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amarreth's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Sexual content, and Blood
ashlikes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, and Violence
Minor: Homophobia
lycangrrl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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? N/A
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
downtown_kb's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Two hockey players, one already a legend, and a rookie player who worships him, meet in the All-Stars Tournament and find they have an instant connection.
My 3rd read by him and I have fallen in love with how Tal Bauer develops characters and romance. It’s swoony as hell and I love it. There was a lot of intense things happening around these two but it was just so sweet it became…cozy angst? And it’s all very lyrical writing. He’s probably gonna be an auto-read/comfort read author for me now.
I really loved where the name of this book came from. I loved how gob-smacked Hunter is when he first meets Bryce. That whole interaction was adorable. It was a gay-awakening hockey story - tried and true combo but I was sucked right in and couldn’t put it down. Once again, I don’t know flip about hockey and that didn’t bother me at all. Translating all the French didn’t even bother me either. Since he was a French Canadian it felt more authentic for Bryce to think/speak that way and I appreciated the risk taken here. Bryce seemed so wise beyond his years his character seemed older than 26. And I loved how Hunter was caring for Bryce right from the start. The external 3rd act conflict was a total gut punch - this was pretty gruesometraumatic injury, and as a former ICU/trauma nurse, he captured the frantic intensity of the moment so well and did not hold back on graphic detail
I can see how some people could find this to be over the top sweet but I loved it and was all in with these two.
My 3rd read by him and I have fallen in love with how Tal Bauer develops characters and romance. It’s swoony as hell and I love it. There was a lot of intense things happening around these two but it was just so sweet it became…cozy angst? And it’s all very lyrical writing. He’s probably gonna be an auto-read/comfort read author for me now.
I really loved where the name of this book came from. I loved how gob-smacked Hunter is when he first meets Bryce. That whole interaction was adorable. It was a gay-awakening hockey story - tried and true combo but I was sucked right in and couldn’t put it down. Once again, I don’t know flip about hockey and that didn’t bother me at all. Translating all the French didn’t even bother me either. Since he was a French Canadian it felt more authentic for Bryce to think/speak that way and I appreciated the risk taken here. Bryce seemed so wise beyond his years his character seemed older than 26. And I loved how Hunter was caring for Bryce right from the start. The external 3rd act conflict was a total gut punch - this was pretty gruesome
I can see how some people could find this to be over the top sweet but I loved it and was all in with these two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Moderate: Violence
lost_windsock's review against another edition
emotional
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? No
3.75
The beginning of this book really bummed me out. It felt lazy, it didn't build background like I was hoping, and the character development left a lot to be desired. I had a hard time caring about Bryce, and a hard time believing Hunter's feelings for Bryce. Around the 68% mark, once they were properly together, the relationship felt more real and sturdy, and it makes me think that the author just wanted to rush through the building phase and get to the good stuff, which I can understand, but it leaves me feel the book was lacking. Excellent writing where the hockey elements came in, though. I felt like I was watching a real game, and the excitement and tension were very intense during the games! Overall, I liked this book, just wished it had taken the time to give us the peeks into the characters at the beginning that we needed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, Violence, Alcohol, and Blood
jonezzzing's review against another edition
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Alcohol
ruthiedr89's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content
Minor: Violence
aromarrie's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Tell me anything you want / Whisper to me your dreams / And I will spend eternity / Figuring out how to take the stars from the sky / And spread them like sand scattered at your feet / Tell me how to make your heart race / Tell me how to make you smile / Let me write you a love story / Let me give you my heart.
reading this book now couldn't have been any more perfect in timing than it really is, because after reading an intense, action-packed political thriller with war on the horizon, having this standalone sports romance was such a welcome reprieve. it felt so nice to just get sink in what tal bauer knows best, and he knows a lot, but his romances always strike me the hardest above all his writing talents, and this story here--bryce & hunter's story--was as sweet as anything.
there was a lot of brutality that felt familiar from bauer's past works, except in this case, that brutality was related to typical sports violence, one that crosses lines that had me shaking. it's a trait i find common in all of the author's books, that feeling of terror and pain for what these characters go through at some point. this book, and you & me are the only contemporary works i've read from the author, and so they're considerably lighter in spirit, but it still gets quite heavy for different reasons. for this book, bryce & hunter are about the game, but even more so, they're there for the brotherhood that wraps their team all together throughout the entire duration of this story. their Montreal team faces hurdles so typical in such a volatile sport like hockey, and the one thing i admired most about it in all the books i've read is how it brings people together, and the fervor & excitement it brings. there's so much of that fervor that it borders on desperation and that desperation leads to brutal actions taken in the high of winning that goal on the ice. this is what pushes these characters past their limits and this is what made the romantic moments between bryce & hunter have such a huge impact because the story was at its most softest when it circled around them.
i found myself so caught up in how fast this pair fall for each other all in just a single weekend, and then seeing the fall-out until the pieces eventually were glued back together as they became a powerful force, both on-and off-the ice. the way the author depicted the camaraderie and trust that falls between teammates when they're skating on the ice was one of the strongest parts of this story, and the fact that hunter was like the missing puzzle piece that made them all the more stronger in the game was such an emotional experience. it was emotional seeing bryce reckon with the black hole he felt as he sunk inside himself in the beginning, uncertain where his feelings were taking him, only to breach past the surface and feel whole once the sport he fell in love with so long ago joined with hunter, who became the love of his life.
when i say they fall for each other fast, they really do, it almost felt like it went...too fast? this isn't a critique on my part, more an observation because i just got so swept up in how intense their feelings were for each other in such a short period of time. the way the author wrote it, though, it was hard not to fall for them, to not melt at the softness in when they spoke to each other in French and bryce sung songs to find some way to share how he was feeling.
this story just clicked, and it was really sweet. i loved the found family element, i loved seeing how much this author knew about hockey and how he used this sport to develop these characters so that we knew them as well as we would. i loved seeing how easy it was to sink into the chemistry that bryce & hunter had when they first met, because that's another thing so common in the author's stories, and i'm just glad i got to enjoy this one as much as i did.
reading this book now couldn't have been any more perfect in timing than it really is, because after reading an intense, action-packed political thriller with war on the horizon, having this standalone sports romance was such a welcome reprieve. it felt so nice to just get sink in what tal bauer knows best, and he knows a lot, but his romances always strike me the hardest above all his writing talents, and this story here--bryce & hunter's story--was as sweet as anything.
there was a lot of brutality that felt familiar from bauer's past works, except in this case, that brutality was related to typical sports violence, one that crosses lines that had me shaking. it's a trait i find common in all of the author's books, that feeling of terror and pain for what these characters go through at some point. this book, and you & me are the only contemporary works i've read from the author, and so they're considerably lighter in spirit, but it still gets quite heavy for different reasons. for this book, bryce & hunter are about the game, but even more so, they're there for the brotherhood that wraps their team all together throughout the entire duration of this story. their Montreal team faces hurdles so typical in such a volatile sport like hockey, and the one thing i admired most about it in all the books i've read is how it brings people together, and the fervor & excitement it brings. there's so much of that fervor that it borders on desperation and that desperation leads to brutal actions taken in the high of winning that goal on the ice. this is what pushes these characters past their limits and this is what made the romantic moments between bryce & hunter have such a huge impact because the story was at its most softest when it circled around them.
i found myself so caught up in how fast this pair fall for each other all in just a single weekend, and then seeing the fall-out until the pieces eventually were glued back together as they became a powerful force, both on-and off-the ice. the way the author depicted the camaraderie and trust that falls between teammates when they're skating on the ice was one of the strongest parts of this story, and the fact that hunter was like the missing puzzle piece that made them all the more stronger in the game was such an emotional experience. it was emotional seeing bryce reckon with the black hole he felt as he sunk inside himself in the beginning, uncertain where his feelings were taking him, only to breach past the surface and feel whole once the sport he fell in love with so long ago joined with hunter, who became the love of his life.
when i say they fall for each other fast, they really do, it almost felt like it went...too fast? this isn't a critique on my part, more an observation because i just got so swept up in how intense their feelings were for each other in such a short period of time. the way the author wrote it, though, it was hard not to fall for them, to not melt at the softness in when they spoke to each other in French and bryce sung songs to find some way to share how he was feeling.
this story just clicked, and it was really sweet. i loved the found family element, i loved seeing how much this author knew about hockey and how he used this sport to develop these characters so that we knew them as well as we would. i loved seeing how easy it was to sink into the chemistry that bryce & hunter had when they first met, because that's another thing so common in the author's stories, and i'm just glad i got to enjoy this one as much as i did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Sexual content
amphipodgirl's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I liked this okay, but didn't have Tal-Bauer-style deep crazy instalove that I did for Secret Service.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Hockey is a very violent sport, and many on-ice fights and fouls are described, as well as injuries from those and from routine play. Some of the injuries are fairly disquieting.
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