Shenanigans

By: Sarina Bowen

Narrated by: Jason Clarke, Vanessa Edwin

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

What I meant to do in Vegas: Let my hair down for once and celebrate winning a medal at my first women’s hockey all-stars competition.

What I actually did: Got senior prom drunk and woke up married to Brooklyn’s star winger, the great Neil Drake. 

He’s the heir to a billion dollars, and I barely survived my childhood. Our friendship is based strictly on hockey, takeout food, and smack talk. 

And now holy matrimony. We both know it can’t last - especially once his evil family gets wind of our Vegas shenanigans....

Contains: Meddling teammates, meddling parents, ugly jewelry, and a pretend kiss that nearly sets the world on fire.

©2022 Sarina Bowen (P)2022 Sarina Bowen

Hockey Magic!

I absolutely loved this audiobook. Jason Clarke and Vanessa Edwin did an amazing job as Drake and Charli. Their performances are outstanding. Listening to them is a delightful experience, and they complement each other so well. They are perfect for the characters. And it’s a wonderful story to listen to. I had so much fun and I will certainly be listening to it many, many times.

Shenanigans is part of the Brooklyn Bruisers series, but can definitely be read as a standalone. I recommend reading all the books in this series because they are all wonderful and amazing, but it isn’t necessary.

Sarina Bowen is the Queen of hockey romance in capital letters. She keeps surprising me with her talent, but at the same time it doesn’t surprise me at all because she’s that good. She definitely writes the best book boyfriends. She must be writing them with her magic wand.

I loved everything about Shenanigans. It’s a hockey romance that combines great hockey with a few of my favorite tropes. You have an accidental Vegas wedding turned marriage of convenience slash fake relationship, opposites attract, grumpy vs. sunshine, and only one bed. Oh, and did I mention all the hockey? Because both of them are hockey players!

I loved Charli and Neil. They are perfect for each other despite the obvious differences between them. Or maybe because of them. But they have a few things in common besides their love for hockey that will surprise them. They have such great chemistry, and the banter between them is hilarious. The progression of their relationship is so on point. There’s attraction, longing, so much heat, and intimacy. Their connection is so strong, and it gets even stronger as they get to know each other better.

Charli is fierce and independent, and doesn’t trust easily. She’s had a very tough life. She’s very angry and closed off, but as you get to know her you get to understand her reasons. She’s just protecting herself because she’s not willing to get hurt. Until she finds herself married to the one guy capable of breaking down those walls.

Neil Drake is the sweetest guy. He’s definitely book boyfriend material. And not because he’s a billionaire heir and a fantastic hockey player. He’s fun, witty, hot as sin, and charming. I don’t have enough adjectives to describe just how wonderful he is. And he’s had a crush on Charli since they met, but wasn’t aware she liked guys that way. He didn’t know he had a shot.

Shenanigans is such a great story. It’s witty and fun and hilarious, but it also has so much depth. The story has a few heartbreaking moments, and it deals with a few difficult topics, like diabetes and neglect, but in a very balanced way. It’s very well written, the pace is perfect, and the story is compelling. It gave me all the feels and I couldn’t put it down.

Shenanigans is the kind of book that makes you laugh and cry at the same time, Sarina Bowen’s trademark. It’s the kind of book you want to hug and makes you smile. And it is the kind of book you want to read over and over again. I had a great time reading it and I highly recommend it.

very very sad

The book went for witty, lighthearted and fun but the Heroine was just plain sad. Depressing actually. Charlie is bogged down in misery, fighting for survival, not letting anyone in, only able to feel anger and doubt. She literally cannot see the good in anything or anyone. It's one of the saddest characters I've read in a long time. It makes the ending that much better, but that's the thing: the entire book, except the last 2 chapters or so are mired in misery. She has no idea how much she hurts the people who care about her.
That said, all it would have taken would be Neil saying how he really felt. He could have been everything Charlie needed so many times but he had to grow up. I really wanted to see more of their happiness together, not just the last 2 chapters.
Overall a good book but just really sad.

Great story

The characters in the story made this woke-up-married-in-Vegas story a really great love story with depth and emotion. Well done!

My favorite trope!

I love a good accidentally married in Vegas and this one did my favorite trope justice! Charli and Neil were so polar opposite that they shouldn’t have worked, but they did. Perfectly. Charli didn’t need saving, but it was nice to finally have someone in her corner for once! I absolutely loved Neil. Perfect book boyfriend material, and I loved how his diabetes was a starring role in this book. So very well done!

Great story and narration.

Sarina Bowen somehow keeps coming up with unique takes on the Hockey sports romance trope.

Jason Clarke is always a fantastic listening experience. Vanessa Edwin is one of the few women who stand shoulder to shoulder with Jason’s talent.

Did not like Charlie, had to skip several chapters

Sarina Bowen is one of my top five favorite authors. Unfortunately, this is my least favorite book. Charli was so unlikable I could not listen any more at the 33rd chapter. I jumped to chapter 39 to catch the ending.

Ridiculous feminist pandering garbage

I can sum up this story in a few sentences. All rich people are evil. Men are always wrong even when they’re right. It’s deeply wrong that women athletes don’t get paid more than men even though women sports do not bring in the Fanbase or the money that men do to constitute them getting those same kind of paydays. I expected more from this because all of the other books in the series have always been good. I found Charlie to be very unlikable. This girl is mean to everyone and yet cannot deal with it when anyone gives her even a little pushback. There is one point where her and Neil get into a big fight and he was right and she was wrong and he was being honest and she couldn’t deal with it. On top of that he ends up being framed is the wrong one when he wasn’t. I understand that she has been through a lot of bad things but she ends up being a bad person towards everyone and never wants to hear the truth if it goes against what she wants to believe. There is so much garbage in here that take shots to anyone that has a lot of money and takes a lot of shots towards men in general. Charlie puts Neil down for having money many times. This is a story with a girl that is awful to a nice guy that’s never really done anything to her and he basically swallows it and keeps coming back for more. This is by far the worst book in the series. The feminist men hating all people with a lot of money or bad stuff really needs to stop. I mean just about every man that Charlie comes in contact with in this book are either depicted as a bad person or things are twisted to make them seem like a bad person. I know this review has gone long but this book really aggravated me all the way through. I really hope that Miss Bowen does better in the next one because I have really loved this series up until this point and I hope it goes back to being really good.

Absolutely loved it!

I really enjoyed this story! It was a lot of fun with Neil and Charli. I loved getting to delve deeper into who Charli was and what made her into such a spitfire. Life has not been easier to Charlie and she find trust very difficult to give, on just about any level. She is constantly thinking about what is safe and what isn't due to the things that have happened to her in the past and circumstances. I loved how Neil treated and interacted with Charli. I loved watching him get past her walls and how Charli felt safe with him, knowing that he wouldn't push certain boundaries. This story really pulled me in from beginning to end and I can't wait for more with the Brooklyn Bruisers, Brooklyn Bombshells and/or any books connected to these guys from Brooklyn. I truly enjoy these characters and getting to see past couples and catch up with them as well.
The narrators did a fantastic job with it and these characters. They brought them to life and I adored listening to it!

Feel Good Story

I love Sarina Bowen books and this one was no different. She manages to introduce new people into an old storyline yet giving you the opportunity to revisit old friends while weaving the lives of the new characters. Neal and Charlie shouldn’t have worked, but they did.

Shenanigans!!

I absolutely loved Charlie and Neil’s story! It was so fun visiting the Brooklyn Bruisers again and the Bombshells. The narrators did an amazing job bringing these two to life! I think I need a reread or re-listen to some of my favorite characters.

Enjoyable book

I really enjoyed this book, and there was a lot more to the characters than many other stories in this genre. Another reviewer said the heroine’s background was too depressing, but I didn’t feel that at all. Feels more real and authentic compared to some of the fluffy books out there, but it was about overcoming that stuff so still gave me the warm and fuzzies. (Warning that there could be some triggers for some, so look up the reviews if you think that could apply to you)