Good Boy by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Title: Good Boy (WAGS #1)

Author: Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: January 31, 2017

Source: ARC from Publicist

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

Hosting her brother’s wedding for an MVP guest list is the challenge of Jess Canning’s life. Already the family screw-up, she can’t afford to fail. And nobody (nobody!) can learn of the colossal mistake she made with the best man during a weak moment last spring. It was wrong, and there will not e a repeat. Absolutely not. Even if he is the sexiest thing on two legs.

Blake Riley sees the wedding as fate’s gift to him. Jess is the maid of honor and he’s the best man? Let the games begin. So what if he’s facing a little (fine, a lot) of resistance? He just needs to convince the stubborn blonde that he’s really a good boy with a bad rap. Luckily, every professional hockey player knows that you’ve got to make an effort if you want to score.

But Jess has more pressing issues to deal with than sexy-times with a giant man-child. Such as: Will the ceremony start on time, even though someone go grandma drunk? Does glitter ever belong at a wedding? And is it wrong to murder the best man?

Caution: May cause accidental aspiration of tea or coffee. Do not read in a public place where loud laughter is inappropriate. Contains hot but hilarious hockey players, puppy cuddling and a snarky pear of underwear.

Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy are easily some of my favourite authors, especially when they join forces. I've loved their past collaborations, and after reading Good Boy I've established I'll read just about anything that has both their names on it.

If you know me, then it's not a secret that I love both Sarina Bowen's and Elle Kennedy's books. In fact they're some of my absolute favourites when it comes to New Adult and romance. It's also not a secret that I absolutely LOVE their collaborations. Him and Us are some of my all-time favourite books. When they announced that there would be more stories set in that world, I was absolutely ecstatic. Especially when I learned who the first book in this new series was going to be about. I mean, right when I finished Us I said that a book about Blake and Jess would make for one hell of a story and it turns out I was totally right. I LOVED Good Boy. Once I started reading, I just refused to put it down because I was that into the story (much to the dismay of the family members I was supposed to be spending time with, what with it being the holidays and all. But Blake and Jess took priority). I just got sucked into their story, into their slightly over-the-top antics that had me laughing out loud (and getting weird looks from my grandparents) while reading. It's pretty much impossible to read this book and not smile at the very least. 

Good Boy was a fantastic story on its own, but what made it truly a stand out for me was Blake and Jess. Both are characters that stole the show when they made appearances in both Him and Us, and getting to read a book all about them made me love them even more. In a way, Jess and Blake are two people you wouldn't quite think fit together but somehow they make it work and make you root for them. Reading, I quickly realized that there was a whole lot more to both of them than their goofiness. In fact, it felt like they often used to goofiness as a front to hide some of the bigger stuff going on in their lives. When they stopped hiding behind that goofiness is when some of my favourite parts of the story happened--those small, more serious moments are what really made me care about Jess and Blake and made me want to see them be happy and get what they wanted. It's what made me go from loving amusing characters to really caring about the two people whose story I was reading.

The synopsis isn't lying, don't read this book when it says this book shouldn't be read in a public place where loud laughter is frowned upon. Seriously, I dare you to read this book and not burst out laughing at least once. It's pretty much impossible. But Good Boy isn't just about the laughs. It's those small, sweet moments that, when combined with the humour, make this story a fantastic read.

Us by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Title: Us (Him #2)

Author: Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: March 8, 2016

Source: ARC from Publicist

Buy the Book: Amazon

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated?

Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves—Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.

Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but heinous he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.

Or can they? When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven life begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly.

Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen’s HIM was one of my favourite books of 2015 and is one of my all-time favourites. I could honestly read about Wes and Jamie forever. So reading a second book all about them? I was in heaven. And after reading US, I can now say that I love these two boys even more than I did before.

Ryan Wesley has everything he’s always wanted: a fantastic rookie NHL season and Jamie, hist best friend and the boy he’s been in love with for years. But the outside world doesn’t know that Jamie is his boyfriend, not just his roommate. To protect his first season in the NHL, Wes and Jamie are keeping their relationship hidden. And hiding is taking its toll on Jamie. Jamie has never been ashamed of who he is and wants nothing more than to be with Wes. And if being with Wes means continuing to hide their relationship until the end of the season, Jamie will do it. When one of Wes’s teammates moves into their building, everything starts to slowly unravel. Will Jamie and Wes be able to find their way through the mess together?

I’m always a little worried when it comes to romance novels and sequels. Especially when the couple got their Happily Ever After (or Happily For Now) at the end of the first book. As much as I want to read about my favourite couples forever, any good story is going to involve some kind of conflict and in romance that conflict inevitably ends up being within the couple. I just don’t like it when couples I love in a book are in trouble. I just want them to be together and happy forever. But this other part of me just wants to read about my favourite couples all the time so I get excited when I hear about sequels. When Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen announced that they were writing a sequel to HIM, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to go back to reading about Jamie and Wes, even though I didn’t want anything to happen to them. But I trusted that Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen wouldn’t be writing this story if they didn’t feel like it was worth telling. And having now read US, I can say that this story was total perfection. It showed that even when you get your happily ever after, it’s not always perfect and that there are growing pains along the way. Because that’s just the way that life is and it’s something that Wes and Jamie had to learn together. And I loved seeing these two find their way and fight for each other once again. It was just so great to back to these characters and this story. Even when things weren’t quite going the way I wanted them to go, I was smiling the whole time I was reading. I just couldn’t help it, it’s just the effect that Wes and Jamie have on me. 

When I read HIM last year, I fell completely in love with Jamie and Wes. I absolutely ADORE these two boys. After reading US, that’s even more true. Reading US, I got to see another side of them. Where in HIM they were falling for each other, in US it was about the day to day of their relationship. I loved seeing them that way, even if it wasn’t always easy for them, what with having to keep their relationship hidden from Wes’s team. It hurt my heart to see them struggle, at times it downright broke my heart to see their pain. It hurt to see both of them struggle with the situation and not knowing what to do about it. You could tell that Wes felt horrible because Jamie wasn’t happy, but he was at a complete loss for how to make him feel better. And Jamie didn’t want to to bring Wes down with the fact that he felt miserable which only made him feel worse. I just wanted them to find a way back to being themselves because they’re at their best when they’re together. And now I would like to take a moment to talk about Wes’s teammate Blake. Here’s the thing, at first I really thought I wasn’t going to like Blake and that he would end up screwing everything up. But then he kept popping up and being his ridiculous self and I couldn’t help but laugh at his antics. By the end of the book? I was completely charmed by Blake and now I totally want him to have his own book. Preferably one that also involves Jamie’s sister Jess. Because reasons. Read US and I’m sure you’ll understand and agree with me. 

US was complete perfection. I am so glad that Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen decided to write this chapter of Wes and Jamie’s story. I can only hope that these two authors continue to collaborate because I will read anything and everything they write. 

The Score by Elle Kennedy

Title: The Score (Off-Campus #3)

Author: Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: January 11, 2016

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

He knows how to score, on and off the ice.

Allie Hayes is in crisis mode. With graduation looming, she still doesn’t have the first clue about what she’s going to do after college. To make matter worse, she’s nursing a broken heart thanks to the end of her longtime relationship. Wild rebound sex is definitely not the solution to her problems, but gorgeous hockey star Dean Di Laurentis is impossible to resist. Just once, though, because if her future is uncertain, it sure as heck won’t include the kind of one-night stands.

It’ll take more than flashy moves to win her over

Dean always gets what he wants. Girls, grades, girls, recognition, girls…he’s ladies man, all right, and he’s yet to meet a woman who’s immune to his charms. Until Allie. For one night, the feisty blonde rocked his entire world—and now she wants to be friends? Nope. It’s not over until he says it’s over. Dean is in full-on pursuit, but when life-rocking changes strike, he starts to wonder if maybe it’s time to stop focusing on scoring…and shoot for love.

In 2015, Elle Kennedy became one of those authors where I drop everything when I get my hands on one of her books. And then I proceed to do nothing else until I’ve finished reading said book. And I’ve yet to be disappointed by any of those books. In fact The Score might just be my new favourite.

Allie might not know what she’s going to do after graduation but she knows one thing for sure: she’s ready to put her broken heart behind her and move forward. The way she figures, rebound sex with someone she couldn’t possibly want to be in a relationship with is the perfect way to do just that. And Dean Di Laurentis is the perfect candidate. Or at least he would have been if he would stop trying to get her back into bed after that first night they spent together. Dean never expected to want more than one night with Allie, he’s not usually one for repeat performances with girls after all. But there’s just something about Allie that makes him want to keep going back for more. If he really wants Allie though, Dean is going to have to go beyond his usual tricks in order to get the girl. 

When I first read The Deal close to a year ago, it was an instant favourite. I mean, how could I not fall in love with Garrett and Hannah? They were just so freaking adorable and perfect and they just put a big, goofy smile on my face. Then I read The Mistake and though I loved it, it didn’t displace The Deal as a favourite. I fully expected things to go the same way with The Score before I started reading. It’s just one of those things, the first book in a series always seems to be my favourite. But I was wrong. I was really, really, really wrong. Because The Score? Totally my favourite out of the three. I did not expect to feel this way about Allie and Dean’s story at all. I mean, I knew I was going to like it, but I had my reservations about what might happen with them. Those reservations went straight out the window about three pages into the book. I got sucked into this story in no time at all. It made me laugh (a lot), put me in a slightly awkward position when I was reading certain parts in public, and definitely broke my heart a couple times along the way. But the end result made it absolutely worth it. And by the way, if you reach the end of this book and don’t immediately need the next one, I don’t understand you. At all. And we might not be able to be friends anymore. (Just kidding. Well, mostly.)

Before reading The Score, Allie was just Hannah’s best friend. I had kind of seen her in passing but didn’t know all that much about her beyond her theater background. Now I can say that Allie is such a relatable character. There were so many times while I was reading that I would think to myself “Yes! This! This is what I mean! Allie gets me!” And nowhere was that more true than when it came to her feelings about casual sex versus sex in a committed relationship. The way she would struggle with the idea of just having casual sex, not because she thought there was anything wrong with girls (or people in general) engaging in casual sex, but because of how the world made her think she should feel about it. That internal struggle just felt so real and so relevant and it’s one that most girls, regardless of their age, but especially when in college, struggle with. Add to that all the other aspects of Allie’s character, and it was pretty much impossible for me not to love her. And don’t even get me started on Dean. Dean hadn’t exactly made a fantastic impression on me in the previous two books. And the first time I saw him in The Score, that impression didn’t exactly improve. But about two chapters later, I was like Allie, and well on my way to falling in love with Dean. Dean just took me completely by surprised. And much like I loved Allie’s inner struggle with casual sex, I absolutely loved Dean’s fierce stance against slut shaming. It was pretty freaking fantastic to see a male character take a stand against it and it only really made me love Dean that much more. Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, Hannah and Garrett are still just as adorable as ever.

So The Score? Totally my new favourite Elle Kennedy book. It was just everything to me. Though based on what was revealed at the end of this one, I have a strong feeling that The Goal might give it a run for its money. But for now, I’ll just stick to having ALL the Allie and Dean feels.

Him by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Title: Him

Author: Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: July 28, 2015

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waiting a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend…and a big one to learn about himself. 

I love sports romance something fierce, especially the NA variety. And I love a good m/m romance. When I heard that two authors whose romance books I love were writing an m/m sports NA? I was all over that. It should go without saying that I absolutely adored Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy’s Him.

Four years ago, Ryan Wesley pushed the boundaries of his relationship with his best friend. On their last night at hockey camp, things got heated and one night changed their friendship completely. After that night, Wes cut Jamie off completely. Fast forward four years and Jamie and Wes are about to face off in the college hockey championship. When they see each other for the first time since that last night of camp, things quickly go back to the way they were before. But when Wes shows up at camp to join Jamie on the coaching staff, things are going to be heating up in ways neither one of them ever expected. Both Wes and Jamie have discoveries to make about each other. But more importantly, about themselves.

2015 has apparently been the year where I read all the awesome m/m romances. To be completely honest, they’re not really something I’d really read before this year. It’s not that I was opposed to them, there just weren’t really any on my radar. But I seem to be on a roll with the m/m romance this year, and the latest in that streak is Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy’s Him. Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen are two romance authors whose individual books I have loved (I’ve gushed plenty about Elle’s Off-Campus series, and gushing about Sarina’s Ivy Years series is coming soon) so when they announced they were writing a romance about gay hockey players, I was beyond excited. And when Him landed on my Kindle, I pretty much dropped everything and started reading it right away. And I read it all in less than a day. Because once I started, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. This story was fun. It was touching. It was sweet. At times it was downright hilarious. And at others it was heartbreaking. But I loved every single page of it. Him is absolutely one of my favourite books I’ve read this year and is quite possibly one of the sweetest and most touching romances I’ve ever read. It was just THAT GOOD. And I fully plan to talk people’s ears off about it and recommend it to everyone I know. Because anyone who loves romance is pretty much guaranteed to love Him. At least that’s my opinion on the subject.

One of the reasons I loved Him so much is because I pretty much adored Wes and Jamie. I don’t really know how to put either one of them into words other than to say I loved them. But I’ll try even if  I won’t even come close to doing them justice. One of my favourite things about Wes and Jamie were that they had a history. They’d known each other since they were thirteen years old and you could just tell. They were so comfortable around each other and it made their relationship feel real and genuine. The back and forth between them was always so fun and the more quiet moments could be incredibly touching. Wes and Jamie just worked together even though they were pretty different. Sure they both played hockey, but where Jamie was the definition of laidback, Wes was always on the go, likely getting himself in trouble. I loved how easygoing Jamie was, how he was always willing to go with along with whatever potentially crazy idea Wes had. And so often my heart broke for Wes, because he felt like he had to hide his feelings. I just wanted to give him a hug. So I loved Jamie. And I loved Wes. And most of all, I loved Jamie and Wes together. 

If you are a fun of either Sarina Bowen’s or Elle Kennedy’s books, I can guarantee you will love Him. The story was sweet, it was hilarious, it was touching, it was everything I could have ever wanted it to be. Him is the kind of book that reminds me why I love romance stories as much as I do.

Mini Reviews - The Deal & The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

Title: The Deal (Off-Campus #1)

Author: Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: February 24, 2015

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

She’s about to make a deal with the college bad boy…

Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she’s carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush’s attention, she’ll have to step out of her comfort zone, and make him take notice…even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date.

…and it’s going to be oh so good.

All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he’s worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he’s all for it. But when one expected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn’t take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn’t going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

Every so often, I hear a about a book so much that I just have to read it. Even if I know next to nothing about it and it wasn’t on my radar until everyone started talking to me about it. That was what happened with Elle Kennedy’s The Deal. I went from not knowing it existed one day, to telling everyone I knew to read it the next because it was just that good.

As much as I’ve been reading about football players lately, I hadn’t yet read a story about hockey players, where sports-themed NA was concerned. After reading The Deal, let me just say that I am sold on hockey players if they’re anything like Garrett Graham was. Because, guys, for real, you all need to meet the amazingness that is Garrett Graham. I don’t really know how to put him into words other than to say that he was probably one of my favourite boys I’ve read about in the last little while. And don’t even get me about Hannah. She was just so adorably charming and I loved her, plain and simple. So Hannah and Garrett together? There were moments when I couldn’t handle all the adorableness. Like that was a thing that happened. They were just too adorable. The whole time I was reading The Deal I just kind of had this goofy smile on my face, I just couldn’t help it. I loved this story, a whole lot more than I ever thought I would and I couldn’t be more thankful to whoever it was that put this book on my radar.

Do I really need to say that if you love NA and adorable romance you should read Elle Kennedy’s The Deal? I feel like it should be implied based on all the gushing about the book I just did. But in case you need me to say: if you love NA do yourself a favour and read The Deal because I can pretty much guarantee you won’t regret it.

Title: The Mistake (Off-Campus #2)

Author: Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: April 28, 2015

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

He’s a player in more ways than one…

College junior John Logan can get any girl he wants. For this hockey star, life is a parade of parties and hook-ups, but behind his killer grins and easygoing charm, he hides growing despair about the dad-end road he’ll be forced to walk after graduation. A sexy encounter with freshman Grace Ivers is just the distraction he needs, but when a thoughtless mistake pushes her away, Logan plans to spend his final year proving to her that he’s worth a second chance.

…now he’s going to need to up his game.

After a less than stellar freshman year, Grace is back at Briar University, older, wiser, and so over the arrogant hockey player she nearly handed her V-card to. She’s not a charity case, and she’s not the quiet butterfly she was when they first hooked up. If Logan expects her to roll over and beg like all his other puck bunnies, he can think again. He wants her back? He’ll have to work for it. This time around, she’ll be the one in the driver’s seat…and she plans on driving him wild.

As much as I loved The Deal, I was worried that The Mistake wouldn’t possibly be able to live up to everything I had built it up to potentially be in my mind. I mean, how could anything possibly top the adorableness that was Hannah and Garrett. I really shouldn’t have worried because Grace and Logan were just as freaking adorable as the other two.

This whole review could basically be me gushing about Logan and complaining about the fact that no hot hockey player ever came by my dorm room by mistake when I was in university. Because The Mistake certainly made me wish that would have happened. I mean, my university had a hockey team, what happened to Grace could TOTALLY have happened to me. Except probably not, but in my head it could have, okay. And whoever would have shown up would have been the real, live embodiment of Logan. That’s just how it would go down in my head. Anyways, that’s all to say that I loved Logan just as much as I loved Garrett in the first book. Whenever I had seen him in The Deal I could clearly tell that there was something going on with him but I just didn’t know what. So it was really great to find out all about him in The Mistake. And it was especially great to see him do a lot of that with Grace. And I loved Grace. After what initially happened with her and Logan, she wasn’t afraid to make him work for it. She stood up for herself and that made me love her that much more. And I’m not going to lie, some of what she made Logan do was completely ridiculous but oh so enjoyable to read. So moral of the story, I loved Grace and Logan.

The Mistake was just as great as I had hoped it would be and it made for a great follow-up to The Deal. If I’m being honest, I could keep reading about the guys on this hockey team forever. But for now I’ll just be sitting here waiting for Dean’s story because that’s bound to be an entertaining one.