I was right to keep with the Vancouver Storm series as The Fake Out has settled quite firmly into that category of sports romance that I adore. Layers of internal and external conflict, hidden emotions and secrets, pre-conceived notions flying out he window, and best of all, a romance that feels so real (not to mention the hop from enemies-to-friends-to-lovers).

The best way to get back at my horrible ex? Fake date Rory Miller-my ex’s rival, the top scorer in pro hockey, and the arrogant, flirtatious hockey player I tutored in high school. Faking it is fun and addictive, though, and beneath the bad boy swagger, Rory’s sweet, funny, and protective. He teaches me to skate and spends way too much money on me. He sleeps in my bed and convinces me to break my just-one-time hookup rule. He kisses me like it’s real. And now I wonder if Rory was ever faking it to begin with.

I bet you can already tease out a couple of tropes here, and I won’t spoil it for you by listing them, but I can say for sure that if you enjoyed Mile High, Play Along, and From Lukov With Love you will love The Fake Out. The banter between Hazel and Rory is stellar, the tension palpable at every turn, but underneath that you have two characters who are genuinely getting to learn about the other person and support them in their struggles and their aspirations.

I feel that The Fake Out is better fleshed out than Behind the Net in terms of character personalities and actions, because even though Rory does things that are ingrained in him and he battles with himself to be better, there is that internal challenge going on whereas I felt next to none of that with Jamie. I do love the fact we see Jamie and get to learn more about the other boys too, especially Hayden as The Wingman is up next and I am already really excited to see how it goes. We learn so much about Hayden and Darcy and I can tell they are going to gel with the friend group so well.

That seems to be a constant point with these romance books – the boys make a friend group, and across each book the girl gets added in. It works, even if it is perhaps a little overdone, and the familiarity with the set-up makes it easy for readers to dive in and absorb the juicy details of the story. It makes it easy to recommend these romances to readers when they have read one series because its pretty much a given the same structure will be appreciated again.

In saying that, I do hope all you romance readers out there pick up The Fake Out, not just for the similarities to books mentioned above, but because it genuinely is such a good read. There is character development, relationship development, gorgeous settings and conflicts that make it such a fun and engaging read. The Fake Out is a must-read and you will be so glad you did once you get your hands on it.