A hockey player and a grad student are on thin ice until they meet their match in this sexy romance by USA Today bestselling author Lana Ferguson.
Jack Baker is on top of the world now that he’s back on the rink where he belongs. But the high comes crashing down when he reinjures his arm immediately following his return to the ice, and this time, he might never be able to play again. After a lifetime as the strong, happy hockey guy whose sister needed him, Jack is left questioning everything he knows about himself.
Abigail Thompson feels like she’s hit rock bottom. It’s only been a few months since the massive scandal that finally severed the cord between her and her narcissistic father. And now, in her last weeks of grad school, she’s been kicked out of her building with very short notice. The last thing she wants to do is ask her half-brother for help after what she’s put him through, but it’s looking like his best friend’s spare room might be her only choice.
Jack is flighty, flirty, and a little full of himself—all the things Abby’s learned to avoid in men. However, spending every day together breaks the ice between them, and she starts to realize that Jack might not be who he seems. It’s possible that maybe, just maybe, he might be struggling as much as she is. Soon, confiding in each other leads to falling into bed, and this fling will either play with their hearts—or score them the ultimate goal of love.
Title: TheFinal Score
Author: Lana Ferguson
Publisher: Berkley
Expected Publication Date: July 7, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
Ferguson is one of my auto-read authors and I was excited to read Jack's story after enjoying the first book in this series. Jack was a bit of an enigma to me in the first book. I knew there was more to him than his playboy ways so I was excited to see this book dig down deep into his story. Unfortunately, I just didn't enjoy this one as much as I would have liked. I'm 100% sad I have to even write this review.
Heads up, if you didn't read the first book, go do that first. I thought perhaps Ferguson would maybe give us a small wrap up from the first book so there was a bit of context to the story. But this book relies heavily on the fact that you know exactly what happened in book 1 including the huge family dynamics between the FMC, her brother, and her father. Given it's marketed as a standalone, I found this very problematic.
Overall, Ferguson made the characters fun enough but there was nothing particularly special about them.
Jack spends the book having a existential crisis about his injury, which he refuses to accept and continues to play despite doctors telling him not to. I actually found it hard to believe his professional team would agree with him playing. In real life this would never happen. A team would not risk one of their players being injured further or potentially never being able to play again. It just made zero sense to me. And Jack makes his whole life hockey, or at least thinks his whole life is hockey and he has nothing else to fall back on so why would he risk it? Also, it's obvious he has some anxiety issues and he alludes to ADHD at some points. I don't really get either vibe from him. I will say I liked his golden retriever vibe during the book.
Abby spends the book worrying everyone is like her father who she doesn't trust. She continuously questions the intentions of those who surround her. And, yes, given how she grew up I'd say it makes sense for her to be like this. But, as I stated above, some background reminders would have been good since, again, the relationships rely heavily on what happened in book 1. She's still in school but has no job to support her. She has to move out of her apartment (paid for by her father) due to water damage and you never truly hear anything else about it. Everything with her seems so surface level and I didn't really connect with her and her damage as I would have liked to.
Then there's the romantic chemistry I was looking forward to seeing. Hint: it's not there. Jack and Abby just kind of fall into each other due to their forced proximity. Their romance didn't build at all. It came off as more of an insta-love situation. And then there was the push and pull that was supposed to be happening: Jack falling fast and hard and Abby questioning if any of it was a good idea. I just didn't feel anything for them as a couple. I didn't care they wanted to keep it secret from their siblings. It was also all too easy for me given their siblings are dating. And I felt like once they actually got together, every other chapter was a spice scene. I will say there is some great banter between the characters which made some scenes really fun to read.
There is also a lot of repetition used in this book. Jack uses the same phrases over and over again. To the point it just got annoying. I found the same problem with the spicy scenes. They never introduced anything new or intriguing for me. Especially given how frequently they were happening.
Finally, this book had zero plot. Was there potential for it? Sure. Jack's injury and his anxiety over believing he's nothing more than his hockey career. This could have opened up a great opportunity to explore some mental health issues, but that doesn't every happen. Abby's unwillingness to open up due to the hurt she has endured in the past, her fraught relationship with her father, and her being in school. Where were these things explored? They were never more than a surface level glance. And Abby was constantly acting like this therapist even though she has zero experience because, again, she's still in school! I felt like the complexity of the FMC and MMC's situations could have been explored in so much more of a deeper way to make the plot more interesting and to keep me engaged.
Was this book fun? I guess it was fun enough. If you're looking for a fluff romance that relies heavily on the characters having sex/fooling around with not much plot otherwise, something that is easy to read and reads fast, this could fit that bill. But, for me personally, I was just bored. Does this mean I won't read more Ferguson in the future? Of course not! I've really enjoyed almost all her books so far so I'm hopeful this is just a one off.
Author:
Lana Ferguson is a USA Today bestselling author and sex-positive nerd whose works never shy from spice or sass. A faded Fabio cover found its way into her hands at fifteen, and she’s never been the same since. When she isn’t writing, you can find her randomly singing show tunes, arguing over which Batman is superior, and subjecting her friends to the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings. Lana lives mostly in her own head but can sometimes be found chasing her corgi through the coppice of the great American outdoors.
