Book Review: "Gravity" by Tal Bauer

Another hockey romance? Some may say I’m obsessed. It is Stanley Cup playoff season, so why not?

Bryce is a Canadian hockey legend. Raised in a small Quebec town, he’s now captain of the beloved Montreal Étoiles. He’s smashed so many records but he hasn’t yet won the Stanley Cup. Beyond that, he has been having feelings he won’t let himself acknowledge, feelings about what it might be like to fall in love completely, to be with another man.

Hunter is an enormously talented young player who grew up idolizing Bryce. When they get to play together at the all-star game, they dazzle the fans and the hockey world alike, but it is their easy and intense friendship that wows them both. But when Bryce kisses him, he panics, which sends Bryce into a serious slump.

Desperate to recapture the magic of the all-star game, Hunter gets traded to Montreal. At first the move actually exacerbates the team’s problems, until Bryce and Hunter take a trip to visit Bryce’s hometown. The magic of their friendship ignites again, which quickly leads to passion and love.

While they try to keep their relationship a secret, a crisis occurs which pushes it into the open. No one really seems to care about anything but Bryce’s happiness and, of course, for the Étoiles to win the Stanley Cup.

This is the second Tal Bauer book I’ve read, and I just love the way he writes. It’s romantic and steamy and just beautiful, and it makes you wonder why the real world can’t be like this. For those of you who like hockey in your hockey romances, there's a lot of it, which I enjoyed. My one tiny quibble with the book is there are a lot of French phrases (not all are translated), so I spent a lot of time Googling everything. But that didn't dull my love for the book.

Book Review: "Time to Shine" by Rachel Reid

Oh, hockey romances, how I've missed you!! I truly loved this book, more than one of the main characters loved lemonade and Christmas Cap'n Crunch! (No, not together, lol.)

Landon Stackhouse is a goalie on the farm team for Calgary, and he dreams of a career in the NHL. When he gets called up to the pros to fill in for Calgary's backup goalie, he's excited and nervous, although he doesn't expect to play very much. He also knows it won't be too long before he gets sent back down to Saskatoon, so as a shy loner, he's fine not building any strong relationships with his teammates as he sits on the bench.

The one player who doesn't seem to care that Landon is a short-timer is Casey Hicks, Calgary's charismatic young winger. Casey is a tremendously talented player, and a bit cocky (or maybe a little more than a bit), but he's immensely friendly, fun-loving, and he's never met a person he can't talk to—endlessly. Even though Landon doesn't encourage Casey's friendship, Casey treats him as if he's known him for years. And when Landon has to stay in Calgary longer than anticipated, Casey invites him to move into his house. After all, he has plenty of space, and truth be told, he doesn't like being alone.

While Landon would like nothing more than to hide in his room when they get home after practices or games, Casey is determined to break Landon out of his shell. And as their friendship moves toward feelings they've never had before, Casey is ready to embrace the possibility of romance with Landon. Yet despite his feelings, Landon is afraid to start a relationship when he knows he'll be sent back to Saskatoon any day now. Can love flourish if they're apart, or are they doomed before they begin?

I so enjoyed these characters. I loved their chemistry and I loved that Rachel Reid gave them more depth than they first appeared. The supporting cast was really fun, too. There's some steam (but not too much) but the bromance-to-romance was really sweet. I'll definitely be picking up another of Reid's hockey romances!!

Book Review: "Fence: Striking Distance" by Sarah Rees Brennan

Fencing is far more fun than team bonding, that’s for sure!!

Over the last year, I’ve read four volumes of a great YA graphic novel series called Fence, by CS Pacat and Johanna the Mad. The series follows the adventures of the Kings Row fencing team, the rivalries, relationships, and challenges they face.

Sarah Rees Brennan has now written Fence: Striking Distance, an original novel featuring these characters. It was fun to spend an extended amount of time with them. This book delved more deeply into the dynamics between teammates and the emotions involved.

While Coach Williams knows that her team has some solid fencing skills, they can’t seem to work together. She knows if she can foster a sense of teamwork it may improve their success in competition as well.

She makes Harvard, Aiden, Seiji, Nicholas, and Eugene try to bond with each other. What she doesn’t count on is how much work that will require, particularly in some cases. It’ll take a few disastrous dates, a major prank carried out by an unlikely prankster, and lots of self-realization for this to work—if it will at all.

I love this series because the dynamics between the characters feel natural. I enjoyed getting to spend more in-depth time exploring their relationships than you usually get in the graphic novels. The book also treats sexuality as a non-issue, and I love the relationships between Nicholas and Seiji and Harvard and Aiden.

Looking forward to another graphic novel—or another novel—soon!

Book Review: "Fence: Rivals" (Volume 4) by C.S. Pacat, Johanna the Mad, and Joana LaFuente

We return to Kings Row Boys School for more adventures with the fencing team, in the fourth volume of the Fence graphic novel series.

When Volume 3 ended, the members of the fencing team were chosen. To no one's surprise, prodigy Seiji Katayama was selected, but much to his own shock, Nicholas was selected as one of two reserve team members. But when an old rival of Seiji's comes to visit and tries to encourage him to return to his old school, it makes him more determined than ever to stay at Kings Row...but he still thinks he's better than everyone else.

But just as the team starts getting into a groove, the coach throws them for a loop: they're going to have an exhibition match with Methodist Lads College (MLC), the school that knocked them out of the state championships last year. While Seiji is prepared to lead his team to victory, what neither he nor Nicholas understand are the strategies involved with a team fencing event. Since fencing is usually an individual sport, a team event is entirely different, and it's going to take more than talent to win.

Will Kings Row be able to pull out a victory, or will they fall prey to their rival once again? Will one team member be responsible for the win, or will they finally start working together? Will Aiden show up for the match?

In Fence: Rivals, the relationships between the teammates start to develop into more than simple competition with one another. Friendships start to build, and who knows what could happen next?

I enjoy these graphic novels because the characters are so diverse without any discussion (Aiden goes from guy to guy, but there's never any conversation about his sexuality, just that he's a bit of a slut) and they teach me a lot about fencing, which I knew nothing about!

The downside is they're super, super slow-burn, so I hope the next volume advances the plot a little quicker. There are so many threads I'd love to see develop and I hate having to wait, lol! But I'm super excited because a full-length novel called Fence: Striking Distance, based on this series, will be published at the end of September.

See my review of Volume 1 here, and see my review of Volumes 2 and 3 here.