Wicked Serve
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Description
Book Information
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Für mich der beste Teil der Reihe😍✨
Inhalt✨ Niks ganzes Leben ist Eishockey, doch nach einem Problem an seiner alten Uni ist er gezwungen einen Deal mit seinem Großvater einzugehen. Aufgrund dieses Deals landet er an der McKee University. Dort trifft er nicht nur auf Cooper, mit dem er immer wieder aneinandergeraten ist, sondern auch dessen kleine Schwester Izzy. Mit Izzy hatte er einen unvergesslichen Sommer, doch dieser darf nicht fortgesetzt werden. Beide versuchen ihr Herz zu schützen, doch sie halten es nicht lange ohne einander aus. Fazit✨ Bevor ich überhaupt angefangen habe zu lesen, wusste ich, dass dies mein Lieblingsteil wird und das nur aufgrund der Tropes. Das das Buch jedoch noch so viel mehr zu bieten hatte erfuhr ich erst beim Lesen. Beide Protagonisten fand ich einfach nur toll, denn auch wenn sie wussten das eine Beziehung problematisch wäre haben sie ihre Gefühle für einander für sich selbst nie geleugnet. Sowohl Nik, als auch Izzy haben beide ihr Päcken zu tragen und wie in der Situation damit umgegangen wurde war großartig. Die gegenseitige Unterstützung hat mich begeistert. Generell sind alle Figuren in diesem Universum eine große Familie und die Art und Weise, wie Nik aufgenommen wurde hat mein Herz erwärmt. Besonders die Freundschaft zwischen Nik und Cooper war schön. Izzy ist eher in einer harmonischen Familie aufgewachsen, weshalb ich es gut fand, dass sie Nik geholfen hat ein besseres Verhältnis zwischen ihm und seiner Mutter herzustellen. Beim Lesen des Buches hatte ich einfach Spaß und es in vollen Zügen genossen.
Sports Romance Without Any Sports
Apparently, this is no. 4 of a whole series, volume 1-3 focussing on the other Callaghan siblings. As I haven’t read any of the other books, I can’t say if I missed anything in this one but, to be honest, I don’t think I have, as it’s not exactly… Complicated material. Nikolai and Isabelle are both college athletes. While he plays ice hockey, she’s a former volleyball setter-turned-opposite-hitter who’s now looking to win back her original position. After ending their steamy summer affair, they are both looking to focus on their respective sports careers... Which they are prevented from doing because, well, plot: For no reason other than establishing our male lead as someone of noble character (he covers for a friend), Nikolai gets expelled from his university. This makes staying away from his summer crush Isabelle (he has to because he thinks he’s a bad person or whatever) a whole lot harder, since his evil grandfather makes him join no other university than the one his summer fling attends as well. But at least Izzy is gonna ignore him because he ended their short romance by leaving without a word (totally valid in his head, why communicate when you can break someone's heart with a "clean cut"), right? Not quite but worry not, there is still the one, unavoidable obstacle: Even though our protagonists throw away all new-semester resolutions after basically five minutes and immediately start getting it on again, they can’t make their clear infatuation with each other public because, you guessed it, plot: One of Isabelle’s (many and super successful) brothers is the team captain of Nikolai’s new hockey team and also his mortal enemy, or something. Of course the fact that the two men immediately apologise for the dirty pre-game trash talk that caused their feud, and soon become best friends, as well as the fact that said brother, Cooper, is actually a pretty decent, level-headed guy, still does not cause Izzy and Nik to just tell the truth because, well, again, plot. So, right from the beginning it's clear that the big revelation to Cooper that everybody knows will happen eventually, won't actually be that big of a deal, but there’s other drama, right? Of course. Isabelle’s got a volleyball coach who’s completely awful, apparently, for making perfectly reasonable decisions, like making Isabelle work for her position instead of just handing it to her. And Nikolai, very self-aware, very sweet, is also very traumatised by his evil Russian dad that haunts the narrative like every dead wife in every action movie nowadays. Still, he says he’d do anything for his "sunshine girl", his "little sun", hist *insert any other nickname that has got anything to do with the mentioned fix star, bonus points if it is in Russian — Except go to therapy, of course. Apart from that, there is also a lot of very similar sex scenes without build up, and talk about how important sports are to both main characters, even though there’s barely any actual sports content, besides Isabelle hating her coach for no reason and Nikolai missing matches and practices for, well, you guessed it, the plot. Of course, some things are lovely as well, like the sensitive handling of men’s mental health as well as the bravery of giving us a feminist female character who loves pink, princesses, and manicures instead of being “not like other girls”. I can also get very much on board of the “simping-for-characters-with-Russian-accents” train and the depiction of healthy sibling relationships as well as representation for the LGBTQIA+ and the “sorry, I don’t want kids” gangs… Thus, the two and a half stars. But apart from that? I’m sorry, I can deal with cliché and predictability and fluff. But I’m going to need at least some things to make up for it, and if you call a book “Wicket Serve”, there has to be at least some more connection to the sport that the book supposedly deals with. Am I going to read volume 1-3? I'll be honest: I still wouldn't put it past me.
"Wicked Serve" ist der vierte und letzte Band der Sports-Romance Reihe, die mir wirklich ans Herz gewachsen ist. 🥹 Die Callahan Geschwister sind ganz tolle Charaktere. 💕 Und auch Izzy, die jüngste in der Runde, mochte ich seit First Down schon so so so gerne, dass ich mich einfach unglaublich gefreut habe, dass sie auch noch ein Happy End bekommt! ✨ Die Story habe ich wirklich geliebt, die beiden sind so süß zusammen. 😍 Auch die Probleme, vor die die beiden gestellt werden, machen Sinn und sind nachvollziehbar und werden ebenso gut gelöst. Natürlich kann man hier kein tiefenpsychologisches Meisterwerk erwarten, aber für eine spicy Sportsromance war das absolut ausreichend! Nik ist einfach toll!! Ich liebe ihn so sehr. 😍🤌🏼 Er ist ein großartiger Bookboyfriend. Sein Hintergrund bzw seine Vergangenheit hat mich echt mitgenommen. Und der Teil kurz vorm Ende hat mir den Rest gegeben. Mein Herz? 💔💔💔 Ich glaube nicht, dass ich das so easy weggesteckt hätte wie Izzy. 🫠 Zwischendurch muss ich sagen gab es ein paar Längen, die aber nie wirklich laaange angehalten haben. Also es bewegte sich hier alles im Rahmen. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5/5
3,75 This was a really nice college-sports-romance! Loved how both main characters had their respective sport and how it was portrayed in the book. I felt like it was a good mix of sports + romance + plot. There were way more sex scenes in the first half, and generally in the book, than I would have expected (I’m not mad, just surprised). Which later on made sense, because the second half focused more on the plot and the characters. I haven’t read the other books in this series yet, but this book can definitely be read as a standalone. However, I do think it makes sense to read this series in order as it will provide a better understanding of the Callahan family dynamics and the relationship of the siblings and their respective partners. I really enjoyed Cooper’s and Nik’s friendship and its development throughout the book! There were even moments when I enjoyed it more than the romance, as in, I was excited to read scenes between those two. I wouldn’t have minded having even more scenes with only them to be honest. There were a couple things, which to my surprise and delight, took a different turn than I am used to from other books. Two that come to mind are, as mentioned above, Cooper + Nik’s friendship. I really expected them to not get along for basically 80% of the book but they as (best) friends made so much sense. And the other one is the non existing breakup between Isabelle + Nik. I feel like there was an attempted 3rd-act-breakup at the 50% mark, but…is it really a 3rd-act-breakup when it doesn’t happen in the 3rd act? I will also not count it as a breakup at all, so that’s that. But the vibe was definitely giving (3rd-act) breakup. There were no overly dramatic fights between people or generally no drama, but a lot of really great conversations and emotional bonding between family members, friends and romantic partners! I caught myself several times thinking that this book might be about 50, maybe even more, pages too long. Especially with Nik’s past and resulting traumas keep coming up without any kind of resolvement up until basically the very end. I also felt like the main characters, who were supposed to be 19 and 21 (I think), acted older than their age. I also wasn’t vibing with all of the russian, but this a me-thing. я люблю тебя vs the usual я тебя люблю (eng: I love you) was a choice I guess. I eventually got somewhat used to solnishko (eng: sunshine) but I wasn’t really vibing with it in the beginning. I was hesitant throughout the book about reading the other books in this series, but now after finishing 'Wicked Serve', I do plan on reading them! Thank you to Headline Eternal for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
~ 🇺🇸 I really liked the story. It's a hockey romance story and the fourth book in the series, but you can read it independently of the previous ones. The previous ones are about a few of Izzy's other family members. It takes place at college, which is a really great setting for the story. I really liked the characters. Izzy has to assert herself against her brothers, who are all very talented at sports, because giving up is not an option. Nikolai is under pressure to pursue his sports career and changing colleges won't make things any better. Both characters have developed well and I also thought their relationship was very good. I will definitely read the other stories in the series. I really liked the writing style and I also really liked the cover. I definitely recommend reading it. 🇩🇪Mir hat die Geschichte sehr gut gefallen. Es ist eine Eishockey-Romace-Geschichte und das vierte Buch der Reihe, allerdings kann man es unabhängig von den vorherigen lesen. In den vorherigen geht es um die ein paar andere Familienmitglieder von Izzy. Es spielt am College, was für die Geschichte ein wirklich tolles Setting ist. Die Figuren haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Izzy muss sich bei ihren Brüdern, welche alle sehr Sportbegabt sind, durchsetzen, denn aufgeben ist keine option. Nikolai hat Druck auf seine Sportkarierre und mit einem Collegewechsel wird es nicht besser. Beide Figuren haben sich toll entwickelt und auch ihre Beziehung fand ich sehr gut. Ich werde mir auf jeden Fall die anderen Geschichten der Reihe auch auf jeden Fall lesen. Der Schreibstil hat mir sehr gut gefallen und das Cover mochte ich auch sehr. Eine klare Leseempfehlung.
Description
Book Information
Posts
Für mich der beste Teil der Reihe😍✨
Inhalt✨ Niks ganzes Leben ist Eishockey, doch nach einem Problem an seiner alten Uni ist er gezwungen einen Deal mit seinem Großvater einzugehen. Aufgrund dieses Deals landet er an der McKee University. Dort trifft er nicht nur auf Cooper, mit dem er immer wieder aneinandergeraten ist, sondern auch dessen kleine Schwester Izzy. Mit Izzy hatte er einen unvergesslichen Sommer, doch dieser darf nicht fortgesetzt werden. Beide versuchen ihr Herz zu schützen, doch sie halten es nicht lange ohne einander aus. Fazit✨ Bevor ich überhaupt angefangen habe zu lesen, wusste ich, dass dies mein Lieblingsteil wird und das nur aufgrund der Tropes. Das das Buch jedoch noch so viel mehr zu bieten hatte erfuhr ich erst beim Lesen. Beide Protagonisten fand ich einfach nur toll, denn auch wenn sie wussten das eine Beziehung problematisch wäre haben sie ihre Gefühle für einander für sich selbst nie geleugnet. Sowohl Nik, als auch Izzy haben beide ihr Päcken zu tragen und wie in der Situation damit umgegangen wurde war großartig. Die gegenseitige Unterstützung hat mich begeistert. Generell sind alle Figuren in diesem Universum eine große Familie und die Art und Weise, wie Nik aufgenommen wurde hat mein Herz erwärmt. Besonders die Freundschaft zwischen Nik und Cooper war schön. Izzy ist eher in einer harmonischen Familie aufgewachsen, weshalb ich es gut fand, dass sie Nik geholfen hat ein besseres Verhältnis zwischen ihm und seiner Mutter herzustellen. Beim Lesen des Buches hatte ich einfach Spaß und es in vollen Zügen genossen.
Sports Romance Without Any Sports
Apparently, this is no. 4 of a whole series, volume 1-3 focussing on the other Callaghan siblings. As I haven’t read any of the other books, I can’t say if I missed anything in this one but, to be honest, I don’t think I have, as it’s not exactly… Complicated material. Nikolai and Isabelle are both college athletes. While he plays ice hockey, she’s a former volleyball setter-turned-opposite-hitter who’s now looking to win back her original position. After ending their steamy summer affair, they are both looking to focus on their respective sports careers... Which they are prevented from doing because, well, plot: For no reason other than establishing our male lead as someone of noble character (he covers for a friend), Nikolai gets expelled from his university. This makes staying away from his summer crush Isabelle (he has to because he thinks he’s a bad person or whatever) a whole lot harder, since his evil grandfather makes him join no other university than the one his summer fling attends as well. But at least Izzy is gonna ignore him because he ended their short romance by leaving without a word (totally valid in his head, why communicate when you can break someone's heart with a "clean cut"), right? Not quite but worry not, there is still the one, unavoidable obstacle: Even though our protagonists throw away all new-semester resolutions after basically five minutes and immediately start getting it on again, they can’t make their clear infatuation with each other public because, you guessed it, plot: One of Isabelle’s (many and super successful) brothers is the team captain of Nikolai’s new hockey team and also his mortal enemy, or something. Of course the fact that the two men immediately apologise for the dirty pre-game trash talk that caused their feud, and soon become best friends, as well as the fact that said brother, Cooper, is actually a pretty decent, level-headed guy, still does not cause Izzy and Nik to just tell the truth because, well, again, plot. So, right from the beginning it's clear that the big revelation to Cooper that everybody knows will happen eventually, won't actually be that big of a deal, but there’s other drama, right? Of course. Isabelle’s got a volleyball coach who’s completely awful, apparently, for making perfectly reasonable decisions, like making Isabelle work for her position instead of just handing it to her. And Nikolai, very self-aware, very sweet, is also very traumatised by his evil Russian dad that haunts the narrative like every dead wife in every action movie nowadays. Still, he says he’d do anything for his "sunshine girl", his "little sun", hist *insert any other nickname that has got anything to do with the mentioned fix star, bonus points if it is in Russian — Except go to therapy, of course. Apart from that, there is also a lot of very similar sex scenes without build up, and talk about how important sports are to both main characters, even though there’s barely any actual sports content, besides Isabelle hating her coach for no reason and Nikolai missing matches and practices for, well, you guessed it, the plot. Of course, some things are lovely as well, like the sensitive handling of men’s mental health as well as the bravery of giving us a feminist female character who loves pink, princesses, and manicures instead of being “not like other girls”. I can also get very much on board of the “simping-for-characters-with-Russian-accents” train and the depiction of healthy sibling relationships as well as representation for the LGBTQIA+ and the “sorry, I don’t want kids” gangs… Thus, the two and a half stars. But apart from that? I’m sorry, I can deal with cliché and predictability and fluff. But I’m going to need at least some things to make up for it, and if you call a book “Wicket Serve”, there has to be at least some more connection to the sport that the book supposedly deals with. Am I going to read volume 1-3? I'll be honest: I still wouldn't put it past me.
"Wicked Serve" ist der vierte und letzte Band der Sports-Romance Reihe, die mir wirklich ans Herz gewachsen ist. 🥹 Die Callahan Geschwister sind ganz tolle Charaktere. 💕 Und auch Izzy, die jüngste in der Runde, mochte ich seit First Down schon so so so gerne, dass ich mich einfach unglaublich gefreut habe, dass sie auch noch ein Happy End bekommt! ✨ Die Story habe ich wirklich geliebt, die beiden sind so süß zusammen. 😍 Auch die Probleme, vor die die beiden gestellt werden, machen Sinn und sind nachvollziehbar und werden ebenso gut gelöst. Natürlich kann man hier kein tiefenpsychologisches Meisterwerk erwarten, aber für eine spicy Sportsromance war das absolut ausreichend! Nik ist einfach toll!! Ich liebe ihn so sehr. 😍🤌🏼 Er ist ein großartiger Bookboyfriend. Sein Hintergrund bzw seine Vergangenheit hat mich echt mitgenommen. Und der Teil kurz vorm Ende hat mir den Rest gegeben. Mein Herz? 💔💔💔 Ich glaube nicht, dass ich das so easy weggesteckt hätte wie Izzy. 🫠 Zwischendurch muss ich sagen gab es ein paar Längen, die aber nie wirklich laaange angehalten haben. Also es bewegte sich hier alles im Rahmen. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️,5/5
3,75 This was a really nice college-sports-romance! Loved how both main characters had their respective sport and how it was portrayed in the book. I felt like it was a good mix of sports + romance + plot. There were way more sex scenes in the first half, and generally in the book, than I would have expected (I’m not mad, just surprised). Which later on made sense, because the second half focused more on the plot and the characters. I haven’t read the other books in this series yet, but this book can definitely be read as a standalone. However, I do think it makes sense to read this series in order as it will provide a better understanding of the Callahan family dynamics and the relationship of the siblings and their respective partners. I really enjoyed Cooper’s and Nik’s friendship and its development throughout the book! There were even moments when I enjoyed it more than the romance, as in, I was excited to read scenes between those two. I wouldn’t have minded having even more scenes with only them to be honest. There were a couple things, which to my surprise and delight, took a different turn than I am used to from other books. Two that come to mind are, as mentioned above, Cooper + Nik’s friendship. I really expected them to not get along for basically 80% of the book but they as (best) friends made so much sense. And the other one is the non existing breakup between Isabelle + Nik. I feel like there was an attempted 3rd-act-breakup at the 50% mark, but…is it really a 3rd-act-breakup when it doesn’t happen in the 3rd act? I will also not count it as a breakup at all, so that’s that. But the vibe was definitely giving (3rd-act) breakup. There were no overly dramatic fights between people or generally no drama, but a lot of really great conversations and emotional bonding between family members, friends and romantic partners! I caught myself several times thinking that this book might be about 50, maybe even more, pages too long. Especially with Nik’s past and resulting traumas keep coming up without any kind of resolvement up until basically the very end. I also felt like the main characters, who were supposed to be 19 and 21 (I think), acted older than their age. I also wasn’t vibing with all of the russian, but this a me-thing. я люблю тебя vs the usual я тебя люблю (eng: I love you) was a choice I guess. I eventually got somewhat used to solnishko (eng: sunshine) but I wasn’t really vibing with it in the beginning. I was hesitant throughout the book about reading the other books in this series, but now after finishing 'Wicked Serve', I do plan on reading them! Thank you to Headline Eternal for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
~ 🇺🇸 I really liked the story. It's a hockey romance story and the fourth book in the series, but you can read it independently of the previous ones. The previous ones are about a few of Izzy's other family members. It takes place at college, which is a really great setting for the story. I really liked the characters. Izzy has to assert herself against her brothers, who are all very talented at sports, because giving up is not an option. Nikolai is under pressure to pursue his sports career and changing colleges won't make things any better. Both characters have developed well and I also thought their relationship was very good. I will definitely read the other stories in the series. I really liked the writing style and I also really liked the cover. I definitely recommend reading it. 🇩🇪Mir hat die Geschichte sehr gut gefallen. Es ist eine Eishockey-Romace-Geschichte und das vierte Buch der Reihe, allerdings kann man es unabhängig von den vorherigen lesen. In den vorherigen geht es um die ein paar andere Familienmitglieder von Izzy. Es spielt am College, was für die Geschichte ein wirklich tolles Setting ist. Die Figuren haben mir sehr gut gefallen. Izzy muss sich bei ihren Brüdern, welche alle sehr Sportbegabt sind, durchsetzen, denn aufgeben ist keine option. Nikolai hat Druck auf seine Sportkarierre und mit einem Collegewechsel wird es nicht besser. Beide Figuren haben sich toll entwickelt und auch ihre Beziehung fand ich sehr gut. Ich werde mir auf jeden Fall die anderen Geschichten der Reihe auch auf jeden Fall lesen. Der Schreibstil hat mir sehr gut gefallen und das Cover mochte ich auch sehr. Eine klare Leseempfehlung.