Book 991: Nice Catching You (Bethesda Barracudas #1) – Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood

I started this book on the plane home from vacation in the Dominican Republic. I wasn’t ready for vacation to end and had shockingly finished my school reading. I decided to check this book out after reading The Chrismukkah Crisis, also by Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood. I’ve always been a fan of MM Sports Romances so I figured why not give it a go?

This is the story of Nick, the superstar of the college’s hockey team, and Jacob, a nerdy third-year law student at the same college. They meet on a trip when the bus driver somehow flings Jacob through the air into Nick’s arms and the story goes from there. Of course, they end up having to share a room and fall madly in love with each other over a ridiculously short amount of time.

Overall, the book was very enjoyable. The characters were great, the sex scenes hot, and the dialogue witty. there were so many random moments of inclusion that you could tell this book was written by LGBT authors.

‘Sir,’ Scotty broke in, ‘I’m in a hundred percent. My dads always taught me that if you can’t stand up for what’s right, it doesn’t matter what else you do in life. (253)

I absolutely adored that one of the team’s players had two dads. It was just a small moment that made my heart sore when I read it.

The big crisis of the novel is Nick decides he wants to come out. Jacob has already told him that it’s okay waiting for him, but Nick is adamant. He’s decided he won’t go pro so that he can be open and authentic about his sexuality. He’s always been gay and always will be, but he’s stayed in the closet because of hockey.

When he does come out, the hockey coach (and a few players) are horrible to him. The college president weighs in on the hockey coach’s side and tries to convince Nick to leave the team and threatens Jacob. At that point, Jacob gets some lawyer friends involved and there is a massive showdown with Jacob and Nick winning.

The sweetest part of the novel is the end, not only because the team wins the NCAA championship with Nick leading them (and a supportive assistant coach coaching them) but because Jacob has convinced Nick to put his law school plans on hold to play professional hockey as the first openly gay player because of the platform it will give him.

Recommendation: This was a great read, but it wasn’t perfect. I’m not sure if Taylor and Harwood alternate chapters or if they write both together, but I very much enjoyed both characters and the overall story. Jacob and Nick were perfectly balanced and I hope they make appearances in the other novels of the series!

Opening Line: “I haven’t been on many buses, but I was starting to think I might die on this one.”

Closing Line: “Meanwhile, watch out for those Barracudas!” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)