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A review by eajohnston
Back to Center by Joshua Harwood, Ryan Taylor
5.0
I really enjoyed this MM hockey romance full of love, found family, second chances and mental health struggles. While this book is a standalone, I would highly recommend reading Benny and Cole’s story in Cracks in the Ice as we really get to see the struggles that one of the MCs is still dealing with.
This is Eckie and Jack’s story.
During the first book in the series, we see Eckie seriously struggle with making good decisions. When this book starts, Eckie is in a facility who is helping him manage his depression. Jack, one of the assistant coaches who is only a couple of years older than Eckie, starts stopping by to visit Eckie and ends up visiting him daily. They formed a strong connection and when Eckie is left with nowhere to go, Jack opens his home to Eckie.
While they are living together, Jack is a constant presence in Eckie’s life and they get closer and closer. The closer they get to each other, the more they want to take the next steps.
When they decide to take the next steps in their relationship, there are people in Eckie’s life who don’t want that and do everything that they can to ruin his new found happiness. Will Eckie and Jack be able to find their HEA or will the people around them force them apart?
I loved Jack and Eckie’s friendship turned relationship! I love the friends to lovers trope and that was strong here. But my absolute FAVORITE part of this book was Eckie’s teammates and their support of not only Eckie and Jack, but Eckie as a hockey player. He had a lot to make up for after the last season, but after the initial shock of him being back wore off, his teammates fully supported him. And man, the ending where they all came together made me tear up. The hockey team was his found family and it was so great to see that transformation.
This is Eckie and Jack’s story.
During the first book in the series, we see Eckie seriously struggle with making good decisions. When this book starts, Eckie is in a facility who is helping him manage his depression. Jack, one of the assistant coaches who is only a couple of years older than Eckie, starts stopping by to visit Eckie and ends up visiting him daily. They formed a strong connection and when Eckie is left with nowhere to go, Jack opens his home to Eckie.
While they are living together, Jack is a constant presence in Eckie’s life and they get closer and closer. The closer they get to each other, the more they want to take the next steps.
When they decide to take the next steps in their relationship, there are people in Eckie’s life who don’t want that and do everything that they can to ruin his new found happiness. Will Eckie and Jack be able to find their HEA or will the people around them force them apart?
I loved Jack and Eckie’s friendship turned relationship! I love the friends to lovers trope and that was strong here. But my absolute FAVORITE part of this book was Eckie’s teammates and their support of not only Eckie and Jack, but Eckie as a hockey player. He had a lot to make up for after the last season, but after the initial shock of him being back wore off, his teammates fully supported him. And man, the ending where they all came together made me tear up. The hockey team was his found family and it was so great to see that transformation.