The Puck Secret is Worth Your Time. Trust Me.
The Story:
So, if you know anything about the romance/erotica genre, you’ll know hockey is a well-trod story environment. It features pretty, sexy women and hunky and, often, dark and brooding guys.
In The Puck Secret, these archetypes are nailed. It also delivers a compelling, fun and spicy enemy-to-friends story that made me rip through it in one weekend.
There are a few things about the story that make it work. First are the main characters. Nova and Madison have despised one another for a good long time, and this near hatred is palpable in the first third of the novel. Until they hook up (and even past this), their dialogue is cutting and perfectly believable for a couple of twenty-year-olds who loathe one another.
Secondly, the author skillfully intertwines the main characters’ storylines while incorporating a distinct third element that develops throughout the narrative and culminates in a strong payoff at the end. I found the storyline of the male character particularly persuasive. He’s a great athlete and incredibly handsome, but these pluses are balanced by a dark family history that has left him damaged and, at times, hugely self-destructive.
Finally, the supporting cast that surrounds the main characters is terrific. The dialogue they participate in and the way each contributes to the development of the story are very well done. With this cast of characters, the author creates a believable and fun community that feels like a bonafide varsity hockey program somewhere in the wealthy hinterlands of New England.
There were a couple of hang-ups with the story that I’ll note. I won’t get into all the details, but there’s an arranged marriage element that I didn’t find overly believable. What 20-year blue blood American woman agrees to marry someone their father tells them to? I also have to confess that I found the main male MC’s broodiness and alpha schtick to be a touch too much.
Setting these minor gripes aside, the story is fun, it moves along quickly, and it has an entirely satisfying ending – as all romance novels should.
The Hotness:
Amount of Sex: 6/10. There are seven sex scenes throughout the story, and they’re all fun and hot. The first couple is oral, but once the relationship between the main characters hits its stride, we’re treated to five scenes where they go the full glorious distance.
Spiciness Factor: 6/10. Because of the dialogue in the first third of the book, I was a little bit worried the sex scenes wouldn’t have the level of heat I crave, but when the first scene hit the page, my worries were tossed out the window. The author’s writing is explicit, and thankfully, very little, if nothing, is left to the imagination. There’s lots of oral, a good amount of dirty talk featuring the C-words, and on a few occasions, the sex takes place in places it probably shouldn’t, and all in good dirty fun.
There’s one scene in particular that’s worth mentioning that involves the main characters and a third individual. On my scale of Erotic Hotness, this scene gets a solid 8/10 and brings my rating for the whole story from a 5 (Sizzling) to a 6 (Scorching.) The scene is crafted wonderfully, and goodness, when it happens, it delivers!
Kink Factor: 1/10. There’s little to no kink in the story, which is okay. Having kink in no way takes away from the story’s overall hotness. This rating is here to give potential story readers a sense of what kinks are present.
Overall Hotness: The Puck Secret is a well-crafted male-female enemies-to-friends romance novel with strong erotic elements. Within this niche, I give it a Scorching 6 out of 10 on my Scale of Erotic Hotness.
Final Thoughts:
The Puck Secret is a well-written, fast-paced romance story with a level of heat that avid erotica readers will enjoy. The driving force and strength of the story is the intense relationship between the main characters and the secrets they don’t want to share with one another. This emotional intensity flows into the bedroom and the other places where these two sex-starved young adults find themselves at various points throughout the story.
I give The Puck Secret 4.5 stars out of 5.
FYI: I listened to the audio version of the story. The narrators did an excellent job.
Sloane Cameron’s Scale of Erotic Hotness:
- Lukewarm
- Toasty
- Sweltering
- Smoldering
- Sizzling
- Scorching
- Blazing
- Molten
- Firey-Red-Hot
- Incandescent-White-Hot
