Review - - Sweet Thing

Sweet Thing

by Kate Meader

Chicago Players - Book 1

Publisher: Kate Meader LLC

Release Date: July 15, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

My dad's teammate needs a nanny and I need a job. Sounds perfect, right? Except for my massive crush on him ... the one he knows all about.

Lars

I just found out I’m a dad.

My one-night stand dropped a baby bombshell in my local bar where I was celebrating my team’s win. Then she fled, leaving me holding my new daughter.

Thank God for Adeline. The daughter of my teammate and closest friend on the Chicago Rebels, she practically raised her little sister and knows exactly how to deal with this situation. I need a nanny; she needs a job. Problem sorted, right?

Not so fast …

Adeline

I think you’re the sexiest guy alive.

That’s what Lars Nyquist overheard me say while recounting my embarrassing crush on him. Yeah, that Lars Nyquist. Defenseman for the Chicago Rebels. Owner of the thickest thighs in the league. More than a decade my senior. Oh, and my dad’s teammate.

My only option? Leave the country, of course. Luckily, I’d already planned a round-the-world trip with my bestie and by the time I returned to Chicago a year later, I expected my blunder would be long forgotten. Shows what I know. Now I’m lying awake in the bedroom next to his while playing nanny to his surprise little girl. But I can ignore this stupid infatuation. I have to. Even though the sight of Lars learning to be a dad leaves me breathless and takes that crush to a whole other level.

One that has the potential to break my sorry little heart …

PJ's Thoughts:

Kate Meader keeps upping her game with each book she writes. Fan of her Chicago Rebels and Rookie Rebels hockey romance books? You're going to love this first book in her next generation series. Fan of Theo Kershaw (Insta Crush) - and c'mon, who isn't? - you're going to love seeing him still playing hockey (he's team captain now), still wildly in love with his wife, a father five times over, and the protective dad of this book's heroine. New to the Rebels world but a fan of steamy, humorous, emotion-packed, feel-good romance with characters who feel like friends by the time you finish their book? Jump right in with Sweet Thing. Lars and Adeline are ready to take you on the best kind of ride. 

Kate Meader has mad writing skills and they are all front and center in this newest book in her Chicago hockey world. Filled with delicious tropes (surprise single dad/age-gap romance/chosen family/teen crush/teammate's daughter), I was hooked from the first chapter. I laughed, I cried, I felt all the feelings. 

I appreciate that Adeline was given the time away to experience life a bit between her awkward crush declaration and the beginning of her romantic journey with Lars. Though she's 13 years younger, she's now at a point in her life where she holds her own in the relationship with quiet strength and maturity. I love how she grows into the self realization of those qualities while not only finally finding her path in life but also her own Great Love Story. Trademark.

How could I not fall in love with Lars. He's a man alone, carrying some significant emotional baggage, who craves the warmth and acceptance he's found with Adeline's family during her year abroad (while not entirely sure he deserves it), acceptance - and friendship - that could be sacrificed if he gives in to his growing feelings for his best friend and teammate's daughter. I love the yearning between these two, the foundation of support and respect that centers their friendship, the ever-deepening feelings, the sensual chemistry, and the love that, ultimately, will not be denied. I pulled so hard for them.

The balance of humor and emotional depth in this story (in all of Meader's stories, really) gives it the heart and authenticity that mirrors real life. By the time I finished, I felt like these characters were my friends, like I knew them intimately. I hadn't just read about their journey; I had experienced every ebb and flow with them. 

While Lars, Adeline (and baby Mabel) are the primary focus of this book, the heart and soul do not reside exclusively with them. The supporting cast - including Adeline's family and other Rebels families - are an integral part of the story, offering fond remembrances of the past, a richly textured tapestry in the present, and a glimpse of the future. 

Other Kershaw siblings are waiting in the wings for their own stories and I, for one, cannot wait to discover what Meader has planned for them. Next up is Rebel Bride, featuring Addy's older brother, Hatch, scheduled to be released October 21, 2025.