Review on 'Pucking Around' by Emily Rath ⛸️

Amazon Link: https://amzn.eu/d/exhoLzK  Author: Emily Rath

Format Read: eBook Pages: 750 Publication Date: 20th March 2023

Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emilyrathauthor/ Author Website: https://emilyrathbooks.com/

Content Warnings

Bear in mind this novel is a Reverse Harem/Why choose with three men and one woman with two of those men also being in a relationship together as well, creating a polyamorous unit.

History of receiving harassment; homophobic bullying; discussion of past substance abuse and rehab, and eating disorders; explicit sexual content (More detailed warnings about sex at beginning of the book or on the website)

Review:

I was originally introduced to the book ‘Pucking Around’ when scrolling through BookTok one day a few months back. Someone had accidentally brought the wrong book and was talking about it whilst in their car about how she came across this one instead. Ever since the book kept popping up on my social media and even went as far as on my recommended Kindle books because I was reading hockey romances at the time. I had saved it on my phone to hopefully buy one day in the future when I was lifting my Amazon Kindle buying ban. One day it popped up as a limited deal for 99p and I was so close to buying it. I had thought long and hard about it and still refused to give in. I didn’t know anything about the book, and I didn’t need it. Later down the line, I received a paycheck from work and, I was very close to caving, however after the long limited deal, I went back on and it had gone up to £2.99. That put me off once again because I couldn’t allow myself to buy a book when I had so many other books that I hadn’t read yet, especially on the Kindle from Stuff Your Kindle days, etc. It was early in the week when I had finished one book that advertised other free novels by the same author that looked interesting, however, when I went to download one of them it was actually 99p instead. I ended up getting it because the blurb seemed really interesting. Again, I was looking through my saved for later and I saw ‘Pucking Around’ just sitting there, it was then that I decided that I was finally going to spend that £2.99 and buy the book that I had been wanting for so long.

Thank the stars I caved! This book has truly become one of the top books I have read so far this year.

We start by meeting Rachel, a hip and knee PT expert, who wants to distance herself from her rock-star dad and create a career of her own. She gets an unexpected call that has her ending up being a Doctor on the Jacksonville Ray’s men’s ice hockey team. A few months back, she had met a mystery man in Seattle but had not exchanged numbers with him, obviously with how books work this man was going to end up being her love interest on the hockey team. What a coincidence! However, before we meet him, again, we meet Caleb Sanford the equipment manager of the hockey team, who had previously been a hockey player before he was badly injured in a match. Later we find out that the mystery boy, Jake Compton, not only is a defenceman on The Rays but also Caleb’s best friend. Rachel will not give in to the growing attraction between her and the boys, because she cannot risk her job as a doctor on the team, though Jake will not give up. Later she finally succumbs to the attraction between them and begins to build the foundations of a relationship with Caleb and Jake. The team's Finnish goalie has begun to have feelings for Rachel too, especially when she has chosen to help with the injury that he was trying to hide. Ilmari “Mars” Kinnunen later joins the relationship, whilst Caleb and Jake fall in love with one another, and become even closer to Mars. With her three men by her side, nothing can go wrong. Oh, wait – apart from her past sneaking up to oust them all to the NHL press and the world though.

750 pages may not be everyone’s cup of tea but there is just something about a long book, as long as they are going somewhere in the relationship early on, that gets me. I just love to stay with the story as long as possible whether or not any of their insecurities throughout actually amount to anything. It’s all about the communication and throughout the novel they seem to be learning to do that.

I love that before I even started the book Emily Rath not only gave me a list of tropes and tags in the book but also the roster of all the people related to the team. As well as this there is a Glossary for the Finnish terminology that Mars would use later down the line. This allowed me to be fully immersed in their story and to learn what the big, quiet goalie was secretly whispering, in his native language, to the love of his life.

I have read Why Choose previously because the relationships fascinate me and to see the romance that is formed through the pages is truly magnificent. And Emily Rath did not disappoint me! I am sure there are problems with depictions and some people may not like the writing style or the characters’ romantic development, but I was just so invested in the characters, as well as the plot development, that personally shows there is nothing wrong the story since it made me elated.

I love all the characters individually as they have a whole scope of personalities, but I also love the connections they have with each other, though different, they are equally special. In each Why Choose book I have read, the book and myself give each person in the relationship a personality because it is truly how they all come together. Jake is the goofball, Caleb is the grumpy one and Ilmari is the grumpy but hella sweet…to be honest they are all sweet, especially when they talk through their insecurities and show how the human mind works.

Jake is her “angel” that brings her “joy” and happiness. Caleb is her “comfort” where they can read each other’s body language to know their wants and needs. Ilmari is her “rest” and her “safe harbour” when she is set adrift. But with her relationship with the boys, you have the boys’ relationship with each other. They will all protect each other because they have become a family that needs one another and accepts one another’s faults and strengths. Don’t get me wrong, they play jokes on one another and still get jealous about a lot of things but when it counts, they all know that this is it and they will “build a pyramid in the sand” together.

And that is the strongest message I get from this. I don’t need to fully understand how these relationships work to know that it is love and that what they have built will last a lifetime, on the page or in real life.

Until the next chapter,

#BellesBookBabble