@booktalkwithmars: ✨ AVAILABLE NOW ✨ ARC Review - 4.25 ⭐️ 4 🌶️ I didnt expect this book to draw out a lot of emotions out of me but I'm not mad at it. This is my first Emily Rath book and honestly, I thought it was a great intro to her writing and books. I have been seeing this series on socials but because I dont really enjoy Why Choose romances, I've kinda avoided it. I did get this ARC and I'm so glad I applied because I truly enjoyed and loved this book. This is Book 4 of the Jacksonville Rays series and it's about Henrik, a hockey player on that team and Teddy, who was once an intern PT but now back on the team as a doctor after 6 years. Tragedy struck Henrik that forced him to come back to Sweden and become a guardian for his niece Karolina (who was injured in an accident that killed her mom, Henrik's sister). Teddy went with him for support but they ended up faking a marriage so Henrik's custody case to bring Karo back to the US. What's interesting about this is at the start of the story, we know Teddy has a bigtime crush on Henrik back in his intern days. Of course with forced proximity, Teddy and Henrik fall in love and the rest is history. I absolutely loved Teddy. He is the perfect mix of a strong and sassy character but also was not afraid to show his vulnerabilities. I love his inner monologues and just his personality overall. It was so easy to root for him because he was just a good person. Henrik was a little tough to connect to but then as the book goes on and he start to peel some of his layers, I kinda understand why he was the way he was. I love that this was a slow burn. I felt like their journey together as a couple was fleshed out and they took their time. Eventhough Teddy was in love with Henrik from the start, Henrik was not there yet and I like that he developed all these feelings gradually and we can see from the book where he starts to look at Teddy differently. Love them as a couple. When the spice did hit, it was really hot. I also loved Karo and her interactions with her Uncle and Teddy. There's a lot of scenes in this book that made me teary eyed but most of them are mostly when the MCs were expressing their love and concern for Karo. Not the author's fault but because I have not read the previous books, it was hard to keep track of the other chracters especially figuring out who was with who. Haha the first book was a why choose with 3 guys and the 3rd book is with 2 guys. I was interchanging Poppy and Rachel at times. I also got confused because both of them were also pregnant in the book. Overall, this was such a happy surprise for me. I enjoyed the book, the characters, even the annoying teammates got endearing towards the end. Thank you @Hambright PR and @BetweenTheChapters for the advanced copy in exchange for my thoughts! #BookTok #bookquotes #newrelease #bookreview #puckingstrong

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Thursday 28 August 2025 12:47:50 GMT