The quick verdict
Pucking Around is a very spicy sports rom-com, and I mean that in the best possible way.
I went in for a why-choose hockey romance and came out with three completely different men, a suitcase incident I will never forget and a kitchen scene that had me laughing out loud.
I did not realise there was a prequel until after I had already started this one. It works perfectly well as a starting point, but if you like reading in order, “That One Night” comes first, and there’s a bonus mini-review of it (plus the after-the-game extras in Pucking Ever After) at the bottom of this post.
The rundown
Rachel Price is a physical therapist who lands a dream ten-month fellowship with the Jacksonville Rays, the NHL’s newest expansion team.
Upon arrival, she discovers that her unforgettable, nameless one-night stand from a few months earlier is actually Jake Compton, the team’s star playboy forward.
As Rachel tries to maintain her professional boundaries, she finds herself drawn into a complex, evolving relationship with three separate hockey players: Jake, the sweet and charismatic forward from her past; Caleb Sanford, Jake’s surly but deeply loyal best friend and the team’s equipment manager; and Ilmari Kinnunen, the team’s uncooperative, brooding goalie who is hiding an injury.
Instead of fighting for her affection or forcing a rivalry, the men work together, building towards a committed, sex-positive polyamorous relationship.
Real talk
I really loved this book.
I loved the whole dynamic between the three men. Each of them had a completely different personality and brought something different to the story instead of feeling like three versions of the same love interest. Jake is the golden retriever of the group, big, goofy and needy in the best way. Caleb is the moody, guarded one carrying career trauma behind the attitude. Ilmari is the strong, silent type who says almost nothing and still manages to deliver some of the most powerful emotional moments in the book.
Two scenes in particular stuck with me. The first was the airport scene where a certain “tentacle” fell out of Rachel’s suitcase in front of everyone. The second was a kitchen scene involving Rachel and two of the three men examining one of their piercings, only for the third to walk in straight from cleaning the barbecue, tongs still in hand, asking, “What’s going on here?” Both had me laughing out loud.
I did try the audiobook first, since I had heard good things, but I could not get into the dual narration style. I think I am exclusively a duet-narration or Graphic Audio listener at this point, so I switched to reading it and had a much better time.
If you loved the Off Campus series but wanted something spicier, this is exactly the kind of book to reach for next.
Tropes & vibes
- Why choose / reverse harem
- Hockey romance
- Workplace romance
- Forced proximity
- Friends to lovers
- Found family
- One-night-stand reunion
- Golden retriever hero
- Grumpy best friend
- Strong, silent goalie
- Competent professional heroine
- Sex-positive polyamory
The tiny details that did the damage
- The airport “tentacle” incident
- “What’s going on here?”
- Tongs, still warm from the barbecue, held at exactly the wrong moment
- Three completely different men who somehow all made sense together
- Ilmari saying almost nothing and still wrecking me
- Found family that actually felt found
Read this if…
Pick this up if you enjoy why-choose sports romance, found family, workplace tension and a heroine juggling three very different men without the story ever feeling like a competition between them.
It is a great next step for Off Campus fans who want more heat, and a strong pick for readers who love hockey romance with genuine comedic timing alongside the spice.
EmberSas ratings
- Story: 4 / 5
- Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5
- Emotional damage: 💀 (1 skull). Very little damage, but read with caution in public. Lots of spicy chapters.
- Series: Jacksonville Rays, Book 1 (bonus mini-reviews of “That One Night” and “Pucking Ever After” below)
- Format: Also available as an audiobook, though I preferred reading this one over the dual narration
- Favourite problem: All three, and I refuse to rank them
- Public-reading safety: Proceed with caution
- Final vibe: Three men, one suitcase incident and a barbecue interruption I still think about.
Group chat verdict
Rachel’s nameless one-night stand turned out to be one of three hockey players she would end up falling for, and somehow all three of them made complete sense together.
Between the airport incident and the barbecue tongs, this book had me laughing as much as it had me reaching for a fan. Highly spicy, genuinely funny, and an easy four stars.
If you loved Off Campus and wanted the volume turned up, start here.
Comfort-level note
This is a high-spice why-choose sports romance featuring polyamorous MMFM relationship dynamics, explicit sexual content and workplace-adjacent romance between a medical professional and professional athletes. Check the author’s full content warnings and your comfort level before reading.
Final vibe
One team doctor, three hockey players and a suitcase that started more trouble than anyone expected.
Bonus Puck Drop: That One Night
I loved this, and I genuinely wish I had known to read it before Pucking Around.
That One Night is the Kindle prequel novella that shows how it all started for Rachel and Jake. It explains several moments that get referenced later in Pucking Around, so knowing the full story from the beginning made everything land differently on a second pass. It is a very quick read and very spicy.
The window scene alone made this worth it. The chemistry between Rachel and Jake felt immediate, and honestly, everything about this one worked for me. My only complaint is that I wish it had been longer.
- Story: 4 / 5
- Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ / 5
- Emotional damage: No damage, but read with caution in public
- Format: Kindle
- Reading order tip: read this one before Pucking Around if you can
- Final vibe: One window scene, immediate chemistry and a novella I wanted twice as long.
Bonus Overtime: Pucking Ever After
Pucking Ever After (Volume 1) picks up after the game in L.A. at the end of Pucking Around, and it is exactly the kind of epilogue-style bonus content I did not know I needed.
I loved the concept here. Getting to see what happened to Rachel and the guys once the main story wrapped up hit all the right found-family beats, especially the small connective details, like finally learning how Jake ended up picking out Ilmari’s ice-cream flavour. It is the kind of detail that only lands if you have already read Pucking Around, which makes this feel like a genuine reward for finishing the series rather than a random side story.
It is a lighter, lower-stakes read than the main book, and the caution here is about the spice, not the emotional damage.
- Story: 4 / 5
- Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶½ / 5
- Emotional damage: No damage, but read with caution in public
- Format: Volume 1 (further volumes to come)
- Reading order tip: read after Pucking Around, for the ice-cream-flavour payoff alone
- Final vibe: After-the-game epilogue energy, found family settling in and one very hard-won ice-cream flavour.
