Heated Rivalry

Alright. This book is highly recommended. I recommend it too for fans of contemporary sports romance. I prefer spec fiction, so somewhere around the 10% mark I found myself thinking that the book was too long. Luckily, my copy had an excerpt from another book that padded the number of pages, and I was given sweet sweet relief earlier than I'd expected, which was a relief unto itself.

So what went wrong?

1. I'm not very knowledgeable about hockey, and have probably ever seen like one or two games. However, even if the characters played soccer, I'd still be bored. There are no real stakes. Like yeah sucks for the characters to lose the Stanley cup or an Olympic gold, but I don't really feel it, you know? I think it's because the book takes place over a career progression, so there are highs and lows. It's not like the characters' final year of college and the championship is at stake and we follow the highs and lows of qualifying and everything up to the final. That would have more emotional impact. This one is more like a biography. It's celebratory, no matter what. All to say I was bored with all the games and wins and losses.2. During the night club scene with Shane, Rose, and Ilya, I thought to myself, “Do it you won't.” Do what? Idk, make them kiss. Make something happen. It's fuck, play hockey, fuck, pine for each other, fuck, play hockey. The only thing I was tense about is when they'd finally confess feelings. And it happened on one of those pages where I swiped and my eyes went to the middle and I was like, oh, okay.3. All the “I'm going to end it” and “I'm definitely not going to his room” got stale quickly. At 60% in, I don't believe you. I simply don't. Once again, “Do it you won't.”4. It really might just be what happens in contemporary without lit-fiction-like prose (are my hyphens in the right place) e.g Kit Oliver's The Place Between.Again, I recommend it. But it wasn't for me. Will read the sequel though to see what happens at the end.

Easily my all time favourite romance book. No matter how much of a shitty mood I'm in Ilya ALWAYS cheers me up. These two have my whole heart <3

If you're gonna read one MM romance your whole life, I'd say it should be this one.

why would anyone else even bother writing a m/m hockey story when this masterpiece exists?