Books

Book 858: Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2) – Rachel Reid

What’s better than one enemies-to-lovers MM Sports Romance? TWO BACK-TO-BACK!!!! 😀

I hadn’t planned it this way, but I put this one on hold after finishing Game Changer and enjoying the preview, so when it popped up so quickly from my local library and I had a gap to read it in I went for it.

In Game Changer we meet one of the two protagonists, Ilya, an unlovable Russian jackass who’s been leading the Boston Bears (I see what you did there) to the championship multiple years in a row. But we never met Shane, Ilya’s biggest rival since the draft and their rookie year, who has led the Montreal team to success.

Continue reading “Book 858: Heated Rivalry (Game Changers #2) – Rachel Reid”

ARC, Books

Book 857: Playing Offside (Sporting Secrets #1) – Jax Calder

I know nothing about rugby other than the fact they wear super short shorts 😀 Apparently, that was enough for me to say yes when this book appeared in my inbox from Gay Romance Reviews* (I mean, let’s be honest, are any of us really surprised by this? I do love a good MM Sports Romance, regardless of the sport).

Playing Offside is the story of Aiden, top of his game  and heading toward the end of his career who is THE starter to beat for the New Zealand National Rugby Team, and Tyler, the young phenom that has everyone talking and will challenge Aiden for the same spot on the starting lineup. (There was another way they referred to it but hell if I can remember it—something about starting 5? I feel like there are more players on the field per team, but who knows).

Continue reading “Book 857: Playing Offside (Sporting Secrets #1) – Jax Calder”

Books

Book 853: Game Changer (Game Changers #1) – Rachel Reid

Now THIS is a hockey novel. Everything the last one I read (Keeping Hope) did wrong, this one did right (especially the epilogues!). And to make it even better, this was kind of like the adult version of Ukazu’s Check, Please! series, with quite a few parallels that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Just like It Takes Two to Tumble, I found this one because Annabeth Albert (always, yes) highly recommended the newest release from Reid’s Game Changers series, Role Model, so of COURSE I was going to read it, because if Albert loves it, it is 100% worth checking out.

Continue reading “Book 853: Game Changer (Game Changers #1) – Rachel Reid”

ARC, Books

Book 838: Keeping Hope – Alexandria Redding

We all know I loved Ngozi’s Check, Please! series and am a sucker for MM Sports Romances. So, this one had a lot to live up to and even though I had some concerns about the cover art (seems slapped together and so meh) I gave Redding the benefit of the doubt and decided to give it a go when it appeared in my inbox.*

Overall, the book was just meh (sort of like the cover). There was a lot of potential and Redding clearly has a lot of ideas, but she could use an editor (or a stronger one). So much of the book was bogged down in social issues, which I am here for every day of the week—bullying, racial inequity/police profiling, homelessness, and mental health awareness absolutely need more representation—but not at the expense of the story. In reading this one so soon after Legendborn and seeing how well Deonn wrote about injustice and had the characters learn/grow from it, I was let down.

Continue reading “Book 838: Keeping Hope – Alexandria Redding”

ARC, Books

Book 831: Center Court (Order of Play #1) – Brooke Edwards

This book is a love letter to tennis and it was a gushing, effusive, adoring love letter.

When the review request appeared in my inbox I wasn’t sure about reading it, but it’d been a while since I’d read a MM Sports Romance and we were gearing up for vacation so I thought why not?*

Center Court is a split narrative work between Soren, the up-and-coming young tennis star who is poised to become a legend, and Elias, a fellow tennis player who has stayed on his heels and in the pack of the middle generation for years. There are many other minor characters (including the not-really-evil-but-I’m-still-calling-him-it Mattise) that kind of blend together because between Elias, Soren, and tennis there’s not a lot of room for anything else in this book.

Continue reading “Book 831: Center Court (Order of Play #1) – Brooke Edwards”