Thank you so much to the author Mary Warren for the complimentary copy of this eARC!

This book is out on Nov 25th, 2024

You all are probably getting tired of me raving over Mary's books but guess what - I WON'T! This is the 3rd book in the Glendale Magic series and maybe is now my new favorite? It is hard to compete against my loves Sasha and Conner. As much as I did enjoy reading Evie and Cash's story, I wasn't a huge fan of Evie. But with this one, I love Alice!!

"Baby, you should never be ashamed of any part of yourself...I like all your parts."

Thank you Mary for starting this book off strong with one of my favorite tropes - forced proximity! The book starts off with a flashback of them meeting at the hockey team's charity gala. Sparks are instant between them but he could reject her, she left. Months later by pure chance, Taylor and Alice end up snowed in at Alice's family cabin and well after a few days the chemistry was off the roof!

I just love how Mary wrote these characters and in the author's note in the beginning she explains the inspiration behind the characters. And she advised that Alice & Taylor have a little of her and her husband woven into them. I think it is super important because other readers are looking for themselves represented and this could be the book where they see themselves.

Alice and Taylor were so great inside their bubble but once they were back in the "real world" they needed to navigate how that would look. And it was a little rough in the beginning but once they communicated with one another it was so much smoother!

One of my favorite moments (sorry it's a long one) comes from Alice and it really just sums up beautiful her insecurities that was scattered throughout the book. I really resonated on Alice on a few levels especially as someone who feels like they might have a touch of ADHD (which is a form of neurodivergence) and so I really could relate to the below:

"All three of the women examined the necklace. It was viberant, multicolored star pendant she'd made with small crystals and resin. It felt good because this was her own piece. And it was a splash of the color she craved. But she'd been told her whole life her outfits were too loud, she was too loud, her body was too much, her entire existence was too much. Which was so disorienting - because how could she be too much and feel so invisible at the same time?"

Overall I just could not stop reading this! This only took me two days to read but I probably could've knocked it down to a day if life hadn't gotten in the way. Alice had such a full development from start to finish especially when it came time to dealing with her mother and sister. I wish we got to see more of Taylor with his family but I understand space constraints. I love how Taylor kept on encouraging Alice to be her true self. When she wavered for a moment, Taylor did not know how to react to the change. He just loved her so much for who she was and she eventually does stop questioning it.

You could read this book as a stand alone but I recommend reading in order starting with Reclaiming Kate.

Check this book out if you love forced proximity, boy obsessed, (looking for) neurodiverse characters and of course hockey!