Review: Slap Shot Surprise by Melanie Harlow (Cherry Tree Harbor #5)

October 01, 2024

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

"No, I'm the one, Mabel. I don't care that we haven't been dating forever or that we're doing all the things out of order or that people say we're crazy. I'm the one."

When I read Taste, the second book in the Cloverleigh Farms: Next Generation series, it took a bit for me to warm up to Gianni Lupo, the male main character. With regards to his younger brother, Giuseppe, better known as Joe, it was a matter of being charmed from the get-go, but I couldn't help but be cautious. Just like Gianni, though, Joe won me over. No, wait. Joe didn't just win me over; he made me fall in love with him, slowly (i.e. one chapter at a time) but surely, and I did so alongside Mabel Jane Buckley. And it all plays out in Slap Shot Surprise, the fifth and, presumably, final novel in Melanie Harlow's utterly endearing Cherry Tree Harbor series.

If you've followed the series, you'll recall that Mabel Buckley is the youngest among the Buckley siblings, with older brothers Austin, Xander, Devlin, and Dashiel being unsurprisingly protective of their only sister, even at the age of thirty. With a fear of flying, the museum curator finds herself a more than understanding seatmate in Joe Lupa. She doesn't recognize the thirty-two-year-old hockey star, but he lends a listening ear as she bemoans things she'll miss out on should their turbulent flight not make it. Of course, the plane lands in Traverse City, Michigan safe and sound, but while Mabel and Joe go their separate ways, they find each other again at a wedding, and he makes sure to check one thing off that list of things she's never experienced. Life takes him back to Chicago and Mabel to Cherry Tree Harbor, but one month and two pink lines later, the two are in for one slap shot of a surprise.

The Buckleys have been such a wonderful source of reading enjoyment since last year. Five books in, and Melanie Harlow has delivered a series that is easily going to be the kind that fans and readers will want to revisit. Mabel's story turning out to be my favorite isn't that much of a surprise, especially given how she and Joe handled the news of the pregnancy and then slowly embraced the idea of being friends and co-parents while dealing with family dynamics. Yes, this was fiction, but it felt realistic while also maintaining the romance of it all. I loved that even with the main characters meeting twice then hooking up, there was almost this slow burn feel to the romance, and that happily-ever-after was oh-so-satisfying. Suffice it to say, Slap Shot Surprise lined up its shot and it scored a pucktastic five-plus stars.

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Read my reviews for the Cherry Tree Harbor series: