Book Review: ‘Pucking Around’ by Emily Rath (the longest sports romance book ever?)

I don’t read these books for myself (lies). I do it for you. So you can get a good gauge as to whether you should invest your time, money and emotions into reading a 750 page book. ‘Pucking Around’ by Emily Rath has to be one of the biggest romance books I’ve ever taken on, even beating ‘Den of Vipers’ which was a meaty 650.

- ‘Den of Vipers’ by K. A. Knight features on this of spicy booktok books

If you need the summary for ‘Pucking Around:

“My name is Rachel Price, and two months ago, I walked away from the perfect man. Sweet and funny, and so hot it should be illegal—we shared one magical night. No names. No strings. I never thought I’d see him again.

I was wrong. It turns out Mr. Perfect is the playboy grinder for the Jacksonville Rays, the NHL’s hottest new hockey team…and I’m his new physical therapist. Oh, and the jerk doesn’t even recognize me!

This fellowship is going to be the longest ten months of my life. Mr. Perfect Mistake will do anything to get back on my good side. Meanwhile, his best friend is the surly new equipment manager always riding my case. Worst of all, I’ve got an uncooperative goalie who thinks I can’t tell he’s hiding an injury!

This is my chance to prove myself, and I’m not risking it for anything. But with one unexpected night, one secret revealed, these men are ready to test all my limits. I can’t fall for a player…let alone three. But if love is a game, these guys are playing to win.”

Content warnings, taken from The StoryGraph include: Graphic Sexual Content, Cursing, Injury/Injury Detail, please visit the site for a full list.

‘Pucking Around’ also features queer relationships, as well as exploring polyamory.

With all this you start to see how it amassed so many pages. You could be forgiven for thinking there must be a lot of heavy plot to work through and get embroiled in.

Alas, no. The plot is fairly straight forward, and the stakes, although the protagonist insists are high, never really amount to much. My main issue with ‘Pucking Around’ is that it’s like a truckload of wet gunpowder, even if it did find a spark, it wouldn’t ignite.

What I mean by that is that it has all the potential to go off in a very big way. Like Guy Fawkes style explosion. This Gunpowder Plot was also foiled. We’re told over and over how Rachel is a liability, how knowing her and being associated with her murky past will drag all the others down with her. It’s all very cloak and dagger… And then it’s all a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

I dunno. I think that ‘Pucking Around’ is an easy-to-read, light-hearted hockey romance. It takes the well-used reverse harem trope and tries to ground it in a more real and practical way. As far as dating three huge hockey guys can be. The story has just enough to keep you reading, and whereas the spicy scenes aren’t going to shake your foundations, it is a lot of fun.

The interesting part of this story, for me, was watching how they navigated their relationships with each other. I think that it doesn’t fully realise this aspect, and lord knows there were enough pages to figure it all out, but it rarely dips further than surface level.

That said, it does enough. It’s a long read (as I’ve mentioned… many times) but I don’t think that should deter you if you’re into your sports romances.

As far as the leading lads go, Mars was my favourite. I felt like he fostered a more meaningful and careful connection with Rachel, whereas the other two have a lot to figure out between themselves and I think that Rachel, for want of a better phrase, ends up as more of a vehicle for them to connect. There were a few occasions where I felt a little uneasy about how Rachel was spoken about. But from her perspective, you’re not left in any doubt over whether she’s happy or not. She’s on board with what’s happening, and I guess that’s the important thing to note.

‘Pucking Around’ sets up the sequal easily, if not a bit too obviously, and I’m interested to see where book two goes with the characters it will feature. It’s one of those books that I was more than happy to keep reading, but it isn’t going to be standing out as something remarkable when I’m looking back on what I read this year, you know?

Not my favourite hockey romance read, but it’s not the worst by far. If you like books in this genre and the thought of comitting to 750 pages, then definitely give it a go! If nothing else then just because it tries something different.

I ended up giving it 2.5 stars, but they’re a very appreciative 2.5. My main criticisms are the length (nooo you don’t say?) and the lack of bang after such a long build-up. ‘Pucking Around’ by Emily Rath is an ambitious book, and I love that it’s trying something new with the genre.

Written by Sarah