Wicked Serve

Beyond the Play, Book 4

De: Grace Reilly

Narrado por: Faith Clark, Oscar Reyes

Claim your new obsession from TikTok sensation Grace Reilly, a spicy brother’s rival hockey romance! Perfect for fans of Hannah Grace, Liz Tomforde and Elsie Silver.

He’s my brother’s biggest hockey rival…but he’s bringing the heat for me.

Nikolai

Hockey is my life, and I need to make this last season count. But when I’m forced to transfer to rival school McKee University for my senior year, I risk pissing off the captain, who happens to be the older brother of Isabelle Callahan: the gorgeous beam of sunshine I messed around with in secret this summer.

Rekindling our fling could risk her brother icing me off the team—not to mention the fact that my scarred past makes having a real relationship impossible—and yet the moment I see Isabelle again, all my wild, burning feelings come rushing back.

Izzy

I have two goals for sophomore year: win back my old volleyball position, and forget I ever knew devilishly handsome hockey defenseman Nikolai Abney-Volkov. As the youngest and only daughter in a family full of athletes, failure isn’t an option.

But when Nik crashes back into my life, I can’t stay away from his broody charm. I’m determined to guard my heart this time, but between the furtive hookups and the heartfelt conversations, the lines between friends-with-benefits and more begin to blur.

As we fall deeper into a place we can’t come back from unscathed, we’ll have to make a choice: fight for a future together, or watch it go up in flames.

Filled with swoons, spice, sports, and koalas, Wicked Serve is a don’t-miss new adult college sports romance.

©2024 Grace Reilly (P)2024 Spotify Audiobooks

Nik and Izzy

Wicked Serve is the fourth and final book in the Beyond the Play series. It tells the story of Nik and Izzy. Izzy is the only daughter and youngest sibling in the Callahan family. Nik plays hockey for Izzy's brother's rival team. Nik and Izzy fit well together. I loved the evolution of their relationship as they worked through their individual issues. They stood by each other even when it was difficult to do so. This story has deeper topics and is more emotional than I expected. I was invested in their journey and rooted for them.

Nik absolutely made the story for me. I couldn't get enough of him. He fell hard for Izzy and was super supportive of her. Nik had a difficult past and lots of trauma from his childhood. I loved his mental health journey. He didn't shy away from confronting his issues and prioritized getting the help he needed. I stan a man that goes to therapy. Of course, you can't go wrong with a dirty-talking hockey player.

As a sports romance fanatic and former athlete, I love reading stories where both the MMC and FMC are athletes. I loved the forbidden nature of Nik and Izzy's relationship, and there is some really good spice. They had amazing chemistry and couldn’t keep their hands off each other. I loved how Nik showed Izzy how she deserves to be treated. I also loved how he gave Izzy the space to be herself. I love a man who empowers his woman. I really loved the found family element and how the story wrapped up with a heartwarming HEA.

🎧𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:
Faith Clark and Oscar Reyes performed dual narration for this story. Oscar did an amazing job with Nik's Russian accent. Faith and Oscar gave the characters the perfect personalities and really brought them to life. I could feel the emotions as the characters navigated their relationship and their personal struggles.

Amazing

The series was already amazing, but hearing the story of Izzy and Nick was the perfect ending. One of my favorite series ever!

Amazing

This was my first Grace Reilly book and I loved every minute of it. Nikolai and Izzy had an amazing summer when Izzy did her internship at his mom’s wedding planning business. When the summer was over they went their separate ways. Nikolai to Boston to play hockey and Izzy to McKee University to play volleyball. An unfortunate event leads to an expulsion from his college and his grandfather manages to get him a spot on the rival school’s team, McKee University. Not only is he play for the rival team, he is also playing with his biggest rival, Cooper Callahan, the Captain of the team and Izzy’s older brother. It’s so messy but it’s what kept me reading.

Nikolai and Izzy start off as friend’s with benefits but we all know how that works out. But it’s how they work through it and their personal challenges that I loved. They communicated. I loved this about these characters. They never backed down from one another and they were each other’s biggest champion. I loved their story and watching them work through their personal issues. Especially Nikolai. I related to him so much.

The story and characters made it hard to put this book down. The family closeness really jumped off the page. The narrators did a great job bringing them to life. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series to get to know them and their stories more.

Sweet & Charming

Reilly's book is a wonderfully sweet & charming romance filled with plenty of swoon and spice! Narrators Faith Clark & Oscar Reyes provide a solid narration with both well together. It does take time to adjust to the differences in their voice performance for Nikolai. Yet, the more I listened to the book it was easy to adapt.

Nikolai and Isabelle might be opposites in many ways but their natural attraction to one another in never in doubt. Isabelle loves playing volleyball and she adores her family. Nikolai is a hockey star who has loved the game since he was little. He is also Isabelle's brother's rival. None of this means they forget their summer romance they experienced. Nikolai and Isabelle might have labeled their summer together as a fling, yet both have a difficult time truly believing this once they are separated.

When Nikolai is transferred to Isabelle's college and ends up on her brother's hockey team neither can keep away from the other. There are plenty of stolen and spicy moments. The summer romance must be kept a secret from Isabell's brother which becomes much more complicated especially with everyone's feeling changing. Isabelle has plenty of insecurities but she does not hold back from Nikolai. However, Nikolai has walls in place: he refuses to let Isabelle see his panic, know his triggers or even why his family is part of it all. This just might be what keeps them apart. Yet, Isabelle is determined to be strong for the both of them. Reilly has developed two solid characters and I love how strong their differences are yet they still connect so well.

What a surprise!

I don’t think I’ve read a book quite like this one. I was not expecting the emotional journey of this couple. This book is an easy 5 star read and I’d probably read it again. I feel like the rating on this book is highly underrated. This is an incredible romance, 🌶️ 😘, the narration is wonderful and the writing was extremely relatable. God I did not expect to love this book this much.