The first two books of this series were part of another multi-author series, Sweater Weather, but have since been moved over to make the complete Appies series. The Appies, a minor-league hockey team in North Carolina, are patterned after the Savannah Bananas baseball team in that they do all kinds of fun social media posts, with team members singing, dancing, and doing other stunts. This has brought them a degree of fame, success, and high-dollar contracts that most minor-league teams and players can’t boast. It also keeps the players more dedicated to the team, some even declining to move up to the NHL. For us, as readers, that keeps characters consistently showing up throughout the six-book series. While each of these books can stand alone, if you’re going to read the set (and you should), I think you’ll get a richer experience if you read them in publication order, as listed here.
In general, the series is wonderfully consistent in its treatment of its recurring characters. With two authors publishing six books over 18 months, continuity errors are definitely possible. I’ve got a really good sense for continuity, and I really didn’t find any problems in that department.
All of the female main characters exist beyond their potential as romantic partners. They have actual lives and interesting careers—public relations, violinist, veterinary student, lawyer, aspiring writer, and an apprentice luthier. They all have opinions about the world and opinions about hockey.
The male main characters have various reasons for their singleness at the beginning of the series. Several have (mostly undeserved) reputations as serial daters. All are dedicated to hockey.
The situations that get the various couples together are varied and interesting. Of course, there is an element of predictability: when there are two POV characters, you know they’ll end up together. The question is: what will happen to them before they get there? Will there be a third-act breakup, or will there be something else that tests the relationship?
All six books have some really beautiful description and great figurative language. In all of them, most of the minor characters have dimension, rather than being cardboard cutouts. I’d say the most stereotypical minor characters are the puck bunnies, particularly in Nathan’s case (Romancing the Grump.)
Possible objectionable material:
Very mild cursing. Various issues such as parental divorce or neglect, alcoholism, death of a parent, chronic illness, infidelity. This is hockey, so there are injuries and the occasional fight. People drink. A minor character gets a tattoo; it’s misspelled and played for humor. This is closed door romance, so we don’t see more than passionate kisses. There is a hint that sex happens.
Who might like these books:
Romance fans, hockey fans, hockey romance fans. Anyone who likes well-written books where characters grow and develop over the course of the story.
Just Don’t Fall
By Emma St. Clair
ASIN: B0CFJSXLMD
Before Logan Barnes was hockey’s
hottest bad boy, he was my brother’s best friend … and my first crush. Oh,
yeah--and the guy who ghosted me and broke my teenage heart.
Now Logan is back in Harvest Hollow, but not willingly. Recovering from an
injury (and some bad press), he’s stuck playing for our minor league team.
Which means I’ll be working with
him almost daily.
As the hockey team's social media
manager, it’s my job to wrangle all the guys into filming TikTok trending
videos. But Logan doesn’t want to be wrangled.
Turns out … neither does my heart.
Because my old crush never died.
And when Logan becomes my accidental fake boyfriend, those old feelings flare
hot enough to melt the ice.
But this is all totally one-sided.
Totally fake. Isn't it?
No matter what signals he seems to
be giving me or how real things start to feel, I know Logan’s not home for
good.
I survived Logan leaving me once.
But this time, I’m not so sure my heart will recover …
Tropes:
Fake dating, grumpy/sunshine,
brother’s best friend
My Thoughts:
A nice introduction to the Appies,
this book does the heaving lifting of giving us backstory without being
heavy-handed about it. Logan’s treatment of Parker is adorable. I love the bit
with her office chair.
Absolutely Not In Love
By Jenny Proctor
ASIN: B0CG3PYZ85
My requirements for a man are
simple. Must love books. Must NOT love hockey.
Which is why I will never be
interested in my neighbor, the aloof and mysterious Felix Jamison, no matter
how many books I see him hauling into his apartment. Unless he loses his pro
hockey skates, I’m out.
But then he shows up at my symphony
concert.
And I catch the sweet strains of
Beethoven floating across the hall.
Have I mentioned how incredible he
looks in his game day suit?
Still, my history with hockey is
complicated. My older brother played, and let’s just say he stole enough
limelight to land a plane at midnight. I was forced to be a part of that world
for so long, now that I have a choice, it’s the last thing I want.
But something tells me Felix is
about to change my mind…
Tropes:
Opposites attract, forced
proximity, bookish hero
Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7DGOTojEJBsrEhagofiYs9
My thoughts:
The first Appies book I read, and
still my favorite. Felix may even be a better book boyfriend than Mr. Darcy. He
cooks. He reads. He loves classical music. He is…the goalie. Seriously. So
opposite of how you’d expect a hockey goalie to be. He definitely falls first,
and has a big challenge in overcoming Gracie’s prejudice against hockey.
Thank you to the author, via
NetGalley, for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
A Groom of One’s Own
By Emma St. Clair
ASIN: B0CLKZ8SH2
He always dreamed of getting
married--but for love, not to avoid deportation.
Eli Hopkins has it all--almost. A hockey career with the wildly popular Appies.
Teammates who are like brothers. The only thing he's missing is someone to
share it all with.
Oh--and correctly filed visa paperwork.
Due to administrative error, Eli is about to lose everything.
Unless he can find someone to marry him in the next thirty days.
And he might have the perfect woman in mind. The only problem? He'd like to
marry her for real, not simply for legal purposes.
Now Eli faces the challenge of winning over a wife who thinks the marriage is
in name only ...
Tropes:
Marriage of convenience, shy FMC,
cinnamon roll MMC
My thoughts:
Eli is so sweet, and so careful of
his mother. Bailey is shy, and doesn’t know what to do with her crush on Eli.
She’s also trying to make her way through veterinary school, with a horrible boss
and the burden of being the sole caretaker for her grandmother. This is a
classic marrying-for-a-green card story, with the couple being a little naïve about
what that entails and how they might just be committing fraud. It’s not a
spoiler to say that it won’t be much of a problems, since they fall in love for
real. And also—cute dogs!
Romancing the Grump
By Jenny Proctor
ASIN: B0CLL1D1HN
He’s a grump and happy to stay that
way. But can her sunshine melt the ice around his heart?
Nathan Sanders didn't earn his reputation as the grouchiest player on the
Appies hockey team by chance. So when Summer Callahan breezes into his life
with her flirtatious smiles and endless charm, he responds like he always does:
he completely ignores her.
But Summer is intrigued by the
surly defenseman, so when a viral social media post requires her to step in and
fake it as Nathan's girlfriend, she jumps at the chance. She's convinced the
ones with the hardest shells are often the softest underneath, and she's
determined to prove it.
But Nathan doesn't crack so easily. Despite their obvious chemistry, he makes
his lack of interest in a relationship—any relationship—perfectly
clear. But the longer they pretend, the less fake everything seems, and the
more Summer starts to fall.
She can only hope her fake relationship doesn't lead to real heartbreak.
Tropes:
Grumpy/sunshine, fake dating,
broody hero
My thoughts:
Nathan is the grump of the title, determined to avoid what happened to his famous hockey player father.
Summer lives up to her name. As the new legal counsel for the Appies, she ends
up helping to protect Nathan when some puck bunnies get a little to eager to
tame the grump. Thus, the fake-relationship that, naturally, turns real. Summer
links the Appies series with the Proctor’s Hawthorne Brothers series.
Thank you to the author, via
NetGalley, for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Runaway Bride & Prejudice
By Emma St. Clair
ASIN: B0DDCB7S9H
There's one rule smart hockey
players know not to break: never, and I mean, NEVER date the coach's daughter.
But no one ever accused Van of being smart.
When the mouthy bad boy of the Appies catches the groom cheating on the coach's
daughter, he can't just walk away. Not on her wedding day.
Maybe his own relationships are casual, but he would never cheat and never treat
wedding vows so carelessly. Not after he and his sisters watched their divorced
parents cycle through marriage after marriage.
But forcing the groom to come clean sets off a chain reaction Van couldn't have
expected.
Ending with a black eye, an unexpected trip to Florida with one runaway bride,
and a secret bargain struck with Coach.
A bargain that may just jeopardize the very real and very inconvenient feelings
he's developing for the very last person he ever should.
Tropes:
Coach’s daughter, runaway bride, surprise
tropes
My thoughts:
Van is the team’s bad boy and
definitely not the coach’s favorite. He’s a bit mouthy, and doesn’t always make
good choices. He had actually met Amelia once before her wedding, but bailed
out on their meet-cute dinner when he discovered she was the coach’s daughter. He
brings a lot of golden retriever energy to the story. (And he’s really not that
much of a bad boy.) Amelia’s growth in this one made it my second favorite
until the final book came out. I really like how she gains confidence and finds
herself and what she really wants to do.
Thank you to the author, via
NetGalley, for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
When Alec Met Evie
By Jenny Proctor
ASIN: B0DSTPB4G7
Evie told herself not to fall for
her pro-hockey crush. But when she sees him holding her baby girl, all bets are
off.
When Evie moves South to the same mountain town where her childhood crush plays
pro-hockey, she arms herself with all the reasons why she can’t fall for him
again.
Number one: Alec is her best friend’s
much older brother.
Number two: She’s recently divorced and does not need another man
in her life. At least not anytime soon.
Number three: With a four-month-old daughter, she has zero time for
dating.
Trouble is, Evie doesn’t know
another soul in North Carolina, so when her rental floods before she’s even
moved in, her only option is to crash with Alec for a few weeks. When she
protests, he insists it’s what he’d do for his sister, and that’s basically
what she is to him.
But all these years later, the
unexpected chemistry between them definitely says otherwise.
A new relationship is risky when
Evie is still licking her wounds from her divorce, and she has no idea if Alec
has any desire to be a dad. His sister already warned he isn’t the type to
settle down.
But she can’t make herself care
about any of that. Not until she’s already fallen, and it might be too late to
save herself from another heartbreak.
Tropes:
Single mom, best friend’s brother,
age gap
My thoughts:
It’s funny. Some of the tropes in
this one are my least favorite. But they work. Kudos to Jenny Proctor for
making tropes that I dislike become likable. As one of the older members of the
team, Captain Alec is reaching that time where he needs to start thinking about
what comes after hockey. That’s something he’d really like to avoid. Between
helping Evie with her infant daughter and taking on homesick twin 18-year-old
recruits, he does find his path. Evie has to learn to accept her new mom life
with all its chaos, while learning a new career, and getting over a narcissistic
ex-husband. This book is the official end of the series (although there’s certainly
room for some spinoffs), and there is a beautiful part near the end where our
six main players get to reflect on their friendship and sort of say goodbye. It’s
good writing and good closure for us, the readers.
Thank you to the author, via
NetGalley, for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
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