Review: Peaches & Pucks by M.A. Wardell


Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via Grey's Promotions.

Peaches & Pucks is a new novella from M.A. Wardell, and it's my second read from the author. This is an enemies-to-lovers romance featuring two fifth grade teachers, Harry Peterson and Darius Hill. The former is a language arts teacher, while the latter is a physical education teacher. Darius also happens to be the coach of the Sharks, the fifth grade hockey team that Harry finds himself chaperoning alongside the one person he doesn't want to be around. A lot of that has to do with the fact that Coach Hill seems to find great pleasure in pushing all of Harry's buttons. But being stuck on a bus, coaching the same team, and sharing one bed has Darius revealing things that have Harry starting to change his opinion of Coach Hill.

This was a fairly quick read, but that doesn't mean the author skimp on the story and character development. There's a good amount of sweetness mixed in with a healthy helping of steam. Darius's treatment of Harry reminded me of a kid teasing another kid, not because they didn't like them, but actually because they did. I appreciated that both main characters were openly gay, albeit Harry didn't know about Darius's sexuality straightaway, but not because Darius was hiding it. This is a nice change of pace from the oft-written queer awakening stories of late. Don't get me wrong--I enjoy those books as well, but I'm just one of the readers that need a palate cleanser every so often. I liked both Harry and Darius and their romance was a true delight to read, which is why I'm giving Peaches & Pucks four stars.

Release Date: 02 February 2026

Date Read: 30 January 2026

Learn more about M.A. Wardell.

Purchase Peaches & Pucks on Amazon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Cherry Pie by Samantha Kane (Mercury Rising #1)

Image
Note: This ARC was provided by the publisher via RockStar Lit PR in exchange for an honest review. Cherry Pie is the first book in Mercury Rising , an M/M contemporary romance series set in the town of Mercury, North Carolina and penned by author Samantha Kane. The series opens with the story of thirty-five-year-old retired game designer and millionaire John Ford and twenty-five-year-old former Mercury golden boy turned ex-convict Connor Meecham. They're two very different men looking for the same thing--home--but find even more. Having made millions creating a game that took gamers by storm, affording him to live more than comfortably for the rest of his life, and then losing his partner of a decade led John uprooting himself from California on the west coast to North Carolina in the east coast. For a year, he's been working his way through what locals call the Meecham House, refurbishing it in hopes of making it feel like home. Then he notices the young man acros...
Read on...

Review: Him by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy (Him #1)

Image
Four years' worth of meaningless sexual encounters flash through my head as I break the kiss and slide down his body again. All those guys I hooked up with in the past...they're a blur. They're faceless. Sometimes they were faceless even when I was with them. I got off, they got off, but I wasn't fully present. I always held something back from them. Not with Jamie. I can't hold back with him, and never could. Holy book hangover. It's confirmed: there's something seriously wrong with me to have waited as long as I did to read this novel, though I'm counting getting it on sale as an absolute bonus. I get it now. I seriously and absolutely get why Him , the first book in the series by the same name from the writing tandem of Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, has received and continues to receive the stellar reviews and accolades it's gotten since its release in July of last year. I've read many an M/M romance novel and yes, I've read...
Read on...

Release Blitz: Make the Play by Kaylee Ryan

Image
Make the Play (Nashville Rampage #1) by Kaylee Ryan Release Date: June 24, 2025 About Make the Play Corie Knox Beckett is heartbreak in a helmet. He’s also my brother’s best friend, and so far out of my league, he's untouchable. But a few stolen glances turn into a welcome home that blindsides us both. The rules are clear. We just chose not to follow them. Now we’re sneaking around like we’re running a trick play, hooking up behind closed doors, and pretending our actions don’t have the power to blow up our lives. Knox is under my skin and tackling his way into my heart. Ready or not, it's time we make the play. Knox She’s the last girl I’m allowed to want—my best friend’s little sister. She’s all grown up and looking at me in invitation. The second Corie crashes into me, with her tanned, toned skin, in a barely there bikini, I know I’m in trouble. I shouldn’t look. And I sure as hell shouldn’t touch. My hands are already on her waist, one second longer, ...
Read on...