Pucked Up (Punk as Puck #2)

Here's EM Lindsey's "Pucked Up." It's the second novel in her Punk as Puck series.

["Sometimes an anonymous tryst shows up at the rink two months later as your new hockey coach.

I have rules. Very important rules. No real names, no strings, no seeing each other again. It’s always worked out well for me, and it’s the only thing that keeps me focused as I try to climb my way into professional hockey after nearly torching my career.

I should have been king of the ice in the paraprofessional league, but instead, I let my anger and bitterness get to me. Now I’m forced to claw my way back into relevance, starting with a community team.

That would be fine if the one amazing, anonymous night I had with a total stranger didn’t end up being the Wolves’ new coach. And even that might have been tolerable if Hugo wasn’t on my father’s payroll.

But he is.

And to make matters worse, I still want him. My bad attitude and attempt to drive him away doesn’t faze him at all, and the more I push, the more he pulls me back into the last place I want to his orbit.

All I want is to join the PPHL and prove to myself that I’m a worthy player on my own merit.

Lust wasn’t on the table. And neither was love.

But the closer I get to Hugo, the more I realize that I’m not sure I want to do this without him…and the more I realize I’m not sure if I can."]

When you read the first book, you were frustrated and confused about Boden's actions and feelings. When explained, we semi-understood, as much as we could when it was information given second-hand, but getting it first-hand here? The empathy really entered the chat. And getting Hugo's POV? Shit, end me know. We got allll of the information and background and Feels. Soooo much complication, sooo many hurt emotions, soo many missed moments, so many times were I almost (and did) cry.

This love story was littered with moments of kismet. It was beautiful and tragic. They were meant to fall in love with each other, but if so many horrible things hadn't happened, hadn't changed them forever, they would never have met.

Also, Boden finding out exactly who Hugo is and how he's even more qualified to help him get back to the PPHL than anyone was *chef's kiss*. Dramatic as hell, sure (but so is Boden). But it made Boden eat his words all those weeks ago.

Quote of the day: “Love is never cruel, and loving is never hard, but being brave isn’t always easy.”

Trigger Warnings: childhood emotional neglect, parents' unrealistic expectations, off-page mentions of assault on a date, internalized ableism, ableism, self-deprecation, loss of MCs former spouse, grief, toxic relationship with parents, and more.

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