Tag: LGBTIQ

Books

Book 1,078: Square to the Puck (Offsides #2) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Square to the Puck, book two of J.J. Mulder’s Offsides NHL MM hockey romance series starts off with fireworks. Like WHOA, I was a little concerned she was going to go down the road of Damon Suede (Lickety Split, Hot Head, Bad Idea) or Heidi Cullinan (Dirty Laundry), where they go super hot and heavy bordering on crass, early in the book and then I’m like do I want to finish this novel!?! Thankfully, Mulder reined it in and we got a more sedate and emotional MM romance. Or, I guess, as sedate and emotional as it can be when two NHL pro-hockey players get together.

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Books

Book 1,077: Changing the Game (Offsides #1) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

After realizing pretty quickly in Shots on Net (SCU Hockey #1) by J.J. Mulder, that there was a second connected series I sought it out. What I didn’t realize, is that it would take me to book three, Between the Pipes, to get the story I wanted! I’m divided on whether or not I should’ve read this one first. Mulder definitely improves as a writer throughout the two series and I believe wrote them simultaneously or at least in quick succession.

Changing the Game starts both series out with a bang in the most nonchalant way you possibly could. There’s Troy, the star forward of the South Carolina NHL franchise. He’s gay and he’s open about it, he’s never been in the closet and it’s just never been brought up. And you have Sam, a former Harvard University goalie who wasn’t good enough to go pro, but still wanted to work for the NHL and does so for the SC team. Sam is coming off of a nasty breakup from a gold-digging girlfriend and this is his bisexual awakening.

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Books

Book 1,076: On the Edge (SCU Hockey #3) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Book cover of "On the Edge"I knew Henri would be the protagonist of book three, how could he not be after being the rock for both Carter from Shots on Net and Max from Save the Game. He’s a big teddy bear and needs his happily ever after and he gets it in this grumpy sunshine romance that was just so cute.

In On the Edge, we learn that Henri is either demiromantic and most likely asexual, without it ever really being confirmed or defined, but it’s done in such a way that provides some great comic relief for the reader and the characters. He meets his match when he’s partnered with the grumpy Atlas, who is openly bisexual, but has a chip on his shoulder (mommy abandonment issues) and hates the world.

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Books

Book 1,074: Save the Game (SCU Hockey #2) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Book Cover of "Save the Game"Book two of J.J. Mulder’s SCU Hockey series finds us once again back on the campus of South Carolina University, but this time it’s not as happy of a story. Trigger warning: sexual assault off page.

We meet Max, the hockey playing protagonist of this novel in book one of the series, Shots on Net, and I knew something was up with him, I just didn’t know what. I thought it was just him figuring things out, but it was so much more than that. Turns out his world was turned upside down when he was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party, and all he can do is keep moving forward through nightmares and insomnia.

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Books

Book 1,073: Shots on Net (SCU Hockey #1) – J.J. Mulder

Geoff W

Book cover of "Shots on Net"While waiting for the next book in the Jane Austen Murder Mystery series I decided I wanted to read yet another sports romance. Specifically I was looking for the jock/nerd trope and when I googled it, this was one of the ones that came up over and over on Reddit. In general, I’m loath to trust Reddit, but after reading a couple of blurbs I kept coming back to this one.

Shots on Net is the story of Zeke, the small super nerdy demisexual desperately looking for a cheap room, who finds Carter, the stacked varsity hockey goalie who is rich AF, who happens to have a room for rent. And, y’all, the sass in this novel was epic. I honestly wasn’t sure as I started reading if I was going to like Mulder’s style, but this line got me:

‘You look twelve, or something.’
‘And you look like someone who breaks kneecaps for the mafia,’ he retorts. (16)

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