E-galley Review: Where It Begins (Pucked #0.5) by Helena Hunting

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Where It Begins by Helena Hunting
Series: Pucked #0.5
Published by 1001 Dark Nights Press on December 5, 2023
Genres: Adult Sports Romance
Pages: 172
Source: the author
Format: E-galley
My Rating:
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Blurb:

From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting comes a new story in her Pucked series. The untold story of Skye and Sidney, and the origin story where Vi and Miller are teens when their parents start dating and fall in love…

I accidentally grabbed the wrong drink at the coffee shop. On the upside, the hot guy it belonged to chased me down to kindly swap with me. On the down side, the reason I grabbed the wrong drink in the first place is because the hot guy had just caught me checking out his ass…sets.

In my defense, his rear view is rather magnificent.

In true, humiliating form, I word-vomited a bunch of horrible nonsense. Including an unnecessary explanation of the trauma I’d evaded thanks to his chasing me down. Nothing could ruin my lactose-intolerant day faster than my one true dairy.

I did not expect him to ask me out on a date after that.

I also didn’t expect the date to go well since my tendency to truth-vomit is high, and not everyone finds that quality endearing.

But apparently he does. Because he asks me out again.
And again.

Sidney Butterson (yes, it’s a weird last name) ticks all my boxes.
He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s employed and he’s ridiculously hot.
There’s one catch.

We’re both single parents. With teens.

And if our kids don’t like each other?
Well, we’re doomed.

* *Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do.* *

My Review

Oh my gosh, I loved going back and getting Violet and Buck’s parents’ romance story so much! Not only was it fun seeing those two as teens, as well as even Randy Ballistic, but spending time with Violet’s mom Skye, who we really only know through Violet’s eyes as the crazy mom, was just perfection! I feel like we’ve gotten more about her in the books and not as much about Buck’s dad Sidney, so that was a great addition to this whole world of hockey families that I adore so much. Yes I’ve read other authors that go back and do prequels like this. Or even with Hunting bringing us the stories of the next generation these days that is similar. But this one was seriously perfect. It was the kind of story that I often wish authors could tell so that we know just what happened before. Humorously, or maybe it is my nerdy side, this makes me wish for things like the story of Harry Potter’s family and the world of Voldemort before the stories we know and love so well.

I loved this and sped through it and laughed so much at all the you-know-what-blocking these teens did to their parents. Sometimes I wonder if there is any story that Helena Hunting can’t tell perfectly as she exceeds all my expectations every single time!