Emily Rath

A Reverse Age Gap Hockey Romance

Pucking Wild

aleksandra

3/5

I will be completely honest here. Pucking Wild was one of my most anticipated books this year. Did this book meet my expectations? No. Did I have fun and enjoy it? Yes. I was stupidly smiling during the epilogue because they were so cute.

I skipped the first book and two novellas because I knew I'd be confused about who's who and who's banging who, and the reviews weren't convincing enough to give them a chance. If you decide to do the same and you don’t want to be confused about the characters, there’s a great character posts on Emily’s Ig. The Price family is a big part of this story, but I think you can easily read it without reading the first book.



Let's get to the point though. My thoughts. The good ones first.

I will start with Ryan Langley. Probably the most perfect hero I read about this year. He’s a 22-year-old hockey player with the biggest heart. He's also a major factor in my rating, because he was a walking perfection and I couldn't rate the book lower for him. Why you should love him? I will show you. If you don’t please don’t tell me. Thank you.

one The book starts with that. "RYAN’S TOP FIVE FAVORITE TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS" Do I need to add more?

two He is caring, lovable, so damn sweet and Tess is his whole world and dream girl. 

three He has a praise kink, likes to be dominated by you, and is open to experimenting with you. There’s no sharing, or anything close to that. We love a man secure in his masculinity and who is possessive of his girl. 


  
    "Slowly, I drop to my knees, gazing up at her, begging her with every piece of my soul. “If you want me, Tess, take me. Make me yours.”
  


four He takes care of his family. 

five He will leave his hockey game during the game, because he hears that something happened to you.

six Even though he was the younger one in their relationship, he was the more mature one. 

seven He was perfect and I want him. 


  
    “Listen to me, Tess. I don’t know who you were before. All I know is who you are now. And from the first moment we met, not five hundred yards down this exact stretch of beach, you have been the only thing I see.”

“You deserve a second chance, Tess,” he says, reading me like a goddamn book. “At everything—love, adventure. I want to help you.” He brushes my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. “You’re my dream girl. So long as you’re on this earth and breathing,"
  


eight He was perfect. 


  
    “You’re the end,” he whispers against my lips. “Tess, you’re my end.”
  


 ‎ ‎ ‎ 

The only thing I wish the author would focus more on is Ryan's family. The fact that it's a 600-page book and his relationship with his sister and mom is poorly or even not developed at all is pretty sad. 



Moving to Tess Owens. I liked her? I’m not sure honestly. I didn't like her the way I thought. When I read the blurb I was almost sure that she will be added to my favorite heroines folder. Unfortunately, that didn't happen because I didn't connect with her character. She was a thirty-three-year-old lawyer with the shittiest ex-husband. Seriously. I wanted to punch him in the face every time he opened his mouth. I liked that she openly told Ryan that she wasn't ready for a relationship yet because of her husband situation, but at the same time, some of her actions made me question her age and maturity. For example, when she was standing in front of Ryan 
  naked
 and talked with him for the first time. With no shame at all. I was literally screaming at my kindle for her to put some towel on. 

Or when, she called Ryan 'Daddy'. Two times, I think. I mean he is eleven years younger than her. It’s weird. 

Or when she offered Ryan to find him a girlfriend. Where he was obviously in love with her, as everyone around told her, and she did something like that.

Or, the fact that she was a lawyer. A good one, and she couldn’t find any solution to take her husband down. She had photos, threats, the note with him calling her bad names and she could tried to record their phone calls when he was threatening her and blackmailing. I couldn't believe she couldn't find any solution. Later in the book, Ryan came up with the idea of ​​using all of this evidence against him. 


The last thing I liked here is the relationship between Tess and Ryan. I wouldn’t call it insta-love, more insta-attraction. They had to went through some ups and downs to finally be really together, but through a whole journey they were friends. Friends with benefits later. They were cute and fun to read about, and I can't wait to see their cameos in the next books.



Let’s move to the less nice part. The things that didn’t worked out for me. Just at the beginning. These are my thoughts and opinions. Not everyone will agree and that’s fine. 

The writing was easy to follow as I basically read the book in one sitting, but there were times when I questioned what I was reading. I mean some things were funny, while some not. Personally, I think the book should be put on the 'Romantic Comedies' shelf, because I laughed my head off for a moment. I enjoyed the writing, it wasn't the most poetic or beautiful thing I've read, but I liked it. Unfortunately, there were words and phrases that made me stare at my Kindle and think 'What am I reading?'. The examples. 


  
    "My jizz"
  


I know it might be not a problem for everyone, but this word makes me physically ill. 


  
    "Ryan’s not wearing cufflinks, but the visual is the same, and the kitty is officially purring."
  


You know what kitty and please no. 


  
    "shit gets everywhere.” 
“Mhmm.” She steps an inch closer. “My hair, my boobs, the crack of my ass.”
  


Imagine taking to a guy for the first time and you are hitting him with this line. 


The next thing. The zodiac. I hope people don't eat me up in the comments, but Tess compared almost all Ryan’s habits and decisions by his zodiac sign. I partly believe in the zodiac, but you can't rely entirely on it. She was saying that he is Virgo so blah blah blah STOPPP. I wouldn’t be a problem for me if she thought that once or twice, but more than ten? No. 

I hate when the term Puck Bunny is used to make a woman feel like an uneducated or shallow person just chasing a hockey d*ck. You don't even know these women. Why make assumptions? Poppy, she is the mc in the next book, answered that when her hockey players stated they didn’t knew who Elizabeth Bennett is.


  
    “This is why you boys only attract the likes of puck bunnies,” she cries. “‘Cause any woman of class, taste, and sense knows to steer clear!” With tears in her eyes, she pushes between us, stomping away."
  


The smut. When I saw Emily's IG post about what their dynamic would look like, I screamed. I LOVE dominant women. There should be more books with them. Unfortunately, the intimate scenes didn't hit the way I thought they would. I mean, their first time was in the baby’s nursery of their friends. I tried to visualize it and ended up laughing.


I'm glad I decided to read this book because I met Ryan. My new book husband, and to be honest, I had a great time reading it. The next book will be MFM and from the snippets here, I know it will be definitely interesting. We will see next year though. Can’t wait! 


  Jacksonville Rays series

1. Pucking Wild 3 stars
2. Pucking Sweet tbr 2024

Pucking Wild A Reverse Age Gap Hockey Romance

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