Author: ⟫ Anna Zabo & LA Witt
Blurb: ⟫ Rookie forward Isaac Rivera is still finding his footing in the big leagues where he’s no longer the best player on the roster. It’s a whole new world, especially now that several of his hockey idols have become teammates. Friends, even.
There’s one who’s more than a hockey idol, though… and he might end up being more than a friend.
Julien Landry is a powerhouse on the ice. In eight years, he’s become one of the league’s top defensemen and the heartthrob everyone wants to bed. But fallout from a painful mistake as a rookie, followed by years of rough-and-tumble hookups, have him itching for something more.
When a connection sparks between him and Isaac, he discovers what he’s been missing: someone he can trust with his body and his heart. As long as Isaac and Julien keep the heat between them off the ice, what could go wrong?
But Julien’s past is never far behind him, and when it comes crashing in, he might lose everything—his career, his friends, and the first person he’s ever really loved.
CW: discussions of past abuse and sexual assault
Review: ⟫ There was a lot I liked about this book. The characters were solid and distinct, the wordplay between the characters was brilliant and the sex was off the charts hot. In the first half of the story, it flowed very well with the relationship between the two leads growing organically with palpable chemistry – Julian and Isaac were hot enough to melt the ice. I wasn’t expecting the BDSM aspect of things and thought the research that went into it on-page was awesome – in this day and age, where else are you really going to get your information in the first instance?
The Landry family reminded me very much of my family when I was younger – absolute chaos, noise and love. It was really lovely to see that on the page and it was extremely well done. And yes, there were times that finding a place to hide and just breathe was essential!
Nikki and Elias were amazing and it’s no surprise to me that they form the basis of book 2 because it was more than obvious that there was something between the two of them. So much so that a couple of times, my mouth dropped open with something Nikki did as it felt out of left field – like, how dare he! I imagine we’ll hear all about that behaviour in the next book.
I didn’t like Julian’s lack of communication over the darker issues. It was understandable initially – he had no way of knowing how deep his connection to Isaac was going to be. But the further into the story we got, it made little sense to me that he wouldn’t explain even just a little more about the situation in his past when it was so obviously messing up his present and potentially his future. The subject matter was handled competently and in a satisfying fashion, with good consideration to the current climate.
I was disappointed that the supporting characters didn’t push for Julian to get some therapy after the situation in his past – they were so supportive of him that it seemed strange that they wouldn’t encourage him to do that. That felt very much like it belonged in a book from years ago – therapy and counselling wasn’t so much the norm then.
It was a little hockey heavy, although it feels weird complaining that a hockey romance has too much hockey in it. I enjoyed it but got a little lost – possibly because it feels like ice hockey isn’t as big a deal over here in the UK? And the book was far too long. I understand the need to build tension, establish the relationship and show the effect of the past on the present, but it went on for too long and got repetitive in the end. It lost me a few times because I felt like it was going round and round in circles and I almost wanted to shout at the characters. I’m really torn on the rating because of that – the story was good, the sex was brilliant, the characters were engaging and well written but it felt like it was dragged on unnecessarily.
I’ve not read any Anna Zabo before and am going to try some more of their books this weekend. I would recommend reading it because it was enjoyable as long as you heed the trigger warnings and take into account how long the book is.
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