4 Stars

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept, Loveswept

Date of publication: January 15th, 2019

Genre: Sports, Romance

Series: Aces Hockey

Major Misconduct—Book 1

Off Limits—Book 1.5

Icing—Book 2

Top Shelf—Book 3

Back Check—Book 4

Slap Shot—Book 5 (review here)

Playing Hurt—Book 6 (review here)

Big Stick—Book 7 (review here)

Game On—Book 8

Where you can find Game On: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Goodreads synopsis:

Cam Brickley and his pro hockey teammates bet on everything: who can win five faceoffs in a row, who can do forty pushups in less than a minute, who can eat a ghost pepper without puking. But when his buddies bet him he can’t date the same woman—like, say, the hot blonde over at the bar—for two months and not fall in love, he’ll take that bet all day. Then he’ll laugh all the way to the hockey arena, where they’ll be washing his jock straps for the rest of the season because Cam’s never giving up his bachelor lifestyle.

Olivia Lockwood, the heiress to the Lockwood Industries fortune, is used to people using her for her money and family connections. When Cam Brickley hits on her in a club, Olivia’s first instinct is to brush him off. But he couldn’t be using her for her money since he has more than enough of his own. Cam’s gorgeous and built, and it would be no hardship to go out with him . . . besides, he’d be the perfect spokesperson for the children’s charity she works with. Maybe it’s time for her to start using people.

Cam and Olivia are both in it for something. What they don’t know yet is that they’re playing for keeps.

My review:

This was a bittersweet read for me. I had come into the Aces Hockey series late in the series (Slap Shot). But, I enjoyed the series from that point on. I got to see Hallsy, Chaser, and Nick get their HEA’s. I was left wondering who was going to be the next one to fall. When I saw that it was Brick, I went “Yes!!” I liked his character and couldn’t wait to see who he fell in love with.

I thought that the bet that Brick made with his teammates was immature. I didn’t like that he could potentially be playing with someone’s feelings. So, I was a little “eh” when he went on the first couple of dates with her. I figured that everything that happened on those dates was karma for the bet. Then Brick did something that surprised me. He told Olivia about the bet. He did it early on in the book. I thought it was awesome. Olivia did react the way I figured she would (who wouldn’t have). Then, in another move that surprised me, she decided to help Brick win the bet. I was like “no way“.

Let’s talk about the first two dates they had. I thought that the location of the first one was original and made me wonder if there is such a thing. It is a great way of getting to know someone. Take them and play a board game. I did feel bad for Olivia and Brick after the date. I have been on a lot of dates Not lately, though. Been in a relationship for 15 years. I have never had someone get sick at the end of the date. I also have never gotten sick at the end of a date. I am glad that Olivia did the right thing and let Brick stay at her condo. Poor guy would have been puking all over the Uber home. The second date went about as well as the first. A walking tour of Chicago and then dinner. What happens. Brick somehow ends up cracking his head on the floor and then Olivia dumps her drink in his crotch. For the record, I have had the drink dumping happen to me. Poor Brick…lol. The ribbing he took from the guys the next day made me die laughing in bed.

I liked Olivia but she did get kind of annoying after a while. She kept bringing up that she never felt that she measured up to her brother and sister. Which caused issues with her self confidence. While I understood it hurt, it did get old after a while. I did think that her work at her nonprofit was fascinating. I wish that it was featured a bit more than a couple of scenes at her office and the celebrity appearance Brick made.

I liked Brick. I liked that he was honest with Olivia. I liked that he made sure she knew that feelings were out of the question for him. I liked that he was a goofball. But he did annoy me towards the end of the book. He handled the situation with Olivia badly. I do wish that the Ashley substory was explained earlier in the book. Because, until it was, Brick looked like a huge jerk. After that explanation, I went “Well, no wonder he didn’t seriously date anyone.” I wouldn’t have if I had been put through that.

The sexual attraction and chemistry that Olivia and Brick had. It was off the charts hot. I loved that the author kept amping it up. I also liked that Olivia and Brick didn’t have sex right away. So, when they did, that first sex scene was smoking hot.

Speaking of sex scenes, the author kept the heat on with them. I loved it. I loved that Olivia was a bit wilder than the other girls in bed. Plus the lingerie she wore. Fantastic!!

The end of the book was bittersweet. I am not going to get into it but I had tears in my eyes. The author did a great job of bringing each character in the previous books and highlighting them. What got me was what Nick said to his brother Aleks. I was also sad that this was going to be the last book in this series.

I would give Game On an Adult rating. There is explicit sex. There is mild violence. There is language. There are triggers. They would be mental illness.

I would reread Game On. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Game On.

All opinions stated in this review of Game On are mine.