I’m going to be real frank and honest with you. I picked up Double Pucked by Lauren Blakely solely because this was promised to be a hockey romance that was mfm. And it delivered but only in the mfm aspect. Or well, mostly since the romance and relationship portion was severely lacking which was pretty disappointing.
Each of the three characters in this threesome is a caricature instead of actually fully fleshed. Honestly, I couldn’t even remember the FMC’s name as I started writing this and had to skim through the book again to find it (Trina!) Here’s what we know. Trina has a dog that loves to eat dirty underwear, an ex who cheated on her, and loves to work at a bookstore. That’s everything. It’s hinted at her having a possibly strained relationship with her family but we never get into that other than light conversation with them over a meal. Also, the entire dog angle? Hated it. It was weird and made it uncomfortable. Then, we have the MMCs, Ryker and Chase. Apparently, they’re two different characters though they’re written as halves of a whole. Ryker is dark and gloomy and Chase is a golden retriever. That’s everything we know about them. That’s everything Trina knows about them because it’s how she refers to them.
This feels like we’re given stand ins for sex and if that’s all this was going to be, I wish I would’ve known this first. I hate when things are marketed as a romance because they’re too scared to say it is erotica. Trina meets Ryker and Chase who instantly are in love with her. They take her back to Chase’s place and decide to spend the week having wild sex, but then want her to move in permanently because they’re all in love. After a week. It’s so outlandish. I wouldn’t mind it if it knew it was but instead, it tries to be serious. It tries to convince readers this is a romance and not just straight up porn. That’s what annoys me.
Now, you might be asking how did this end up getting 2.5 (rounded to 3 for retail sites) stars? Because it works as intro erotica. If this was just sex and didn’t try to tell me how in love they all are with one another, how perfect a match they are, how, despite never having a threesome, Trina is a natural at it, it would’ve been good! I would’ve rated this higher! But, with the expectations of hockey and romance, this was such a complete letdown.
So, would I recommend Double Pucked by Lauren Blakely? Only if you’re strictly looking for MFM erotica. If you’re actually looking for hockey romance, you will be sorely disappointed. If you’re looking for good dialogue/internal monologue, you will be sorely disappointed.
