Fake Shot

Boston Rebels, Book 2

By: Julia Connors

Narrated by: Connor Crais, Stella Bloom

After fifteen years of tending goal for the Boston Rebels, I’m known for two things: the highest save percentage in the league, and never spending more than one night with the same woman.

I’m definitely not the guy you should trust with your best friend’s little sister. Especially not when that sister, Jules, is eight years younger and my new roommate.

When I witness her on the verge of a panic attack while being intimidated by another man, I don’t think twice about calling her my fiancée and kissing her. Which brings me to the third thing I’m known for: reckless and impulsive decision-making.

After a video of that steamy kiss goes viral, the whole world is convinced we’re engaged. If we don’t play along, I risk losing my place as the starting goalie for the Rebels, and Jules’s reputation and career could tank.

Our engagement may be fake, but the memories of the way she tastes, and the feel of her body wrapped around mine, are all too real. And the more time we spend together, the less it feels like pretending.

None of the secrets from my past seem to matter as much when I’m with her. It turns out, Jules may have some secrets of her own–and uncovering them just might be what heals me…or what finally breaks me.

©2024 Julia Connors (P)2024 Julia Connors

Another GOAL made for the Boston Rebels

Guys, I absolutely LOVED Center Ice so I was rearing & ready to go when Fake Shot hit my box & Julia Connors delivers people!!!🙌🙌 She comes screaming through the door with another audio that I couldn't press pause for. I am absolutely MAD over Colt & Jules!

This is just such a fun listen. End of story! When authors say, "it's a slow burn," Julia freaking means it! This burned so slow but when it HIT, baby did it HIT! Colt & Jules have known each other forever. He's her brother's best friend so feelings she's had for him over the years have just been pushed down & thought of as impossible. The story revolves around two dynamic characters thrown together in a fake relationship that spirals into something unexpectedly genuine.

Colt, the hot & talented hockey goalie has been a player in the past. Cruising in the fast lane, he's a resident bad boy but time & age are catching up & he's realizing that he wants to take life a little slower. You wouldn't initially come to this conclusion, but Colt has some real depth to him. The longer the story played out, the more I fell hard for this guy! And the mouth on him? Whew! Julia can write the spice ya'll. I was full on blushing.🙌 Will Chapter 37 be saved & replayed, absolutely YES!

Something unexpected was how much I LOVED Jules character. In Center Ice, she seemed rather closed off & not fun but in this book, you learn where that comes from & quite honestly, she's nothing like that. I freaking LOVED this FMC. Jules is a boss babe to be worshipped! She's snarky, has a hilarious inner monologue & doesn't give a crap what people think. We'd most certainly be friends in real life. I just know it! Colt absolutely loves when she acts like a brat. It drives him mad & I was all here for it! She's a girl whose used to being in control, but with Colt she totally feels outta control & this scares her to death.

I loved the vulnerability she has with Colt. She suffers with anxiety & Julia does a wonderful job portraying & writing about this. This is why I loved her so much. You've got a gal who seems to have it all together but in reality, she's quietly scared & fearful. Julia weaves together trust, ambition & vulnerability into this story which makes their story feel personal & familiar.

🎧Let's talk narration...Stella & Connor were honestly perfectly cast in this. Stella brings all the snarkiness, strength & the unguarded aspect of Jules to life. I absolutely loved her in this role. Connor already knows how to play this fiddle. He completely captures Colt's protective nature & sensitive side. These two together give you all the delightful banter, humor & emotional depth you want in an amazing audio. This one just hits all the right notes guys! YOU need this in AUDIO! Highly recommend this one!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite hockey series on audio. Julia writes dialogue that just sparkles & draws you right into Colt & Jules playful rivalry & heart tugging moments. You just can't help but root for them.

This one is a NEED

If you have not immersed yourself in a Julia Connors romance yet, you are MISSING OUT! And this is your sign to fix that!

Fake Shot is one of, if not THE best reformed playboy romances I’ve had the pleasure of listening to.

Connor Crais plays Colt, a golden-retriever, hockey God, reformed-playboy goodness trying so hard not to fall for his best friend’s little sister. He wants someone to see him as more than the playboy persona. The only problem? That person is his now-fake fiancée and her brother would kill him. Connor did suchhh a good job portraying those emotions! Colt wins your heart over and Connor’s voice seals the deal.

Stella Bloom brings Jules to life. Jules is guarded, resilient, and would do anything for her family. One dinner and sketchy guy later, she’s forced into close proximity with the guy responsible for her built up walls. When Colt starts leaning in when no one else is around, and saying things that make her melt, she has to decide what’s worth putting her trust in. I could not think of a better narrator for Jules than Stella! Her voice sucked me right in to Jules’s life.

If you like forced proximity, fake fiancée , reformed playboy, all the sass, and all the spice - RUN to this book. I cannot recommend it enough!

Great Dual Narration

A cute mix of roommates with a fake engagement contemporary hockey romance. Colt, a goalie for the Rebels is one big softie at heart, but yet fierce protector, when it comes to Jules, his best friend’s sister, which leads to being fake-engaged to her and lots of fun banter and moments. I appreciated the sub-plot of empowering women in the trades too! I am so happy I got to experience this book on audio, as the dual narration was so well done and spot on with voicing emotions. I appreciated the opportunity from the author and Wordsmith to listen and enjoy.

Obsessed With This Series

Fake Shot is the second book in the Boston Rebels series. We were introduced to some intriguing side characters in book one. Jules Flynn was one of those characters, she is the snarky, take no shit youngest sibling in the Flynn family. She is also a boss babe that owns her own construction company and is in the process of getting her non-profit mentorship up and running so she can help more women get into the construction field and she’s only 25! Mathieu Colter is the 33 year old Boston Rebels goalie who has been in Jules’ life for over a decade now. He is best friends with Jules’ older brother, Jameson, and a well known playboy. Jules has had a crush on Colt since he entered her life, but he doesn’t see her as any more than Jameson’s little sister. When Jules finally realizes Colt will never return her feelings, she swears him off and then makes some very questionable decisions in Vegas. Fast forward six years and Jules has held true to swearing Colt off. The two have minimal interactions and when they do it’s a little hostile and clipped. But when Colt needs a place to stay his best friend immediately offers up the apartment on the third floor of their childhood home, the only problem is, Jules still lives in the brownstone and can’t stand Colt. One night in an effort to protect Jules from a sleazy businessman Colt declares Jules his fiance. So now not only are they roommates, they are fake engaged! As Colt starts to see Jules as more than just Jameson’s little sister, will Jules give in to her attraction to Colt once again?
The narration was so good! This is a dual narrated audiobook. Narrated by Connor Crais and Stella Bloom. Stella is a newer narrator to me and I have loved her work, Fake Shot was no exception. She did a great job bringing Jules’ sassy personality to life as well as her vulnerable side that had her heartbroken all those years ago. Connor was wonderful bringing Colt’s charming and flirtatious energy to life as well as his protective and nurturing side. There is a lot of banter in this one and it just hits differently in audio, so I definitely recommend checking this one out!

Brothers Beat Friend Goodness

Fake Shot by Julia Conner was such a fun read. It had all my favorite tropes rolled in to one, hockey romance, brothers best friend, fake dating, forced proximity and age gap! I absolutely loved how Jules was a bad a$$ contractor and ran a mentoring program to help women in the trades. I work in construction (office side) and I wish we had something like that for women in my area. Connor, oh Connor, he had a playboy reputation and he lived up to it. Jules always had a crush on Connor (how could you not) for years and always felt like it was one sided. The way they both ended up learning to trust and love together was my favorite part.
Narrators Connor Crais and Stella Bloom did an amazing job stepping in to the characters and bring them to live. Stella really was able to capture how strong yet vulnerable Jules was. I don’t what it is about Connor’s voice, but it’s like smooth whiskey, swoon.

Love this series

4.5⭐️
Fake Shot is the 2nd book in Julia's Boston Rebel series. I just loved Jules & Colt together. Their story was sweet, funny and their chemistry was so good. The banter and tension between the two was so much fun.

Tropes:
Hockey Romance
Fake Engagement
Roommates
Brother's Best Friend
She falls first, he falls harder
Reformed Playboy
Slow Burn

I highly recommend the audio. Connor Crais and Stella
Bloom were amazing.

Fake Shot: Boston Rebels Book 2

🎧🎧AUDIO REVIEW🎧🎧

My second experience with a Julia Connors story and we are two for two highly recommend!

I love this story so much! It wasn’t a straightforward story. It had curves and some of those curves even had twist and I was honestly surprised at almost every one of them. These aren’t twist like plot twist but more like these nuggets of information that happened or were told to us that really enhanced the story and made me think on more than one occasion “ohhhhhhh”. That’s an outstanding feeling as a reader! I like being surprised even when it’s something small and innocent and not some huge revelation. I was just very happily surprised at many moments in this story and that, in and of itself, captivated me and kept me wanting more!

I’ve never really been a huge fan of the ”friend’s sibling” trope because it’s almost always used as a point of conflict for way longer than necessary. I’ve never even understood why it’s problematic in the first place lol so when it’s dragged on for what seems like forever in a book, I get twitchy. LOL Well, Julia Connors did not drag it out at all! She didn’t even make it a point of conflict. Instead, she kinda blended it into Colt’s growth as a character! I mean … see, surprising nuggets of information! This entire story was full on little examples such as this one and when you put them all together, it makes an exceptional story. I honestly can’t find even a little tiny thing to quibble about! *heart eyes*

🎧 About the narrators … swoooooooooonfest! Connor Crais together with Stella Bloom made me incredibly happy. You know, a story can be a 10 out of 10 but if narration runs amok, it can derail everything about a story and that also works the other way! Connor & Stella elevated an already outstanding story with their narration. They both have very good ranges with “other” voices they need to narrate other than the leads. They make an excellent team!

Loving this series

Move over Drew and Aubrey, Colt and Jules are coming in HOT and stealing my heart!
The way I just devoured this story is everything. Fake Shot is book 2 in the Boston Rebels series, and can be enjoyed as a stand-alone, although i loved book 1 and I would recommend listening so you too can fall in love with ALL of these characters, their sweet found family, and the friendships they all have. Following Jules and Mathieu Colter “Colt” who have know each other for 15 years. Colt is Jules’ big brother’s best friend and plays for the Boston Rebels and Jules an entrepreneur trying to make big moves in her industry and motivating women along the way. 6 years ago, Jules found herself lusting over Colt, but at the time the playboy hockey star only saw her as his best friends little sister and in that moment she swore off Colt and made some reckless decisions in response. Now present day, Jules is still holding on to the past traumas and not only now living with Colt, she is FAKE engaged to him. Ohh my heart the way this story went from angsty to motivational to striaght up swoony had me grinning from ear to ear. The way these two broke down walls and barriers that have been cemented in place for so many years was beautiful. Not only forming a special friendship but the trust and protection they earned from each other had me rooting for their HEA. Connor Crias and Stella Bloom were perfection. Stella brought the perfect tone to express the hesitation, the hurt and the pain Jules has been caring around. Jules was a strong independent women but she held onto a lot of inner struggles and Stella was able to truly make us feel those struggles. The moment Jules started to trust what was happening around her, her confidence radiated and Stella brought out our girls sexy, sassy, playful side as well as the loving, caring sister and friend she was. Connor Crais really gave us Colts personality from the very beginning, a fun loving guy who also struggled with past heart break yet was always there for the ones closet to him, Connor expressed the growth Colt was going through and it was so sweet to hear him come to realization to what he was looking for in life. Connor also brought every ounce of flirty teasing banter that made you understand how Jules couldn’t resist his charm leaving you to root for this former playboy and his best friend’s little sister.

Thank You @wordsmithpublicity and Julia Connors for the opportunity to listen and review.

Definitely a MUST listen!!

I loved this book even more being able to listen to it. I first fell in love with them when I read it, BUT being able to listen to it brought it to another level 🥵 When I read books I really try to place voices with the characters and these two definitely knocked it out of the park. ALSO the dynamic between these two was 🔥

Jules and Colt are 100% made for each other. The dynamic and the tension, oh lord the freaking tension was off the charts. This book has SO many of my favorite tropes! Definitely a must listen!!

Colt & Jules

What could be worse than having to live with your brother’s best friend, the man you’ve always crushed on? Maybe having to be fake engaged to said man. Jules knows this all too well. At the start of the story I was actually worried about how I was ever going to like Colt but Julia certainly made me do a 180 on my opinion about him! Colt & Jules have to deal with past feelings and hurt while also having to live together and fake a relationship while in public. The more they pretend and share fake kisses, the more the lines blur and things start feeling real. I loved that it was very much a slow burn but you still get the tension and little pieces of them along the way. Their chemistry was strong whether it be in the bedroom or just their banter. They fit so perfectly.

Colt really went from playboy to the sweetest boyfriend and he claimed a spot on my book boyfriends list! I loved the things he did for Jules and the way he proved that he cared for her. Connor and Stella excelled at bringing these characters to life. Spectacular performances by them both. Such a fun audio to listen to.