Where I Left Off

Hockey Romance with Cassidy

• Kristen Bahls • Season 2 • Episode 56

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Thanks to Cassidy for joining me to talk about our favorite Hockey Romances. 

Kristen's Picks:

Cassidy's Picks:

Kristen and Cassidy's Picks:

For links to the books discussed in this episode, click the link here to take you to the Google Doc to view the list.

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For more, follow along on Instagram @whereileftoffpod.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back. I'm Kristen Balls, and you are listening to Where I Left Off, a Bookish Podcast. And today I have a special guest, my friend Cassidy came on, and we are talking all about hockey romance on this episode. So thank you for joining me, Cassidy. Yay, I'm excited. So hockey romance is like one of your favorite things. Can you tell everyone a little bit about your like insane hockey TBR on Goodreads and how much you just love hockey romance?

SPEAKER_01:

Uh yeah. Um I don't really know where the love came from. Um, I think the first like hockey romance series I really read was the off-campus series by L Kennedy, which is like a classic. I feel like everyone probably has at least heard of it. No, yeah, I don't really know what it is about hockey romance that I like so much. I think a lot of it is like the there's a lot of like similar tropes throughout hockey romance that I think I like. And so I think that helps, but yeah, I don't know. I kind of like having just like the common theme, I guess, like to expect. And I like hockey. I've been getting into it more. So I just feel like I don't know, it's just, I don't know. I guess it's just something to me that it's just like if I see a hockey romance, I'm like, okay, I know that I'm probably gonna like this. Not all the time, but it's a pretty high chance. So it's just a good like go-to for me. But yeah, I do have a pretty big TBR on Goodreads. Um, of just like every time I find a hockey romance book that I like I need to read this, I put it on there. Right now it's at 73, so it's not too bad. That's pretty good. It's actually pretty good.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I look at it sometimes to give me ideas. So thank you. I actually have a surprise for you. Oh. So yeah, you don't know this, and it took it was kind of hard to keep it a secret. So I unbeknownst to you, I read the deal. I was gonna say, I know, I know that's your favorite. Um, for those that don't know, like Cassie was just talking about, it is in the off-campus series, it's book one, and she has been begging me to read it for like months. She was like, you have to read it. And I uh I read it. So I just finished it actually this morning. I didn't even think I would finish it. I thought I would be like halfway through, but I finished it. So I've officially read the I don't know, I kind of feel like it's almost the like Actar of Romance or hockey romance, you know, like whenever you think of hockey romance, I just think of Elle Kennedy like first.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she's kind of like the gateway drug a little bit for hockey romance, at least for me.

SPEAKER_00:

And you've read so you've read the entire off-campus series, and have you read you've read all of her books, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, so there's the off campus series, and then there's Briar U, which is like the the legacy series, like the kids of the the people in the off-campus series. And then there's I think they're called the campus diaries, which are like, oh no, I'm sorry, I got it mixed up. The Briar U is like side characters from the first story, like from the first series, but it's like still at the around the same time as the first series, and then campus diaries is the kids of the people from the original series. So I have read all of those so far.

SPEAKER_00:

Uh who is your favorite again? Remind me, like out of the originals.

SPEAKER_01:

So my favorite book is the third one, the score. Um, but my favorite MMC is uh Tucker, who is in the fourth book.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, I was gonna say, I don't know, wait. I have met him like a little bit, but like barely. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. But I do love the score the most, and Dean is a close second.

SPEAKER_00:

So okay, okay. Um, yeah, I I don't I don't like Garrett Graham.

SPEAKER_01:

So I like Garrett Graham.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I don't, I don't. Um I think I think it's really him that I just don't like. Wow. He yeah, I know, I know. The hot take. I was gonna say, I'm probably gonna get like reamed for this, but um I I'm gonna try not to spoil, or I guess we could go into spoilers if we wanted to, but either way, he just says a couple things in his POV chapters that really really didn't sit right with me. And it just I but I think, but uh with my caveat is that I think that as he matures, I think that as I see him like growing up a little bit in other books, and granted, like he's in college right now, he's playing college hockey. So I feel like I know he's gonna go into the NHL. Like I I know he's gonna play for the Bruins. Like I've I've just heard that enough, like spoilers. But I mean it's not that's not a huge spoiler. Like he wanted that to happen. Clearly, he's good enough. I'm not surprised in any way. So that wasn't like a huge spoiler, but I know that he's gonna play professionally. So I think as he matures and as he gets older, I'm going to like him better. But as he is right now, not a huge fan. So I I don't know which one I'm going to gravitate to, but it is not Carrot Graham.

SPEAKER_01:

I think I feel like I know you pretty well. I think you'll like Dean. I think you'll like Dean. He's in the third book, he's in the score. Um, I mean, he's in all of them, but he's the MMC in the score. I think you'll like him. You might like Tucker. I'm just afraid you won't like his book because it has a certain trope in it that you don't love.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Okay. Well, I mean, I'll give them all a chance. And I like her writing style. So it's nothing against her. I think I literally just don't love Garrett, and that's my hang up with book one.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, part of the problem is you're not a big fan of college hockey romance. No. And that's like this whole series. So they do kind of feel a little immature, but it's because it's kind of that new adult, like they're still in college, like they're kind of, you know, it's just the way they are. But I do think like if you keep reading, well, you've read some of the you've read some of the campus diaries. Like you've read like the Charlie Method and No, I did not read the Charlie method.

SPEAKER_00:

Um, that one was too much for me. Um I read the Graham rule. Is it rule? And then the Dixon. Wait, no, is it the Graham effect and the Dixon? The Graham Effect, Dixon. I've read the Graham effect and I've read the Dixon rule.

SPEAKER_01:

So you didn't like, did you like Garrett when he was older? Like a dad? Like in okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I was fine with him then. So that's why I think that in the middle, like in between college and him being a dad, I think that I'll like him a little bit better. Like I really just didn't know enough whenever I read it because I was more focused on Gigi and I am blanking on the MMC's name from that, from that one. But yeah, I was more focused on them than I was on Garrett. Yeah. And I don't even remember Hannah, honestly, in the Graham effect. I don't remember her at all. I don't know that she was even really in it. Because I remember Garrett, because he was obviously a big I'm not gonna spoil that. It's like hard to talk about it without spoilers because I'm like, wait a minute, that's a spoiler. Wait a minute, that's a spoiler. Can't can't spoil, but anyway, yeah. So I like her writing style, I like them. I just yeah, Garrett, Garrett's not it for me, but it's okay because there are like a bunch of other books. So that's true, yeah. And the the series will come out, and who knows? Like when I see now I'm gonna have to go back and look up the actors and see if I think it fits their personalities. Because before I was obviously like looking at all the promos, because I've seen a bunch of promos on Instagram, but looking at it blind versus now I kind of know a little bit more about them and I know what everyone's talking about now a little bit.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, there's a lot of discourse about the casting. I personally I'm I'm okay with it. I don't well, I won't get into all my opinions because we'll be here forever, but I think for the most part, I'm okay with it. I think it'll be good. I'm interested to see how it how it goes.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you like the castings for Dean and Tucker?

SPEAKER_01:

I like the casting for Dean. I'm still warming up to Tucker. I really like Logan's casting, and I think Garrett's casting is pretty good. Um, but Dean's is like almost perfect, I think. Like if I were to envision Dean, I think the actor they chose to play Dean is pretty spot on. Um, Tucker is not what I envisioned him as, but I'm gonna give him the benefit of the doubt because they cast him for a reason. Like that's their job. So, and Elle is very like involved in the show. So I don't think she would let them cast someone that she didn't see as being a good Tucker. So I trust her judgment, so I'm sure it'll be good.

SPEAKER_00:

And I also it's kind of hard to say anything until we've seen them act. Like I've seen them, you know, in random like Instagram reels, like putting on their gear and stuff, but not like actually acting and acting with their FMC because they're gonna have to have chemistry with all of their FMCs. So we'll see. We'll see. But I figured that was gonna be one of your picks. So I wanted to read it and I wanted to surprise you, and I did. So that was that was my surprise. I read the deal. Okay, getting into our picks. Since I went off on that whole tangent, I will let you go first. Uh, so how this works is we are going to go back and forth and tell each other about our picks. Most of them I think we've actually read, but we've both read probably most of them. Um, I I was gonna say you've probably read more than me on some of your picks. Like, I don't know that I've gotten to all of them quite yet, but I think you've read almost every pick that I have. So okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

I'll start with one that I know you haven't read. I'm gonna start with the pucking wrong series by CRJ.

SPEAKER_00:

We're going straight in. Wait, hold on. I was gonna say now I have to look up this cover because uh at first I thought you were gonna say pucking around, but you said wait, what was it?

SPEAKER_01:

Pucking the pucking wrong. Well, it's the pucking wrong series, but there's like the pucking wrong number, the pucking wrong guy. Yeah. Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I know. Okay, okay. So on what books are comparable on a spice scale? Like, are these way more than L Kennedy? Are these like Emily Wrath level? Like, what where do they fall in the hierarchy of spice?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, so I think the author technically categor categorizes it as almost like a like a dark hockey romance. The characters are very like morally gray. And so it's very, I would say it's definitely spicier than L Kennedy. Um, it just really depends on what your like level is. I think Emily Wrath is crazy in her own way. I think these are just a bit more like if you read a lot of dark romance, there's a lot of those kinds of themes. So it's more like that level of spicy. It's more just like okay. I would say it's not like crazy, but it probably is for a lot of people. It's more just like situationally, it's like that's kind of insane. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Like out there, like how dark romance is just like really out there and like left field. Okay, okay, right. Right.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

So how did you find these books and what do you like about them?

SPEAKER_01:

When I'm in the office, because I work an office job, I work a desk job, and I get really bored. So I listen to a lot of audiobooks while I'm working. And so I was on hoopla one day and I saw one of them, and I was like, you know what? Just, you know, for for laughs, I'll I'll listen to the first one. And there's something about these books. I've never, I'll be honest, I know I'm suggesting these. I've never rated one higher than three stars, but I can't stop reading them. Or like I've listened to all of them. I haven't read any of them. So there's something about them that keeps me coming back. But every time I listen to one, I'm like, this is crazy. Like, what is going on? Why am I reading this? And then I immediately start the next one. So I I I don't know why. They're like so insane. They're almost ridiculous. Like, they're just crazy. Like, I don't like any of the MMCs. Like, they all just like give me the ick. I don't like them. There's a lot of red flags, but I can't stop reading them.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, got it. So Paige Turner, but know what you're getting into before you start the series. Yeah. Do you know how many books there are in the series?

SPEAKER_01:

Um, I think there, well, let me look. I think there's five. I've listened to four of them. I think the fifth one like just came out recently or is coming out. Let me let me look to make sure. Um, there's also a Christmas novella, which I did recently read. Yeah, okay, so there's five. The fifth one just came out in May. I haven't read it yet. Um, but I've listened to all the other four and the Christmas novella. So I guess there's technically six total, but there's five and then a novella. Okay. Cool, cool. I think my favorite one is the second one. No, I think it's the third one. I I think the second one's my least favorite, actually. Because there's one MMC, Ari, he's like my least favorite. He like during that whole book, I was like, this guy's crazy. Like, run, girl. Like, just run away from him.

SPEAKER_00:

So well, there you have it. So if you like a spicy, dark romance hockey mix, then this is definitely the series for you. And by the way, I feel like I have to say all of these books will be linked down in the show notes. So if you would like to pick them up, we don't even have to remember the names technically. You can just go in the show notes and click away and it'll take you right to the books.

SPEAKER_01:

Anyway, definitely check your trigger warnings and your content warnings on that series, I will say. Because there's not just spice in those, there's a lot of like darker themes and like um like gore and violence and stuff in those too. So maybe check check the warnings on those.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, good to know. So I'm gonna go the complete opposite way. And um fake skating by Lynn Painter is my fake. When I said the opposite way, I meant the total opposite way.

SPEAKER_01:

So I wanted to start off like crazy. I wanted to go to the whole other extreme and then work backwards.

SPEAKER_00:

I appreciate that. And I like that we have very different um spice level tastes because then that way like listeners can get literally whatever they're looking for if they're in between both of us, or maybe sometimes it depends on their mood. Like maybe they're in a Lynn Painter mood, or maybe they're in an Emily Rath mood. Like, I don't, I don't know. So, anyway, that's why we have a mix. So bring bring it on. But my pick is Thanksgiving by Lynn Painter. So this is YA. So again, it is totally total opposite. It is YA, but I will say that if you've never read a Lynn Painter book, she does have a lot of cussing in them, and she has a lot of um like they just feel older, they don't feel YA. For those that are picky and kind of concerned about it feeling like YA, her books are not. I have not read one of her adult romances yet. I've only read uh Better Than the Movies, Nothing Like the Movies, and now Fake Skating. And I will say that I think fake skating might be my new favorite Lynn Painter of the moment. So I feel like just let that sit. I mean, it's close to better than the movies, but I think I kind of like it a little bit better, which I don't know that everyone's gonna share my opinion based on just some of the good reads reviews. But it was so good. And for me, better than the movies kind of like took a second to get started and get like for me to get into it, but that did not happen with fake skating. I was in fake skating from page like one, and I couldn't stop flipping the pages. But basically, uh what happens is this is Danny and Danny is the girl, and then Alec is the guy, and they have been friends for their entire lives. Their moms are like best friends. They basically spent like every summer together, and then through circumstances that I'm not going to spoil, she ends up moving to his town and goes to his high school for her senior year of high school. So then when they're in forced proximity, their friendship had been broken up through again circumstances, and they start off not liking each other, and so they have to kind of figure out what happened, and now they are super close and their moms are best friends and they're seeing each other all the time, and it leads to you could probably guess, fake dating, because it's called fake skating, but it it was so good, it was so good, like their banter was so good, the way that he reacted to situations, the way that she did. And I don't even like miscommunication, and this does have a slight miscommunication in there, but it was done so well that I didn't even really care, which says a lot because it was just such a good book. And it had it had a lot of hockey in it, especially because Danny, the FMC, she knew nothing about hockey, and this is a very like hockey-centered town, uh, because it is up north. And so she you kind of like learn with her. So if you don't understand hockey, her grandpa, who is a famous hockey player and played in the NHL, um, that still lives in the town, he'll explain stuff. Alec will explain stuff. So I feel like it's perfect for both those that really like hockey. You get a lot of hockey in there, but then if you um are not as familiar, it explains it really well because you have Danny who literally knows like nothing about hockey. So anyway, it was so good. It had like all the Lynn Painter magic that there normally is, but it just the pacing was fantastic, and I just love this book. So it it shot to the top of the list.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I've been wanting to read that one. I like Lynn Painter, I've read a few of hers, so that's definitely on my list too, because I love fake dating. It's like one of my favorite tropes.

SPEAKER_00:

So I need to read that one. And you might find this funny. Um, I think I already told you, but oh well. So whatever I was at the allergy clinic um, because I get allergy shots. Yay, fun. Anyway, so I was at the allergy clinic and me and the receptionists we talk about books. I talk about books with a lot of people in my life. I've somehow found all the people that really like books. So we were chit-chatting and she asked what I was reading, and I had taken the dust jacket off so it wouldn't get all messed up, and it said fake skating on the side with a little like hockey stick. And so she was like, Oh, fake skating. She's like, I think that's hockey. And I'm like, Yeah, I just started it. Cause at that point I just hadn't even read the first page. So I was like, Yeah, and there was a room full of like dudes, and so I didn't say anything. So I was like, Oh yeah, I'm just reading this book called Fake Skating. Cause I I was like, they're not gonna know, they're not gonna know that it's like a hockey romance book, so it's fine. And um then one of the guys, whenever I sat down, he's like, How do you fake skate? Like, what is fake skating? And I was like, Oh, I didn't want to say it's fake dating with a hockey player, because everyone can hear you. So I was like, Oh, I don't know. I only got to the first page. So anyway, apparently the title really grabbed everyone's attention, but it is good. Oh, also it has uh no spice, so this is a no spice book. All all the Lynn Pager books I've read so far do not have spice. There are a couple slightly intense makeout scenes, but nothing, it's kissing only. There's yeah, it is no spice. So again, total opposite, going a totally different direction. Oh man. What is your next pick, Kasty?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, for my next pick, I'm gonna go with The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson.

SPEAKER_00:

And she comes to our Barnes and Noble, our local Barnes Noble a lot. So I need to read this. Please, please tell me more. I'm very interested in this one.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so the Game Changer, the FMC is like a TV baker, like she has a baking show on TV, and um the MMC is her brother's best friend because her brother's a hockey player, so he's his teammate and best friend, and um he like comes back into town because he like got traded off to another team and whatever, and he comes back like years later, and um somehow, one way or another, she like needs someone to be on her show for like an episode, and so she like convinces him to like guest star on her show, and then like the network and all the viewers and everything love it. So she like convinces him to make it like sort of like a joint show where he like guest stars like every week on her show, so they sort of like fall in love throughout the show, but then there's also like a side plot where like he was in a bad relationship before and he started like being seen with her, and so then like there was all this good press. So like his publicist and her publicist were kind of like, y'all should just like sort of play into it. So there's sort of fake dating in it, but it's more just like a like a not correcting people kind of fake dating. But yeah, it's it I thought it was really good, it was pretty cute. It's not it's not spice-free, but it's not very heavy on spice, if I remember correctly. Um, now take that with a grain of salt with me, because I say that a lot, and then other people will be like, I read that too, and it was crazy. Me. But this one really, like, I really don't remember it being that bad. Um, but it was it was really cute. It was very like rom-com-esque. Like it was very like just it was very like warm and fuzzy.

SPEAKER_00:

Sign me up, sign me up. Um I was gonna say, I think from what I've heard, the spice does sound kind of like just a typical Berkeley romance. Not not in a bad way, but just kind of like old school Ellie Hazelwood, maybe not even that much, but just kind of more like Alexa Martin, a love hypothesis, like yeah, those kinds.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's like just like okay. Yeah, it's like a normal, like rom-com type romance book level spice. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm gonna have to read it. Uh, I should have got that signed copy the other day of Barnes and Noble when we went. You told wait, did you tell me to get it or did Allie tell me to get it? I probably told you to get it because I read it. Yeah, I I think you did, but it's okay. I'm holding out for the next time she comes back to Barnes and Noble. I'm sure she'll be back. Yeah, she comes back like every time she has a release or uh every time they open a new store.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I wanted to catch um CR Jane, who writes the fucking wrong series, comes to our area a lot too. So because I think she's from around here too. So I I need to catch her next time she's around too.

SPEAKER_00:

I do appreciate all the authors that well, we uh we're kind of lucky. I feel like I have to put that out there that we're kind of lucky being in uh the area that we are, that a lot of a we have a lot of local bookstores it per capita, and we also have a lot of Barnes and Nobles popping up, and there are a lot of authors that are local or at least somewhat local. So every time they do a release, they will pop by and do their little tour. So I have like a list of some of them. Like I need to get to you. I just the date never quite works out. Who are you most excited to see that would come back? Sarah Adams. Yay! I was gonna say we get to see her in January.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, that's who I'm excited for because I really have like read quite a few of hers now, um, slowly but surely. And I don't read a ton of like uh clean romance, honestly. Um just because I tend to find it like too cheesy almost. I don't like like the I don't know, it just seems like too happy. Like I like when things go wrong a little bit, and I feel like when they're clean romance, it's just very like Hallmark movie-esque, and that's not my favorite, but I love Sarah Adams because she always like includes like real stuff in her romance. It's not just like oh they meet and fall in love and it's happily ever after. Like there's always some like deeper element to it. So I really like her, so I'm excited to see her because he knows she's one of my favorites, so but yeah, no, I am I'm excited.

SPEAKER_00:

I can't wait for you to hear her talk, just hearing her talk in person, like she's just so fun. And her and Alexa together. So we're going to the Sarah Adams and Alexa Martin, uh, like their event together, and uh, they're such good friends, and it's so fun because they sit there and they're like, your books are good, no, your books are good, and then they like chat and they just know each other so well that it they're really, really good together. So I'm excited for you to get to experience that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, also different genre, but I want Grady Hendrix to release another book so he'll go on tour again because he always seems to stop in our area. And I quite enjoyed his talk the last time I went. He did like a whole like PowerPoint presentation, like it was very like theatrical, and he was super nice. So I would want to see him again if he comes out with another book anytime soon, which he needs to.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna say, I feel like he's probably due for another one pretty soon.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I guess it was like last year when How to Sell a Haunted House came out, so he probably has a little bit of time, but yeah, he's probably due for one soon. I hope so. I'm surprised he doesn't have one out around now. He usually tries to release one around the Halloween, you know, spooky season.

SPEAKER_00:

I was gonna say makes sense, makes sense. And for anyone that doesn't know, Grady Hendricks is horror.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, he's a horror author. Yep, yep, yep. Definitely not hockey romance.

SPEAKER_00:

No, but Sarah Adams is a hockey romance either. But she's sports romance, but she's not hockey. Um, yeah, sometimes. Small town in sports. Anyway, okay. Off that. Uh going to the next pick. My next pick is um I'm trying to decide which one's gonna be my next pick. So I'm gonna go ahead and say uh this one you have not read, Castie, Rookie Season. It's literally right behind me. Rookie season by Leah Bruner and Katie Bailey. It was so good. This is the start of a new series. This is kind of, I mean, it's kind of for all intents and purposes, like a legacy series because it's one of the characters in Katie Bailey's books and one of the characters in Leah Bruner's books, they were like 10 or 11 in the original books. And so this is when they this is new adult when they're in college, and it's their story of how they fall in love. And basically, um, the female main character, she has some stuff happen and she drops out of school, and when she drops out of college, she ends up working at this dance studio because she is a dancer and dance was a dance major. And basically then she ends up rooming with these three um hockey players, and so they kind of like take her in and show her the ropes, and she obviously ends up falling in love with one of them. And no, this is not a wide choose, this is closed or again. I feel like when I say I every time I would talk about this book and I would say that there were, you know, she was living with three hockey players. I felt like I always had to say, so this is not wise choose, and it's it's closed door again. But this one is definitely this is definitely like closed-ish. And I think Leah even said that she doesn't, I'm pretty sure they don't even really market this one as closed door because it is kind of like right on the line. Um, and yeah, it it is I'm trying to think of another book, but I can't at the moment that I feel like would comp this spice level. It's nothing like bad, it's just they go a little bit further than your standard closed door, kind of like how you were just saying, Cassie, that you don't want um it to seem like too happy and stuff like that. This one does not. There's a lot of emotion. There's also again, there's actually, I don't think there's any cussing in this. Yeah, because they say puck instead of, you know, and uh because one of them, he literally like changes um changes his autocorrect to puck. So every time he's trying to say that other word, it just autocorrects it to puck. And so it was it was pretty funny that part. But they have like this whole group chat with the guys, and they're just all really sweet. And this is the start of a series, and I can't wait for basically all the roommates are gonna get their own book. Um, and Katie Bailey and Leah Bruner, they're just magic. And I know, Cassie, that you like the DC Eagles series. I always want to say DC Stars. Nope, that's Chelsea Curtis, DC Eagle series, and this is just like I don't know. I think you're gonna like this even more, dare I say, which I love the DC Eagles series. We both do, so it you're gonna like it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I yeah, I I want to read that one like really badly because I did. I love, I love that whole, I love Leah Brunner. I think she's like so good. Again. I don't usually read like clean romance, but her series is so good. Like I'm obsessed with it. I have I listened to what was the the last one? Uh Patrothal. No, no, no. Secret or Shutout. Secret or Shutout. I listened to that one on audiobook when I was in the office. And I literally had to get up from my desk, go to the bathroom because I was crying, like bawling my eyes out. It was so good. That one's my favorite, but not my favorite MMC. But anyway, we're not talking about that series. Oh my gosh. Also Chelsea Curto series, too. If we're talking about DC, I could go on forever about that one too.

SPEAKER_00:

I know that's why I almost said DC Stars. Because I was like, no, it's DC Eagles, not DC Stars. But yeah, no, this series is really good. If you haven't led read Leah Bruner, I would highly recommend it. She's definitely one of those that, like, even though she's closed door, she doesn't feel closed door. But if you do want a closed door, she definitely fits the bill. But if you normally don't like reading closed door, then you could still read her books. And honestly, I don't even think that you would notice like the banter and everything else is just so, yeah. I'm like, it's so top-notch, you don't even, it doesn't even matter. They're just so good. If you can't tell, I I got Cassie into them because I made her read them. I was gonna say I've made you read a couple, but then you've made read that you've made me read a couple that I've really liked too. So we kind of like forced each other to read or the best kind of friendship. Exactly. Okay, what is your next pick?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I feel like I can't go a hockey romance episode without mentioning the Don't Let Me series by Kelsey Ray. I felt like you probably knew this was this was coming.

SPEAKER_00:

This was on my list of what I thought you were gonna come to the table with.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Um it's very comparable, I'd say, to the off-campus series by L. Kennedy. Um, it's college hockey, you know, group of friends in the team that are also roommates. So like each roommate gets their own book. It's very, it's very like similar, not very similar, but it's if you like the off-campus series, you'll like the Don't Let Me series. My favorite one is the third one. It's called Don't Let Me Break. But technically, I don't really know if it's considered a hockey romance because the MMC in that one is the older brother of one of the players on the team, and he is like the team like medic. Like he is there for the games. If one of them gets hurt, he like, you know, takes care of them. Um, but he's really great. I really like him. He's probably my favorite MMC in the whole series, too. Um, but the FMC in that one, she has epilepsy, and so she like has a lot of struggle with dating and like relationships and everything. And so this guy who's a paramedic comes in and he like it like doesn't even phase him because he's like, I know how to handle it, like whatever, it doesn't matter to me. And so that there is a bit of an age gap. It is an age gap. Um, it's not like a crazy age gap, but like she's still, well, maybe it is kind of a crazy age gap. Depends on what your level of crazy. She's in college, he um has like teenage daughters. He's like divorced with daughters. Okay, so there's a whole like subplot where the the FMC works at like a diner and one of the one of her co-workers is his teenage daughter, but she doesn't know it for like half the book. And so there's like that whole like subplot. But I really like the series. It like I feel like if you don't like college hockey, you might not like it. But like the first book, I I did reread them recently because I've reread them a few times. If you didn't like Garrett, you're probably not gonna like the first book. Okay. But I have the first book and I'm obviously willing to give it a try. Right. But I will say overall, it's worth it to read all of them because they're all in, I mean, they're in they're interconnected standalone, so you don't have to read all of them, but they're all in like each other's books because they're all like close friends and like all the FMCs are friends with each other, and all the MMCs are roommates, obviously. But yeah, I think I think they're good. But yeah, she has that the Don't Let Me Series, and then she has the Little Things series, which is a legacy series of the Don't Let Me Series. So the kids of the characters from the Don't Let Me Series are gonna be the main characters in the Little Things series. It's still ongoing. I think there's five out right now. I think there's six or seven total, so I think she has a couple more to go. But yeah, I I I recommend them. They're not heavy on spice. I they're L Kennedy level. They're probably, but not like they're not like the Charlie method level, L Kennedy. I feel like she has a different okay.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

She has a very like, she has a spectrum, I feel like. Um yeah, they're more like off-campus. They're more like off-campus level spice. But I I definitely say if you're a fan of the off-campus series, give the Don't Let Me series a try. They're kind of lesser known. I think she's still indie published. I don't think she so like they're not like you can't just go to Barnes and Oval and pick them up. A lot of local bookstores will have them. I know a couple of our like romance local romance bookstores have them, but she's not gonna be one that you can just like run to Barnes and Oval or something and pick them up. But I recommend them.

SPEAKER_00:

So okay. My next couple picks. Um, these are these are the ones that I know we both like that we're so we're both trying to come with picks that we didn't think that we thought that the other one wasn't gonna bring. Um, so I'm just throwing these two out there, and I know we're both gonna be like, yeah. Well, actually, I might throw three of them out there like rapid fire, and we'll be like, yeah, those are ours. So, okay. First one, we talked about it for a second, DC Stars by Chelsea Kurto. So for me personally, um, I've pretty much basically been talking about all closed door up until this point. I'm crossing over to none of these picks that I'm about to say are closed door at all. They are very spicy. All of them are very spicy. So just know that if you were thinking that, oh, because you read closed door, like these, no, these are not. So Face Off is my favorite in this series. Um, it is book one. I absolutely loved it. It's not that I don't like the others, but all of the other books in the series, I've read them all and they are too spicy for me, to be honest. They're yeah, I know your face, like yes, they're so I I can't, I can't. They're a little bit too much for me. But at this point, I really like the group chat with the guys and I like their camaraderie, and I like getting to see so much of each character, and I love Chelsea's writing style, so I'm in it, but I'm warning you that if you were thinking that it was gonna be on my level of spice, they're honestly they're too spicy for me. Face Off is the only one that I truly think is not too spicy.

SPEAKER_01:

I love those books. Um, I think my favorite is Slapshot. I think that's my favorite book. That's wait, what color was that? Okay, yeah, yeah. I did like Slap Shot. Those are the chef. But my favorite, my favorite MMC is Riley from Hat Trick from the fourth one.

SPEAKER_00:

I liked three the second best. Yeah, yeah. And then four. It's one, three, four, and two is like my order of favorites, probably.

SPEAKER_01:

I think the only reason why three is my favorite is it's kind of the only see, okay. I have to preface this because it sounds mean what I'm about to say. I read a lot of books and I read them fast, and so I tend to forget a lot of what happens in books I read. I can tell you if I liked a book or not, but I don't know if I could tell you what happened in it, like even two days later. But I still remember vividly like a lot of slapshots. So that's why I think it's my favorite, is because for some reason it stuck with me, and that's hard to do. I did love all of them, but I like I can like still picture like scenes from that book. So that one gets its stamp of approval for me. They all do. I love them all. Um, I think they're great, but I do love Riley from Hat Trick, he's my favorite image. Yeah, I love him.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I I really enjoyed the reading experience of one, three, and four. But like I said, three past one. It's really honestly too spicy for me. And I'm just reading it because I'm attached to the characters at this point, but yeah, they're cool. Man, that's a lot, that's a lot of spice for me. Like a lot. Um up next, my two other kind of rapid fire-ish picks are um the undone series, which we are obsessed with this series. I don't know. I think we're the most obsessed. Um, and you can even talk about okay, hold on. So, okay, this is Unsteady by Peyton Corinne, Unloved, and then Unbound, which Cassie actually got an arc that she can talk about in a second. But this is the one of the only series. I would say the Leah Bruner, DC Eagles, and the Undone series by Peyton Corinne are probably the only two series that I think I've ever read where I almost can't pick a favorite because I love all of the books equally. Like they're all so good in their own way. And I thought that nothing could ever beat Unsteady, and then I read Unloved and I don't know which one's my favorite. I literally have to read Unsteady and Unloved like back to back to try to decide because they are so good. These are also, they're on the spicier side. They're not as spicy as DC Star's, but they're spicy for me. But they are more of a slow burn because they are both kind of slightly chunky books, so they're a slow burn. So they're not like super, super spicy, but when the spice hits, it does hit.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I have a favorite. Mine's mine's on love. Um, however, I there's a side character that he's gonna be an MMC in the fourth book. His name is Torin, and he has my whole heart. I'm ready for his book. I'm waiting patiently, not so patiently. I love him so much. And I need his book like tomorrow. I love him so much.

SPEAKER_00:

What sold you? Was it the tattoos, the bango thing, or the scream mask, like the ghost face mask?

SPEAKER_01:

All of it, all of it, and he's like grumpy and he's misunderstood. Like he has a past and I know it. And like everyone's like, we don't like him. And I'm like, there's gotta be a reason. And I love that. I always joke with Kristen. I'm like, I love a good red flag, and Torin definitely has them, but I know he has reasons why. And if I can justify the red flags, I'm here for it. I love a good villain, I love a good, like misunderstood bad guy. I just do like to my core, like that's what I love, and I love them.

SPEAKER_00:

And I I am more on the golden retriever side, so we're we are like total opposites, which is great, because then yeah, it always keeps it interesting. We never like the same MMC, which is actually kind of perfect. So yeah, it works. Um, okay, so with Unbound, okay. Did you cry whenever you read any of them?

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, I I cried during Unlov. Okay. Did I cry during Unsteady? I don't I remember Unsteady being like super heavy, like it did hit emotionally, but I don't think I really cried. But Unlov, I remember like there's like I think it's in the epilogue, like the epilogue scene. Um, and I think that I remember crying during that part. So definitely Unloved made me cry. Unsteady didn't make me cry, and unbound, because I I did read the arc for unbound. I won't give away spoilers, but it didn't make me cry.

SPEAKER_00:

But did you like it and did it live up to the hype of Peyton Current's other books?

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, I did like it. I think it's probably my least favorite of the three. However, I did like it a lot. Um I really, really like the MMC in Unbound. I really, really loved him. I really loved Bennett. Um, the FMC, I'm still I'm still going back and forth on if I liked her or not because I feel like I connected to Bennett so much. And this isn't spoilers because she's talked about it, but he has autism and OCD, and so do I. And so I was like, this is either gonna go really, really well or really, really bad because automatically I'm going to be like picking it apart. And but she did a really, really good job with him. And I was like, so I felt very connected to him because every time he would like talk about something or like something that he struggled with, I'd be like, oh, I totally get this guy. Like, I was like, I am connected to you on like a deep spiritual level, and so I was like protective of him. So every time the FMC would do something, I'd be like, She doesn't deserve him. She doesn't deserve him. And I still don't even know if by the end of the book, if I fully think she deserved him. However, she did have reasons why she was the way she was. Okay. I was literally about to ask that if we find out why Paloma is like that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I know I just went on a whole thing about how I like when people have a backstory to justify why they're a bad guy. I get it. I know. Double standard. But I just, I think I just liked the MMC so much that I just even with her, like her life and everything that went on with her, I I still was almost like, does he deserve her? I don't like, does she deserve him? I don't know. But I did like it. I think it's good. I think it's good. I think it's it's on par with the other two. Um, but I wouldn't say it's better than unloved. It's hard to beat unloved for me. I don't know if anything can beat unloved. That's like one of my favorite hockey romance, like not only one of my favorite hockey romance books, but probably like up there in one of my favorite books ever.

SPEAKER_00:

So I agree. I could not stop crying on unloved. I had to close it a couple times because I was like, I can't stop crying. It's angsty if you haven't gotten that from what we said. It's very angsty.

SPEAKER_01:

So if they're all very angsty. Unbound was very angsty. Okay, good.

SPEAKER_00:

I I mean, I expect that from Peyton at this point, so I'll take it. Uh, the last one that I will recommend. I have not warning, I have not read the entire series. Cassidy has read the entire series. I have not. I've only read one book, so it feels kind of silly to recommend it. But if I don't say it, then it's not out there. So there you go. This is the Vancouver Storm series. I have only, yeah, by Stephanie Archer. I was gonna say I've only read one book. This Cassidy told me it wasn't spicy and it was spicy, it was pretty spicy. The one that I read. Well, okay, let me phrase it. To her, it was not that spicy. And I was like, Cassidy, what and what? Um anyway, you can tell that we have different preferences. So hey, that's perfect. If you lean more on Cassidy's side, then you will not bat an eye and you'll be great. And if you lean more on my side, I don't know. You I still think you would enjoy it. Um, it it was really good and I liked the character so much. I have only read The Fake Out, which is book two, and yes, I skipped around because that's what an interconnected standalone series is for. I'm allowed to skip around. If Lila Sage can skip around in series, then I can skip around. If it's if it's interconnected standalones, I'm sorry, but I don't care. I'm gonna read the one that I want to read the most first. And the second one, I was looking at it in Varts and Noble and the blurb just stood out to me. So that that is the only one that I've read in this series.

SPEAKER_01:

My favorite is Gloves Off, which I think is the first one. Um, if I remember correctly. Wait, isn't Behind the Net the first one? Is Gloves Off the most recent one? Let me let me look it up. I thought it was the first one, but I think you're right. Behind the net is the first one. Which one is Gloves Off? Let me I think it's book four. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, that one's my favorite. But like solely because it's Marriage of Convenience and he's grumpy. And that's all I need. Okay. So but I really liked that one. That that is the most recent one, which is probably partially why it's my favorite, is because it's the one I remember the most. But yeah, I just really like yeah, I really like Marriage of Convenience and fake dating, and I feel like they're similar in tropes, and so I really liked that one. Um, I have read all of them. The next one comes out in February. I was just looking at it. I've requested the arc, so somebody needs to. I've been really lucky on arcs, so I'm hoping I get it, but I'm not holding out for that one. But yeah, I really like the series. Like Kristen said, I didn't think they were that spicy, but I do I do tend to I tend to kind of skim through spice. I don't like sit there and read like I'm not like ooh, spice, let me read every I like I do like skim through it a lot. I'm like, okay, let's just like I I wouldn't say I completely skip it, but I'm not like here for it. Like that's not why I read it. So I kind of just like it kind of doesn't phase me because I I tend to just sort of almost like just flip through that a little bit. But so I don't remember it being that spicy, but apparently it is.

SPEAKER_00:

It was. I had a friend that read it and they I think they DNF'd it because they were like, whoa, or no, they didn't DNF it, but I think they almost did. And I was like, it's so good. And they're like, yeah, it was good, but it was a lot. I was like, oh, sorry. I didn't, I didn't, I mean, I thought it was spicy, but not like that bad. I I'm trying to think of what to compare it to. I would say it's probably it's more than off campus. It's maybe more than undone. It's just kind of different than that series. So it's hard to compare like apples to oranges, but it's not maybe like I'd say maybe like the campus diaries of L Kennedy.

SPEAKER_01:

Maybe that's right.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I I would agree with that because I'm like, uh, it wasn't horrible, horrible. Like it's not, it's not a dark romance, it's not Emily Rath level, but it's not it's not what I'm saying at all. Um, but it was it is spicier than like uh Lana Ferguson or you know, most of the books we've talked about, but it's not quite to DC stars level. So it's not quite Chelsea Kurt. I feel like hers are spicier than I agree with that. Um Stephanie Archer's, but yeah, it's it's kind of in between. So if you want an in-between, like you want some spice, but you don't want, you know, an insane amount, then that might be perfect for you. But Stephanie Archer's writing style is so good. So good. I keep flipping through them so quick. Okay. What are your picks? Maybe one or two more.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. Um, I'm gonna go with Slapshot Surprise by Melanie Harlow. This is a recent one that I read. Let me look up that cover. I'm like, I feel like I've heard of that one. It's purple. Why did you like it? You know it. I I like it. You know, you know it. I know you do. You know the cover at least. Oh, I'm looking it up.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know the cover. You don't? Uh-uh. I don't know that I've seen this one floating around. That's crazy. I know. Clearly, I'm not on the right side of Bookstagram. No, I haven't seen it before. Okay, tell me more about it.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay, so Slapshot Surprise. It's technically now. I usually, when I read interconnected standalone series, I read them in order. Except this is number five in its series. I haven't read any of the other ones. Oh wow. So I will preface it with that. This is there's probably a reason why you haven't heard of this because it's your least favorite trope. It is unexpected pregnancy.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So, okay, so slapshot surprise. The FMC, she's like on a plane and it she's like terrified of flying, and it starts having like really bad turbulence, and she's like, I'm gonna die. And so she starts like spilling her guts to the guy in the seat next to her. She's like, Oh, I've never like truly been loved, like no guy has ever satisfied me, like just going off, like going, just like ranting about everything. And the guy was like, Okay. And then she so she's on this plane because she's going to a wedding. I think it's her brother's wedding, if I remember correctly, or somebody that she's related to. I don't quite remember. It's been a bit since I've read it, but she's going to a wedding. That's why she's on this plane. And she shows up to the wedding, and one of the groomsmen is this guy that she spilled her guts to. What? And so that's pretty good. He yeah, and so he like flirts with her all night and he's like, like, look, I can show you, like, I can I could totally change like everything. Like, I can do all this stuff that nobody's done for you. Like, I've got you. And so he like convinces her to like go back to his hotel with him. And so then she ends up getting pregnant, and um, it's just like a whole like, you know, the whole story of like her telling him and him being like, Oh, I have to be around, but you know, I'm also a hockey player, and it's like I like the drama of unexpected pregnancy, that's why I like it. It's very much drama, but you know, you have the typical, like, he's like, but like my dad's not a good dad. So, like, what if I won't be a good dad? You know, you have all that, but I thought it was pretty good. I really liked the like premise of it. I thought it was like very funny, like it was pretty funny how like she was like, Oh, I'm about to die, and then she shows up and he's there. Like, that was good. I did appreciate that. I thought it was good. Um, but it was good, it had a lot of heart to it, and it had a lot of like I thought there was a lot of character development, like character growth, especially with the MMC throughout the book, because he sort of starts as like, you know, the the Playboy hockey guy, and then by the end he's like, you know, serious about it and like dedicated. And so I liked that. I liked that aspect, but I I have read some Goodreads reviews where people have an opposite opinion and they're like, this guy's the worst, she needs to run from him. I didn't get that vibe, but you never know, I guess. Um, but I thought it was good. I liked it. I I do I do kind of like unexpected pregnancy, and I know a lot of people don't, but I I did enjoy it. I thought it was cute. It was very like rom-com level spice. I wouldn't say it was anything crazy. It was a pretty slow burn. I mean, it wasn't because like I love a slow burn. I mean, it was, but it wasn't because obviously, like she gets pregnant like right at the beginning, but then for like almost the whole rest of the book, if I remember correctly, like it's very long until like anything else happens. So I wouldn't say this vice level is anything crazy. Um, but it was very like rom-com-esque.

SPEAKER_00:

That kind of reminds me of Out on a Limb, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Like where it's where okay, although Out on a Limb is better, in my opinion. But that's not a hockey room. True, true, true, but it's so good.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, I think I could definitely see myself starting like the first book in that series and working working my way to book five. I I mean, I'll read any trope. If it's an author that I like, I'll read any trope.

SPEAKER_01:

But yeah, I mean, yeah, although I think if I know correctly, because I was looking into the series, I don't think the whole series is a hockey series. Oh, okay. Like I think they're all related in certain ways. Like, I think they all live in the same town or they're all related or something, but like the first one is like a single dad slash nanny, the second one is like he's like a navy SEAL or something. Like they're all kind of different, but they're all in the same town because it's the Cherry Tree Harbor is the name of the series. So I think that's how they're connected, is they're all in the same town. Nice, but I don't think they're all hockey romance.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, good to know. Thank you for prefacing it to that. It's kind of like whatever people call uh which one is it? Um is it Powerless by Elsie Silver, whenever they call that a hockey romance, and it's like uh the rest of the series isn't hockey, and I mean he is a hockey player, there's like no hockey in that book, yeah, because I did read that book.

SPEAKER_01:

It was good. I recommend that book. I don't know if I'd consider it a hockey romance, though. I mean, he is a hockey player and he mentions it a couple times that he plays hockey. So depends on what your level is, like where where's the line? But do you actually want hockey in your books or not? Because there's no hockey in that book. It's more of a cowboy romance, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay, and then did you have any other picks to round us out?

SPEAKER_01:

Um okay. Um, I've got The Bad Boy Rule by Maren Moore. I don't exactly know why I liked it, because I sort of mentioned it in my Goodreads review that I don't really know why I liked it. It was very predictable and like very like stereotypical. The guy, so this book, the guy is like the bad boy hockey player, and I think it literally says in it, like he refers him to himself as like on the wrong side of the tracks, and she's like this rich girl whose dad is like a business owner, like owns a company, and she is an ice skater, I think, if I remember correctly. Um, and so they meet each other because like they both booked their ice time at the same time, you know, very like it's giving icebreaker. Um but don't say the name icebreaker on this episode. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But he like figures out who she is, and he's like, Oh, her dad's company like ruined my life. Like they fired my dad, and now we're poor, and all this, and it's all because of her father. So he's like, I'm gonna like get back at him by dating his daughter, which like crazy red flag, by the way. He's like, I'm gonna ruin her life and like make her a bad girl and all this stuff. But then of course he like ends up falling in love with her. Um, but for some reason I liked it. I wouldn't say it was like anything profound or like new. Um, no offense. I thought the writing was good. I thought that like it was it was an interesting book, it kept my attention, but I wouldn't say it was like anything new that I haven't like read before, which sounds mean, but I did like it. I did like it. I'm just saying, like, if you're looking for something like new and never done before, probably not this book. But it was good. I got it in the probably smut box one month. Nice. Um, so I have like a nice fancy cover book, but I wouldn't say, yeah, I I did like it, but I wouldn't be like, if you're like, I want the best hockey romance I've ever read ever, probably not that one. Uh paint grin. Definitely. I would say paint and grins high up there. Yeah. But yeah, I did like that one. I did like it. So there you go.

SPEAKER_00:

Sometimes you just want a good, like, good, fun hockey romance. Um, I will say one last thing on this, and I'm gonna go ahead and put up the spoiler alert warning for this because I feel like in order to explain it, I kind of have to get into the spoilers. I will say one more thing on the deal that I was just thinking about as we were talking about something. Okay, so on the deal, I think also it's hard because for me, I'm reading, like I said, I'm calling this kind of the actor of hockey romance. When I've read so many kind of like inspired works, or you know, everything was kind of a jumping off point from here, it's hard to go back to the original and not feel like the original's a copy paste, even though the original was what started it, and now everything's kind of moving from there. So I thought it was a little bit cliche um how the dad, Phil, was like, you're not gonna date my son and he's not gonna get his inheritance. And then she just broke up with him and didn't say anything. And actually, honestly, the reason I probably also felt no, I can't. That's a spoiler for okay, we're just gonna go. I mean, you already said spoiler. I did say spoiler alert. This is also a spoiler alert for fake skating by Lynn Painter. And don't worry, Cassidy, this will not ruin the book for you. But again, same premise in fake skating, where he's where one of uh the MMC's nemesis's nemeses, whatever his nemesis, his nemesis, there you go. His nemesis was like, don't date him because of this, and like basically both times I read back to back where they're like, You're not gonna date him because of X, Y, and Z, and you can't tell him because you know he he's gonna say it's fine and go back on whatever it is. So that was kind of like uh, that's just been done a lot before. But again, this book, I think it said it came out in 2015, the deal. So at that point in time. That may have not really been done, and everything else may kind of be inspired by that. So I feel like I can't judge it on that because the same with Actar, like half the stuff I was reading, I'm like, oh, I've seen a million of that trope or this thing or that thing. But it's like, again, these were the kind of originals. I'm sure that they were still inspired by something else, guaranteed. So I'm not saying that they are the original, original blueprint, but they are one of the more original blueprints. So sometimes it's kind of hard to read that so after the fact when I've read so many other hockey romances and then go back to it and then I'm like, oh, I've seen this done a million times before. Well, duh, because she kind of wrote more of the original. So anyway, I will say that also might be why I've just, there's so many good hockey MMCs. And so I think that's why Garrett just it wasn't, I don't know, it wasn't for me. So I could see how if you read the deal first and you fell in love with Garrett and he's like one of your OG favorite hockey guy, book boyfriend MMCs that you you might be really mad by my take that I am not a fan of his.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, I will say, in my opinion, Elle kind of like paved the like Elle was writing hockey romance like before it like really blew up. Like I'm sure she wasn't the first. I'm not saying that, but like she was definitely like she sort of is what started the like the boom in it, because she was really the first like series to get really big for hockey romance. I feel like like she really like catapulted it. And so, like, and I yeah, I didn't love that whole plot point in the deal either. Cause to me, it felt almost like the miscommunication trope. Like, if she had just like gone to him and be like, Hey, your dad just threatened me, like he would have just been like, Well, don't do it, and then like they would have been together and it would have been fine. Like, cause then it that's the one where he was like, Well, it doesn't even matter because once I turn a certain age, like I get it anyway. Yes, yes. I have the trust from my grandparents, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, and I was like, Yeah, she could have just talked to him and avoided like the whole third act breakup in that book, like just saying, but I will defend Garrett a little bit, like you said, because I do love him. Um, it wasn't his fault, it was his dad's fault. So, like, don't blame Garrett.

SPEAKER_00:

It's true, yeah. No, I'm not saying that was his fault. That's not I was gonna say that's that's not why I don't like him that much. Um But also I did want to point out the whole Logan thing, like what was that? Okay, it felt it felt a little bit like it was after the fact. Like Garrett and Hannah kind of got together and then Logan decided. I mean, granted, it was kind of like as they were getting technically, if I wanted to get technical about it, they were still in the tutoring sessions and they weren't together whenever he kind of started to develop a crush on her. And really from the beginning, he was like, Hey, are you seeing her because I like her or whatever? But it it just, I don't know, it just kind of seemed unnecessary because it's not really setting like a love triangle. And it just kind of seemed a little bit weird to me that I don't know that he would be so obsessed with Hannah when it's like why, like, why? I don't know. I didn't really see the purpose in it, but again, I've only read book one, so maybe when I get to his book and book two, it'll all start making sense and everything all go, okay. That's why she was laying the groundwork for insert thing here.

SPEAKER_01:

So okay. I need to rant about Logan a little bit. Um, the second book is my least favorite book. Um, I do love Logan, I don't love his book. Okay. Um, it is very much like pretty much the main plot line of the second book is that he can't get over Hannah.

SPEAKER_00:

But why? Like, I just don't understand why he's so obsessed with her because he really hasn't interacted with her that much. Like he has but not to like her to that level. I just don't get it yet.

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like I can sort of sympathize with him a bit because I feel like I feel like he's just hung up on her. Like sometimes you just see somebody one time and you're hung up on them. Like, we know this. Yeah, we know this. I'm like, okay, okay, okay, okay. I I can appreciate that. Okay. So I get it, but also like it is kind of annoying. And the second book, because I did just recently reread them because the show's coming out, and I was like, oh, I want to be like, I want to make sure I remember everything. So they are very fresh in my mind. The second one is my least favorite. Okay. I don't love it. I think it's hard not to see him and the FMC in the second one as like him just trying to replace Hannah in his brain. Yeah. Like I know that he isn't, but like it's very hard to sort of like, because like so much of like the first book and a lot of the second book is him like just being so like almost depressed over the fact that Garrett is dating Hannah. And then he just starts, you know, like it's just very like he does like a 180 almost, and you're like, seems a bit like he's just like rebounding. Right. But I do like Logan. I think he gets better. He gets a lot less whiny. Okay. So I will say that. And I'm excited for the show because I like who they cast as Logan. So I'm hoping it goes well.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I'm interested to see if they just like if they keep that plot line, if they drop it, because you never know, they could drop that whole thing.

SPEAKER_01:

They'll have to keep it because, like I said, it's so much of his book. Yeah. And it'll start the drama. I mean, besides the dad inheritance thing, there's not a lot of drama in the first book. That's true. So you really need that side drama line, like to keep the show going, I feel like. Because you're gonna need something. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's fair. Because people aren't gonna watch like a just a like think about like the summer I turn pretty, how dramatic that show is. When's the last like show where it's just like two people fall in love and fake date, and like they fake date and then they fall in love and nothing else happens? Like networks need like something more, they need the drama line. So I could see them keeping that in. I could see them almost playing it up too much. Yeah, yeah. The whole Logan being upset thing. Like I could see them really like hammering it in heavy. I hope they don't, but I could see them doing that.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm interested. But like I said, ultimately, I okay, spoiler, we're good. We're good. We're not we're not covering anything. You're good to come back and listen. But um, I will say that overall, like the way that L Kennedy writes, like you flip pages, you want to keep reading, she keeps you in it. Like I said, I don't even love if someone can take an MMC that's not my absolute favorite, some plot lines that I'm like, what is going on? I don't get it. And they can still make me finish the book super quick and want to pick up the next one in the series. Uh that says it all. That says it all. So I I mean, I'm definitely gonna continue the series. Yeah, my gripes are just griping because I just finished it and I just wanted to like vent about it, basically.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, no, I I feel like I am one of the world's biggest L. Kennedy defenders. I do love her. I've read like everything that she's read. I've read even she has side, like she has separate hockey romance series too. She has like him, I think is what the first one's called. I don't remember what I think the second one's called. I don't remember what the second one's called. But then she has the uh like Good Boy and um what's the other one called? I don't know. Stay or something like that. Because it's the Wags is the thing. So they're like all dog themed, which I think is cute. Um, and those are kind of connected, so those two separate series kind of are connected because in the first one of I think Good Boy's the first one, maybe Stay's the first one, I don't remember, but sh they meet at the wedding of her brother who is in him. I think it's him. Um, and so those are also connected, but they're not connected to off campus. But even those are really good, although I didn't love him very much, but that's just because that one was very heavy spice to the point where it almost felt like there was no other plot, and I don't love that. Yeah, because I felt like I was doing a lot of like I was like, oh, and like skipping through, but I did really like the Wag series, and I've read like a lot of her books, so I am like I am an L Kennedy defender a little bit, and I feel like this episode has just turned into the L Kennedy episode, and I'm not trying to make it that way, it kind of has.

SPEAKER_00:

No, no, no, but I also just wanted to make sure that it came across that like I it's not that I'm saying I don't like her books, I'm just you know, venting about them because I just read them, and so I'm a little bit more um intense about it right now because I obviously just yeah, just finished it. So and we wouldn't talk about any of these authors if we didn't like them. We wouldn't even mention it. Like we just we wouldn't, we would just pick something else. So yeah. I agree. That's yeah, yep. Thank you for joining me today, Cassidy, on this episode. And keep listening to Where I Left Off a Bookish Podcast. That is all we have for today.