuff. It's a reoccurring thing with this cat. And they just get to know each other. Her dad basically blackmails her in, not really blackmails her, but manipulates the situation to make her take a position on the team so that she can help with coaching. So she's part of the coaching staff now, right? She does have background in team management and working like that. She went to school for it to get her master's, all this stuff. Then you of course learn why she's estranged from her father and there's a lot of heavy layered stuff with that. But like their attraction felt so real and built perfect. It was perfectly balanced throughout the book and it was just, I just loved it. I cried because of like the, like how self-aware Jordan was and she's no, I have to do this myself. Because like my parents didn't do it for me. They said I was so independent. But I was independent because I had to be. It's just, it was really great. The characters are great. The spice was amazing. The Char 10 out 10.

Devonnie:

I love that

Jordan:

I'm done with my rant.

Devonnie:

I love a romance that like is paced well

Jordan:

It was

Devonnie:

I think, that's what makes it feel so real when it's not in instant love, but it also doesn't go too slow. We just see like life naturally happen and then they deal with the blows and then come together. I think that

Jordan:

when I tell you this garbage cat.

Devonnie:

Yeah. What's going on with.

Jordan:

So the ca the cat then would take her like under, oh wait for one. All of her stuff was ruined. So he said everyone on the team has a stipend. So and he kept saying the team bought you this. He hired someone to buy her a whole new wardrobe. But he paid for it. He did it. She doesn't learn till the end of the book. So he's like paying for her panties. Right. So, and she has no idea. But this cat will take these panties. Like he's a cat who very much will bring gifts to people. He keeps leaving it outside of Tate's door. So Tate had to bring, he's this seems really weird and I didn't know what to do with this. If I should just throw them away and pretend it never happened. He goes, but I didn't want you to think someone was taking your underwear. Like the cat is bringing these to me.

Devonnie:

Yeah.

Jordan:

But then he keeps happening and she's like, when she was fi oh, and he's a dad, right? So she babysits his daughter. So there's that whole dynamic of her getting to know his kid. And it was so good as a parent, as a kid of a single parent who dated when I was young, like it was so well done. I loved it. like when she was over babysitting one night, she saw hanging out of his nightstand, a pair of her laced panties.

Devonnie:

He kept one.

Jordan:

she's and she's like, why does he have that? Because that was before she knew the cat was bringing them a lot to him, so she didn't like, she's I'm not gonna say anything and I'm gonna see what happens with it. And he kept it for a few more days

Devonnie:

love that. I love that holds it all to the undies. Do I have, I have some honorable mentions, I think,

Jordan:

reluctantly.

Devonnie:

I know, sorry. Okay. So the first Honorable mention, I've actually already spoken about it, is Fall with Me by Becca Mack, and I feel like y'all know this. Playing for Keep series was not my favorite hockey romance series, but a lot of people love this series and I understand why I just. It was not my favorite book. One was really hard for me to get through, but then it, it got better as the books go along. However, book four is specifically about Jackson, Riley and Lenin. Yeah. Jackson. Jackson and Lenin. And honestly, I really loved their romance. I loved how funny Lenin is. I love that. It was kind of like she got left at the altar. Ended up doing her honeymoon and Or did she leave anyway, whatever. She's supposed to be married now. She's not, but she's on the honeymoon anyway. She has a one night stand and then boom the next she takes a job and gets who. She's being the photographer for Jackson's team and it's just really funny. Yeah. She eventually loses her apartment.

Jordan:

back. I,

Devonnie:

I just love it and I love when they go homeless. I mean, not homeless, but you know, like that's the reason why they go together. Yes. Exactly that happens to Lenin. I cannot remember how it happens, but she has no home and Jackson's fine. Just move in, bring his stuff, whatever. I think he also gets voluntold that he needs to do this for Lenin, and it's beautiful. It's so cool. He's like this bachelor jerk, cocky, but that she has him doing face masks and under eye patches. It's very cute, very romantic, and I really enjoyed it. So I've. Spoken about it before, but if you wanna check it out, fall with me by Becca Mack. You can go ahead and read the other three books if you want. You don't have to. You do meet those characters, so if you want their backstory, then yeah, totally. Go ahead. But that's one. The next one I have is Unsteady by Peyton. Corrine. I gave this book, I think four stars on Good reads. It's good. It's okay. I gave it four stars. Here's the thing. I think I was I know I was drawn to, I was drawn to the trauma and it's not that I was gonna see, but like both characters had real, real issues that they were dealing with in the background outside of the hockey part. They were both struggling as humans, but it was so human to read. I don't know. And I think I really just walked, loved reading them, navigate that and also use each other as like the light in all the darkness, the, you know, so I enjoyed it. Reese is he, I think he has. Panic attacks. He suffered a concussion on the ice and it like changed how he plays hockey, how he feels on the ice. And then Sadie basically meets him at a point where he is freaking out where things are not going well and she helps him through it. And so you watch that, so you, we so seldom get to see the man with the panic attacks, the man who's like uncomfortable and navigating his big feelings. So I think that's really why I like this as well. So, yeah, check out Unsteady by Peyton. Corrine, it is the first book in the undone series. There's another one, I can't remember the name of it, but I haven't read that one yet. Yeah, hopefully the next one is good too. So those are my two. Did I have a third? Honorable mention. Oh yes. I'll always recommend Sunny Disposition by Deanna Gray. It is so funny. It is so cute. She's a gamer. He is the mod for her ga. Oh yeah. Jordan has the cover. Oh, look at my babies. So yeah, he's a gamer. She's a gamer. He mods the games. I know. Look how cute they are. Her, I love her jeans. I love a high wasted Rip G. Yeah, her outfit is so cute. Also, she's a black girl. Sorry for y'all Who can't see the cover right now? Y'all already know. Okay. If there's a black girl on the cover, we must discover like we, we need to see what

Jordan:

Oh

Devonnie:

We need to we need to get there. But yeah, so she's a gamer. He's a hockey player but also moderates. Her game rooms. They have never met. They don't know each other like the vibes are pretty much. They only know each other online. She, oh, she's not homeless? No. She moves on campus into a house and he's one of the roommates and they don't know each other. They don't know who they are. Months before that though, they had planned on meeting, but he suffers an unfortunate accident and gets amnesia. Amnesia. So he completely forgets. He's supposed to meet her somewhere and that's like the thing of the book. And basically they don't know who they are and they navigate and then they finally connect the dots. It's really cute. It's really sweet. It's funny, I think. Yeah, and I think it's a really cute romance and there are more in that series. So it's a series if you're not looking for just a standalone, but you can read it as a standalone. So yeah, those are my honorable interventions.

Jordan:

my honorable mentions I've talked about a lot. Megan Quinn's, Vancouver Agitator series is the first hockey romance I ever read, and it is still my favorite series. I just think that overall, each book was so good in its own right. That it's my favorite series. Also Emily Wraths. Jacksonville Rays series, obviously is one of my favorites. It's so good. I still have to read the most recent one, but, so if you're looking for queer hockey, Emily Wrath is always gonna be. Your author. And then I'll see also you can check out Chelsea Curtos. We've talked about Plenty. Has, and she's had a lot more come out since then, so

Devonnie:

All hockey, all her latest releases have been

Jordan:

No she's gotten some other stuff out there too, like a her dark romance now,

Devonnie:

Oh, right in the dark. Mm-hmm.

Jordan:

mm-hmm. So, yeah, just don't forget about those. And if you want to hear about those, check out our sports romance. I believe there's, and they're scattered throughout all of our other episodes too, because there's so many different tropes within those, like our pregnancy trope episode. I challenge you, if you think you do not like pregnancy trope and you hate it, I challenge you to go listen to that episode of ours and tell me there's not at least one that

Devonnie:

One. At least. One

Jordan:

There is something for everyone. Yeah, absolutely. I think so. So that's my challenge to you,

Devonnie:

Mm-hmm.

Jordan:

but also let us know what's your favorite hockey romance. Please let us know

Devonnie:

What are we reading? What are

Jordan:

Do we talk about it? Do we not? There's still pl plenty more. I Wills special mention for Teagan Hunter also has quite a few hockey romance. Tegan Hunter is an indie author. So. Yeah, just go check'em all out. There's so much out there,

Devonnie:

I know we just gave you a whole bunch of wrecks in this one episode too, so you're bound to find a hockey romance that works. You know what I'm looking for? I'm looking for a pregnancy trail, hockey, romance. Those exist. I've already read one, but gimme some more of

Jordan:

Pucking Sweet. Pucking, sweet. Emily Wrath.

Devonnie:

Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Jordan:

There we are.

Devonnie:

That damn. Why is that book so thick?

Jordan:

All of'em are. This is Emily. Emily does this. Emily has would you like me to ask her? So next week and next week our time when you're listening to this, it will have already happened, but I will be at Hardcovers and Mill Creek. It's a romance bookstore, and I will be moderating an event with Emily Wrath and Teagan Hunter talking all about hockey romance. So I will maybe that can be a question I have for Emily, why she's so thick.

Devonnie:

Yeah. Why is she so thick,

Jordan:

why? Why are they all so thick?

Devonnie:

I know. It can't all just be fucking and sucking, like

Jordan:

you, I think maybe that will be my challenge. Question for Emily is

Devonnie:

Yeah.

Jordan:

do you think you'd ever be able to write a novella? I mean, technically you did, but it wasn't even supposed to come out as a published book. She wrote that as a teaser for Patreon, I believe, if I'm remembering correctly. So tell me, your teaser is like a whole novella. Why do you

Devonnie:

know what I'm saying? Yes.

Jordan:

I love it. But anywho

Devonnie:

Anyway,

Jordan:

If you wanna keep up to date with the events that we'll be at, that we're, I mean, we haven't hosted one for a while, but in case we do host a part of just attending bonus content, please make sure you subscribe to our substack.

Devonnie:

Mm-hmm.

Jordan:

Okay, sign up for that. It'll come out. We skipped a month. Listen, we were sick a lot over holidays and there's a lot going on but we're back. We're here. We're here for you. Reach out. Make sure you follow us on Instagram at romance Recs pod and. Just keep listening. In two weeks we'll be back with an interview with indie author Hazel Rockwood. So stick around and we'll see you in a couple weeks.

Devonnie:

Yeah. Bye-bye. Happy reading.