The Pucking Date

Defenders Diaries

De: A J Summers

Narrado por: Shane Martinez, Clinton Woodhams

Finn O’Reilly doesn’t follow rules.

But even he knows you don’t hook up with the coach’s daughter.

She was a one-night mistake he’d make a thousand times over.

He knew she’d bolt.

He just didn’t expect her to ghost him completely.

And he definitely didn’t expect her to show up again…pregnant.

Jessica Novak doesn’t lose control.

Not in the boardroom. Not on the ice. And definitely not with a grinning, cocky forward who specializes in bad decisions and worse timing.

But one night in Montreal, she let go—and let him in.

Now he’s back in her orbit.

And this time?

He’s not just playing to win.

He’s playing for keeps.

©2025 Attraction Publishing (P)2025 Attraction Publishing

Sweet, passionate, and entertaining!

This is the third book in the Defenders Diaries series, a Sports romance. Finn and Jessica's forbidden romance is sweet, passionate, and entertaining, filled with secrets, and push and pull. Shane Martinez and Clinton Woodhams did a good job bringing this story to life. Looking forward to listening to The Pucking Comeback, the next in the series. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

She is a runner he will chase her 😍

This is an awesome story about Jess and Finn. They have a complicated relationship. He chases and she runs out of fear. This is their love story. It is sweet, sadly complicated with a HEA. I so enjoyed the push and pull they have with the hot chemistry. This is a great series. I love all the characters. I would give it more than 5 stars if possible. Loved the voice actors they really brought the story alive

Finn and Jessica

The Pucking date is a Hockey romance Dual narrated with a third act breakup.
Clinton Woodhams does a great job narrating Finn. Finn is a smooth-talking southern charm wielding alpha male who has his sights set on Jessica the coaches daughter. This story is a great listen for anyone who loves dirty talking alpha males with a SHE'S MINE mentality.

2nd act break up
dirty talking alpha male
hockey
off limits.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A slow burn with sweet heat

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The storyline did not take long to engage me as a reader and I appreciated the amount of time that Summers gave to building out the backstory of our make and female lead. While the storyline did was pretty long for an audiobook - definitely more difficult to chunk the reading time - the voice acting was part of a quality production.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | A perfect mix of romance, hockey, and spice!

The Pucking Date by A J Summers is an interconnected standalone (Defenders Diaries Series); forced proximity, he falls first, sports romance. I listened to this in 24 hours and highly recommended it.

Finn’s a professional hockey player, charming, a man on a mission for one thing Jessica attention.

Jessica a strong independent, determined woman who isn’t ready to open her heart again. And even if a Jessica was interested in Finn theres one problem, she works for the Defenders organization and her dad’s the coach.

The Pucking Date!

This is a wonderful addition to the "Defenders Diaries" series. It is a stand alone read but, of course, there are connected characters and team mates. This is such a good story about Finn and Jessica. Finn, is a winger for the New York Defenders. He is also full of southern charm. He knows what he wants and goes after her, even when she keeps running. This is a fun story with great banter, passion, a surprise, love and heartwarming bits. I enjoyed every bit of their story. I love the characters and how their story develops. I love the narration for the audio book.

She's the one

I loved this story of a hockey player and the coach's daughter. It is funny, romantic and has a happy ever after ending. I got caught up in the story of one man's journey to earn the woman who he loves. I love the characters and would recommend this book to anyone who loves a feel-good love story.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Good Hockey Sports Romance.

Good Hockey story. It's gives the listener the full range of emotions and has good depth. Shows how hard working with family can be too. You feel for both of them during the conflict.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Ghosting the southern gentleman

🔥 Tropes
- Surprise pregnancy
- Forbidden love (coach’s daughter!)
- One-night stand → second chance
- He falls first (and hard)
- Grumpy/sunshine
- Intentional cinnamon roll hero
- Workplace romance
- Family drama with a side of hockey

Summary:
Finn O’Reilly is a hockey heartthrob with a tarnished last name thanks to his shady father (think embezzlement + memory loss). But Finn? Total sweetheart. Intentional. Loyal. Smitten from page one. Jessica Novak is the coach’s daughter, strong-willed and smart, but shackled by her parents’ expectations. She’s told to be resilient… which apparently means dating a man her dad approves of (who turns out to be a flaming POS human).

Finn and Jessica share a one-night stand that leaves him ready to commit and her ready to vanish. She ghosts him, hides a pregnancy, and spends most of the book pushing him away while he respectfully pines like a golden retriever in skates. The emotional tension is real, the spice is well-placed, and the narration? Chef’s kiss especially Finn’s southern drawl.

Character Vibes:
💙 Finn: 10/10 would let him ruin my life. Intentional, tender, and way too good for the way he’s treated.
💔 Jessica: I wanted to root for her, but sis made it hard. Her strength is admirable, but the ghosting and secrecy? Rough.
🤢 Her dad & the approved boyfriend: No notes. Just rage.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars)
Would absolutely read more in this series. Finn carried this book like a champ and I’m not mad about it.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

puck ya

I loved being able to listen to this book. Jessica works in PR for the team her dad coaches. Finn is a player on the team. He has been trying to get with Jessica for awhile but she has been hard to catch. She finally goes out with him then runs all the way to Asia for the summer. When she gets back she fights her feeling. Can they get past their issues, their dad's and the fact she is keeping one very large secret?

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.