Taking a Shot

Desert Ice Hockey #0.5

by Christie Gordon

Why am I so boy crazy this year? Must be something in the ice.Archer
I’ve been hooking up with a wicked little keyboard player. Problem is, I think I want more.

So, after a particularly fiery time together, I decide to ask him on a date.

But he’s been stammering about some old friend who’s come back to town.

No matter if this works out, I know my person is out there. And I’m going to find him.

Taking a Shot is part of the Desert Ice Hockey series. It takes place before the first book (Stick By Me). It contains the backstory of Archer’s relationship with Milo, a keyboard player from the Rock U series, and is an introduction to the squad, a group of queer college hockey players and best friends who share a house together. It includes a steamy scene.

Desert Ice Hockey is a spin-off of the Rock U series and follows a group of young queer men who worked hard to play together on the same college hockey team. Follow along as they each find their happily ever after with nerds, coaches, other hockey players and more. Each book in the series follows a different couple and can be read as a standalone.

Genres: M M Romance, Sports, Hockey, College, Romance, LGBT, Novella

41 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 1, 2024

About the author

Christie Gordon is a bestselling MM romance author who writes steamy, emotional love stories filled with messy feelings, found family, unexpected love, and happily ever afters worth fighting for.

Her interconnected romance world spans MM hockey romance, MM football romance, rockstar romance, skater boys, rivals, teammates, best friends, forbidden relationships, bi awakenings, second chances, and men who have a habit of falling for exactly the person they never saw coming.

Christie began publishing MM romance in 2010, then stepped away from writing for several years while raising her two sons. She returned in 2021 with Say the Words, and one story quickly grew into a sprawling world of connected series, familiar faces, and side characters who refuse to stay on the sidelines.

In March 2025, Christie left the high-tech world behind to become a full-time author—and now spends her days doing what she loves most: creating high-heat, high-emotion MM romance with a little humor and a hard-earned HEA.

When she isn’t writing, Christie can usually be found watching boys-love dramas, creating digital art, drinking far too much coffee, or dreaming up the next couple destined to make terrible decisions before falling hopelessly in love. She lives in the Phoenix metro area and is the proud mom of two grown sons who still provide plenty of inspiration for fictional chaos.

For information about her and her work, please visit her website at: www.christiegordon.com
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Reviews

[Sandy Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Archer in this story and can't wait until he gets his man.

[Aaliyah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not what I was expecting. This was just an introduction to the characters of the series. The “couple” isn’t together but they’re hooking up. They don’t end up together either. I didn’t like Archer or Milo. Archer came off like a total douche. Milo was thinking about dating Archer just because he felt like he should have a boyfriend 🤨. The writing also wasn’t for me.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Archer & Milo
Rating: 3.0⭐

- Hook-up
- College Hockey Player
- Band Keyboard Player

Verse: Yes
HEA: No
POV: Single - Archer
Breakup: Not together
Cheat: No
Ages: Early 20's

[Zoë Miranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st person, past tense, single POV

Archer Carlson (23-ish), exercise science student/left defenseman on the ASU hockey team.

This is a short story so it is an extremely quick read and serves the purpose of introducing the squad, Archer's teammates/roommates and the subjects of the new Desert Ice Hockey series as well as lifting the veil concerning Archer's perspective of the events that occur at the outset of More Than a Spark. I really enjoyed seeing Archer's side as I felt a little bad for him while reading MTAS and was happy to see his feeling had only just started to become engaged when Ryder and Milo's relationship evolved.

Chapter one is rather like an episode of a reality show where all of the houseguests arrive and are introduced. There are six of them so good luck keeping everyone straight, lol. I might have to refer to this chapter in the future.

Chapter two is a spicy encounter between Archer and his hookup, Milo, where he begins to show signs of wanting to date.

Chapter three is Archer's POV of the casino performance where he meets Ryder and sees how he and Milo interact and kinda sees the writing on the wall as far as their future prospects.

Chapter four is Archer's POV of the phone call during which Milo breaks the news that they can't continue to see each other and nicely sets us up for Stick By Me

This was a great prequel to whet my appetite before diving in to read the first book of the new series.

[DMCechak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taking a Shot - Archer’s Milo

‘Milo swung his hips and rocked his head, always keeping his fingers on the keys. As the song built for the second chorus, he jumped up and down with the rest of them, his gaze searching the crowd and landing on Ryder. A wide smile spread over his lips. Ryder whooped and swung his fist in the air, smiling back at him. “That’s my boy!” Yep, Milo and Ryder had something special. I wasn’t going to get in their way. I glanced at Ryder with a smirk teasing my lips, then hollered at Milo, too. This was over before it had even begun. But at least I knew Milo would be in good hands. Ryder was a great guy and very protective of him.‘

Taking a Shot gives us background on Milo’s hookup, Archer, and helps provide the transition to Christie Gordon’s new series, Desert Ice Hockey.

We experienced some of the ‘action’ in a previous story of Milo’s, but this short story helps us understand Archer’s thinking, while introducing us to his hockey house, full of friends. Now we can look forward to seeing Archer get his guy and also his hockey playing friends get their own HEA’s!

[Caleb Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is available for free from Christie and a setup to her upcoming novel, Stick By Me.
Taking A Shot is a really cute short story that introduces the characters and main man from the upcoming book.
We get a chance to meet Archer and learn a little bit about what makes him tick.
I’ve not read the precursor series to this short story so I’m unfamiliar with the events of the book the precedes this one, but even with that being the case I didn’t feel lost. This reads very much like a standalone intro that sets the stage for Archer’s story.
I think not having read Milo’s story, it made this more mysterious and fun!

Super excited for Stick By Me.

[Valeria DePaula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letto!!!
E già dal primo spruzzo d’acqua ho capito che la dignità era finita nello spogliatoio insieme ai vestiti di Archer.

Archer è il classico jock dell’hockey con zero autocontrollo e un cuore che parte in modalità “errore di sistema” appena vede Leo.
Leo, invece, è il nerd che dice “non esco con uomini” mentre il suo cervello chiaramente ha già cambiato idea.

E Nerd + giocatore di hockey = combustione lenta ma inevitabile. Dolcemente caotico, con quel mix perfetto di tenerezza e attrazione fuori controllo.

Per me è: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
“caldo, tenero e leggermente pericoloso per il mio autocontrollo.”


:

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a free arc to review. This book dives into the hookup/kind of relationship but not really between Milo and Archer. We see a glimpse of it in More Than a Spark but it gives you more context. It was nice meeting Archer and the rest of his roommates and is a short read. But if you want more on what happened before Ryder comes back to town I definitely recommend picking this up. I am so excited to dive into getting Archers hea and getting to know the rest of his roommates more in the upcoming books!!!

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a little short story to give you a better idea of what happened between Archer and Milo before Stick by Me! It was nice to get a closer look to what happened between them and where Archer was at before we get into his story and him finding his well deserved happy ending. It was also a good bridge between these two series. I haven’t read the previous two series before this Desert Ice Hockey one, but it’s very clear that this is a big world by this author and there are plenty of crossovers! I look forward to exploring more by this author.

[Korkoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning to Love -
This prequel sets the stage for Archer attempt at trying to change his playboy ways, whilst he was juggling playing hockey and studying in college. Unfortunately, Archer’s plans for a stable relationship were thwarted, so he had to accept the fact and move on, which he did by spending his time doing something else worthwhile. I enjoyed reading this short story, with an ending that left me looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

I received a copy of this book free and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kelly Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a MM Hockey Romance so do not read if that's not your thing.

A very short story, an introduction into the Desert Ice Hockey series i'm assuming. You get to meet the whole team straight off the bat all of which are gay and have formed a tight friendship. This short story focuses on Archer who's relationship with keyboard musician Milo may or may not be turning serious. However Milo's straight best friends Ryder seems to put a spanner in the works. This is just a taster of a book which has left me wanting to read the rest of the series. 4 🌟

[Sam Blevins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short novella reads like a prequel to set up a series. It introduced a lot of characters in the opening of the story with everyone's arrival giving off the vibes of an early 2000s college age rom com/chick flick.
I would not consider this book to have a happy ever after as the ending was very open ended but not a cliffhanger onto something more.

[Golden Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tyler & Milo…sort of. This a before Milo and Ryder story. Tyler is a hockey player and Milo is in Knot Me. Tyler wants more with Milo but Milo has his sights set on his straight best friend Ryder. This leads Tyler to being single and meeting Leo. Looking forward to their story when it comes out.

[Dalene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um...not sure what to think. One having a whole hockey team be queer is so out there it seems odd. And two I was really wanting more but maybe because it's just a prequel? Not sure how the rest of the series is but I do like Archer and I'm curious how the rest of his story goes.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short story which is basically an intro to six young colleges hockey players as the move into the house they've rented after their summer visits home. It's a cute and amusing story but I don't plan on continuing into the series that follows.

[Her Dark Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🔥🔥🔥

Ok so this 3chapter little novella definitely had me downloading the First book of the series! Stick By Me.

I can't wait to follow Archers story!
And I would love to know what happens with Milo & Ryder.

Perfect little into to the Series 💋

[Luis Ceja · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a bit to confusing to keep up with all the characters , I got mixed up most of the time

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a really good short read. Now I am gonna read what happens next for Archer.

[Julia Shah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short story tying up what happened with Archer and Milo and setting the scene for Christie Gordon's new series.

Brilliant read.

[Winnie Quick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a little difficult for me because it felt like a lot of “shoulds” were involved and I don’t like the concept of taking big steps because everyone else is doing it. It’s a good lesson in moving at your own pace. That said, I loved the glimpse into Archer’s dating back story and am glad he got a full book to himself. 4-4.25 stars.

[Aղցela W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short read that I liked and wished it was longer.

[Joan Ortiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was cute but didn't know it was going to lead to a longer story.. was expecting it to be wrapped up. Sucks to be Archer here lol

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ not much to say considering this novella was only like 50 pages long but it seems like this series will be about a cute group of friends

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archer and Milo oooh my.

Sexy Ice Hockey read 📚

They are hot for each other.

Come see what happens on and off the Ice.

[abookwithacupoftea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the writing, the potential, the beginning but I feel completely cheated because it’s just a prequel introducing two main characters from other books. Not what I look in a short story. On the one hand I want to read more and read the story of Archer on the other hand, I am pouting and I don’t know if I will.

[Spice Fan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, quick prequel in the series - I read this after the first book “Stick by Me”.

It gives you the background on Archer almost dating Milo and an intro to the guys in this series.

A short read but gets some spice in there as well as setting up the first book.