This was such a cute story. I loved the relationships that existed and were built during the journey. The way the romance builds from fake dating, and creating a family with those around you. Just One Season was so fun to read!

Thank you Netgalley for an arc of Just One Season by Chrissy Hopewell

Fake dating, funny banter and hockey? Sign me up please! This book definitely gave Ted Lasso vibes throughout. Kellen and Lucy have their own motives when it comes to joining forces to start fake dating. Lucy’s dad and ex-fiancée are the absolute worst! I loved how Kellen was always in her corner and was so protective of her. While some themes were pretty predictable it did keep me entertained! Overall a very cute read.

Just One Season by Chrissy Hopewell is a fake dating, friends-to-lovers hockey romance and is absolutely delightful!

Lucy is covering a maternity leave, working on PR for the Blizzards hockey team. More importantly, she is moving away from her controlling father and cheating ex fiance. Kellen is captain of the team, co-parenting his sweet daughter, and attempting to avoid unwanted attention from the team owners wife. They decide, with the help of their friends via committee vote, to fake date in order to help both parties. The banter between characters was great, I loved the side characters/plot lines and the story was believable! This book was fantastic and I can't wait for the rest of the series!!

Thank you to Fox Hallow Publishing and Netgalley for this e-ARC.

This is such a wholesome cozy sports romance. Yeah that’s right, it’s cozy and wholesome while still being a sports romance, what more could you want?! The author does a phenomenal job bypassing stereotypical conflicts and instead focuses on building Lucy and Kellen into a solid relationship.

Loved:
- Lucy being older than Kellen, but it doesn’t cause conflict
- The found family aspect of the story
- Kellen having a close relationship with his daughter’s mom, but it doesn’t cause conflict
- Savannah wasn’t made into a stereotypical gold digger who was trying to cheat on her husband (seriously, I really really appreciate that the author made these characters actual characters not caricatures)
- All the goofy dog names
- Lucy being able to find love and her place in the world without sacrificing dreams or her career

Meh
- This is an oddly niche thing to have a problem with, but I went to college in Fort Collins and the thought of an NHL team being based there was so far from the reality that it kind of pulled me out of the book. They said, I loved the Colorado and FoCo rep!

This book was very cute! It knew how to really play at the heartstrings and gave just that right level of angst that makes you feel tingly all over. I did somehow feel the first few pages were a bit slow, too wordy but it picked up great and everything was paced perfectly. I've always been into the fake dating trope but never been too into the single dad trope until this book (thank you Kellen! hubba hubba) Kellen and Bri's relationship was also so refreshing with how they co-parented and I loved all the side characters.

I absolutely adored this book. Fake dating and Hockey Romance are two of my favorites and who doesn't love a brothers best friend/team mate trope, it is written perfectly you immediately feel the connection between Lucy and Kellen and also feel everything they have been through to get to this point and onwards. They are amazing character who have a great found family around them supporting them. I am also curious about the relationship between Atticus and Raleigh and hoping we see something there in the future.

Ahhh what a cute love story! I absolutely adored the characters in this book. From Lucy and her clumsy nature to Kellen’s sweet relationship with his daughter.
I could not put this down, I was so invested in their romance, it was lower on the spice scale than I was expecting but was still so good, so well written.
Such a funny heart-warming book, would recommend.

I adore hockey romances so I already knew this was going to be a hit. However one of the things I adored the most about this book is how it challenges the stereotypes that are present in most other hockey books.

Lucy being older than Kellen. Kellen’s baby mama being so supportive of Kellcy. Lucy’s brother not objecting to his team mate dating his sister. In most stories, these elements are used to create conflict or drama, but in Just One Season, they are used to create a wholesome vibe.

The romance is a slow burn but you get to see a wholesome viewpoint of the couple from their fake staged dates to the adorable nicknames they try out . As the romance is not rushed you can really connect with the characters and each of the MCs golden retriever personality’s shines through.

I couldn’t put this book down and ended up reading it in one night. This is a 5⭐️ read, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone looking for a light, wholesome escape.

Tropes:
Brothers teammate
Fake dating
Found family
Slow burn