Eden Finley

Saxon James

FOSTER: "Look out for Zach and don't hit on him."My brother's request sounds easy enough. Keep an eye out for his best friend on campus and keep my hands to myself.Easy.Even if Zach is a quintessential nerd, who I've always thought was cute, I don't have the time to think with my ... stick.There's only one stick I should be focused on this year, and that's my hockey stick. My goal once I graduate is to get an NHL contract.The last thing I need is a distraction. On or off the ice.Only, keeping to the rules is harder than I thought it would be. ZACH: People confuse me.And no one more than Foster Grant.I've barely spoken two words to him in the whole time I've known him, but the second I step foot on campus, he's impossible to shake.I can never anticipate his next move. And whenever we're together, my next move is a total mystery as well.I want to give in to him, but that might mean coming clean about something I've never been bothered about before.I'm still carrying my V-card.And I think it's time to turn it in.

CU Hockey Series, Book 1

Power Plays & Straight A's

aleksandra

dnf 45%

I'm really sorry that this story didn't work out for me because the premise was quite promising. The chemistry between Zach and Grant felt non-existent, and the story was boring to me. 

I gave 5 stars to the last book in the series so I decided to give it a try and start this series with the first book, even though I'm not much for college romances anymore. The last book was about a hockey coach and math professor, and I totally adore it. 

I will probably try to read next books in the series, because the rating is higher than in this one.

CU Hockey series rating:
1.  Power Plays & Straight A's dnf 45%
2.  Face Offs & Cheap Shots 3 stars 
3.  Goal Lines & First Times tbr
4.  Line Mates & Study Dates tbr
5.  Puck Drills & Quick Thrills 5 stars

trixie

starting to understand my relationship with new adult m/m a little better i think. read this bc of tiktok and wasn’t disappointed but certainly wasn’t not disappointing idk

Brizah

I like the brothers best friend trope but… the spacing

Aishling

2nd read: 
Read this again in prep for book four, so far it’s my least fav in the series but it’s still an enjoyable, easy read. It’s a refreshingly low angst take on the “brothers best friend” trope and Zach and Foster are very cute together. I think my last m/m series spoiled me tho cause I didn’t remember there being so much fade to black the first time I read it and it made it feel lacking. But I can’t blame the book for my new found greediness 😂 

~ 

1st read:

3.5/5 stars
This was a very cute yet hot, zero angst read. Wasn’t the best book I’ve ever read but it was easy and enjoyable

Joyful Marie

This was such an enjoyable book to read. The characters are well flush out and actually likable.

i think maybe im over college sports romances idk

can i just say, this book didn't have the "I don't deserve you we should breakup" breakup around the 80% and I loved that. they talked and they figured it out together.

yeah and Foster was so sweet and considered just a sweetheart istg.

Stacy

can i just say, this book didn't have the "I don't deserve you we should breakup" breakup around the 80% and I loved that. they talked and they figured it out together.

yeah and Foster was so sweet and considered just a sweetheart istg.

so yeah 4.5 stars

Sahi K

Definitely more of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up. 

It’s actually been a while since my favorite series by Eden Finley ended, so I was so excited to get into this one. And despite not knowing anything about the coauthor Saxon James and also the fact that I very rarely read NA genre these days, I just couldn’t give a hockey romance a miss. 

It took me a while to like the awkward and nerdy Zach because I just couldn’t follow his thought process. But once the friendship between Zach and Foster developed, I started falling in love with their interactions. And I really loved the fact that it’s the nerdy character who is more unsure about the whole long term relationship thing, but the actual jock Foster is cocky but also really sweet, considerate and very sure about what he wants from his career and love life. 

It’s fun when authors subvert the typical college romance tropes a bit because it definitely makes the proceedings more interesting. The banter is also quite well done (which I kinda was expecting because it’s Eden) but on the whole, the book was much more on the sweeter side. And there’s a very exciting little cameo from the Fake Boyfriend series which just made me miss the whole gang all over again. 

To conclude, this is a sweet and fun slightly tropey, slightly not, college hockey romance, and I think it’s a good choice for when you just want to be entertained and read about a nice couple. It’s still not up there with Eden’s previous series but I still think her fans will enjoy this a lot.

Power Plays & Straight A's CU Hockey Series, Book 1

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