Tropes: rivals/enemies to lovers, forced proximity, rich/poor, double bi-awakening
Feels: 3.5/5
Steam*: 3/5
Kinks: piercings
Angst: low
HEA: yes
Pairing: MM
Triggers/potential icks/content warnings: absent father, homophobic and domineering father, substance abusing parent
3.5 stars
Riot and London are both entering their last year of college. They play hockey and want to go pro. They have been rivals for at least the last 3 years and have butted heads on the ice. For the last year at college, London has transferred to Riot's exclusive college for the wealthy. London is from a poor single parent family and has gotten a scholarship, been recruited to Riot's hockey team. Riot is from a wealthy family, but his mom is a substance abuser andabsent and his dad is domineering and doesn't support his hockey career.
These guys already hate each other. It's going to be rough for them to get along as teammates. But even worse, a housing mix up / issue lands them as roommates. They get on each other's nerves, they got aggressive. And then it turns into sexual tension and they start hooking up.
I had mixed feelings about this book. For the first 50% of the book, it came off to me as poorly written plot wise. These guys don't talk about what they're doing. They share two kisses throughout the first 50% and never talk about it until after the 50% mark. This is the first time both of them have been attracted to someone of the same sex. Yet in various points, they both are having internal monologues about wanting something serious and being so into the other person. It just seems like a mismatch where they couldn't be at that emotional stage and they haven't processed enough to make it believable. By the 50% mark, These guys have had two passionate kisses. They haven't talked after each kiss, they haven't even acknowledged really that they've kissed. It's weird that they go home to their shared apartment after these kisses and don't pick up where they left off or even talk about it at all.
There's a bunch of random scenes that just don't seem maturely written or thought out by the author. London doesn't think he should go home for Christmas because it would put a financial burden on his mother to have another mouth to feed, and in the next breath he is inviting Riot to come with him to his mother's for Christmas. There's a random scene where London gets in a fight in a game and gets a bruised face and Riot is all gently concerned, and it doesn't make sense because 1) they're not in that stage yet of their relationship where feelings make a lot of sense and 2) they're hockey players they're used to injuries. Riot gets a tongue piercing at some point, which doesn't seem smart for a hockey player to get, they already lose their teeth without having a piercing in there to cause problems. The way the progress on their surrogacy journey was described at the 98% mark was very basic and poorly written.
But even with those negatives, and there were a lot of them, there were still some redeeming things with this book. The animosity between them was good. After the 50% mark, they talked about their relationship and the earlier problem of their feelings not matching the stage of their relationship resolved itself. There were some very sweet moments of hand holding, snuggling on couches, bed sharing, caring for each other when injured, and a whole bunch of other sweet moments. I'm a sucker for snuggles so that goes a long way with me.
It was also nice that there was an epilogue far into the future, because right up until the end I was worried this would just be a happy for now. I did want to know why Riot was leaving the NHL after only 5 years when he could have played for another 10 years they said. A reference was made to him having something else that he wanted to do with his life, but they didn't say what that was. Is it that he wants to be a dad and they picked him to be a stay-at-home dad? I don't understand
Some notable moments:
""I'm so fucking sick of this back and forth between us." His voice is a ragged growl that rakes down my spine, leaving fire in its wake. "Aren't you?" My breaths come faster as we stare each other down. The space between us shimmers with unseen sparks. Before I can respond, his mouth crashes onto mine in a searing kiss. Shock freezes me for an endless moment before I'm kissing him back fiercely, months of pent up tension exploding between us."
Sweet snuggle "London nestles against my chest, hat tossed on the table and head tucked under my chin. I breathe him in, the subtle scent of cedar and musk that's intrinsically him. He smells like winter. He smells like home. Fuck. "This okay?" London's voice rumbles against me. "Perfect," I assure him, fingers trailing up and down the warm skin of his back. He hums contentedly, the sound vibrating through me."
""We're dating," London says simply before I can force the words out. "And we wanted to be honest with you before rumors start flying or whatever." He shrugs like he's not hanging his heart out for these guys to stomp all over. "So... yeah. We're together." A beat of silence stretches, broken only by the hum of the air conditioning. Then Mateo lets out a whoop, grinning wide. "I knew it! Pay up, Eli." He holds out a hand and Eli slaps a twenty into it with a grumble. "You bet on this?" London asks, incredulous."
*FYI about steam: I rate steam based on a combination of quality & quantity. I note kink separate from steam because I don't want to underrate steamy reads that don't have much kink.
**Note about spoilers: I like to comment on the plot of a book in reviews, so I almost always mark my reviews as containing spoilers. But I try to avoid spoiling the big dramatic moments! As a reader, I personally like to know what I'm getting into before I read a book so I know more about the content and if it's to my taste/mood, so I try to give that information in my reviews for myself when I'm considering rereading and also for other readers.