Between the Pipes

The Sin Bin #0.5

by E.M. Lindsey, Marina Vivancos

Davesh and Zed are many things.

Teammates.

Best friends.

And for a long while now, lovers.

Davesh knows the ins and outs of Zed—how to make him laugh, what makes him moan, and the look in his eyes when he sees something he wants.

And the way he looks at their new goalie? It’s the same look Zed gave him right before their first kiss that changed everything.

But the thing is, Davesh wants too.

Still, wanting is far easier than having, especially when it comes to Kevin.

Fighting to earn his place on the team and get them to the Stanley Cup, Kevin doesn't have time for distractions. Even if those two distractions are everything he’s ever wanted, wrapped up in a tidy bow.

In spite of how well Davesh and Zed have taken care of him since he started with the Phantoms, Kevin isn’t sure he can handle the two men who are so big, and so bright, and so full of love. He’s not sure he’s ready for it, and more importantly, he’s not sure he deserves everything they have to offer.

Between the Pipes is a steamy MMM romance between three members of the fictional NHL team, The Brooklyn Phantoms. It contains a sunshine-sweet Deaf center, his relentless, gorgeous center lover, and an emotionally constipated goalie who knows what he wants, just not how to let himself have it.

Free book available on Prolific Works

Content Warning: This book contains mentions of anxiety, audism, a
relationship with mild D/s undertones, and a non-graphic sports injury.
Please take care if any of these things are triggering for you.

Genres: Sports, M M Romance, Hockey, Sports Romance, Romance, Polyamory, Queer

118 pages, ebook

First published September 28, 2021

About the author

E.M. Lindsey is the author of MM contemporary romance. She presently lives and works in the southeastern United States.

EM Lindsey also writes MM Paranormal Romance under the pseudonym Ariel Millar.

Reviews

[Gabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the authors warned me to suspend disbelief, coz they took a lot of liberties with how the hockey league works, and how hard of hearing people live. Aaand despite the warning I just... there are things you can't/shouldn't take liberties with, imo. But to each their own.
I also did not like the writing. There were a few paragraphs where I thought oh this is good, but the rest ugh. And in general this story is too sweet for me.
So um clearly I'm not the target audience. lol

[ML · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh if I never hear the term prairie boy again, I’ll be happy. Kevin is a prairie boy apparently. Said 8 times in a novella. WTH.

This is book .5 in a new series. I read book 1 already. These 3 characters play a pivotal part in book 1. I should have read this book first or not at all. 😬

Kevin, Zed and Davesh all play hockey for the same team in NY. Davesh and Zed are already in an established relationship but want to bring Kevin into their dynamic. It’s never said why exactly but they both love Kevin. I’m sure there’s a backstory but we never get it. So this insta love felt off.

Kevin using the term “bud”was off putting. Are you ready bud? During sexy times was ick. Totally took me out of the story. I’ve only read that term in age play books, which this book is NOT. At first I was sad this was a novella, after that term was used, I was glad this was short. Because it was short we get only one sex scene and it’s at the very, very end. Meh.

I’ll do a word search of chirp, bud and prairie boy before I start book 2.
Hopefully it isn’t said more than 30 times because overused words are UGH.

[nana · Rating 2 out of 5]

honestly, the story was even fine, but the book was overall difficult to enjoy.

there's a warning about elements of the story the authors are aware that aren't portrayed with accuracy here, and the decision of writing a Deaf NHL player puzzled me. i don't know about Vivancos - but i know Lindsey really likes writing disabled MCs and i am sure there are many conditions NHL players can actually play with.

the main problem for the enjoyment is how i couldn't feel the protagonists. i felt i didn't really know any of them, which is a problem in romance. connection with the characters is important for their chemistry to work in the book, and that wasn't here. i do feel like the writing may be at fault. i am not familiar with Vivancos but i have been very bored by Lindsey before.

another aspect of the "diversity" that didn't click with me was how it was quickly addressed how being a Black player in the NHL was a struggle for a minor character, but there's nothing about the MC of color (portrayed in the cover!) - who is of a racial category rarer in the NHL even than Black players - on that aspect, which felt very off to me. it's weird that he was the character chosen to be on the cover when there's far more about the other MC being Deaf and Jewish (even though this last thing is also barely there anyway).

i am of the opinion that POC characters can just be there just like white characters always are just there, but if general discrimination in the NHL is addressed - so this NHL isn't in a alt version on its problems - making the commentary on it so unbalanced through the MCs just feels lazy.

i am not sure on the MMM development either but there are definitely throuple stories i hated more, so i think my general lack of a good time with this was because the writing just couldn't do justice to the characters and the story so everything felt too bland. i have already decided Lindsey doesn't deliver to me when not even the "diversity" seems worth it, but i hope to have better experiences with Vivancos.

also, i know it was a joke, and as far as as concerned authors are free to go all the way on the anti-Republican jokes, but i hope they don't really believe just watching cop shows makes someone pro-cop and Republican. it is perfectly possible to watch something and enjoy it to some extent while still observing its problems - especially because way too much of the mainstream media is formed by problematic content anyway.

[Sheri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Errr, what do I think?? I think this was terrible!
This is exactly the reason that I don't gravitate towards ménage. I have to know and trust the author because this was awkward and uncomfortable for me. I didn't care for the dialogue or the writing. I didn't care for...a lot of things. I'll just leave it at that.

*1.5 not-for-me stars*

[NicoleR.M.M.]

Finally decided to DNF. The writing just does not work for me.
No rating.

[Jamie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was enjoying the book until I got to the part where the authors politics and stance on police came into the book. Completely uncalled for. They are arguing about what TV show to watch and one of them wants to watch a crime show.

"A crime show? Zed repeated. "Oh, what, so we can see policemen get glorified on the TV? What are you, a republican? "Okay, first of all, that's not what Mind Hunter is about. "Okay, first of all, Zed imitated. The FBI is evil, and"...

Look I get it, we all have our own opinions on topics. But I don't read fiction to hear what yours are. And I definitely didn't pick up a fiction book about politics. I picked up a sports hockey book. Why can't you just say, 'eh I don't feel like a crime show. Let's watch something different like...'

I have to read the next book for a challenge so I'm really hoping this doesn't follow into the next one.

[Kel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Free. Skimmed. Didn't grab my attention.

[Lori¸¸¸.•*❀Ɍɛɑɗs̱LɪƙɛIʈs̱H̱ɛɍJɔɓ 유❤유 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, I have no interest in sportsball of any kind and of all of the sports I have watched hockey the least but for some reason I adore hockey romances the most! I can't honestly explain why and I can never remember any of the hockey terms no matter how many times I read them. I told one of the authors that for me it's "one player has the puck, now another player has a puck and someone either scores or doesn't and then they fight and then they fuck." And I am hooked.

This shorter prequel was really special in a lot of ways. It had a poly relationship that was everything I hope for in poly relationships. Even though there was an established couple, they both wanted the third badly and equally and treated him as an equal part of the trio which doesn't always happen and that's why I am leary of poly books. It also had a character that was hard of hearing and I love how EM Lindsey has incorporated different types of disabilities in her books and humanizes them and shows that they can and should be loved and have the same capacity for love as anyone else. I think we tend to forget that and only focus on the disabilities themselves.

Marina, on the other hand, is becoming one of my favorite authors because she has a depth of writing that is beautiful and soulful and can show the rawness of flawed characters and make them bloom.

For those reasons, I am very excited about this series and this was a lovely start!

[Rachel Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun short story that is a first taste into this series between the two authors. 3.5 stars for me.

While I enjoyed the chemistry between the three men, I almost felt like there was a bit - TOO much to cover in this short story that distracted from the love story between the three. They wanted it to be too diverse, too inclusive, in a sport that, from what little I know about it, is very much not diverse as other sports.

I also would have preferred a bit more of an HEA/HFN ending between the three, rather than spend a chapter on the character that will be in the next book.

[JenMcJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. I liked this book. This was very much in line with the type of book EML usually writes with the added help of strong diverse characters that MV is known for as well. It had a lot of diversity and some real feels but I missed the breadth of heart and lyricism of the writing I am used to from MV.

This was an ambitious amount of story to tell in novella form and could have benefited from a full book that evened out how this one starts. I would have felt less instalove-y if we hadn't been dropped into a stable relationship that has already set their sights on adding a partner they've fallen for. If only he'll notice the signals they are sending...

It's a good start to the new series.

[A Damach · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75⭐

[Mandz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute

Cute, straightforward, low stakes. Low angst, but sweet if you're looking for 3 people who already know they're in love to finally do something about it.

[McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very middle of the road for me. I'm not sure how I feel about the writing style and I found myself getting lost in who was talking a lot of the time. I felt like this picked up in the middle of a world I had no background on, but I read its important to read this prior to the first full length novel!

[X · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of elements, but the execution just isn’t there. I guess this is listed as #0.5, but the authors should have just committed to a full book and fleshed out the story and the characters more (or waited to publish something about these characters until they wanted to). As it is, there was no real character development shown on page - the main character who changes goes from 0 to 100 without any real depiction of why he would do so.

At the very least I think the draft needed another revision to go through and catch smaller errors. I also didn’t love including a POV character from another book as the final POV here. I don’t think the reader really needed a bridge from this to the next story above and beyond what was covered in the main character POV sections, and it made it so this book can’t really work as a standalone.

[Alex (HEABookNerd) · Rating 3 out of 5]

BETWEEN THE PIPES has me interested in trying more in this series but there's just something about E.M. Lindsey's writing style that doesn't totally work for me. I was a bit confused in the beginning about the exact relationship between Davesh, Zed, and Kevin. It was clear that Davesh and Zed were a couple but I wasn't sure where Kevin fit in -- were they just friends? Has anyone expressed their interest or feelings for each other? They were obviously very close but how close was unclear at first. That being said I did like the hockey scenes and I loved how much these three guys cared for each other. They were that perfect combination of sexy and sweet.

[jerri-lynne · Rating 1 out of 5]

covers like this should be illegal

[verlorenimbuecherregal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oof. The book just doesn't feel done. Sure, it's a novella and doesn't have that many pages, but other authors are able to put at least some kind of depth into their short stories and here it's missing completely. There is absolutely nothing the reader learns about the protagonists' personal backgrounds, nothing about the (quite unusual) constellation of the throuple/MMM is appearing as a problem or a conflict, because the relationship is just in the closet for everyone besides one side character at the end? Furthermore, it feels like there's a book before this one missing, which explains WHY the existing couple Davesh/Zed is interested in Kevin in the first place. I'd love to read about an MMM dynamic which results from an existing couple, because talking about wanting more and the whole inner fights about what that means for the relationship would be SO interesting, but this book just starts with "We've known Kevin for a few months and both have fallen for him and he sometimes joins us at home" and the whole way to this state is just not explained. Also the ending feels somehow abrupt, but maybe also because of the nonexisting deeper layers. But on the other hand I was almost glad the book was over, because without creating a bond to the characters, I simply wasn't interested enough to pursue reading, while also the writing style just wasn't for me. Third person and past tense are things I don't really like in romance, but it felt extra stilted in this one. The tropes of the second book do interest me, but I don't think I'll read that if the quality is similar.
What I really liked tho was the humor, I laughed out loud multiple times, my highlight was "Can't we watch a crime drama like normal people?" "A crime show?" Zed repeated. "Oh what, so we can see policemen get glorified on the TV? What are you, a republican?"

[Janet · Rating 1 out of 5]

A short and ultimately unsatisfying read

There are so many things wrong with this, I don't know where to begin so I'll start with the good.
The tenderness and love between Davesh and Zed was well done. I felt the connection between them and l loved their home and their dog. The brief hockey scenes gave a different perspective of Zed's disability and how his team interacted easily with him.
The bad or unexplained completely overwhelmed the good things. Why did Zed and Davesh love Kevin? That was never explained, and we were just told that they wanted him to be third, and would wait for him, no matte how long Kevin took to come round. Why did Kevin love them, when it seemed he'd hardly acknowledged his sexuality to himself, let alone anyone else? Why did they keep calling Kevin 'prairie boy' and why did Kevin keep saying 'bud'? Each were so jarring, especially during sex, and I can't understand why these two authors didn't know better and recognise that. Why bring up politics? This story is too short to warrant going there, even if it was a joking question in a discussion about films and television series and again, it was very jarring and out of place. There's no character development whatsoever. It felt like this was an extract plucked from the middle of a full length book, with absolutely no context for the reader whatsoever and no satisfactory ending.
I would have given it two stars for Zed and Davesh but it really isn't deserving of more than one star overall. And now I'm going to stop or this review will be longer than the book.

[A🦄🌻🌙 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25⭐️

Never thought I’d have a tricky time with a MV book but alas here we are. This is a short novella that kinda just drops us in the middle of a current couple trying to make their feelings known for a fellow teammate so as to have their duo become a triad. Now I really loved each of these characters individually and liked their own distinct voices. My issues what that there was absolutely no context provided and I felt kinda lost as to what was actually happening for maybe half the book. My brain was working harder than it wanted to for a spicy lil novella lol. Altogether it felt a bit rushed - their relationship coulda been developed further because they’re all so dang likable! And it also just felt kinda confusing for a good portion at the beginning. I will say I loved the insight into Deaf culture and totes ate up the unique mix of Jewish and Deaf cultures that made up Zed’s family - I ate that shit up and wanted seconds! I am intrigued though by Vicki and Tommy so I’ll probs just jump right into that

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Idk I enjoyed it but I feel like there was a lot to unpack here and it needed to be more than a novella. I loved Davesh and Zed, I thought they were so sweet, Zed is adorable. The way Kevin was thrown into the mix did not seem like a natural turn of events at all. I also feel like there was a whole lot of buildup to absolutely nothing, like they JUST got together and then the book ends? Also oh my fucking god I almost DNF'd when Kevin called Zed bud when they were boning. WE GET IT HE'S CANADIAN. Like are you sure you don't want to make him have an obsession with maple syrup or whine about no free health care in the states? I kept forgetting he was a "prarie boy" (also hate that). I read the other book in this series first and that was a lot better than this one.

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

skip it

This book was a letdown and it should be listed as a novella given its length. The reader is just dropped into an already established romance/potential throuple and we’re just told they all love each other. How? Why? There’s no story to back it up, we’re just supposed to believe them. So the book mainly focuses on hockey and the team’s attempt to get to the Stanley Cup finals, instead of the relationship. Just not what I was looking for. The other book in this series is much better.

[Ruth Gonzalez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it....

It was fine. I read this because i knew these events were brought up in the nxt book and didnt want to be out of the loop. I generally do read novellas because i always end up a bit disappointed meaning like i want to spend more time with the characters but i cant be mad at the book for that when i go into it knowing i wont get that. Bu it was fine i liked the characters just wanted things to be more fleshed out which again i knew what i was getting into when i picked up a novella

[amanda rana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great start!

Novella. Quick & satisfying. The authors solve the issue of needing time to develop a poly dynamic by starting their story somewhere in the middle. Two of the guys are happily devoted & both of them are very interested in adding their new best friend. He's reciprocal, but has hesitations. This was pretty low angst, low stakes and decently steamy. This sets us up for the opening book in the series, but they definitely don't need each other. I love the combination of these two author's voices and I'm looking forward to reading more!

[Antisocial Recluse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like most of Lindsey's book, occasionally misses the mark but this is pretty good, especially for MMM. It's still has Lindsey's usual serious, heavy feeling narrative. Never read Vivancos' work, so I'm not sure what part may have been hers. I enjoy hockey stories and this had a decent mix of game play with the slow relationship development. Kevin's characterization was rather thin. The sex scenes were pretty hot, only one with them all.

[Toni K]

Short and a bit nonsensical. It throws you in the middle of a relationship, without characterization or motivation. So, it misses the typical Vivancos closeness and heat in the intimate scenes. This three-way seems mechanical. Compared with Rough Heat, for example, which is the same thrope, basically, and the same length, this seems glacially cold.

[Golden Child · Rating 5 out of 5]

Davesh & Zed & Kevin

I would’ve loved to get to know these guys better but for a novella, I’m pretty impressed at the character development. Davesh and Zed make no secret about wanting Kevin. Kevin wants them too but has what he thinks is imposter syndrome. Great set up for next book.

[Christie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan, I know I was asked to give them have on the rules of hockey and some of the cochlear implants, but it was like they did not know the sport. Like they looked up the rules and was like I can write a book about this without really understanding it. I dont know know i bought the two books for a book club and will get through the next one for it hoping it is better.

[Alexooo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know it's only a novella, but still, I was hoping for more... If not for a little bit more of the story, then more threesome sex to make up for the lack of plot. But hey, you can't have everything...

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is novella length, which honestly wasn't enough to tell this story. It felt rushed and like pieces were missing. It's a big decision for someone to decide they want to become part of a throuple... and that just seemed unrealistic and rushed in this book. Not my fave.

[Aleja · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. No fue la gran cosa, siento que las descripciones de los partidos fueron muchos, mientras que las interacciones entre los personajes eran pocos.

Kevin me intrigó mucho desde el inicio y me hubiera gustado que haya mas profundidad en su desarrollo. Danvesh me gustó y Zed también.