Tess Owens's situation at the opening of Emily Rath's Pucking Wild is the kind of setup that romance does particularly well: a woman in the middle of her own controlled demolition, caught on camera with someone who is not quite her ex-husband, watching the next chapter of her life ignite before she has decided what she wants it to be. This audiobook is the second book in the Jacksonville Rays series, narrated by Alex Kydd, and while it rewards readers who know Pucking Around, it is built with enough of its own foundation that new listeners will not feel stranded in someone else's story.
First, the Big Picture
The central romance between Tess and Ryan Langley is structured around a reversal that the series has been building toward: the younger man who is emotionally ready and the older woman who has spent years in a relationship that required her to make herself smaller. Rath is deliberate about mapping the way an abusive and controlling relationship leaves residue even after it ends, not through heavy psychological exposition but through Tess's reflexes: her instinct to preempt conflict, her discomfort with someone who simply wants her without conditions attached. Ryan, injured and temporarily out of the Jacksonville Rays lineup, arrives in her life as both an inconvenience and a disruption to the defense mechanisms she has spent years building.
Rath's handling of the age gap, a ten-year difference with Tess as the older party, does not treat it as the central obstacle it could easily become. It is present, it informs Tess's hesitation, but the actual friction comes from her history rather than the number itself. That choice is what gives the romance its texture beyond the surface premise. Readers who came for a straightforward sports romance will get that, but the emotional specificity underneath earns the length. The LGBTQ+ representation in this series, including bisexual rep and the broader ensemble of the Jacksonville Rays community, is woven into the narrative fabric rather than announced as a feature. Rath's world is built on the assumption of inclusion, and that structural decision pays off in how organic the community feels across this second installment.
What Makes Pucking Wild Worth Hearing
At eighteen hours and four minutes, this is a substantial audiobook investment, and Kydd's narration makes that length feel earned rather than indulgent. Her handling of Tess's interior monologue is where the performance is strongest. Tess is a character prone to self-deflection, to humor as armor and sarcasm as distance, and Kydd navigates those layers without flattening them into a single comedic register. The Taylor Swift references, noted by reviewers, land naturally in audio rather than feeling like inserted cultural markers, which says something about how well the references are integrated into Tess's actual voice. The first book in the series had a funnier secondary character dynamic, as at least one reviewer observed, and that is a fair observation. Pucking Wild carries more emotional weight and slightly less ensemble comedy than Pucking Around, which represents a deliberate shift in tone rather than a failing. The book is less interested in the comedy of the group and more interested in what it costs Tess to let the group in.
The six-week timeline Tess is working against, launching a new business and fighting for her freedom from her controlling ex, gives the romance an external rhythm that keeps the pacing honest. Rath does not let the romance coast on chemistry alone. The business thread is real and specific, and Tess's growing competence in that domain runs parallel to her growing willingness to trust Ryan. The plus-size representation is present throughout without becoming a narrative issue in itself. Tess exists in her body as a woman who has been desired and controlled and is learning the difference between the two, and that framing is more interesting than most alternatives the genre offers.
The Caveats
Watch for the point where the business thread and the romance thread converge. The moment Tess stops running, which Rath flags as the emotional center of the entire book in the synopsis itself, is handled with more restraint than you might expect from a novel with this much heat elsewhere. It is a quiet scene rather than a dramatic one, and it is more effective for that choice. Rath trusts the reader to understand the significance without underlining it, which requires the preceding eighteen hours to have built enough context that the significance is felt rather than stated. The narcissistic and abusive ex-husband, named as a content warning by reviewers, remains largely offscreen but his presence shapes every decision Tess makes about whether to trust what Ryan is offering her. He does not appear as a dramatic antagonist so much as as a residual force in Tess's nervous system.
The he-falls-first dynamic, noted in reviewer roundups of the tropes, is visible throughout in ways that are charming rather than cloying. Ryan's certainty is not performed confidence or aggressive pursuit. It is patience, and patience is the more interesting choice in a romance where the central problem is Tess's inability to believe that something good will not eventually extract a cost she cannot afford to pay. The team dynamics within the Jacksonville Rays provide texture and warmth across the longer runtime without overwhelming the central story.
The Right Listener for Pucking Wild
This audiobook is built for romance listeners who want emotional substance alongside the heat and humor. It suits readers who appreciate the reverse age gap dynamic handled thoughtfully, bisexual representation that is part of the world rather than a plot event, and sports romance that uses the hockey setting for atmosphere and schedule tension rather than as the primary subject. Series readers should start with Pucking Around for the fullest experience, though Pucking Wild provides enough context to work without it. Skip it if you need a lighter, faster read: the eighteen-hour runtime reflects a book that wants to sit with its characters, and listeners who prefer compressed emotional beats may find the pacing patient to a fault. Those willing to take the time will find Tess and Ryan's story genuinely affecting.
Is the content of this audiobook appropriate for listeners who are sensitive to depictions of controlling relationships?
Tess's history with her controlling ex-husband is a significant element of the story, handled with emotional honesty throughout. Rath does not dramatize the abuse in flashback scenes but does portray its residual effect on Tess's behavior and capacity for trust. Readers who find this subject difficult should be aware it is present throughout the narrative.
At 18 hours, is this audiobook paced well enough to sustain that length?
For readers invested in Tess's emotional arc, yes. The business subplot and the Jacksonville Rays ensemble keep the narrative moving when the romance is in a slower phase. Listeners who want a faster-paced romance might find the length demanding, but those who stay with it find the pacing earns the emotional payoff.
