Pucking Wild (Jacksonville Rays, #2)
Emily Rath
This is for all the thirty-somethings trapped in marriages, friendships, and family dynamics you’ve outgrown. Set yourself free. Watch how you fly.
Oh, and give pegging a try.
BOOK BLURB
My name is Tess Owens, and my life is officially on fire. I never thought dancing at my best friend’s wedding would be the match to light the flames. But with one lingering touch, one longing look…and one sneaky caterer holding a camera phone, my almost ex-husband is ready to torch my entire life.
Unwilling to face the heat, I do what I do best: I run. Straight into the arms of Rachel and her team of NHL hockey players. One player stands apart from the rest. Jacksonville Rays star forward Ryan Langley is out with an injury. I get the surprise of my life when he shows up at my door, declaring himself my roommate.
Now I have six weeks to launch a new business. Six weeks to fight for my freedom…all while fighting my growing attraction to this All-American sweetheart with a charming smile and a career on the rise. Did I mention he’s ten years younger than me? Ryan doesn’t need my drama. And we have nothing in common. But it’s getting harder to deny the way he makes me feel. Wild. Fun. Free.
I want to believe him when he says age is just a number. I want to believe that our pasts don’t define us forever. But first I have to stop running. I have to face my fears. With one innocent dance, Ryan Langley helped me start this fire. What if we’re meant to fan these flames? What if, together, we’re meant to burn?
PUCKING WILD is a spicy MF reverse age gap hockey romance with positive plus size and bisexual representation. This is Book Two in the international bestselling Jacksonville Rays Hockey series. The series starts with Rachel’s story, which begins in the spicy prequel novella THAT ONE NIGHT.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This is the second book in the Jacksonville Rays Hockey Series. Book One, PUCKING AROUND, is Rachel’s story. Here’s what you need to know from PUCKING AROUND to get the best reader experience in PUCKING WILD:
Rachel and Tess are best friends who were living together in Cincinnati when Rachel got a sports medicine fellowship and moved to Jacksonville to join the Rays, the newest NHL expansion team
Rachel is currently in a polyamorous relationship with two of the Rays (defenseman Jake and goalie Ilmari) and the Equipment Manager (Caleb)
Ilmari made a rash decision at a fundraiser and donated half a million dollars to a sea turtle conservation nonprofit
On a visit to Jacksonville, Tess meets Ryan Langley, starting forward for the Rays. They have a meet cute moment on the beach, followed by a secret kiss in Jake’s house where Ryan may have seen Tess in her birthday suit (I included that scene here, so keep reading)
Tess and Ryan haven’t seen each other or spoken since beach day
PUCKING AROUND is 200k words long, so a lot more happened, but that’s as much as I’ll recap here. Go read it. Start with the spicy prequel novella THAT ONE NIGHT. This story starts on that fateful night in L.A. when Rachel placed her hand on the plexiglass and dared Ilmari Price to earn his new last name. Enjoy!
XO,
Emily
TROPES, TAGS, & CONTENT WARNINGS
TROPES
Hockey romance, reverse age gap (F33/M22), friends to lovers, accidental roommates
TAGS
MF, hockey romance, romantic comedy, instalust, he falls first, reverse age gap, accidental roommates, positive plus size representation, bisexual goddess, dom(me)/sub, toy play, begging for a pegging, someone’s always naked, all the Taylor Swift songs on the playlist are Ryan’s, one kiss is all it takes
CONTENT WARNINGS
This book contains some themes that may be distressing to readers including a character who is trapped in a marriage with a narcissistic, abusive partner. She experiences gaslighting, belittling, and attempts at control, shame, and blame. At one point, her partner becomes physically violent, restraining her by the neck (depicted on page). There is reference to other violence perpetrated by him, including on-page depictions of verbal and emotional abuse. His family aids him in gaslighting and controlling her.
There are also depictions of sexism in the workplace, including morality double standards. You will also read about elements of stalking, harassing, and blackmail. The main characters have their photos taken without their consent (they don’t perpetrate this on each other).
A character suffers an injury described on the page (no blood or gore). A character also suffers from severe dyslexia and exhibits a range of coping strategies. This same character has feelings of inadequacy linked to their dyslexia that include making self-deprecating remarks. This character is shamed by others for their learning difference (on page).
Aside from the above, this book contains detailed MF sex scenes that include elements of dom(me)/sub, impact play, anal play, bondage, breath play, toy use, pegging, and praise.
STAR SIGNS
TESS: Gemini (air): playful, curious, passionate
RYAN: Virgo (earth): methodical, committed, kind
RYAN’S TOP FIVE FAVORITE TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS
All of the Girls You Loved Before
Enchanted (Live)
Daylight
Lavender Haze
I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor’s Version)
MEET THE RAYS
PLAYERS
Davidson, Tyler “Dave-O” (#65): backup goalie Fields, Ethan (#94): forward
Gerard, Jean-Luc “J Lo” (#6): defenseman Gordon, Sam “Flash”: rookie, non-starter Hanner, Paul (#24): defenseman Jones, Brayden “Jonesy”: rookie, non-starter Karlsson, Henrik (#17): forward Langley, Ryan (#20): forward
Morrow, Cole (#3): defenseman
Novikov, Lukas “Novy” (#22): defenseman O’Rourke, Patrick “Patty”: rookie, non-starter O’Sullivan, Josh “Sully” (#19): forward, Captain Perry, David “DJ” (#13): forward Price, Ilmari “Mars” (#31): starting goalie Price, Jake (#42): defenseman
Walsh, Cade (#10): forward
West, Connor “Westie”: rookie, non-starter
COACHES
Andrews, Brody: Assistant Coach (defense) Denison, Nick: Assistant Coach (offense) Johnson, Harold “Hodge”: Head Coach Tomlin, Eric: Goalie Coach
TEAM SUPPORT
Gordon, Jerry: Assistant Equipment Manager Price, Caleb: Assistant Equipment Manager
MEDICAL SUPPORT
Brady, Brad: Interim Director of Physical Therapy O’Connor, Teddy: PT intern
Price, Rachel: Barkley Fellow
Tyler, Scott: Team Doctor
OPERATIONS/MANAGEMENT
Francis, Vicki: Operations Manager Ortiz, Claribel: Social Media Manager St. James, Poppy: Public Relations Director Talbot, Mark: General Manager
OTHER NOTABLE CHARACTERS
Ford, Joey: Out of the Net
Gerard, Lauren: J-Lo’s wife
Kline, Mike: Ryan’s agent
Lemming, Cheryl: Out of the Net Lemming, Nancy: Out of the Net O’Sullivan, Shelby: Sully’s wife Owens, Troy: Tess’s estranged husband Owens, Bea: Tess’s mother-in-law Putnam, Charlie: Tess’s lawyer
BEACH DAY: BONUS SCENE
Tess and Ryan first met at the beach when Ryan accidentally kicked a soccer ball at her head. As far as anyone else knows, that is the extent of their relationship. The following was presented as a bonus scene linked at the end of PUCKING AROUND. Only Tess and Ryan know this moment happened.
Now you know too.
To quote Dua Lipa, “One kiss is all it takes…”
TESS