Sunday, September 21, 2025

Review: Top Shelf

 


Title: Top Shelf 

Series: Seattle Serpents 

Author: Teagan Hunter 

Release Date: October 2, 2025 



I have two goals this season:

1. Prove to the Seattle Serpents I’m more than just the old guy.

2. Don’t fall for my captain’s stepsister.


In my defense, I had no clue who Vanessa was when we met. We were in a different city. How was I supposed to know she’s my teammate’s stepsister?


Now she’s in Seattle, still healing from her divorce, and apparently, she’s here to stay. That would be fine if I didn’t still think about our night together every waking hour. Thing is, I do think about it—constantly—and then when I find out she needs a place to live, I offer my spare room.


We’re roommates, and that’s it. Until it isn’t.


We’re just having fun, that’s all. Except nothing feels like just fun. It feels far too real and far too serious, and her stepbrother has no idea about us living together or that I’m slowly falling for her.


So much for focusing on the season…


TOP SHELF is a standalone hockey romance novel. There’s an age gap, a veteran player falling for his teammate’s stepsister, a woman recovering from a broken heart, sneaking around, a one-night stand, one bed, lots of steam, ridiculous group chats amongst teammates, and a happy ending.




Goodreads | Website 



So I have been in a serious reading slump off and on all year, struggling to find a book to hold my attention and just read in general. But when I picked up Top Shelf I didn't want to put it down - not to play Monopoly Deal and not even to eat. It was exactly what I needed and I loved every second of it. 

Top Shelf is the lastest book in the Seattle Serpents series and follows Locke one of the oldest members on the team and one of the last members of the Seattle Serpents Singles Club to be, well, single. Which is fine by him - he wants to remain single until he can hoist the Cup over his head. He doesn't need any distractions right now, because they could end his career. 

But when they were all hanging out in his Captain's house, and a blonde walks into the front door - his mind is taken back to months before when he had a one-night stand while at an away game- and he realizes the distraction found him. The blonde he slept with all those months ago? His Captain's stepsister Vanessa. Which means she's off-limits. 

But that doesn't stop Locke from offering her his spare room, and them becoming roommates. And that doesn't stop them from fooling around. But it's far too real for it to just be them having fun. 

I really enjoyed this book & these characters and this series. Top Shelf was entwined with the humor and banter, but with emotion too - Vanessa's divorce hitting fairly close to my own situation. 

Vanessa was fresh out of a divorce when her and Locke first met. 

Locke hoping he isn't getting too old to keep up with the game. 

Their one night together felt like more than just one night with a stranger - which scared Vanessa. What she didn't expect was her to find her one night stand in her stepbrother's house when she went to ask Hutch for help. Or for him to offer her a place to stay. Or for them to end up in bed together again. And again. But Locke understood her in a way no one else did. 

I loved this book, these characters, & this series, and I can't wait to see what else Teagan has in store for us. 

4⭐ out of 5⭐.

3🌶️ out of 5🌶️. 


Tropes: 

• romantic comedy 

• sports romance 

• teammate's stepsister 

• forbidden 

• age gap 

• one night stand 

• one bed 

• secret hookups 

• found family 


Trigger Warnings: 

- divorce 

- cheating (from the ex, is mentioned throughout) 

- emotional abuse/toxic relationship (red flags from the ex, is mentioned throughout). 



ABOUT THE AUTHOR 


Hi, I’m Teagan!

I write steamy romantic comedies with lots of sarcasm and a side of heart. I love pizza, hockey, and romance novels, though not in that order. When not writing, you can find me watching entirely too many hours of Supernatural, One Tree Hill, or New Girl. I’m mildly obsessed with Halloween and prefer cooler weather. I married my high school sweetheart, and we currently live in the PNW.






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