🏒 Play Dirty (L.A Phantoms #5) 🏒 Kat Mizera 🏒

 

:  

Falling for her is a risk I shouldn’t be willing to take… but I didn’t get to the top of my game my backing down.

Ten years, three kids, and what I thought was unshakable marriage—until she slept with one of my teammates. The divorce left me reeling.

Trust isn’t something I give freely anymore.

Now, all that matters is fighting for custody of my kids, while my ex tries to take them and move across the country.

The last thing I need is someone like A stunning model with a troubled past, no interest in kids, and baggage even heavier than mine.

One dance at a wedding changed everything. I can’t get this woman out of my head.

I’m not looking for more complications, but walking away from her isn’t an option either.

Not when I can’t tell where I stop and she starts…or if playing dirty is my only shot at making her mine.


CW This book contains flashbacks to domestic violence and pregnancy loss. These events take place before the hero and heroine meet. As always in my books, there is an HEA for the couple.

 

 

 Copy received for an honest review

This is my first Kat Mizera book - yep, I am one of those people.  I have seen their books around for ages, just never dived in.

Marty and Stevie's story was a great way to get into the world of the LA Phantoms (even though I was missing a few of the finer nuances of the wider world of the Phantoms, but that was fine).

Our lovelies story is not an easy one a lot of the time.  They both show that no matter what people see from the outside, not all that is looking shiny and wonderful is what it seems.

Oh, the trauma that both have suffered - are suffering to this day - will have you full of hurt, but also full of hope.

It is a very emotional journey that we are taken on. However, through all that emotion, there is hope. Hope for themselves, hope for each other, and hope for the future.

I loved the rest of the team and the family they have made.

And I loved how they showed that sometimes you have to play dirty to get what you deserve.

I enjoyed this story, and I will be reading more in the future, and will head back to read the previous stories. 

   

 

USA TODAY Bestselling Author Kat Mizera was born in Miami Beach with a healthy dose of Wanderlust.

She's lived from coast to coast, and everywhere in between, but home is wherever her family is. A devoted
mom and wife to her wonderful and supportive husband (Kevin) and two amazing boys (Nick and Max), Kat loves to travel the globe with her adventurous, hockey loving family. Greece is at the top of that list. She hopes to one day retire there, spending her days writing books on the beach.

Kat is former freelance sports writer who now writes steamy hockey romance about her favorite fictional teams,
the Las Vegas Sidewinders and the Lauderdale Knights. The library of novels she's penned also include sexy
contemporary stories about baseball stars, alpha sex club owners, bodyguards, rock stars, and royalty.

Regardless of genre, her books about bad boys with hearts of gold will steal your breath, rock your world and melt your heart.

To find out about Kat Mizera’s upcoming releases and giveaways, sign up for her newsletter here
For more information on Kat Mizera and her books visit: https://katmizera.com/
 

Connect with Kat Mizera:
https://katmizera.com/pages/contact-kat 

🏳️‍🌈🏒 Body Check (Scoring Chances #2) 🏳️‍🌈🏒 Brigham Vaughn 🏒 🏳️‍🌈

 

:  

 

Copy received from Neon Rainbow Reviews for an honest review 

Copy received via Neon Rainbow reviews for an honest review

Gavin and Dakota seem so different on the outside, but as we get to know them, we see how similar they really are.

Both are trying to move on from pasts that have rattled their confidence, neither are looking for love, but both are looking to move on and just keep breathing.

And when they do that together, it was just a wonderful tale to read.

I liked that, even though this was a "hockey" romance, it is more hockey adjacent, with a GM and a member of the health care team.

I also liked that there was no big GFY moment.  Both guys are out, proud of who they are and their sexuality. It was a bit of breath air after the m/m books I have been reading lately.

And it is more than about the romance. It is about family, whether it is blood or found family.  Its about forgiveness. About moving forward with your life. About starting afresh.

I don't know how I missed the first book in the Scoring Chances series, but I will definitely be going back to read it soon

 

 

 

🍁 A Touch of Maple (Love In Maplewood #3) 🍁 Amy Aislin 🍁

 

 

🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁 🍁

After being traded numerous times over the course of his pro hockey career, all Bellamy Jordan wants is a place where he belongs. Burlington, Vermont, home of the Vermont Trailblazers, his newest team, might just be that place. The bonus: he’s within spitting distance of the grandparents who raised him. The drawback: his long-time rival’s gorgeous brother—who he can’t get out of his mind—also lives nearby.

And he hates Bellamy on sight.

Jason Zervudachi is busy enough trying to diversify his family’s maple syrup farm while completing his master’s degree. Adding in an attractive complication like Bellamy? Hard pass. Even so, there’s something more behind Bellamy’s eyes that draws Jason in, but Bellamy is his brother’s rival. There’s a sibling rule against that, right? There must be.

Except Bellamy isn’t at all what Jason expects—and neither is the connection between them.

With the highest percentage of LGBTQIA+ residents in Vermont, Maplewood is a town where everyone belongs. And with festivals year round, there’s always something fun happening! This multi-author, low-angst queer series features ten standalone romances—each set against the backdrop of a different festival. Come for the celebrations, stay for the happily-ever-afters!

  

Copy received from author for an honest review

 When I saw this book/series was set around and in Burlington, VT I was so happy.  As an Aussie, Burlington has been one of my favourite places to visit on my US travels, and it makes it so much easier to picture the town.  

Add in a sexy maple farmer, and I was all in (though it has made me crave maple candies and a maple cremee!

Jason and Bellamy had me from hello.  I felt for Bellamy and his want - no, a need - to find a team that becomes his home

And Jason has had his thoughts on Bellamy tainted for so long by his brother, and the feelings he starts to feel as he gets to know the man - that his family will take issue with him, the he will hurt his brother, that he will hurt the man he is falling for... oh man I did not envy him at all!

The whole vibe of the whole story is just cute, cute, cute! Full of fun and romance, and not steamy. Just an adorable couple giving us smiley vibes.

This is the only book in the Maplewood series I have read to date, but I will be reading them all

 

  

   

  

 

All books in the Love in Maplewood series:
Winter Wishes and Coffee Kisses by Ana Ashley
Love Me Like It’s Real by Rhys Everly
A Touch of Maple by Amy Aislin
Bee-tween the Music by Chantel Mer
Can You Feel the Maple Tonight by Bix Barrow
Pride by the Book by Jeff Adams
Scoop Me Up by Riley Long
The Great Maple Mistake by Beck Grey
Something Cryptid This Way Comes by Susan Scott Shelley
Don’t Clause a Scene by Lee Blair

💜 A GOOD BOOK 📚 Jewel E. Ann 🌼 #SundayMorning3

 

• 22 May 2025
• Sunday Morning #3

★★★★★
4.5 Stars

Gabriella Jacobson has one goal for her freshman year of college: Get Matthew Cory to fall in love with her.

Lucky for Gabby, her best friend, Ben, is attending the same college on a music scholarship. He is the perfect resource—girls love him, and he's more experienced with relationships than her, since she’s never had a boyfriend.

When Gabby panics before her first date with Matt, she begs Ben to show her how to kiss. But Ben has a secret, one he’s been keeping from Gabby for years. He’s in love with her.

One kiss turns into two, leaving Gabby confused and scared that their friendship might not survive the unforeseen emotions. She avoids Ben until something unexpected changes his life forever, and he’s forced to drop out of school.

Gabby tries to contact him, but he won’t respond. And Matthew Cory, her sister’s ex-boyfriend and handsome law student, is ready to fill the void Ben left behind.

Now that Gabby has the man she thought she wanted, can she forget about the boy who kissed her twice?

Gabby + Ben

The year is 1989 and pastor daughter Gabby just arrived at College. She only picked this out of state college because her crush Matt goes there too. He's her older sister's ex and Gabby has been in love with him for centuries!

Ben, Gabby's bestie since forever, also chose this college.

But of course he didn't tell her that it was because he's been in love with her forever. So for now, he's happy to just be with her. But watching her go crazy over this Matt guy is not the best way to spend his days.

And then things happen and more more things happen - some good and some very bad and suddenly Ben is back home and Gabby is alone at college with Matt.

Will the good things be enough to get that happy end for Gabby and Ben?

What will happen with Gabby + Ben?
Will there be a HEA?
READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT! 

That was adorable!

Sweet and innocent and a bit sexy and a lot of growing up and finding your way. But we also get the sad and heartbreaking bits.

I really enjoyed reading this.

I wanted a bit more at the end. But it was still a cute romance.

But I still don't understand why this series needs to take place in the 1980ies? And I still hate that the dad is a pastor. I hate religion so much.

I would still watch the TV show.

A GOOD BOOK was a sweet and sexy and heartbreaking love story.

College. Innocence. Learning. Growing Up. Heartbreak. Anger. Love. Family. Friends. Hope. So many things... READ IT!

↓ LINKS TO THE BOOK AND AUTHOR ↓

 

Book #1

 

Book #2

 

OTHER BOOKS BY JEWEL:

The Wildfire Series #1

 

Book #2

 

 

 

LIFE Duet - Book #1

Book #2

Life Duet #2 - Book #1

 

Life Duet #2 - Book #2

  

Fisherman Book #1

 

Book #2

 

 

↑ CLICK ↑

↑ CLICK ↑

STAKING JEWEL...

Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.

With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.

After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.

When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.