Offside by Avery Keelan | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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From TikTok sensation Avery Keelan comes Offside, an addictive college hockey romance where Hannah Grace meets Elle Kennedy.

After being dumped on her 21st birthday, Bailey James rebounds right into the arms of her ex’s biggest competition...

Chase Carter: antagonizer, womanizer, and infamous left winger for her college’s rival team.

Following a string of scandals and substandard grades, Chase is on thin ice with his teammates and tyrannical coach. The last thing he needs is to have his focus and loyalty called into question by fraternizing with his team’s #1 competition, but a beautiful stranger who throws herself at him one night is too tempting to pass up... until she throws up on his shoes.

Caught in the midst of a bitter rivalry that extends far beyond the arena, Chase and Bailey are on opposite sides of the bench. He’s worked his entire life to secure a future in the NHL. She’s tagged along while her brother has done the same. Fraternizing with the enemy is definitely out of the question, but what if the enemy is impossible to resist?

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Offside by Avery Keelan is a swoony rivals to friends to lovers contemporary college hockey romance. What a mouthful huh? I was initially so pumped to pick up this book because it’s been too long since I have read a sports romance. I thought that the long length of the book implied that there would be a slow burn and a romance that actually takes time to develop. I am so glad to say — that assumption proved correct. While at times this book felt a little overlong, it certainly delivered on my expectations!

Offside opens with main character Bailey James going out for a fancy birthday dinner with her boyfriend Lucas, captain of her college’s hockey team. She is optimistic about where their future will take them, particularly because Lucas plans to play professionally for the NHL. Unfortunately for Bailey, he dumps her. ON HER BIRTHDAY! She’s upset so she calls up the girls from the school newspaper that she enjoys writing with. They take her out to the new nightclub.

At the club she happens to get drunk and meets Chase Carter, star player for the hockey team of the rival school. She goes home with him, thinking if she sleeps with him it’ll be good revenge on her ex-boyfriend. Oh and Chase is very antagonistic on the ice, trying to goad the other team into penalties. As it turns out, he doesn’t sleep with her. Over time, they develop a friendship but there are certainly feelings and attraction there. As you can predict, they end up getting together. However, it is a long road to build trust. Plus, there’s some curveballs thrown their way and a few obstacles, including jealous exes.

Okay, so for my personal taste, this book was definitely spicy but for me, the perfect amount of spicy. It doesn’t come out of nowhere. It actually feels natural to the relationship that is developed over the story. I liked that it was slow and took time. I liked that I could actually feel chemistry between the two main characters before they did the deed. For me, that is primary — that the relationship make sense and that it actually build up and develop, not oh hey we just met and every other page is a spicy scene, I think that’s boring.

The book is long. It clocks in at over 500 pages. We see the relationship between Bailey and Chase take place over the school year. The two actually do homework and Bailey spends a lot of time on her extracurricular which is helping her build toward a future career. Scholarships and internships are discussed. We also get bonus scenes at the end of their future. I thought the pacing was pretty good for such a long book. It did take me longer than normal to finish but in all fairness, I had a lot of life stuff going on. I thought this was easy to pick up and get back into when I needed to take breaks. Offside by Avery Keelan is exactly what I want in a contemporary romance and I am excited to check out the sequel which apparently is on Kindle Unlimited – Shutout.

@aprilbooksandwine

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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