High heat and steamy romance between 2 hockey players. The writing is a little different than what I am used to and a lot of the background history happened off page. Be nice to read the background but still really enjoyed this book. Also touches on a lot of issues like sobriety and found family which one of MC's really needs as his biological family is not supportive of his recovery.

Looking forward to book 2.

Misconduct Zone (Enforcers MM Hockey Romance, Book 1) by Heather Leighson completely took me by surprise in the best way possible. I went in expecting a steamy, sports-driven romance, and while I definitely got that, I also got a deeply emotional story about love, identity, and the struggles of being in the public eye. This book wasn’t just about hockey, it was about two men fighting for their place in the world, on and off the ice.

Right from the start, I was drawn into the intense, fast-paced world of professional hockey. Leighson does an incredible job of making the sport feel real, from the locker room dynamics to the adrenaline of being on the ice. But what really stood out to me was how well she balanced that action with heartfelt, vulnerable moments between the main characters.

The romance in this book was so well done. The chemistry between the two leads was undeniable, but what I loved most was the emotional depth behind it. It wasn’t just about attraction—it was about trust, fear, and learning to let someone in. The tension between them felt raw and real, especially with the pressures of being in a sport that isn’t always accepting of LGBTQ+ players. Leighson handled these themes with so much care, showing both the struggles and the triumphs of navigating love in a world that isn’t always welcoming.

One scene that really hit me hard was when one of the characters had to make a decision about whether to protect his career or take a risk for love. The emotions in that moment were so strong, I felt every bit of hesitation, fear, and hope that he was feeling. Leighson has a way of writing that makes you feel everything right alongside the characters, and that’s what made this book so powerful.

The supporting characters also added so much to the story. From teammates to coaches, there was a strong sense of camaraderie and tension that felt true to the sports world.

By the time I finished Misconduct Zone, I was completely invested in these characters and their journey. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, making you think about the struggles people face just to be themselves in environments that don’t always allow it. If you love MM romance, sports romance, or just a beautifully written story with heart, this book is a must-read. I’m already looking forward to the next book in the series! I also went back to the first "book" within the series that sets up the Enforcers MM Hockey Romance and read all 4 books prior to Misconduct Zone!

I love a good hockey romance.

Dylon and Lars are teammates and besties. Dylon has had a complicated relationship with substances and has a family who actively undermine his attempts to clean up his life. Lars moves Dylan in to live with him and to discreetly support his recovery. Lars has feelings for Dylon that go past friendship, and it trying desperately to not make him uncomfortable. Dylon has a deeply internalised fear that he doesn’t deserve love, and he starts to see Lars’ attempts to keep his feelings to himself as confirmation that he doesn’t deserve someone as amazing as Lars. And Oh the PINNING!

I can’t speak to the hockey parts of the book, but I enjoyed the team dynamic and the complex relationship between the main characters, and how their friends and family impact who they are and how they interact with the world. One of my favourite parts of a romance is when you can see people become a better version of themselves when they are in relationship. And this story gave me that!

I really tried. This book was fine. Just fine. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood but I was so bored. I do think others will enjoy this. I am just not one of them.

Book Review: Misconduct Zone: A Hockey MM Romance

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Misconduct Zone delivers an emotionally charged hockey romance with plenty of spice and a heartfelt journey of love and self-discovery. As a friends-to-lovers story with a bi awakening, it offers a compelling mix of chemistry, communication, and deep emotional moments. The book also tackles important themes like addiction and mental health, weaving them into the narrative in a way that adds depth to the characters’ struggles and growth.

The romance between Lars and Dylon is the heart of the story —they share an undeniable connection, and their ability to communicate through challenges makes their relationship feel authentic and rewarding. There’s also a possessive edge to their dynamic that adds intensity without feeling overbearing, making the romance even more engaging for readers who enjoy that trope. 🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏻‍♀️ The hurt/comfort dynamic is well-executed, making their emotional moments even more impactful.

However, one of the biggest challenges in the book for me is in the first few chapters - it is keeping track of the side characters. The frequent name changes (switching between first and last names) and not knowing their backstory made it confusing for me and difficult to stay fully engaged in those parts of the story.

That said, if you’re looking for a steamy hockey romance with strong emotional themes and a satisfying HEA, Misconduct Zone is definitely worth checking out. 💕

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Initially, I was ready to give this book 4 stars. It captivated me with its deep discussions, the yearning between the characters, and the way it addressed important issues that resonated with me. However, as the story progressed, I found myself lowering my rating to 3 stars, as it ultimately fell into some familiar patterns.

The book is a solid read with a central focus on a mlm in sports industry. The emotional depth of the characters, particularly in their personal struggles, stood out. Themes such as addiction and addiction recovery, dysfunctional families, mental health, and therapy were explored thoughtfully and added complexity to the plot. The Swedish nicknames were also my personal undoing.

However, where the book stumbled for me was in its predictability, especially toward the end. While the early part of the story felt fresh and engaging, the plot became increasingly cliché. The repetitive theme of coming out to the league and the potential fallout from it started to feel overused. It’s not that this isn’t a relevant and important issue— it absolutely is. But I found myself wishing that the author had approached this aspect of the story differently, perhaps without letting it consume the entire plot. The constant focus on how the main character’s skills and coming out would be judged by others felt a bit limiting, especially in a world where more diverse narratives are being told.

That said, the book still has its merits, which include the found family, intimacy, chemistry and proper communication explored between both male leads.

I’m very excited for the next book in the series as I cannot wait to see characters that amused me in this story get their own happy ending. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I was so happy to get this arc the description caught my eye absolutely love books like this it was a fun experience the relationship between all the characters was absolutely amazing I wasn’t expecting so much spice but not complaining whatsoever half the time felt like I was interrupting something special 🤣 definitely going to keep checking out heathers new books there’s no stars enough for this book one of the best I’ve read in awhile

This is an amazing book written with all the elements needed to make a good hockey romance. The characters are loveable and the story is well written. Looking forward to more

I would rate this a 3.5 ⭐️
This is my first book by this author and it did not disappoint. I’m a sucker for hockey romances.

Even though friends to lovers is not normally my favorite trope, I really enjoyed the execution of this and how Dylon and Lars leaned on each other and grew as their relationship progressed. I loved the inclusivity of the teammates and the Q Solutions. This book deals with some heavy topics (check your CWs) very well while also being spicy with Dylon and Lars not able to stop touching each other.

My only qualms with the book was that I wish it was advertised a little better that there are books you would benefit to read before this to understand the other couples around and the events they mention because it acts like you already knew what happened during the previous summer/holiday. I also did not really enjoy the last Lars chapter. I wont spoil what happened, but I don’t think it was necessary to do. I feel it just ruined the flow and wrap up of the book.

I am interested in Caleb’s book that was teased in the very last chapter. 👀

4.5 stars, 4 spice.
Lars / Dylan

This was my first book by this author, and I’ll very likely be back for more (and based on that teaser at the end, Caleb’s book will be going straight on my TBR when it’s out 👀). Both MMCs melted my heart, with Lars’ stoic yet gentle demeanour and Dylan’s sunshine-ness despite his addiction. I loved watching them fall together, stand up for themselves, and forge their own path.

Spice was spicing, with some light kink in there (praise, bondage, orgasm control). It was well written and only added to the story rather than distract from it.

I was really excited to read this as I’m always up for a new hockey romance series, and was drawn in by the blurb. However, I really couldn’t get into it as I wasn’t not a fan of the writing. Have rated neutrally rather than negatively, for the sake of fairness as I DNF. Hopefully it’ll find its audience, but that doesn’t include me!

Misconduct Zone is a sports romance that centers on the bond between two hockey teammates, Lars and Dylon, and how they navigate their struggles both on and off the ice. The chemistry between these two characters is what really makes this book shine — they’re always there for each other, no matter the obstacles they face.

Lars’ concern for Dylon’s sobriety throughout the book is both touching and genuine. It’s clear that their friendship is built on trust. Their dynamic feels real, and you can’t help but root for both of them as they work through their personal challenges.

On the hockey side of things, the book strikes a great balance. It’s not all about the plot but contains actual hockey playing. The focus remains on the characters, and the hockey scenes complement their journey without overshadowing it.

That being said, the book does get a bit cluttered early on with too many character introductions. It can be hard to keep track of everyone, and some secondary characters could have been cut out or introduced later in the story.

Tropes:
Friends to lovers
Close proximity
Found family

This was such a good book. The balance between hockey and MM story line was perfect. It was a cute story how they went from friends/roommates to lovers. Also the addict storyline was well written. It got his sad moments with addiction and family issues but the love story made everything better. How they're both there for each other was perfection. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it.
4,5 stars

I had a bit of a hard time getting into this, because the writing wasn’t really my thing. There was a lot of telling and not showing and the conversations between the characters as well as their inner monologues felt stilted and chopped to me. 

There were also <b>so many side characters</b> that didn’t really interest me but took up a lot of page time, especially in the beginning and before our main characters were properly established. I was mostly confused for the first 20% of the book, ngl. Like, did I miss 3 sequels to this?

At last the focus shifted to our MCs Lucky and Lars and that’s when things got more enjoyable for me. Thank god I‘m a sucker for pining, hurt/comfort and possessiveness because we have this in abundance here! 
Also the smut was <i>good</i>! These two could not control their boners or keep their hands off each other which led to many a steamy situation! 😏


<u>Kinks and CW</u>
Praise 
Dirty talk
Spit as lube 
Light exhibitionism
‚Mine‘ 
Light bondage 
Orgasm control
Felching 
Breeding

Drug addiction and overdosing
Codependency 
Alcoholism
Emotionally abusive parents 

Thanks to netgalley for this arc!

I am getting to be quite familiar with Heather Leighson’s work. I read her previous series, Unframed Art. Characters from that series are mentioned in this book, but they aren’t main characters, so if you haven’t read that series you can read this without any worries. (You should probably check that series out though).

If you enjoy spicy stories, this is a great one for you! Teammates Lars and Dylon are best friends. After Dylon had some struggles with addiction a year ago, Lars was there to take care of him, and became very protective. This protectiveness turns in to deeper feelings towards Dylon, and as our men figure themselves and their sexualities out, their relationship moves past good friendship.

Dylon comes from a low income background with parents that resemble parasites. Part of me wants to know more about what happened with them, because I can’t believe they will just let things drop.

Overall, this was a very satisfying book, which was a perfect read for this snowy day. I’m interested to see where this series goes after this!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this copy of the book.

I liked it. Definitely spicy. Something about Lars really fell short for me for the first half of the book. I think in the author’s attempt to make him a brooding Swede they accidentally made him kinda boring. Once everything got going though Lars was very sweet. I loved the two of them together, and even though they kind of had the same conversation over and over, they were very supportive of each other’s issues and very good together.

Lars has supported Dylon through the roughest period of his professional and personal life. As team mates and housemates they have become close because of their respective life journies and traumas. They are a little stuck as both have feelings for one another but don’t know how to progress that part of their relationship for fear of ruining their friendship.

Misconduct Zone tackles addiction and co-dependence amongst a range of hard hitting issues. The issues are managed sensitively and Lars particularly is as supportive and as understanding as can be. There’s a mix of hockey and relationships throughout. It’s a fairly male-centric book (one of the females is incredibly objectionable but there are a couple of other females depicted more positively, though their roles are pretty fleeting).

This became fairly intense once feelings were recognised (still waters run deep with Lars) and I was worried it was going to overwhelm the story but that didn’t end up happening. There were some loose ends throughout but I’m hopeful these will be addressed in future books.

This is the first work of the author I have read and appreciate being able to do so through Netgalley.

Great book!