The Stanley Cup, Booktok & Hockey Romances

It's been so long since I've posted! In my defense, I did get pregnant and that has kind of taken a toll on me. I'm about 23 weeks now, so it feels like I have more of a hold on it. Things have gotten so much easier and better in my second trimester. I've been less tired, and I've started to feel my little nugget, so things are just improving overall. It's a weird feeling to know that you're pregnant, not show and not be able to feel the fetus. But now, I am VERY much showing, and I can feel her/them.

In other news, I live in a city in the US that really is plagued by terrible sports teams. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Seattle teams. They all try their best, but we have very few teams that actually do well (The Sounders and The Storm are our two "good" teams). When we got a hockey team in 2021, I really had low expectations that they would be any good. I guess I've been rooting for the Mariners for too long to expect anything from any of them. BUT this year, the Kraken have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs AND they got to the second round, which is just so exciting for us.

Maybe because of this, I've really gotten into hockey romance novels (are those two things related? Maybe... maybe not). I started out very hot with Pucking Around and That One Night, both by Emily Rath, and... I do not recommend starting with those unless you also want to be perverted by foursomes, weird genital piercings and many, many pages of smut. I mean, not they weren't good and hot, but it's just the deep end. Those two books tell a story about Rachel who ends up falling with not one, not two, but three hockey players on the "Jacksonville Rays" and... Well... you can imagine what happens next, or maybe you can't? If you can't and you want to, go ahead and read them both.

But what really got me was after finishing those two books, I came across a video on TikTok about another hockey romance series by Megan Quinn. This series features three different players (and their eventual partners) on the Vancouver Agitators. The video talks about how the guy in book three (Kiss and Don't Tell), Elias, was inspired heavily by Alexander Wennberg, who is currently one of the centers on the Seattle Kraken. And then... The Kraken kind of went all out with leaning into Booktok. It's been so funny to read through the comments on our videos and watching us become Booktok's favorite team. Honestly, we're an underdog team. We're always an underdog team (it's Seattle, after all), but having Booktok behind us is special. We're a new, expansion team that was never expected to make it to the playoffs, let alone beat the Colorado Avalanche (last year's Stanley Cup winners). But here we are, round two of playoffs, 2-2 games against the Dallas Stars, and we actually look really good.

So, if you are into romance, but not into hockey (yet), definitely go check out Megan Quinn's series (which is conveniently all on Kindle Unlimited right now) and get into the Stanley Cup spirit. If you don't have a favorite team, might I suggest the Kraken?

Girlgeek's Collection of Hockey Romances That One Night - Emily Rath - This book lulls you into a false sense of security with a very cute 1 girl, 1 guy romance but STILL, start with this.

Pucking Around - Emily Rath - Foursomes, muscles and just... 700 pages of almost pure smut. I recommend it.

Kiss and Don't Tell - Megan Quinn - A very cute story about Pacey (the best goalie in the league) and the girl that stumbles into the Vancouver Agitator's vacation house in Banff. SO cute. “My crazy makes you like me more?” “Yeah, in fact it does.”

Those Three Little Words - Megan Quinn - Bad boy meets teammate's sister and... Gets her pregnant. "Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Remember when I said I was stupid? I meant it. “You can use my lotion that’s on the nightstand,” she says. Oh great, the lotion that makes me horny just from the smell of it. Awesome. Thumbs up."

Right Man, Right Time - Megan Quinn - Fake dating, jealous ex and a... very interesting piercing. Easily my favorite of the series. This made me laugh out loud and it has some very satisfying slow burn. "That’s when I see what he texted her back. Silas: Oye, my dick. What in the actual fuck? “Oye, my dick?” I scream. “That’s what you fucking wrote? Oye, my dick? What the hell is wrong with you, Levi?”