e-ALC, 09:31:03
Narrated by: J. Hunter Ackerman & Julie Lumsden
Release Date: May 26, 2026
Published by: Harlequin Audio
Read from: May 18-19, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received this ALC free from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Emotional Abuse, Sexual Content, Grief, Death of a Parent, Medical Content, Fire/Fire Injury, Car Accident, Infertility, Miscarriage
For Readers of: Adult, Audio, Dual Narrators, Dual POV, Most Anticipated, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Sports (Hockey/Mascot)USA TODAY bestselling author, NHL insider, and TikTok influencer Lexi LaFleur Brown is back with another trope-packed, spicy, hockey-accurate rom com!
Don’t get mad — get even.
A grudge hates to see Olivia Hinckley coming. Years ago, a dirty hit ended her late father’s NHL career with the Minnesota Freeze. It was never fair that Erik Parker walked away with little more than a penalty, but it’s worse that her father’s rival is now up for Hall of Fame induction. On top of that, Erik’s son—hockey’s golden boy, Brody—just signed on to play for the Freeze. Determined to dismantle the Parker legacy, Olivia enacts a revenge plot that has her donning the Freeze’s mascot costume to gain intel on the Parkers. And she can’t help but mess with Brody’s gameplay—and his heart for good measure. After all, what’s a little fake dating between enemies?
Brody Parker only ever wanted to play hockey for fun, but the pressure of being part of hockey’s “First Family” has him dodging nepotism allegations along with high sticks. Erik might act like Father of the Year when the cameras are on, but behind closed doors, Brody struggles with his father’s impossible expectations. Preserving Erik’s image is a full-time job, but lucky for Brody, his new connection with Olivia is a welcome (spicy) distraction.
When Brody finally opens up to Olivia, she never expected she’d pity a Parker for anything. Suddenly, she wants to protect her once-enemy. The romantic feelings she faked are now unexpectedly real, but after leading Brody on for so long, can she keep the lies and the truth straight before she accidentally blows up his whole life?
FOR FANS Fake dating He falls first Secret identity Adversaries to lovers Bookish heroes
*MY THOUGHTS*
I got sucked into this because of the mascot lol I realized the MC was the mascot around the time they were doing all those graduation reveals and I HAD to read it. It just fit. It ended up giving me the same whimsy that those reveals did. (Although the reveal in this book was a bit traumatic lol )
Ok so the romance was cute. I was actually mad at her because she strung him along the whole time and was trying to go for and get revenge on him and it was clear he did not agree with his dad. She should have just been honest with him from the jump. Like as soon as she noticed. She made me mad because like how dare you make me side with a man?! lol I was like ew girl thanks I hate this lol
I also liked the rep in this. I had no idea the author and the main character were Indigenous when I picked this up! And then I went through the social media of the author just to see what else she’s written and I accidentally learned what a Medicine Wheel was. (Read the previous review for context lol) They are Anishinaabe. I loved that. And the MMC is Korean.
The characters were cool, but they didn’t actually stand out at all. To be honest I spent more time mad at them than anything. When they got together it was pretty basic. Brody was sweet but his sweetness was overpowered by her incessant need to get over on him, so it was hard to tell when the feelings started getting real for her.
The ending is what threw me off. They got so mad at each other that he couldn’t talk to her and they just broke up. But then when it was time, she just turned up there and I was so confused. Like they didn’t talk at all or anything. They just cheered and celebrated and it was all supposed to be ok. They didn’t talk or forgive anyone or anything. It was just weird. I think I would have liked it better had they had the talk before they game or something. Anything other than them just showing up and letting everything else go, ya know?
But all in all it was a fun read. I laughed SO MUCH when she was the mascot. But the thing at the end made me lose it LMFAO I hate the idea of the mascot losing their heads because so many people love that secret and help to keep it going. But with hers, the place and celebration she was at just made it absolutely hilarious.
This was a fun time that I think could have dealt with a little bit more polishing up. I haven’t read anything by Brown before, but I definitely see myself reading more in the future. I can’t wait to see what comes next! Now move outta my way, I still need to read Brown’s debut!
Overall, I give this
