✨Im Literary Anxious✨

Estimated Reading Time🕒: 4 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Emily Rath✍🏻 | 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 756📖

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲:🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.5

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 5/5
𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁: 5/5
𝗪𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 5/5
𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4/5
𝗤𝘂𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: 3/5

“You swept into my life like a swirling storm of chaos. You’ve shattered everything. I’m in fucking free fall. No parachute. No one to catch me.”

🏒Why Choose?
🩵Soulmates
🩺MMFM
🏒Cinnamon Roll Golden Retriever MMC
🩵Moody and Broody MMC
🩺Thor but Make it Hockey MMC
🏒Insta Love
🩵Best Friends to Lovers
🩺Pro-Hockey
🏒Pelican Watch
🩺Queer Rep
🩵There’s a Dog (So Basically, Immediately 5 Stars)

Ho. Ly. Shit.

How did I put this book off for so long?

Why did I put this book off for so long!?

Oh, wait—I know why. It’s the nearly 800-page count that had me reconsidering every time. (Which is ridiculous, because I can devour that in three days flat, but let’s not ask my brain to make sense, okay?)

Emily Rath has written the ultimate “Why Choose” hockey romance, and it is everything.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: the length. Yes, it’s long. But every page earns its keep. The relationship between Rachel, Ilmari, Caleb, and Jake is a beautifully layered, complicated gem that would have been shortchanged by cutting corners. Honestly, now that I’ve read it, I can’t imagine skipping any of it.

Pro tip: While you can dive right in without the prequel novella That One Night, I highly recommend reading it first. Getting a glimpse of Jake and Rachel’s initial meeting adds so much depth to their dynamic.

Now, let’s talk about these four. Their relationship—both as a unit and as individual connections—is a messy, beautiful, “we’re figuring this out as we go” masterpiece. I’m a sucker for a “Why Choose” (because, honestly, who wouldn’t be?), but Emily’s take on polyamory felt refreshingly authentic.

It’s not all sunshine and unicorns here. This is four real people, with real insecurities and real emotions, navigating something completely new. There’s jealousy, tension, and plenty of “what the hell are we doing?” moments—but that’s what makes it work. It’s honest, it’s raw, and it’s relatable in a way that so many poly romances miss.

I loved seeing the internal monologues, the struggles, and yes, the jealousies. So often, poly relationships in fiction are written as conflict-free utopias, and while I’m no expert, that doesn’t exactly scream realistic. Here, the conflict made the connections deeper, the resolutions more satisfying, and the entire story impossible to put down.

And the smut. GOOD GOD, THE SMUT. 🥵 Emily, my darling, my sweet, my lovely… can I just like, take a peek inside your brain? Momma needs that type of inspiration. 😅 Seriously though, this book is equal parts plot and smut, and considering it’s almost 800 pages, that’s QUITE A BIT of smut. Bless you, Emily.

I laughed. I cried. I screamed (silently, but still). I SWEATED 🥵🥵🥵 I couldn’t stop reading.

Do yourself a favor: pick up this book immediately. You’ll thank me later.

(And yes, there’s a dog. Automatic five stars. No further questions.)