Keep Me Like a Secret

by Ivy Hamilton

Matt Miller’s hockey career is on the perfect track. He has an impressive Junior hockey record—not even a single fight—and his choice of full-ride scholarships at the end of the season. Nothing can throw him off course now. Nothing except a drunken mistake with his team captain, Jake Heeren. If Matt and Jake know anything, it’s this: being queer and professional hockey don’t go together. As their feelings for each other deepen and their games start to suffer, Matt and Jake need to decide how far they’re willing to fight for what they have once the world finds out their secret.

Genres: M M Romance, Sports

ebook

Published December 16, 2025

Reviews

[Amber Kuchinka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book I likely would have read if not for wanting to support a debut author, but I quite enjoyed it. At the beginning of the book, I felt like I was dropped into a storyline already quite established. Would have preferred a prologue or a couple first chapters depicting what happened leading up to “the incident”. I also found it a little confusing being dual pov but not naming the character at the beginning of each chapter. It sometimes took a few paragraphs to figure out which character’s pov I was in. Despite that, I found myself being more and more drawn in to the story as it went on, and kept wanting to know what would happen next.

[Alexa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really tried to like this, and I think the idea was really interesting. Sadly, I didn't vibe with the writing style and found it lacking.

Moreover, it felt repetitive, weirdly underdeveloped in areas with plot holes and odd takes at certain points. Not expecting impressive maturity from teenage male characters, but the adult characters were bizarre and lots of jumping around with introduction etc.

SPOILERS:

The entire discussion around the leaked footage and that being shared/displayed on the Jumbotron would literally be a crime. There is no mention of police at all? The most "enforcement" is the teenage boys fighting each other and the player getting benched for the season.

[Sarah☀️ Somerville]

DNF @ 38% - This is... pretty terrible. I guess it doesn't help that I don't know anything about junior hockey, but it isn't written in a way that makes sense to me. All the discussions about sexuality are awkward and unrealistic (especially given these characters are supposedly closeted). In fact, pretty much all the dialogue is awkward and unrealistic. The characters' reactions don't make sense. The way they talk about girls makes me cringe. The characters are just so awful and unlikeable and I just can't keep reading.

[Anon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story starts off painful and gritty and ends up so sweet. I CANNOT get the turning point out of my head!

I'm loving the attention this book gives to mental health, and showing authentic small-town Saskatchewan life.