Romancing the Grump Review

By Jenny Proctor

Appies Series Book 2 (Also connected to the sweater weather series)

Star rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

Spice rating: 🌶️

Blurb

He’s a grump and happy to stay that way. But can her sunshine melt the ice around his heart?

Nathan Sanders didn't earn his reputation as the grouchiest player on the Appies minor league hockey team by chance. So when Summer Callahan breezes into his life with her flirtatious smiles and endless charm, he responds like he always he completely ignores her.

But Summer is intrigued by the surly center, and she won't be deterred quite so easily. She's convinced that the ones with the hardest shells on the outside are often the softest underneath. And she's determined to prove it.

Romancing the Grump is a closed door grumpy sunshine hockey romcom with heart and humor, sizzle but no spice. Perfect for fans of sports romance who want a little less heat. Books in the Appies Hockey Romance series connect to Just Don't Fall & Absolutely Not in Love from the Sweater Weather series, but all books stand alone and can be read in any order.

 

Category: Sports Romance

 

Read if you Like:

🏒 Hockey Romance

🏒 Small town

🏒 Closed door

🏒 Grumpy hero

🏒 Fake dating

 

My Thoughts:

This story is delightfully sweet while also giving us the grumpy but also very sweet hero we all want (or at least I do). I also really enjoyed coming back to the Appies team and seeing some characters I liked from previous books!

I loved Nathan's character and how while he was grumpy he also cared about his team, family and most of all Summer. It can be hard in a contemporary romance to have stakes to keep the characters apart when it's clear they are both interested from the beginning. However, I felt like Jenny Proctor did a good job explaining why Nathan was so hesitant.

I really enjoyed how confident and smart Summer was. I haven't read the book about her sister from the Sweater Weather series but I really enjoyed meeting her family and I'd love to go back and read that one! I enjoyed that Summer and her twin didn't like men who couldn't tell them apart. That is a really creative way to find out much someone cares!

Fans of sweet hockey romance or sweet small town romance will love this one! I really enjoy a series of interconnected standalones and I'm excited to read more from Jenny Proctor. I think this is the perfect type of book for fans of adult romance who want a closed door story.

🌶️ - Only kissing in this one with no scenes where more occurred. Could be safe for teens but is a story about adults written for adults.