Pucking Strong (Jacksonville Rays Hockey, Bk. 4)
by Rath, Emily
Price:
Available: 25+
copies bought in the last week
Overview
From viral BookTok sensation Emily Rath comes the fourth installment in the Jacksonville Rays series — a slow burn, spicy MM hockey romance built on grief, family, and a fake marriage that feels dangerously real.
Teddy O'Connor has spent six years trying to forget Henrik Karlsson. Six years since he was a wide-eyed intern wrapping ice packs and riding chartered planes with the Jacksonville Rays. Six years since he fell for the team's Swedish star forward and told himself to get over it. He's a doctor now. A professional. Henrik doesn't even know he exists.
Then Henrik's world falls apart. His sister dies tragically, leaving behind an injured, grieving young niece in Sweden. With a new hockey season looming, Henrik can't care for her alone — and the Swedish government won't let him try. He needs help. Specifically, he needs a spouse.
Somehow, Teddy ends up signing a Swedish marriage license. Then moving into Henrik's apartment. Then standing in front of the Rays' PR Director, being told their fake marriage needs to look completely, convincingly real. The team's public image, their jobs, and Henrik's custody agreement all depend on it.
The problem was never that Teddy would fall too deep. He's been in love with this man for six years. The problem is what happens when a carefully constructed arrangement stops feeling fake — and Teddy has to decide how much he's willing to risk for something that was never supposed to be real.
"Humor, heart, and heat aplenty!" — Cantina Book Club
Series Information
Series Name: Jacksonville Rays Hockey
Series Reading Order
This series is best read in the following order for the best reader experience, with novellas providing additional happily ever after content for specific couples. The series is ongoing.
Book 1 - Pucking Around
Optional Novella, 1.5 - Pucking Ever After: Vol 1
Book 2 - Pucking Wild
Optional Novella, 2.5 - Pucking Ever After: Vol 2
Book 3 - Pucking Sweet
Book 4 - Pucking Strong
Book 5 - Pucking Free
Reviews and Author Praise
"Emily Rath's fourth installment in the Jacksonville Rays series delivers an emotionally complex narrative that ventures far beyond the typical sports romance formula. Pucking Strong presents readers with Teddy O'Connor's long-awaited story, weaving together themes of demisexuality, grief, family bonds, and the courage required to claim authentic love."
— The Bookish Elf
"Pucking Strong succeeds as both a standalone romance and series continuation. Rath demonstrates remarkable growth as a writer, tackling complex themes while maintaining the warmth and humor that attracted readers to the Jacksonville Rays universe. For readers seeking romance that goes beyond surface attraction to explore genuine compatibility, identity acceptance, and the courage required for authentic love, Pucking Strong delivers considerable rewards."
— The Bookish Elf
"[I]t was everything I expected and more. Fans of the series will get more of what they love about the world the author has created, plus appearances by the rest of the Rays family from previous books. Humor, heart, and heat aplenty!"
— Cantina Book Club
Topics and Key Themes
Narrative Tropes
Forced Proximity
Slow Burn
Workplace Romance
Fake Marriage
Unrequited Love Turned Requited
Key Themes
Six years of silent longing — Teddy's long-held love for Henrik makes the fake arrangement immediately dangerous.
Grief reshaping a family — Henrik's sister's death forces him to build an unexpected home around a grieving niece.
Identity and demisexuality — Henrik's authentic self emerges only when emotional safety replaces surface attraction.
Public performance versus private truth — a PR-approved marriage slowly reveals feelings neither man planned to have.
Custody as the ultimate stakes — the arrangement isn't just romantic risk; a child's future depends on it holding together.
Who is this book for?
Primary Genre: MM Sports Romance
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ 4/5: Very Spicy
Turning up the heat! Multiple steamy scenes with clear, descriptive detail and strong chemistry. Romance and spice share the spotlight here.
Fans of Eden Finley's hockey MM romances will enjoy the slow-burn fake-relationship tension, workplace chemistry, and emotionally rich spicy heat of Pucking Strong.
About the Author
EMILY RATH is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author whose chart-topping, sex-positive, queer-inclusive novels include the Second Sons Regency romances, the Tuonela Duet fantasy novels, and the Why Choose Tiktok sensation, the Jacksonville Rays Hockey Romances. A former university professor, she holds PhDs in Political Science and Peace Studies. Emily was born in Florida, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, son, and cats. She can be found online at EmilyRathBooks.com, on Instagram @emilyrathauthor and on Tiktok @emilyrathbooks.
Similar Authors
Avon Gale, Eden Finley, Brigham Vaughn
Reader FAQs
Yes. Henrik Karlsson is written as demisexual, and the book treats this as a central part of his identity. His arc explores how emotional safety and genuine connection are prerequisites for physical attraction, making identity representation a core theme rather than a footnote.
The book carries significant emotional weight. Grief over Henrik's sister's death, the wellbeing of a grieving child, and six years of unspoken longing all run through the story. Reviewers note it balances this with warmth and humor, but readers should expect genuine emotional depth.
It is accessible to readers new to MM romance. The tropes — fake relationship, forced proximity, slow burn — are familiar romance structures. The hockey setting requires no prior sports knowledge, and the series context is handled so the book functions as a satisfying entry point.
Both feature hockey settings, slow-burn tension, and emotionally driven relationships between men. Pucking Strong sits closer to Finley's warmth and humor but adds heavier thematic layers — grief, custody stakes, and identity — giving it a more substantive emotional register.
The book contains depictions of grief, including the offpage death of a sibling and its impact on a child character, as well as high-stakes custody circumstances. It also carries a spice level of 4 out of 5, indicating explicit sexual content between adult male characters.
Info
ISBN: 9781496752437
Published Date: August 26, 2025
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corporation
Language: English
Page Count: 524
Size: 8.25" l x 5.50" w x 1.38" h
Category
Fiction