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haletostilinski1's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this!
RTC
~*~
This was soooo good. I had never read this author before this series and I gotta say, I love them now. The sex scenes??? Amazingly hot. Like, WOW. So well done. Like seriously haha.
But also this was a refreshing take, to me, on the "one is so deeply in the closet it seems like they'll never come out" trope. Because Paul is definitely that, but the way in which he gets to a place in which he can come out is different than what I've read in this past.
And these two were cute - and hot as fuck - together. I loved how they both challenged each other's world views and they both came to understand each other's world growing up without ever having to change their views on something like religion - a big topic in this one - or trying to force the other to see their way of thinking, or demand they stop believing what they believe.
Not that they didn't get frustrated with each other, or hurt - especially Robbie being hurt by Paul because of the indoctrination he experienced by the church he grew up at. But Paul, after believing in God all his life, didn't all of the sudden become an atheist, he just found a better God for himself, and much more accepting belief system, and Robbie never all of the sudden believed in God either. I appreciated that so much about this story.
Anyway, those are some big topics, much more suited to be talked about in a debate or politics, so I'll move back to these two and their relationship.
These are two young guys, 24 and 21 years old, I believe, and while they didn't always have it right, they were also a lot more mature than men generally are at these ages - I believe - and it felt like they were a lot older at times.
Also, there is this SUPER hot scene.
We didn't get much of Paul's sister, but I really loved what little we got of her, she was awesome. Even his dad became redeemable by the end, and I felt for him.
This was such a good book, with a good plot, a great relationship between these two, interesting characters all around.
LOVED IT <333
RTC
~*~
This was soooo good. I had never read this author before this series and I gotta say, I love them now. The sex scenes??? Amazingly hot. Like, WOW. So well done. Like seriously haha.
But also this was a refreshing take, to me, on the "one is so deeply in the closet it seems like they'll never come out" trope. Because Paul is definitely that, but the way in which he gets to a place in which he can come out is different than what I've read in this past.
And these two were cute - and hot as fuck - together. I loved how they both challenged each other's world views and they both came to understand each other's world growing up without ever having to change their views on something like religion - a big topic in this one - or trying to force the other to see their way of thinking, or demand they stop believing what they believe.
Not that they didn't get frustrated with each other, or hurt - especially Robbie being hurt by Paul because of the indoctrination he experienced by the church he grew up at. But Paul, after believing in God all his life, didn't all of the sudden become an atheist, he just found a better God for himself, and much more accepting belief system, and Robbie never all of the sudden believed in God either. I appreciated that so much about this story.
Anyway, those are some big topics, much more suited to be talked about in a debate or politics, so I'll move back to these two and their relationship.
These are two young guys, 24 and 21 years old, I believe, and while they didn't always have it right, they were also a lot more mature than men generally are at these ages - I believe - and it felt like they were a lot older at times.
Also, there is this SUPER hot scene
Spoiler
Where Robbie blows Paul in the car semi-publicly and almost get caught and it's so fucking hot like DAMN. *fans self*We didn't get much of Paul's sister, but I really loved what little we got of her, she was awesome. Even his dad became redeemable by the end, and I felt for him.
This was such a good book, with a good plot, a great relationship between these two, interesting characters all around.
LOVED IT <333
alexleo13's review against another edition
4.0
I love all of A.D. Wasp's books and this is a great addition. The main theme here is how to be yourself when you have been brought up a certain way and you want to please and not disappoint the people you love who have accompanied you all your life. Paul's in the closet due to his religious believes, but also the atheist academic influence of Robbie's parents and their initial lack of approval of his professional life play an important role in his decision to keep is sexual orientation private. In this story both need to learn to live their lives, taking the good aspects of their past and education and confiding in their love for one another. Paul always says that his life with Robbie was easy and good - well because a love relationship should be easy and good.
I could write pages of what I liked of this book, it touches a very triggering issue (religion and homosexuality) and I loved how Robbie was so patient, never pushing Paul but truly trying to understand and find a balance between their needs and believes.
I didn't give 5 stars to this book only because I feel that the end of the story was too rushed. In one day the two characters had to face incredible revelations and I think they could have needed some more time to face the impact of said revelations on them and their relationship.
I don't usually copy sentences from books in my reviews, but I loved Paul's emotions about the intimacy of having Robbie inside him:"He wondered how women do it so easily. How they let someone in over and over. He could never be that BRAVE. He couldn't imagine ever letting anyone besides Robbie being in him."
I could write pages of what I liked of this book, it touches a very triggering issue (religion and homosexuality) and I loved how Robbie was so patient, never pushing Paul but truly trying to understand and find a balance between their needs and believes.
I didn't give 5 stars to this book only because I feel that the end of the story was too rushed. In one day the two characters had to face incredible revelations and I think they could have needed some more time to face the impact of said revelations on them and their relationship.
I don't usually copy sentences from books in my reviews, but I loved Paul's emotions about the intimacy of having Robbie inside him:"He wondered how women do it so easily. How they let someone in over and over. He could never be that BRAVE. He couldn't imagine ever letting anyone besides Robbie being in him."
mommasaystoread's review against another edition
4.0
This second book in the series focuses on teammates, Robbie and Paul. It is a sports romance, and kudos to the author for including some actual game play in the story. This one also has a little bit of a second chance romance since this pair did have a night together a couple of years before becoming teammates. Make no mistake, it is quite the journey for Paul and Robbie as they figure out their way in the world of relationships and hockey and they do veer off course a time or two. The story is emotional at times and pulls at the heartstrings, but it also has its moments of levity to balance things out. Paul's innocence and excitement is so endearing and he and Robbie are so sweet together in this pair finds their way to happiness. Overall, a nice addition to the series.
the_booklover0605's review against another edition
3.75
I'm such a sucker for a hockey romance - this gave everything it needed to give
cleo_reads's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars. Maybe. I’m really not sure how to rate this. This is mostly a lightweight but enjoyable mm romance but there were a lot of editing issues that took me out of the story. And I just didn’t buy the ending at all. I believed that the h/h belonged together but the rest of it didn’t work for me.
I think mm sports romances, especially series that take place within one team, are tricky - as a reader I want the characters to be able to be out and together. But also as a reader, I’d like my contemporary romances to have a connection to reality as I understand it. I get why the author might want to write the world as she wants it to be, but there are an awful lot of out queer hockey players associated with one NHL team in this series.
I also think I’ve read too many mm hockey romances - I’m starting to get the teams and story lines from different authors confused.
One minor thing that bugged me a lot is that I couldn’t figure out where one of the heroes is from - he mentions growing up in Oberlin, in NE Ohio, and then later meets his parents in Columbus, even though he played in Cleveland (much, much closer to Oberlin) a few weeks earlier. I think if I’d felt more emotional connection to the story it wouldn’t have bothered me so much.
I think mm sports romances, especially series that take place within one team, are tricky - as a reader I want the characters to be able to be out and together. But also as a reader, I’d like my contemporary romances to have a connection to reality as I understand it. I get why the author might want to write the world as she wants it to be, but there are an awful lot of out queer hockey players associated with one NHL team in this series.
I also think I’ve read too many mm hockey romances - I’m starting to get the teams and story lines from different authors confused.
One minor thing that bugged me a lot is that I couldn’t figure out where one of the heroes is from - he mentions growing up in Oberlin, in NE Ohio, and then later meets his parents in Columbus, even though he played in Cleveland (much, much closer to Oberlin) a few weeks earlier. I think if I’d felt more emotional connection to the story it wouldn’t have bothered me so much.
kiki124's review against another edition
4.0
So good!
Clearly, I’m a sucker for sports romances and out for you. Like [b:Heels Over Head|33976926|Heels Over Head|Elyse Springer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486228693l/33976926._SY75_.jpg|54965547], this is an amazing story of two dedicated athletes, one out and proud and the other struggling, who love each other and blaze a trail for pro athletes and gay kids. Robbie and Paul are everything.
I’m pretty sure that Georgia is a nod to Roberta in [b:The World According to Garp|7069|The World According to Garp|John Irving|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447234581l/7069._SY75_.jpg|1028204] and Skippy and Stone to Brick and Skipper in [b:Cat on a Hot Tin Roof|72159|Cat on a Hot Tin Roof|Tennessee Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389369390l/72159._SY75_.jpg|69862].
Clearly, I’m a sucker for sports romances and out for you. Like [b:Heels Over Head|33976926|Heels Over Head|Elyse Springer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486228693l/33976926._SY75_.jpg|54965547], this is an amazing story of two dedicated athletes, one out and proud and the other struggling, who love each other and blaze a trail for pro athletes and gay kids. Robbie and Paul are everything.
I’m pretty sure that Georgia is a nod to Roberta in [b:The World According to Garp|7069|The World According to Garp|John Irving|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1447234581l/7069._SY75_.jpg|1028204] and Skippy and Stone to Brick and Skipper in [b:Cat on a Hot Tin Roof|72159|Cat on a Hot Tin Roof|Tennessee Williams|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389369390l/72159._SY75_.jpg|69862].
cadiva's review against another edition
4.0
3.5*
There's a really good story here but it's suffering under the weight of some editing and proofing lapses, there's odd tenses, missing words and at one point, one of the MCs's father's name changes in the same paragraph.
As this is an ARC, I'm hoping they'll be ironed out before release as AE Wasp has a real talent for putting some serious messages in the heart's of her story telling.
This one surrounds the insidious way religion is used by a (thankfully small) minority to persecute and terrify the life out of those who don't conform to heterosexual norms.
Paul has spent his whole life being told gays will go to Hell and that it's wrong, a perversion, so he doesn't react well after spending a night with college rival hockey player Robbie.
The proverbial hits big time though when he's transferred to the same professional team a couple of years later and all those feelings of attraction are still there.
There's a lot of complex emotions being dealt with in this book, as well as the sweet romance, and sometimes it gets itself all caught up in trying to do too much.
Robin's inattentive parents and their disregard for his career, his transgender pseudo aunt Georgie playing college football with Paul's dad and knowing there's something off about his extreme religious views, should have been dealt with separately really.
It muddled up the narrative at that point so it felt like the big reveal from his past was there as a specific plot point.
However, the very sharp reminder of the terrifying events of the 1980s with the AIDS crises was very well done.
I don't think people who weren't alive at that time can quite understand the horror and the fear which was projected around the world including here in the UK as the "gay plague" saw people dying in their hundreds, then thousands.
I felt for Paul throughout but I also wanted to kick him up the backside but i accept it's difficult to change a mindset which has been drip fed to you for so long.
Both characters are quite young but they read as fairly mature, both were able to communicate, albeit at times in sign language, so there was no misunderstanding plot here.
The ending is really lovely and there are more potential pairings set up in this for a third book.
#ARC received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
There's a really good story here but it's suffering under the weight of some editing and proofing lapses, there's odd tenses, missing words and at one point, one of the MCs's father's name changes in the same paragraph.
As this is an ARC, I'm hoping they'll be ironed out before release as AE Wasp has a real talent for putting some serious messages in the heart's of her story telling.
This one surrounds the insidious way religion is used by a (thankfully small) minority to persecute and terrify the life out of those who don't conform to heterosexual norms.
Paul has spent his whole life being told gays will go to Hell and that it's wrong, a perversion, so he doesn't react well after spending a night with college rival hockey player Robbie.
The proverbial hits big time though when he's transferred to the same professional team a couple of years later and all those feelings of attraction are still there.
There's a lot of complex emotions being dealt with in this book, as well as the sweet romance, and sometimes it gets itself all caught up in trying to do too much.
Robin's inattentive parents and their disregard for his career, his transgender pseudo aunt Georgie playing college football with Paul's dad and knowing there's something off about his extreme religious views, should have been dealt with separately really.
It muddled up the narrative at that point so it felt like the big reveal from his past was there as a specific plot point.
However, the very sharp reminder of the terrifying events of the 1980s with the AIDS crises was very well done.
I don't think people who weren't alive at that time can quite understand the horror and the fear which was projected around the world including here in the UK as the "gay plague" saw people dying in their hundreds, then thousands.
I felt for Paul throughout but I also wanted to kick him up the backside but i accept it's difficult to change a mindset which has been drip fed to you for so long.
Both characters are quite young but they read as fairly mature, both were able to communicate, albeit at times in sign language, so there was no misunderstanding plot here.
The ending is really lovely and there are more potential pairings set up in this for a third book.
#ARC received from the author in return for an honest and unbiased review.
anintrovertrambles's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry and Homophobia