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jennyreads_2022's review
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
This was a lighthearted, low angst, hockey romance. I probably would have given this 5 stars, but it included one of my least favorite things, when one main character makes decisions for the other despite being told what they want or are willing to give. It was well written and exciting, but that one thing just bumped it down for me.
Aubrey and Brody have been best friends since high school and have harbored crushes on each other for the entirety of their relationship. But they both had some personal baggage that held them back. I liked that there was a secondary plot aside from their romance. They were both at the point in their lives where their dreams were coming true but they still needed to find themselves and they both had some pretty great character growth.
Brody was at the end of his hockey career and figuring out what his life looked like without hockey. Aubrey was on the cusp of getting her dream job and her dream guy but didn’t want to sacrifice either. Aubrey also had some complicated family dynamics to address. I loved her growth with her family. She was finally able to stand up to her mom and gained a more solid relationship with her sisters.
Overall, I liked this book. Like I’ve said, if it hadn’t been for the one minor plot detail, it would have been a five star read for me.
cfaprlovesbooks's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was insanely good. I'm not a huge fan of the fake dating trope but friends to lovers and hockey romance is my kryptonite. You cannot help falling in love with Aubrey and Brody. They are just so perfect for each other and so adorable. The plot is well done, the spice is delicious, the characters are easily lovable. It is a feel good story that just makes you believe in love again. Great story!!
jacklynsbooknook's review
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
I loved this book so much! I LOVED that these two MCs were a little older! Honestly, friends to lovers can be hit or miss with me but I really loved Brody and Aubrey together. Their friendship and relationship felt so real and their struggles felt very authentic.
As a semi-reformed people pleaser I really connected with Aubrey and I was so proud of her growth and seeing her push for what she wanted. No spoilers but there is a very satisfying scene that brought tears to my eyes. I loved seeing her with her sisters and how they had some honest conversations that lead to great character growth.
Oh Brody, he had a heart of gold. I loved how well he knew Aubrey and gave her space when she needed it and really stuck up for her when it counted. He wasn’t all sweet though - there are some steamy scenes!!
Brody’s teammates were the best and I loved their group chat. This has a very satisfying HEA! Definitely give this a read!
✨Genre/Tropes
🏒Hockey Romance
🏖️Fake dating
🔭Best friends to lovers
🔥He Falls First
☀️Forced proximity
🛏️One Bed
👙MC’s in their 30’s
🌶️Open door spice
readswithky's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Break Out
eARC Review//
Pub- MAR. 29, 2024
Marissa James @marissajamesauthor
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
[When there’s only one bed in the hotel suite and you were going to sleep on the couch. And she says: “Brody, get in. There’s plenty of room, and like you said, we’re adults. We can share a bed.” And the next morning you wake up with a leg over yours and a hand on your arm.” ]
This was a fun book to ready! I loved Brody & Aubrey’s story. So many of my favorite tropes packed into this book:
🏒 Professional Hockey Player
💫 She’s in STEM
🏒 Best Friends to Lovers
💫 Fake Dating
🏒 One Bed
💫 Cinnamon Roll Hero
🏒 Main characters in their mid-30s
💫 Spice
🏒 Dual POV
💫 Text messages
🏒It’s always been you
💫 He’s got a tattoo for her 😏
Sun, sand, and a fake relationship with your best friend. What could go wrong?
Brody Thompson is the perfect fake boyfriend. Him and Audrey have been best friends since high school and the opportunity to make him her fake boyfriend by her side in Key West at Audrey’s youngest sister’s wedding will hopefully keep her mother at bay. Falling for each other was never part of the plan. It was all supposed to be fake…. Until it wasn’t.
Childhood best friends, plus fake dating, turned lovers sounds fantastic but, the only problem? He plays hockey for the Orlando Storm and Audrey just got to my dream job, in Hawaii.
Their story was so cute, funny, spicy, heartwarming, and so much more. I had all the FEELS while reading this. I absolutely love friends to lovers and this story is one that is going to live rent free in my brain. I felt like were were on their self discovery journeys with them, like they were my friends going through it all. This is like no other book I’ve read before, the character development was written so beautiful and was so fun to read and go thought their hardships with them! Not only is their relationship adorable but I miss you the friend group in this series is to DIE for! I love love love a good friend group in stories and this one is just sooo sweet and funny.
Overall, I liked this book SO much and look forward to what Marissa James writes next!
Thank you for the opportunity for read this ARC!
eARC Review//
Pub- MAR. 29, 2024
Marissa James @marissajamesauthor
⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🌶️🌶️🌶️.5
[When there’s only one bed in the hotel suite and you were going to sleep on the couch. And she says: “Brody, get in. There’s plenty of room, and like you said, we’re adults. We can share a bed.” And the next morning you wake up with a leg over yours and a hand on your arm.” ]
This was a fun book to ready! I loved Brody & Aubrey’s story. So many of my favorite tropes packed into this book:
🏒 Professional Hockey Player
💫 She’s in STEM
🏒 Best Friends to Lovers
💫 Fake Dating
🏒 One Bed
💫 Cinnamon Roll Hero
🏒 Main characters in their mid-30s
💫 Spice
🏒 Dual POV
💫 Text messages
🏒It’s always been you
💫 He’s got a tattoo for her 😏
Sun, sand, and a fake relationship with your best friend. What could go wrong?
Brody Thompson is the perfect fake boyfriend. Him and Audrey have been best friends since high school and the opportunity to make him her fake boyfriend by her side in Key West at Audrey’s youngest sister’s wedding will hopefully keep her mother at bay. Falling for each other was never part of the plan. It was all supposed to be fake…. Until it wasn’t.
Childhood best friends, plus fake dating, turned lovers sounds fantastic but, the only problem? He plays hockey for the Orlando Storm and Audrey just got to my dream job, in Hawaii.
Their story was so cute, funny, spicy, heartwarming, and so much more. I had all the FEELS while reading this. I absolutely love friends to lovers and this story is one that is going to live rent free in my brain. I felt like were were on their self discovery journeys with them, like they were my friends going through it all. This is like no other book I’ve read before, the character development was written so beautiful and was so fun to read and go thought their hardships with them! Not only is their relationship adorable but I miss you the friend group in this series is to DIE for! I love love love a good friend group in stories and this one is just sooo sweet and funny.
Overall, I liked this book SO much and look forward to what Marissa James writes next!
Thank you for the opportunity for read this ARC!
joburnsreads's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
⭐️ 4.5
🌶️ Open Door, Explicit
🏝️ Contemporary Romance
🏝️ Sports Romance
🏝️ Best Friends to Lovers
🏝️ Fake Dating
🏝️ Secret Pining
🏝️ FMC in STEM
🏝️ Celebrity MMC (NHL Player)
🏝️ Only One Bed
🏝️ Travel/Vacay Themes
🏝️ Dual POV (1st Person)
If you tell me a book has fake dating, forced proximity AND hockey in it? I will always assume it's going to be a guaranteed banger, and I assumed right! Break Out is such a fun story and I LOVED beta reading it for Marissa. After reading Hot Shot, I was crossing my fingers that Brody's story would be next.
Brody was definitely the best stern brunch daddy hero and Aubrey was super relatable. Their relationship had the best kind of quirk and you could really feel their connection while reading. Plus, the secret pining in this book was chef's kiss. If you are a true hockey fan, I highly recommend reading Marissa's books because you will appreciate her level of detail and accuracy.
Thank you again to Marissa for the chance to design your cover and for letting me beta-read Break Out. I am so glad we're friends - I can't wait to return to the world of the Orlando Storm with the next book!
🌶️ Open Door, Explicit
🏝️ Contemporary Romance
🏝️ Sports Romance
🏝️ Best Friends to Lovers
🏝️ Fake Dating
🏝️ Secret Pining
🏝️ FMC in STEM
🏝️ Celebrity MMC (NHL Player)
🏝️ Only One Bed
🏝️ Travel/Vacay Themes
🏝️ Dual POV (1st Person)
If you tell me a book has fake dating, forced proximity AND hockey in it? I will always assume it's going to be a guaranteed banger, and I assumed right! Break Out is such a fun story and I LOVED beta reading it for Marissa. After reading Hot Shot, I was crossing my fingers that Brody's story would be next.
Brody was definitely the best stern brunch daddy hero and Aubrey was super relatable. Their relationship had the best kind of quirk and you could really feel their connection while reading. Plus, the secret pining in this book was chef's kiss. If you are a true hockey fan, I highly recommend reading Marissa's books because you will appreciate her level of detail and accuracy.
Thank you again to Marissa for the chance to design your cover and for letting me beta-read Break Out. I am so glad we're friends - I can't wait to return to the world of the Orlando Storm with the next book!
kcornett22's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
3.0
Full disclosure: this is an ARC (Advanced Readers Copy) read.
Available Now!
I love a good friends-to-lovers story. This was such a cute read and the spice hit so good... wow!!!!!! The way that man worshipped her.
This book did have one of my pet-peeves though and it isn’t the author’s fault or even the writing, it is just something I can’t get past it.
Pet peeve: You kiss/see/etc. your BEST FRIEND or someone you are very close to... that you went to a party with and knew what he was wearing AND YOU ARE GOING TO TELL ME that you don’t know it is him???? The best friend you have been in love with for 18 years... you don’t know he is the one that you kissed? You should know what he smells like, his physique, everything!!!!! Am I wrong???
Despite my pet peeve, this book is so well written and I fully enjoyed it! Add it to your TBR.
lianne_reads_books's review
3.5
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Cute story.
The characters were both really lovable. I liked the side characters too (except Aubreys mum)
The story was good and I did enjoy it but I didn't find it particularly exciting. It's a lovely little romance but I wasn't desperate to see how it turned out.
I still plan to read the rest of the series though! The writing was good and the characters were all great!
Cute story.
The characters were both really lovable. I liked the side characters too (except Aubreys mum)
The story was good and I did enjoy it but I didn't find it particularly exciting. It's a lovely little romance but I wasn't desperate to see how it turned out.
I still plan to read the rest of the series though! The writing was good and the characters were all great!
mackenzierm's review
4.0
Aubrey and Brody have been best friends since high school and Brody is the one person that Aubrey can always count on. Brody would make the perfect fake boyfriend for Aubrey at her youngest sister' wedding in Key West. It's supposed to be a fake relationship... until it's not. The biggest problem? Brody plays hockey for the Orlando Storm and Aubrey just got her dream job in Hawaii.
I absolutely adored Brody and Aubrey's story. Fake dating is one of my favourite tropes so I knew right off the bat that I was really going to enjoy this! Brody and Aubrey are a little older than the usual romance MCs, they're in their mid-30s and are well established in their stages of life. It was refreshing to read about a romance with characters in their mid-30s as that's not always the case. Aubrey is a driven and ambitious woman who is not afraid to put in the work and I loved how supportive Brody is of her and her career.
There are some interesting (read: difficult) family dynamics contained within this story and although it was shocking to read how this parent treated their children, I loved seeing how this was eventually addressed - which I thought was well done.
I personally love when a sports romance features said sport in action (read: being played). I think it is so important and adds depth to the character who is a player of said sport, in this case it's hockey. I love seeing how the MC plays with a team, as well as getting to see their drive, passion, and ambition for a sport they love. So I was super pleased that we get at least one scene where we see Brody playing and what comes with getting to play a professional sport.
The romance is well executed with plenty of open door spice. I enjoyed that Brody was very pro-open communication which prevented much of the dreaded possible miscommunications. I truly loved the ending of this book and can't wait to see what's next for the Orlando Storm series!
I would like to thank the author, Marissa James, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions shared are my own.
I absolutely adored Brody and Aubrey's story. Fake dating is one of my favourite tropes so I knew right off the bat that I was really going to enjoy this! Brody and Aubrey are a little older than the usual romance MCs, they're in their mid-30s and are well established in their stages of life. It was refreshing to read about a romance with characters in their mid-30s as that's not always the case. Aubrey is a driven and ambitious woman who is not afraid to put in the work and I loved how supportive Brody is of her and her career.
There are some interesting (read: difficult) family dynamics contained within this story and although it was shocking to read how this parent treated their children, I loved seeing how this was eventually addressed - which I thought was well done.
I personally love when a sports romance features said sport in action (read: being played). I think it is so important and adds depth to the character who is a player of said sport, in this case it's hockey. I love seeing how the MC plays with a team, as well as getting to see their drive, passion, and ambition for a sport they love. So I was super pleased that we get at least one scene where we see Brody playing and what comes with getting to play a professional sport.
The romance is well executed with plenty of open door spice. I enjoyed that Brody was very pro-open communication which prevented much of the dreaded possible miscommunications. I truly loved the ending of this book and can't wait to see what's next for the Orlando Storm series!
I would like to thank the author, Marissa James, of this advanced digital copy for the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for an honest review! All opinions shared are my own.
charlie_the_reader's review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
booksisterscollective's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Love this fake relationship trope! The tension between them is literally jumping off the page; both wanting more but not wanting to ruin their friendship.
I absolutely loved seeing how Aubrey’s relationship with her sisters and her family develops throughout the book and how she realises they might not all be so different after all.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fake relationship/hockey player book as I couldn’t put it down!