*A STANDALONE novel*I’m NHL defenseman Lance Romero, AKA Lance “Romance.”I’m notorious for parties and excess. I have the most penalty minutes in the league. I get into the most fights. I take the most hits. I’m a player on and off the ice. I’m the one women with no inhibitions want.Not because I like the notoriety, but because I don’t know how to be any other way.I have secrets. Ones I shared … be any other way.
I have secrets. Ones I shared with the wrong person, and she used them against me. Sometimes she still does. I should cut ties. But she makes it difficult, because she’s the kind of bad I deserve.
At least that’s what I believed until someone from my past gets caught up in my present. She’s all the good things in this world. She lights up my dark.
I shouldn’t want her.
But I do.
I should leave her alone.
But I won’t.
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I was not prepared for the heaviness of this book. It started off so cringey and reminded me why I was hesitant to read this book but I ended up falling in love with Lance and forgiving that cringey moment. It was still filled with some laugh out moments but not as many as the other pucked books. Poppy was sweet and she was perfect for Lance. I really enjoyed these two more than I expected to.
I thought I knew exactly what I was getting into with Lance’s story because he’s already been established as the hard-partying ladies’ man who doesn’t know when to quit in the earlier books. Having met Poppy in book 2 when she helped Miller, I was pretty sure she’d be the reason he cleaned up and got his act together, which isn’t wrong but his story is so much more than that. Lance wasn’t one of my favorites because he seemed so abrasive and shallow compared to how sweet and genuine I found Alex, Miller and Randy. I’m happy to report that I was completely wrong about Lance and his story is probably my favorite after Violet and Alex now. I wasn’t at all prepared for Lance’s story but it’s fantastic.
Last we saw Lance, he had a very toxic and far too public relationship with Natasha, the Hawks trainer. They had another explosive break-up after they got caught getting it on in the locker room and Tash was fired. A guy who drinks way too much and regularly trashes his own house in a toxic relationship is hardly a sympathetic character but once Lance’s background is revealed, you’ll see him in a completely different light because it’s a very moving story. It’s amazing that he’s even relatively normal after everything he’s been through.
Lance has carried an unimaginable weight since childhood: he’s lived his entire life blaming himself for the murder of his eight-year-old brother. His father abandoned the family soon after, leaving Lance with his unstable and extremely abusive mother. The poor kid lived with her abuse for years, believing he deserved it for having caused his brother’s death. In fact, he still thinks he deserves to suffer, which is why he keeps going back to Tash. Her real story was another surprise. We didn’t see much of her in the previous books but she seemed fun and well-liked. The team was disappointed to lose her and annoyed at Lance for putting Tash in the position he did that ended with her dismissal. Violet and the rest of the girls seemed close with her, supporting her after she got fired and in the wake of her final break-up with Lance.
I liked Tash from what I knew of her and wondered if her story was going to parallel the others in some way, perhaps putting her with one of the other Hawks in the All In series or giving her a minor story line in the final book but nope. I knew nothing of Tash before this and once I learned who she really is, I loathed her to the point that I would’ve been disgusted if she’d come back into Lance’s life.
Lance is so much sweeter than I ever gave him credit for and I was just floored by his story. He’s been portrayed as such a cad until now that even his closest friends questioned his friendship with Violet, suspicious of his intentions with Alex’s wife but Lance took it all in stride. In fact, he seemed to think their concerns were reasonable enough that he calmly dispelled them and didn’t even get mad at the suggestion. It’s obvious from the beginning that Poppy is so good for him. Lance has been through more heartbreak at his age than most people face in an entire lifetime so I was happy this wasn’t a will they/won’t they story. There were no interfering puck bunnies, out of context media photos or toxic exes sabotaging his life.
This was just a story about a guy trying to figure out how to be real and vulnerable without scaring away the woman he loves. It’s one of the sweetest love stories ever and I’d kill for more Lance and Poppy. She’s adorable and perfect for him in every way so they’re a couple you can root for from page one.
Lance and Poppy’s story is just as fun as Alex and Violet’s romance. I really, really loved this one. It was fantastic fun!
Love the Pucked series. Can be read as a standalone. Lance is a fantastic character. Love every second. Love Helena’s book and this one didn’t disapoint.
Lance’s story needed to be told and this makes it so much easier to understand his aggression and his ways from previous books. The lad has had such a hard upbringing, that he deserves a world of flowers. And that’s what he gets with precious Poppy.
When you’re always told you’re never good enough, you start to believe it, and only give yourself to that bar and standard. And that’s what Lance does. Until Poppy comes along. She’s all the right kinds of things that he needs, but he’s not sure if he can make it work… he doesn’t feel he deserves to even be with someone so pure and good.
I love how Poppy brings the food out in him. Shows him that he is good enough and that he deserves her love. His precious brings out the sweet side of him. I’m so happy Lance got his happily ever after. The man deserves that and more!
You really should read the Pucked series from the beginning b/c Lance’s story is better with that context. If you like romance/romantic comedy and are down with a bit of raunch but haven’t read this series (or this book) yet, I envy you. Funny, heartfelt, steamy HEA with more of a tragic backstory than some of her other characters. Highly recommend.
“I have a broken boy who’s become a broken man, and as stupid and naïve as it may be, I want to be part of what heals him. “I”
I was waiting for this story since forever!
And I have to admit it was definitely worth the wait!
Lance Romero is ‘the playboy’ , always partying , drinking , being reckless.
But under all the armor there’s a complex and wounded boy, who just what to be loved.
He has a difficult past , that really played a number on his mind. He only know how to be in a toxic relationship. He doesn’t know what’s really like to be accepted just for who he is.
Until something changed. A girl from the past. The girl.
“Poppy – she’s like…all this goodness wrapped up in one person. I want to have that … I want to deserve to have that.”
Poppy is the most sweet and caring person ever. She somehow understand Lance , she’s the only one he feel comfortable with. But she’s also very guarded , she just want to protect her heart .
But sometimes you can’t fight that kind of chemistry.
I swear I could feel all the looks , all the touches , all the unsaid words coming out of the book.
The chemistry and the passion between them is just like fireworks .
One of the best hockey romance ever!
I don’t think word can really make justice to what I felt reading it. You just have to trust me on this one, you won’t regret it!
“For the first time in my entire life, I understand what it means to be with someone who will give and not just take.”
I gave it absolutely 5 stars!
Now I’m heading for the last book of this beautiful series, I’ll keep you posted!
I hope you’ll enjoy it like I did!
Gah! Lance and Poppy totally pulled on my heartstrings and I absolutely loved every single moment!!!!!! Sooooo amazing—if I didn’t have to work yesterday I would’ve read this book in one sitting because I totally didn’t want to put it down!
The reasons I’ve decided to read Pucked Off:
1/ I LOVED the cover
2/ I misread the title. If you change P into F, well, that was my version and it got me intrigued so I HAD to read the book.
Pucked Off popped my cherry when it comes to both the Pucked series and Helena’s books in general. I simply loved the story. Lance and Poppy had an amazing connection and I really enjoyed reading about them. Their story was angsty, but there were also some funny moments and lots of love – I loved how the development of their feelings and relationship. Lance is carrying enormous baggage and each time he was speaking about his past, my heart was breaking for him. Poppy was sweet, but she was also capable of setting the rules and as she was afraid of getting hurt, for some time she tried to resist Lance, but well. That’s Lance. You can’t resist the guy, now can you? I loved loved loved the book so much, especially how determined Lance was to remember Poppy.
Overall, I loved the book (I’m repeating myself again) and I’m so so happy that I found the book and read it, as it simply made me fall in love with all Helena’s books.
I love love love Lance he is my favorite out of the pucked Series world. I cant express how much i felt for Lance, Lance is a hockey Player and hes not the typical play boy hes a special breed in my eyes hes perfect , Lance has some demons that he tries to run from, Enter ( Her) Poppy she is the most amazing Character we got a touch of her in the earlier books when she helped out a player we shall remain nameless, lol, poppy has her own struggles and she and lance are beautiful together, lance and poppy build up a slow steam and once they get there that relationship they build together is amazing, this is my most re read book by Helena Hunting ever,
‘Pucked Off’ is finally out. YEAY! And I don’t know for how long I waited this book to come out but here what happened to me on the release day:
Me (the night before release day): Yeeehhhuuuuu! I cannot wait to get my hands on ‘Pucked Off’
Me (the morning of release day): I cannot wait to get off work, cuddle with my kindle and start reading
Me (@ 6 pm on release day): FML! I am stuck at the office (till 1 am)
Me (@ 2 am on release day): Finally, in my bed and reading
Yeah I know I sound like a psycho but I couldn’t help myself, I had to read it and couldn’t wait any longer. At the end, I didn’t sleep at all but it was totally worth it. I hope my review can make justice to the book and I don’t give away much and ruin the story for you. So ‘Pucked Off’ is the fifth book of the ‘Pucked’ series. It is one of the best sport romance series I ever read. If you read the ‘Pucked’ series you all know who Lance Romero is and probably can remember Poppy too. While the rest of the series was light hearted and full of funny moments, ‘Pucked Off’ is different. It is the most emotionally and the heartbreaking story of the series.
Do you remember the girl from ‘Pucked Up’ who rubbed off the dick on Miller’s forehead, went to grade school with Lance and was stuck in a closet for seven minutes with Lance when she was twelve years old? She is our heroine Poppy O’Connor. Poppy is beautiful, sweet, smart, and generous. She works as a massage therapists and that is how Lance comes back into her life.
Through out the series, we all read about Lance ‘Romance’ Romero and know all about his reputation as a manwhore. I was always curious about his relationship with Natasha, a.k.a. Tash, the team’s ex-physical therapist and at some point was hoping she was his happily ever after. OMG! After reading the book and realizing how toxic she was for Lance, I am really glad it wasn’t her. Deep down Lance is sweet and has a good soul but he is really broken, vulnerable and insecure. He has a lot of trust issues because the people that supposed to love and protected him, only neglected and abused him. He also doesn’t believe he deserves anything good because of the guilt he is carrying since he was eleven years old. He envies the serious and stable relationships his teammates Alex, Miller and Randy have. Even though he doesn’t think he deserves it, he wants to have the same stability in his life. In the hopes of having someone he can trust in his life, he shares his past with Tash, which she ends up using it to manipulate and hurt him more.
The events caused by his misplaced trust leads him to the clinic where Poppy works. When they meet at the clinic even though he is nervous, he is attracted to her. He has a feeling he knows her but he cannot remember it. Because of his horrific childhood he keeps the memories related to his childhood locked away, which is not really helpful at all. I loved how their relationship was evolved and how by the help of Poppy, he started to remember the good memories from his childhood. Poppy is one of the few people who can see through Lance. Every time when Lance tells Poppy ‘‘I wanna deserve you’’, my heart broke for him but it also made me love Poppy more because she always assured Lance that he deserves her, their relationship and happiness. I also loved how successfully Helena Hunting balanced the ups and downs of their relationship so that it wasn’t full of relationship drama. You want more details about their relationship? Then I recommend you to start reading the book ASAP
‘Pucked Off’ is a heartbreaking, beautiful, sweet and hopeful story. I couldn’t put this book down until I was done. If you enjoy previous books from the ‘Pucked’ series and/or sports romance, you will definitely enjoy reading this book. I am hoping that this is not the last book of the series and maybe next we can read stories of Charlene& Darren or even Abby&Rookie
Would I recommend this book: Yes
Would I re-read this book: Definitely
Would I read future books by this author: Yes
I loved Lance in the previous books in this series. Further, I appreciate how Hunting, dove deeper into his backstory. It gave you an understanding to his anger on the ice. It made how he and Poppy fit together so well even sweeter.
As usual, the humor was always on point.
Lance is my gummy bear. I wanted him to find his happy and he got that with poppy. They were amazing and this book bumped out all other books as my favorite. It is more series but still has all the humor. Best book ever
This story was beautiful. Lance and Poppy embark on a journey that will break your heart but slowly put you back together again. I loved how Lance wanted to change to be better for Poppy. I should just say that I loved this book, this series is just wonderful, humorous, and absolutely charming.
OMG…..I Cannot even describe how much I LOVED this book.
Pucked Off By Helena Hunting was absolutuely EVERYTHING and more… I could not have predicted my reactions to reading Lance and Poppy’s story,the emotions slammed into me like I was on the ice being taken facedown onto the ice…
There are so many moments I relished and Lance, god Lance I wanted to just take him into my arms and hug him. He is a tortured soul and feels like he is not enough for anyone to love him.
A sexy broken ladies man with a reputation that paints him as a badboy, a party animal who was up for anything and everything especially in the bedroom thats what the rumours said…and then like a breath of fresh air Poppy comes into his life and a ghost from his past that he couldn’t quite place…A massage therapist who was given the job to work her magic on Lance Romero Hockey hottie and her teenage crush…after he got pretty beat up in a scuffle at a bar he was ordered to have a massage or he would be benched..and Poppy was the lucky girl who got assigned to do it…I Loved Poppy she is so sweet,gentle and innocent and was so perfect for Lance.
She is the light to his dark memories of his childhood and everything that he never thought he could have,but now wanted…But navigating a relationship when your a famous Hockey player with a reputation and a Ex that is poisonous proves to be trouble.
This is book 5 in this series and to be honest I wish this series could go on forever.
I adored this story emotional,romantic,sweet and so sexy its addicting and like a drug I could not get enough of Lance and Poppy.
A Beautiful,compelling book which gave me so many feelings,laughs and swoons…it is Amazing !!!
Oh did I tell how much I LOVED IT ….Because I do I absolutely Loved it !!
I HIGHLY Recommend IT.
5 Million firey Stars.
4.5 Stars
Pucked Off had the humour that the other books in this series have had, but this is the darkest one yet. Especially considering Lance has been a bright light (if a little playerish) in previous books. So this was a bit of a curveball. It even had me tearing up at times. While Jacob Morgan didn’t have the perfect Scottish accent (to me, as someone who lives in Scotland, it comes off a touch too Irish) it didn’t distract me too much. Lance and Tash really were toxic, but Poppy was everything Lance needed and even the conflict wasn’t unbelievable. I think this was my favourite of the series so far.
Pucked Off was the book I dreaded the most in the series and ended up being my favourite. This ginger couple was exactly what was missing in your life!
In the previous books, I already loved seeing how much Lance was changing from a fuckboy to a heartbroken man. However, I always, ALWAYS, hated Tash and could not imagine ending up loving her in this book. I almost skipped the book and go directly to Pucked Love, but, then, our sweet sweet Poppy appears.
I think this book really succeeded in making us change our mind about Lance. While he seems quite shallow, partying all the time and never having the same girl in his bed twice, he actually has a very difficult past and still has a hard time dealing with it. Poppy sees him for who he truly is and not what he is showing to the world. She is the cutest thing ever, but so strong at the same time as she is a massage therapist. Their story begins when he is forced to take a massage appointment and ends up on Poppy’s table, not knowing they actually know each other. And let me tell you, all the scenes where Lance has a massage appointment with her are so hot and so funny at the same time.
This book is so low drama, their relationship just flows and we also get to learn so much more about Lance. You will smile during the entire book, well except in scenes with Tash, or Demon Wicked Tash as I call her. I would not have believed another book of the series would be better than Pucked, but our Romance stole my heart.
Lance’s story setup started way back in book 2 (with other hits dropped here and there in other books) and as soon as I read one particular scene I thought, oh…that’s going to come up again! Sure enough, it did!u2063
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I’ll admit, I didn’t like Lance in the beginning of the series. I thought I knew which way his story was going to go and with whom, but I was completely off – and so glad I was!! Helena Hunting knocked this one out of the park…uh, rink! u2063
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This book was way heavier than any of the others so far. It still has a few funny moments, but as we get into Lance’s back story, your heart just breaks for him. This gorgeous, broken man just steals your heart from page one! What I thought was going to be a “reform this playboy” kind of story turned out to be much, much more. u2063
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Lance’s journey with Poppy was sweet and tender. She helps him realize so many things about himself and helps him start the healing process he needs. He learns that he does deserve to be happy and have someone good. They were destined to find each other again and be together! u2063
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While I loved Poppy and everything about her, Lance stole the show in this one. Also ladies, Scottish accent. Enough said. u2063
This was an exceptional story. Intense, emotional, and oh so sweet. I loved Lance and Poppy coming together and this beautiful relationship they formed, it was so heartfelt, raw, and real. I couldn’t put it down!
This series is one of my favorites… Seriously, who wouldn’t love these characters (especially the women… Lordy they make me laugh), but Lance has always been one of those characters that you either like or you don’t. Throughout the series you get to see him change … slightly, and you know there’s something dark about him. I’m just so glad we get his side of the story now.
Even throughout the series, I never really disliked Tash, because we knew nothing about her (not like we get to know her in this book), but man I was wanting to jump in and throat punch her myself. Never knew I could dislike someone so much. I truly thought this book would show a better side of her. Truly I was wrong. Lance has a lot of darkness that gets used against him, and you have no idea what’s coming. My heart just melted for him, and I never thought I would feel that way about him.
Poppy is such a wonderful character… Truly a blessing to this series. I totally fell for her, and she’s exactly what Lance needs. We met her briefly in Miller and Sunny’s book…PUCKED UP. But she’s not one you’d think would show up again, because her part was so brief, but she was memorable because she was so kind. That’s just her. When she meets Lance again, he doesn’t remember her, which doesn’t mean much. That is until it means more than you would know. Their brief history is one of the good memories that Lance has about his childhood.
Their relationship isn’t easy, but it started out pretty great until the past started creeping in. Of course you have to have some sort of drama, right? I’m telling you, this book will shed a brand new light on Lance that you didn’t see coming. (Now if we could just figure out what the heck is going on with Westinghouse and Charlene.. Lordy). This is a must read book, And will definitely be a re-read for me multiple times over. Kudos to you HH. Thanks for a great read.