Book: Penalty Play by Julia Connors
Reviewed by Maggie Hayes
Rating: 4/5
ARC REVIEW
Penalty Play by Julia Connors
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️¼ (4.25/5)
Aiden and Morgan meet during a tropical storm in Bermuda and fully expect their one-night, no-names fling to stay exactly that. Except the next day they’re staring at each other across a wedding aisle—the wedding of his stepdad and her mom. Awkward! They give in to temptation the rest of the trip (because of course they do) and swear they’ll go their separate ways once they’re back home. That plan lasts approximately five minutes.
Aiden is returning to the ice after a brutal year off rehabbing a broken hand that required multiple surgeries. He’s ready for changes in the locker room—but not for the discovery that Morgan is now acting as in-house PR for the Boston Rebels as a favor to the GM. Morgan is equally blindsided to learn that “Danny,” the man she hooked up with in Bermuda, is very much that Aiden.
Once it becomes obvious their chemistry is not going anywhere, they agree to a strictly casual friends-with-benefits situation. No feelings. No promises. Morgan refuses to invest in another walking red flag, and Aiden—still wrecked by his last serious relationship—has no intention of handing his heart over again. Naturally, it gets real anyway, and they have to choose if they are willing to risk being hurt for a chance at forever.
There is nothing I love more than a broken man with a hidden soft core, and Aiden absolutely wrecked me. Watching him heal, open up, and fall—reluctantly but completely—hit every emotional pressure point. He’s lost his parents, his first love, and people he trusted, so his fear makes sense. And when he finally lets himself love? He dives .
Morgan is a little broken too—tired of giving more than she gets and desperate to be chosen. I loved watching her finally be seen for who she is: a fiercely loyal friend, a caring daughter (even when her mom makes it hard), and a capable, kickass business owner. Frankly, it’s wild she dated that many losers before Aiden.
Their chemistry is off the charts. The banter, the sex eyes, the jealousy—it’s all there. I genuinely don’t believe a single person in the Rebels organization didn’t clock them immediately as a (very obvious) secret couple.
Penalty Play is book five in the interconnected Boston Rebels series, and while it can be read standalone, I highly recommend reading in order—this team is pure found family, and there are spoilers for earlier relationships.
Thank you to Julia Connors and @ valentine_pr_ for providing an ARC!
For fans of:
🏒 Hockey Romance | 🧑🤝🧑 Stepsiblings | 🌴 Vacation Fling | 📋 Agent’s Daughter | 💘 Friends with Benefits | 🤐 Secret Relationship | 🏢 Workplace Romance | 🖤 Broken Boy x Good Girl
PenaltyPlay #JuliaConnors #BostonRebels #HockeyRomance #SportsRomance #BookstagramRomance #RomanceReaders #ARCReview #FoundFamily #SecretRelationship #FriendsWithBenefits #HockeyBooks