Rivals on Lockdown

by Gaia Tate

Perfect for when you want a passionate holiday romantic short story…

For Louis Zenith, losing the game on Christmas Eve was bad enough—but getting accidentally locked in the locker room with his biggest rival, Kaden Faulter, takes things to a whole new level. Seven years of rivalry on the ice, sharp words, and tense stares explode into something neither saw coming, all while a snowstorm rages outside.

Louis has always believed Kaden is nothing more than the hockey league’s arrogant golden boy, but being stuck together forces him to confront the the heat between them has always been about more than competition. And as the hours drag on, their carefully guarded secrets begin to unravel, revealing feelings neither of them can ignore.

Rivals on Lockdown is a hockey-fueled enemies-to-lovers holiday romance packed with fiery chemistry, heartfelt revelations, and all the heat to melt a winter storm. Perfect for fans of rivals who can’t decide whether to fight or kiss!

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Hockey, Novella, Sports, Sports Romance

80 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2024

Reviews

[Pauline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another enjoyable short story with a beautiful cover by this author!

I’m really impressed she - again - managed to develop such palpable tension between the MCs in such a short amount of time and therefore made me ✨feel things✨ while reading. So I really liked that!

But man, there so much (lost?) potential here because I would have loved to read a full length novel about Kaden and Louis. The way this short stands right now felt more like a teaser than a complete arc and because of that didn’t give me enough to really root for them. I wanted a bit more emotion and a lot more backstory, but all in all I still enjoyed myself!

[Emna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Idk wtf was that but i enjoyed it .

And OOOOO look at that cover STRAIGHT UP PERFECTION 🤤

[Gaby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t love this one as much as the previous novellas I’ve read from Gaia Tate, but I still had a good time. That said, I think it would have been stronger if it had been even a bit longer.

There was a lot that was only hinted at like their time in the juniors and why Kaden ran 🤷🏻‍♀️. Much of it was left unsaid or not fully addressed, and the ending felt more ambiguous than the others I’ve read from her. But don’t get me wrong, I still really enjoyed it and will definitely keep reading these novellas.

[⋆｡°✮ Lucy InTheSky ✮°｡⋆]

I'm not rating this one, because this is just a short rundown of a full-length book that was supposed to be written about Louis and Kaden.

🔵 Hockey player rivals
🟣 They apparently have quite the past, not on-page
🟢 Pining
🟠 Nice cover
🟡 Not enough of the story is told for me to be really invested in the couple
🌶️ One sex scene, good; t/b

The story starts out pretty good. It's written from Louis' POV and it's doing a good job of it. I liked the guy. I liked the contrast between him and Kaden, the golden boy rich guy. More could be said about it.

But when Kaden comes into the picture, they're already in the middle of their 7-year old journey, then you find out they've known each other even prior to that and Kaden has been in love with Louis all that time!
Kaden's POV would be very welcome if this were a novel.

Their interactions aren't as tension-filled as one would expect, the rivals parts is very short and their dialogues need to be worked on.

A good couple though, but I'm gonna need about 200 pages more of them.

[Aiden Zurf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha dado por leer historias cortas gays en navidad, y honestamente lo estoy disfrutando secretamente 😂

[lakshmi · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Stop pretending you hate me, Lou.” Kaden’s voice dropped lower, almost gentle, and that softness was worse than any taunt. “We both know better, don’t we?”


it ended 😭😭

[fran :) · Rating 3 out of 5]

no me gustan los libros cortos pero este me gusto y seria aun mejor si fuera mas largo

[maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

sometimes you just need a silly gay book to get you out of a reading slump

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

I. Needed. This. To. Be. Longer!!! Seriously, give me the full length book. I would eat it up!! Anyway I’m loving these covers of this author’s book. They are beautiful!!

[Sky]

⭐️4.75

[juli✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

petition to make this a full-length novel 🥹🥹

[Monikat · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, I love the cover.💯🪄
Forced proximity at its finest.
As another reviewer already mentioned, I need at least 200 more pages of this story. It felt like a teaser and in the end, it felt incomplete even though it ends well. We would love to know how it's all resolved, the juicy HEA. The knowing calm that they are both on the same page and are working for their love. I want to know what Kaden's story is since he's the one who ran away all those years ago. A great story that I needed more of.

[Emma ~ a chapter of tea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well that was a fun ride (and pretty hot too)😉

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

[⋆ forest ˖ · Rating 3 out of 5]

hockey rivals get snowed in

• rivals to lovers
• snowed in
• sports romance

[Lorainne C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute.

[Lu · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 supongo???

si bien no voy a filosofar demasiado con algo que su obvio objetivo final es ser un silly little relato smutty rivals to lovers creo que justo su problema es que es un relato.

dame páginas para conocerlos y no infodumping así a lo loco ns

aunque a la vez está giving fanfic en el sentido que da la sensación de que no nos cuentan cosas porque los conocemos previamente y solo importa el prompt en el que los han puesto????

el cuerpo me pedía hockey y se lo he dado yokese xika tampoco le pido mucho

[Lia Sokolov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me llamó mucho la premisa, aunque quisieron venderlo como enemies pero eso ni siquiera podria funcionar en una historia corta, y como que el shou siempre estuvo enamorado del gong y su declaración fue muy apresurado para recurrir al coito, pero si fuera mas largo, tal vez estaria mejor y tener en cuenta que se leía en navidad y yo la leí para año nuevo xd

[Javu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5*
No estuvo mal. Podría haber estado mejor.

[Amnesia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bastante bueno, pero tenía potencial para más desarrollo.

[ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

tan enemies no era pero estaba entretenido!! los diálogos tipo provocativos me encantaron, tenía potencial para ser más largo y me hubiera gustado mucho más si así fuera.

[Joselyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nada mal para pasar el rato

[Michalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bardzo dobre ale dla mnie trochę zakrótkie😔😔

[Shelly Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kaden and Louis’s love story
Book Title-Rivals on Lockdown: MM Short Story Romance
Author-Gaia Tate
MMC/MMC- Kaden and Louis
Genre-Sport Romance
Length- Short Story
Spicy level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ 🌶️ out of 5 peppers
Tropes- mm romance, spicy, holiday, hockey, enemies to lovers
What I liked-This book had so good bones to it for a great enemies to lovers romance. Seven years of secretly liking each other without being able to act on it. It had a great build up of characters well written and detailed for realistic depiction.

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

[sere · Rating 3 out of 5]

carino ma lo volevo più lungo EDDAI

[Julia Toth · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5☆

This was such an enjoyable novella! I felt like it had all the necessary elements: Kaden and Louis had history, there was pining, they were enemies(apparently just on the surface). For such a short novella I felt like we got enough information about their shared history as well. It was fun to read about how getting locked inside a locker room during a snowstorm jumpstarted the change of their relationship from enemies to more.
I could have read a lot more of Kaden and Louis' story honestly and I would have liked the ending to not be this open ended, but it was a great little holiday novella.

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

[Sandy Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another intense fun sweet short romance from Gaia Tate, this time featuring rival hockey players who get locked in the locker room together after hours on Christmas Eve.

I'm thoroughly enjoying all this author's novellas! They're all kinda similar...in a good way? Good for me. I do wish she'd lean out of "I've been in love with you all this time" when the MCs haven't even interacted much at all during all that time, because "I've been interested/into you/intrigued" etc. would work just as well or better, and be more believable. But whatever. This, and all the other novellas I've read so far, reads like that daydream so many of us have had about that person we see from afar and build fairytale romance around but think it'll never happen. Hey, guess what? In Gaia's novellas...dreams do come true! .

They're hockey players, but that part felt kinda sparse, unclear if they're pros or college students or...I wasn't sure, it felt like specifics were avoided. It's not the point but, it did undercut the authenticity of the read. This story also doesn't have a clear reason for one MC to pick on the other all this time--apart from it being like pulling someone's pigtails because you like them. Which, okay, I guess, but, her other novellas had discernible reasons beyond "I like you but I don't know how to handle it so I'm going to be nasty."

Still, a lot of fun, strong tension, sweet and confusing times locked in, and a lovely unexpected surprise for one of them the evening after they're set free. An accidentally exposing one, too! Ha ha.

HFN, hockey rival players, I-hate-you to I-love-you, locked in. No OM drama or mention of others, safe for me. Recommended.

[Marion · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of Louis Zenith and Kaden Faulter. Both are excellent hockey players on opposite teams. It is a never ending game of one upmanship with these two. For seven years they have clashed with each encounter. On Christmas Eve they are locked in together by accident. Whether they like it or not, they will finally have to face the elephant in the room. This is their story. The book is written well and is easy to read. I enjoyed their sparkling conversation after they finally sorted their relationship out. This is a quick read. It is a fun story. I enjoyed it.

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

[Jesica Tulipano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó.

Un libro super corto y a pesar de eso,se desarrollo bien la historia . No falto nada.
2 chicos que se conocen desde mucho tiempo y en el pasado una acción llevó a la falta de comunicacion e inseguridad . Lo que hizo que naciera una relación haters to lovers, para después aceptar por fin sus sentimiento by darse la oportunidad.


Un buen romance MM , nada escandalosos. Lleno de falta de entendimiento y amor. Un amor camuglajeado de rivalidad entre dos jugadores de hockey. Y que obviamente después de tanto luchar contra lo que sienten , sacan a la luz lo que tanto años han callado.

[Tata Karpenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Від суперників до закоханий, коротка і мила історія. Сподобалось , як авторка буквально на 5 сторінках дала відчути запеклі почуттія героїв одне до одного, дратуючу небайдужість, яка шукає виходу. І коли вона нарешті знаходить, омг, це було дуже напружено.
Опинитись замкнутим в роздягальні зі своїм найлютішим суперником на Святвечір - не те, що хотів би Луї, але це саме той час розібратися зі слоном в кімнаті))), алкоголь послабить контроль і зробить зізнання чеснішими, щирішими, відвертішими. Різдво може в не здійснює див, але ця парочка зустріне його вже зовсім в іншрюому статусі. Палко, мило, романтично і святково.