The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer: My Book Review

If you love hockey romance books, then check out my latest book review of The Wild Card by Stephanie Archer!

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

The Wild Card Summary:

Tate Ward is the best coach in professional hockey, a hot single dad, one of the best players of all time, and my new boss—who likes everyone but me.

The players will do anything for him, the media is obsessed, and the fans still wear his jersey. Everyone’s in love with handsome, authoritative Coach Tate Ward—except me, and the feeling’s mutual.

To save the Vancouver Storm from being sold, though, we need to work together and win the Stanley Cup, and I can’t help but push his buttons to get under his skin.

He moves me into his guest house, though, and makes me sleep in his bed.

He encourages me with the team and tells me I belong.

He’s adorable with his daughter and makes me long for things I shouldn’t.

I try to make him break, but he never loses control—until he finds me crying and fires the person responsible.

And when his brother hits on me, he loses his mind with jealousy.

Beneath his controlled exterior, Tate is protective, playful, and funny. He puts everyone before himself, but when I encourage him to be selfish, I learn that Tate wants…Me.

The Wild Card: My Review

How is this my first Vancouver Storm romance?! I loved Coach Ward and Jordan in this enemies to lovers romance and now I have to circle back to get the players’ stories in this hockey romance series.

Enemies to lovers is a romance trope I always enjoy and Stephanie Archer wrote it well with the barbs and banter between Tate and Jordan to kick off this romance. I loved how their animosity has been brewing for three and a half years where he comes to “check up” on her since she’s had no relationship with her father – the owner of the Vancouver Storm and Coach Ward’s boss.

But the threat of her father selling the team once the season ends forces Tate and Jordan to work together, bringing her on in the organization to help them win a Stanley Cup setting off the forbidden nature of their attraction since he’s now her boss, and also ten years older.

First off, I really enjoyed Stephanie’s writing. This is the first book by her that I’ve read but won’t be my last. The banter, story development, character development and spice was perfect to keep me hooked and enjoying every chapter.

Tate is the strong, capable, and caring single father and coach that you can’t help but fall for. I loved all the little (yet big) things he did for Jordan to help her succeed in the organization and build her confidence. And Bea, his daughter, was the absolute cutest.

Jordan definitely had her walls up and with good reason and I loved how her prickly nature was mirrored in the alley cat she rescued. Queue the hilarious moments whenever Phoebe just so happened to deposit Jordan’s panties in Tate’s room – I loved it!

I could understand her fear of never being good enough and fear of always being the one being left, but loved to see how Tate and the entire team and organization became her found family by the end.

Having moved into Tate’s guesthouse and now working with him at the office, this was the perfect forced proximity set up to see if and how long they could resist their attraction.

Despite having not read the previous four books in this series, I had no problem reading this as a standalone as I quickly learned all of the players and their significant others and am anxious to read their happily ever afters.

If you’re looking for a fun, sweet and spicy hockey romance featuring a hot coach and the owner’s daughter then I highly recommend this book.

Related Book Lists:

• Best Hockey Romance Books
• Best Enemies to Lovers Books
• Best Boss Romance Books
• Best Office Romance Books
• Best Single Dad Romance Books

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