Wicked Serve: A Novel by Grace Reilly
Product Details
Web ID: 19875907Not for me, not at all sadly.
I got two chapters into Wicked Serve and I knew it was going to be a rough time. I gritted my teeth and pushed through, but I honestly wish I hadn’t at this point. I’m not going to rip into the book, it was what it was and a lot of people did love it! I recommend giving the sample a go as it seems to stick quick or bounce back hard early. Izzy and Nikolai have a summer fling, even though he is her brother’s biggest hockey rival. She’s on the college volleyball team under his Mom and he ends up transferred to her school. Of course they meet again and they get at it… again. No one in this book truly felt quite their age, I’ll start there. Especially Izzy who read as below 18 to me in almost every scenario. Couple that with the ‘I have a scar on my face’ Nikolai who was better but not great and I was struggling. I’m not entirely sure if it was the immaturity or the writing, but the references to name brands and stores also put me off. Izzy is a young and wealthy college kid, which normally wouldn’t bother me, but she is fighting a that exact stereotype from her volleyball coach. Unfortunately she read that way to me for large amounts of the book. My last point on this is the smut was far, far too much. It felt like 60% of this book was smut, and not even great smut for me. I’ve never seen nor heard of anyone getting off from *crawling toward their partner*. Just crawling. On the ground. I’ve read a lot of BDSM and kink and that’s a new one. I wont’ recommend this. Instead I’ll say, try the sample. Read other reviews. It wasn’t for me but it very well could be for you and you know what, to each their own. This just isn’t mine.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
forbidden, new adult, double sport romance
Story Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (0-5) Narration: 🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧 (0-5) Overall: 4.75/5 Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 (0-5) They like it rough. And I bump up for public places/outdoor spaces. What I’m Starry-Eyed Over: 🤩 My initial response: I’m so very in love with these two babes and the beautiful sounding narrators playing them!! What amazing audiobook entertainment. 🤩 Oscar Reyes gives a superstar performance with all of his fantastic accents. And Faith Clark is his perfect match, with the beautiful accent changes in the dialogue. 🤩 Steamy hot stress relief! I love when Isabelle has to care for Nik the way she knows how, the way that works for them. 🤩 The pool apology! 🤩 Fabulous text chats. 🤩 The sneaking around. 🤩 The Izzy Day wedding crashers. 🤩 The sweet, supportive way the forbidden plot works itself out. 🤩 Christmas Eve & Callahan family Christmas fun. 🤩 The laugh-out-loud fun, even among some more serious topics. 🤩 Sibling tattoos. I’m so smitten with this family! 🤩The in-the-future epilogue! I want to be (or be with) a Callahan! 🤩 Beautiful therapy/mental health representation. What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About: 💫 I would like a little steamy intimacy after the time apart to solidify their bond/HEA. 💫 The brush—I’m not sure I loved it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Wicked Five Stars
Thank you to the author via NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Wicked Serve. I loved this book! There are many reasons why, so buckle up. The main characters and their relationship was handled so beautifully. Without giving anything away, there was a decent amount of room for major toxicity in this pairing, but absolutely nothing unrealistic or unnecessarily dramatic came about. Both characters were genuine and acted authentically, which I so appreciate when reading about a couple in this age range. Young people do not have to be emotionally immature and dramatic just because they are young! Both Isabelle and Nik are level headed and incredibly self aware as individuals as well as with and for each other. The development in Nik alone; from being closed off to not only sharing but realizing what he needed to do in order to maintain a successful and healthy relationship, was so impressive. Isabelle was adorable and feisty, and I found her to be relatable as a person who is trying to 'do it all' as well as living up to everyone else's perceived expectations along with her own (which were unattainable, no person is perfect). Let's not forget that this is a sports romance as well! The inclusion of one of my favorite sports, volleyball, was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the sub-plot here with Izzy, her teammates, and her coach. Of course, hockey is Nik's sport and everything surrounding the Frozen Four and transferring teams was so realistic. It was an added bonus to read from their perspectives about how and why they loved their sports and what made it fulfilling to them. Not everyone 'gets it,' but you can tell Grace really puts her all into these books. Her passion for writing a whole story really shows - and you can't just have these two amazing sports figures without some actually realistic behind the sport scenes. I loved it! The couples from the first three books make many appearances as this is a series about the Callahans, after all! I loved the secondary storylines that were taking place alongside Izzy and Nik's story. The epilogue ended things perfectly and gave us the closure that all of these wonderful and well loved characters deserved. Grace really knocked it out - I'm sad to see the series come to a close but it was just perfection overall. I'll read whatever she puts out next and I'm sure I'll love it.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
YA Sports Romance
On the surface, I did like this book. It was entertaining and the characters were likable. I appreciated that the relationship felt like it progressed naturally without any super overdone drama. Both Izzy and Nik have personal challenges they were working to overcome as they faced their final year in college. The hockey player aspect was a lot of fun as I am a huge fan of the sport. Because of their ages, this is YA and does read as such. That being said, the intimate scenes felt a bit outlandish for college students. This probably reads well for someone closer to their ages but I couldn't help but find some of it a bit of a stretch for how young they were. Nik's background had some truly dark aspects to it. I appreciated that Reilly acknowledged that this was something that wasn't easy to work through and that there were healthy conversations and therapy coming into play. The book was a bit too long for me but was overall entertaining. Thank you to Avon for an ARC of this book. The opinions here are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
From a summer fling...
From a summer fling... What's a little summer fling between athletes? That's the premise of Nikolai and Izzy. He's a college senior with a foot in the door at the NHL. She's a college sophomore trying to improve her volleyball game. There's a lot of tropes crammed into this NA, college read. Recommend.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
So Sweet!
I love this grumpy sunshine couple so much 🥰 I loved watching Nikolai and Isabelle help each other to grow and heal while her brother, Cooper, becomes a friend instead of a rival. The way he stands up to his father and his trauma is such a hard thing to do, but he does it with grace and strength. His love for Isabelle and for hockey seem to go hand in hand with her love for him and for volleyball. A great match up!
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Sports romance
The ending to the series and it was amazing. Both of these characters have their flaws and struggles. From anxiety to panic attacks. I loved how they were approached. This is sort of enemies to lovers as the MMC, Nikolai is the enemy of the brother of the Izzy. They had an amazing relationship. If you’re into the below then this is a great book for you. This is the last book of the series and you do not need to read them in order, but it does help. ⚫️sports romance ⚫️he falls first ⚫️Secret family I received this ARC through the publisher and I am voluntarily reviewing this book, opinions are my own.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Love the hockey x volleyball romance!
The fact that this is a hockey x volleyball players romance is mindblown, all because I'm addicted to these two sports atm lol! It's about Izzy, the youngest sibling of Callahan's family. She met Nikolai during her internship at his mother's wedding planning business. They had a fling during the whole summer but decided not to pursue it since they would part ways. Plus Nik is Izzy's brother's hockey rival. But things happened that led to Nik transferring to Izzy's college. I love them! They heels over head for each other but keep sneaking around. Izzy is adorable and Nik is that broody hockey player but soft toward Izzy. Both have their problems. Izzy wants proof that she's good at volleyball, especially living with three talented older brothers and a sports superstar father. Nik has bigger family issues and a hard childhood. But together they understand and support each other. Check this if you wanna read: 🏒 Hockey x volleyball romance 🏐 Secret relationship 🏒 Brother's teammate 🏐 Broody x bubbly 🏒 Found family 🏐 He falls first
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com