Photo Credits: Kuptsova (pixabay) Prawny (pixabay) Edited by Vaishali Title: Puck Shy Series: Carolina Comets #1 Author: Teagan Hunter Publisher: Self Published Year of Publication: 2021 Format: EBOOK copy Genre/Themes: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Comedy, Sports Romance, Hockey, New Adult Romance Review... A fresh series of sexy sportsmen, lighthearted standalone romantic pairings, fun raillery, the continued thread of 'textual' interrelations, and Puck Shy becomes a continuation of Hunter's familiar favouritism for rom com fiction. I very much enjoyed myself yet again. The series beginner opens up with poor Collin riding a law well written by Murphy. He's agonising over the fallout of his latest hockey season, regretful over letting his teammates down and surfacing from a summer break for some instructed downtime. Remaining under the radar while the hot topic of his transgressions simmers down and Colin's still in the meddling arm of bad luck. But he's determined to recover his efforts for a fresh season, has his eye on only the prize as he's familiar with the takers that often arrive in the form of women once they scent a man with pro league in his title. He's on his best behaviour, eager to see himself play the best of himself for the Comets. He needs to bring his A-game to the ice and the mind game to the sport, lest he be forever anguished by the sound of next season's contract being torn in two right in front of him. Ouchies. But a series of unfortunate events has him stranded sans car, sans phone and sans luck. Murphy's Law has indeed procured another target; this one big, NHL sized, is in big trouble where his career with the Comets is concerned and is soaking up his misery like a man who can't catch a break. His run of luck has fizzled out and he's nobody's favourite person right now. On a dead section of country road, with darkness swiftly falling, his resolve is yet again put to the test when an irresponsible driver nearly knocks him clean off his feet. A deeply frustrated man can only take so much, but said perilous driver also happens to be his knight in shining Harper. He's furious he just about dodged another catastrophe. She's terrified that he could be a ghost of nocturnal legend, so she says. But after some reluctance, stranger-danger mistrust, nighttime paranoia and a boot full of horror-themed paraphernalia, she saves him from the longest night he might've had in a while. A road trip, lots of chat, horror film debates, an almost car accident, an-almost kiss later and they part ways amicably. And Harper's still none the wiser of her stranger's hockey star athlete status. Just as Colin likes it. I've read Teagan Hunter's Let's Get Textual from her widely favoured Texting series. I've also indulged Cheesy on the Eyes, #5 In her the Slice series, both of which made for intensely fun and funny reading. Hunter's romantic comedies make for humorous, enjoyable and easy consumption, and I found the experience repeating itself with the opener to her latest series. And let's just say that I grinned at the recognition of Let's Get Textual's cameo in the form of Zach and Delia. I couldn't help myself but smile when the two made their - also two - appearances. I will say that I didn't enjoy Shepherd's cameo however. For those familiar with the Texting series, he's the somewhat-antagonist in Let's Get Textual who commits petty revenge by way of a personal - and impactful - offense that I still feel wasn't securely put to bed. I found him to be unredeemable, and it's fair to say that I had no intention of reading his book. Colter reminds me of another variation of Shepherd, perhaps every series has to have one. But that aside, we have the kind of light romance you can expect from the author, one which graces the pages of this book with her rom-com charisma. Since I found Harper's artistic passion to be a really fun texture, I was disappointed that the story didn't detail her artistic endeavours to great length. It's worth pointing out that the romance is on the lighter side of a romantic connection, perhaps overlooking missed opportunities. But I still declare that I enjoyed my time within the pages of this book. Teagan Hunter's romantic comedies are the equivalent to comical, comforting, low-angst, banter-some repose reads for me. They're not complex, complicated nor emotionally challenging and I do love them for it. The author enjoys the engageable art of light entertainment and fun humour and I'm happy to say that I enjoy romance that can accomplish that. In the land of rom com her books always promise a great time. Snappy banter, fun dialogue, colourful elements, a sportsman who just can't get his head in the game to his own detriment and an independent artist who puts the happy in horror. And of course, complete with characters prone to food-serious hunger spikes and a win-him-over (very public) 'I'm sorry' and this easily settled itself among my row of Hunter favourites. I gave this book 3.5/4 stars - Content Warning/Listing: Swearing. Mentions the death of a parent. Mentions infidelity within a parent's marriage. Parent death. Mentions a pivotal side character (friend to the hero) who sports a facial disfigurement. Mentions the past homophobic assault of someone. Mentions the abandonment of a dog (who finds a happy ending in a shelter). On ice brawling. ___________________________ M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read ___________________________ ____________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● BOOK REVIEW: Let's Get Textual by Teagan Hunter ● BOOK REVIEW: Cheesy On the Eyes by Teagan Hunter ____________________________________ 1) I do personally find that male leads (far too often) fall into the category of hypocrisy rather easily in regards to their beliefs surrounding women. The nuance really counts. I really liked Colin overall, but I wasn't keen on the double standard he introduced in once - gluttonously I'm sure - thrilling in the female attention of every puck bunny he enjoyed during his early hockey days and now guarding against the agendas of other women because all they might find greater interest in is how much he banks and his name in the realm of sport next to who he is. It took often supports the idea that women are fine and fit for a purpose when it suits the MMC's needs but they also shouldn't be trusted because of that. I don't admittedly enjoy the take. I did feel that his not quite being trustworthy himself was decently handled to an extent because he seemed to have an awareness of it and felt the effects of the duplicity. But like I said, I enjoyed Collin as a male protagonist and thoroughly enjoyed his relationship with Harper. He was more than likeable and readable :) I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK Leave a comment and let's talk about |
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February 2024
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