Book 994: Ice Angels (Bethesda Barracudas #3) – Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood

In this book, we find out that not only is Drew, a captain of an opposition team, gay and has been for the entire series (we met him in The New Next One) but he’s been in a long-term committed relationship with Cleeves, another forward from the Bethesda Barracuda, for most of the series!?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad we didn’t know because everyone comes out in their own timeframe, but I was a little like wait what going into this one!? There were quite a few flashbacks, but most of the novel was spent with Drew and Cleeves trying to figure out how they could be together when their teams were halfway across the country and their travel schedules were always in opposition.

They’d been sneaking random overnights, weekends, and the winter holidays together for some time and it was draining them and putting a strain on their relationship. Drew finally decided enough was enough and started to make moves so that they could be together if possible.

. . . love was much more than a cure for horniness or reprieve from being alone. Love was when someone moved into your heart, took you into theirs, and changed your world forever. (75)

This book seemed to focus more on the logistics of Drew figuring out how to be closer to Cleeves, whether that was by either retiring or finding a team that would take him closer to the Barracudas. There were a couple of really hot sex scenes that were a lot more loving and caring than either of the first two novels. Whereas this one seemed more settled and moving to the next step of their relationship, the first two were much more getting to know each other with frisky frantic hook-ups.

This one got a little meta with this,

Drew was Jewish, and I was nominally Christian, so we called our holiday Chrismukkah. He had read a book a few years earlier that used the word as part of the title, and we thought it was perfect. (41)

I legit laughed out loud because the first Taylor and Harwood novel I read was The Chrismukkah Crisis and they leaned heavily into the Christmas/Hannukkah aspect of Drew and Cleeves’ relationship.

The biggest thing that bothered me also bothered the characters in that Drew had to schedule a national interview to come out and then a second interview to announce his relationship with Cleeves (and a few teammates were there to support them). It was both adorable and cringy because the love shines clearly through but they’re frustrated they have to go through the rigamarole. I was torn on that because they’re national figures so they were going to make the news at some point, but they also just want to make sure their relationship is happy and healthy.

Recommendation: This is probably my second favorite novel of the series. I liked that Drew and Cleeves, even though they weren’t in the same place for a large chunk of the novel, seemed to have a more mature relationship. They were more loving and caring and trying to figure out how to make a future together. In the other two novels there was either too much drama around coming out or friction between the two. This one was more matter-of-fact and “let’s solve this problem.”

Opening Line: “The puck felt great against my stick, even if I didn’t know how the hell I was going to get out of this mess.”

Closing Line: “See that galaxy up there, Todd? My spirit loved you before it was ever created, and my soul will love you long after it’s gone.” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)