Unexpected Goals is the second book in the Out on the Ice series from author Kelly Farmer. I’m kind of a sucker for sports and when you combine that with lesbians, I’m all in.

Canadian goalie Maisy Goode is the star goalie for the women’s professional hockey team, the Boston Ice. She is shocked when her arch rival American Jen Donato signs with the team. Maisy was the goalie in the Olympics when Jen scored the winning goal for the U.S. Jen had been pushed into Maisy and nothing was called. Maisy has always thought Jen a dirty player and can’t believe they are now on the same team.

The two have words on more than one occasion. Jen’s flippant attitude gets under Maisy’s skin and Jen can’t understand why Maisy can’t let the past go. Ultimately, they both have the same goal to bring the championship to Boston and agree that will be better accomplished if they work together and put the past behind them.

What starts as an uneasy friendliness turns to friendship when they both realize they have misjudged each other. They watch their favorite nature show together and the friendship turns into attraction for both of them. But Maisy’s straight or so she thought!

I like both Jen and Maisy. Jen is super chill. She has a habit of falling for straight girls who just want to experiment. Her feelings for Maisy feel different but she’s worried that it will end up just like all of the rest. She’s a very likeable character whose intensity on the ice is the complete opposite of how she is off of it. Her big Italian family drives her crazy but she adores them. She is patient and kind and is there to help Maisy deal with her concerns and unease.

I do like Maisy but she also got on my nerves a little. I understand her desire to name her sexuality and her fear over her families reaction to her not being as straight as she had always assumed she was. But thinking more about how the character is so  Type A and has a spreadsheet for everything, her overthinking makes sense.

I read the first book in the series, Out on the Ice and it was good to catch up with some of the characters. I didn’t like this book as much as I enjoyed Out on the Ice. Maybe because when I started that book, I thought Amy would annoy me, and then I realized I am Amy!  However, this is a solid read and I am really looking forward to what Kelly Farmer writes next.

ARC received from NetGalley for an honest review