Review: Double Pucked by Lauren Blakely (My Hockey Romance #1)

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

Lauren Blakely's latest novel isn't just your usual hockey romance; it's an MFM romance as well! Yes, Blakely isn't merely dipping her toe into the hockey romance trope, she's diving headfirst with a heck of a lot of spice and kink. Double Pucked is the first in her new My Hockey Romance series of standalones, and she's definitely kicked things off strongly with the story of a bookstore manager who's found out in the most unique of ways that she's been cheated on, a grumpy hockey player whose views on love are jaded due to a duplicitous ex, and his rival hockey player who also happens to be his best friend. Trina Beaumont's idea of revenge may not seem all that nefarious, but when your cheating boyfriend happens to be a rabid hockey fan who's dream of meeting his two favorite hockey players is within reach courtesy of tickets to a VIP experience, snagging said tickets is the best kind of vengeance. While Trina knows nothing about the sport, it looks like Ryker Samuels, defenseman for the California Avengers, and Chase Weston, center for the San Francisco Sea Dogs, are about to teach her a thing or two about real teamwork in and out of the bedroom.

I'm usually contemplative when it comes to reading romances that feature throuples as the main characters because I need to believe that all three are not just in love with each other in equal measure, but that they're committed to the relationship as partners of equal standing. In the case of Trina, Ryker, and Chase, it isn't your typical situation where two people are looking for a third to join their relationship or already have experience being in a romantic throuple. The only established relationship is the friendship between Ryker and Chase, and these two truly were the grumpy-sunshine of the story and there were never any hidden lustful or romantic feelings between them, before or after Trina came along. It was intriguing to see how everything started among the three, and how their relationship went from strangers to hook-ups to roommates and lovers to more. There were a number of notable supporting characters, and I'm curious to see who among them will be getting their own books as the series moves forward. My favorite one, though, had to be Nacho, the three-legged, underwear-obsessed dog that stole hearts (and undies!). A throuple, a tripod fur baby, and three times the heat proved to be a winner with Double Pucked, which gets four stars.

Release Date: 05 June 2023

Date Read: 05 June 2023

Learn more about Lauren Blakely.

Purchase Double Pucked on Amazon.