4.5 stars You could think: another sportsman in the closet and we know how it will end.
No....it was wrapped in a different paper. Kind, lovely and spanky dominating.
Sebastian a professor at the uni where Tristan follows a study besides his prof ice hockey career.
Grumpy professor and the ideal student. Sebastian in his thirties and Tristan a lot younger.

They started in a bad way with wrong assumptions Still the attraction coming from both sides. After the sky cleared and they are communicating much better they wait for a real date after Tristan finished his study. And then the heat is on. They started as a fling but within no time they spent all their time together.

Controlling and dominating Sebastian was a lust for my eyes. He was very tuned toward Tristan.
Tristan fit well in Sebastian's hands, especially his cheeks. (All four ;)
All the ingredients for a great story were there and all of them worked.

Tristan has fears to come out but his fear to loose Sebastian has to be bigger, if he wants Sebastian to hold on to their relationship, even if they love each other.

The whole story was steady, strong, lovely and together the men were hot.
I enjoyed it very much and only stopped reading when it was a necessary.
Everything past the revue, friends, colleagues, family and teammates....
Attractive way of writing it had a lot of feelings in the most appealing way.

Kindly received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley.

4.5 Star Review of Off the Ice (Hat Trick #1) by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn
Both Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn are new authors to me. I really like enjoy reading hockey stories and the premise for this story intrigued me. This is a MM story and one that was extremely well written.
Tristan is an elite hockey player who is concerned about becoming the first hockey player in the NHL to come out. When he meets Sebastian, his sociology professor, those fears end up as a very real possibility as Sebastian is out and proud and Tristan is wildly attracted to him.
This is a beautiful love story, full of heartache and angst, and about finding the strength to overcome fear and prejudice.
I really liked both Tristan and Sebastian and really wanted them to get their happily ever after.
I will certainly looking for future books from Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn
I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book through NetGalley from the publisher.

4 Stars

It’s weird, I don’t really watch Hockey, but I seem to love stories written against the backdrop of the sport. Off The Ice was a well-written collaboration between Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn. The transition from one author's portion to the other was absolutely seamless.

I liked both Tristan and Sebastian and although they meet when Tristan takes Sebastian’s summer sociology course, this is not a Teacher/Student trope, as although the attraction is there neither act on it until the class is through.

I’m not really a fan of big age gaps, so I was pleasantly surprised that the 10 to 12 year age difference between Sebastian and Tristan was a non-issue. It was mentioned a couple of times, but the story focused on other conflicting issues and despite that age gap, Sebastian and Tristan actually had a lot of things in common and they fit together well. They had amazing chemistry and the sexual tension between them was palpable.

So as great as the story was and as much as I loved it, let’s talk about the rating I gave it. This book contained some BDSM. I could have handled a little bit of dominance in bed and a little spanking, but not the humiliation. Not calling someone names and smacking them across the face. These aren’t the types of books I’m comfortable reading and if a book contains these things the blurb should indicate this or warnings should be listed to let the reader know the story contains these things, because I was completely blindsided and totally caught off guard. If I had known this I would have scrolled past it and not requested the book. The following scene takes place at about 63% in and I seriously considered DNF’ing it at this point, but the story was so good I had to continue on and see how it all would end.


“8-( ●｀ε´●)爻(●｀ε´● )-8″

As it was, he still had to stretch a little to get a good grip in Tristan’s hair. “What’s the matter? Tell me.” “I—” Tristan swallowed, hard. “I fucked up, and my team was humiliated on the ice.” Sebastian held his head still and slapped him across the face. It wasn’t particularly hard, but that wasn’t the point of this. Tristan’s skin mottled immediately from the contact, though, which was both arousing and concerning. Sebastian drew his fingers over the reddened skin, and he heard Tristan’s quick indrawn breath at the contrast. “Why was that your fault?” He pulled a little harder on Tristan’s hair. “Tell me.” “I didn’t do what I was supposed to.” Tristan’s eyes were very wide. “I’m supposed to defend the puck, not give it up to the other team so they can score.” Sebastian smacked him again. Tristan made a sound, and glancing down, Sebastian saw Tristan’s cock begin to harden. He smiled inwardly. Good. “You had a bad game. You didn’t play as well as you could have. Neither did the rest of your team.” “But I—” Sebastian smacked him again, a bit harder this time. Tristan’s breath escaped in a soft groan, and his cock was fully hard now. “I didn’t say you could talk, did I?” Tristan shook his head. His chest was moving as his breath quickened. “Mmm. You’ll practice and do better next time.”

“8-( ●｀ε´●)爻(●｀ε´● )-8″

Needless to say, I skipped over the remaining sex scenes after this incident. I have no problem whatsoever with an author putting this content into their story, but it’s not something I want to or am comfortable reading and maybe I’m wrong, but I feel I should be given that choice before I open a book.

So, all in all, except the BDSM sex scenes this was a really enjoyable read. I loved not only the main characters, but the story had some great secondary characters as well, secondary characters that are definite potential future main characters. I know this is a trilogy and I’d love to read the other stories, but I’ll definitely be asking questions of the authors before I pick the next book up.

If you don’t mind the above scene or similar ones, then I can say I highly recommend the story.

^copy provided by author/publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Off the Ice had a gorgeous romance, which made the intimacy sexier! I also think part of it was in how there was no sense of urgency. Tristan and Sebastian didn’t break any rules, and for me it made the wait so worth it! They were honest with each other. They were respectful. Their relationship was important to the both of them, so they treated it with care. They treated each other with care.

Basically, I really loved Off the Ice! The authors did a fantastic job with the story. The only reason I didn’t give it a full 5 stars is because I won’t remember the characters as individuals, and to me that’s important.

Despite that, I will be watching out for future installments in the Hat Trick series, because Piper and Avon are a great team!

(Live on 11/6)

Tristan, a defenseman with the Atlanta Venom, knows hockey is not forever and is working on finishing his business degree. Taking Sociology 3201: Wealth, Power, and Inequality from Professor Sebastian Cruz, Tristan - tall, blonde, Wisconsin farm boy, rocking sweatpants and a Grateful Dead t-shirt - doesn't exactly fit into the hipster vibe of the other students. But then Professor Cruz - "tall and whipcord lean with warm golden-brown skin and wavy raven-black hair" - isn't what Tristan expected either.

Sebastian is out and proud while Tristan remains closeted, but they soon navigate a relationship that is hot, dirty and sexy with a side of dominance / humiliation kink that totally works for both men:

"Tristan learned what it meant when someone like Sebastian Cruz said, "Your ass is mine." He spent almost as much time nude—in bed, or bent over tables, or down on all fours—as he did dressed.[...] They couldn’t stay away from each other, or keep their hands and mouths off each other. Tristan was so obsessed with how amazing Sebastian made him feel, it might have scared him if Sebastian didn’t seem equally enthralled."

We get both POVs throughout and I loved how Tris and Sebastian's relationship is free of manufactured angst and strong on conflict resolution as they work their way through Tris coming out to his parents and his team. My only niggles were that at times the pace of the story felt slow, and the abrupt and somehow ....clumsy ... introduction of potential MCs for additional books in the series SPOILER - In the matter of a few pages, we abruptly learn that team captain Bellize is getting a divorce and goalie Ryu is gay and looking for someone like Tristan. END SPOILER.

I give Off the Ice 4.25 stars, rounded to 4 stars.

4.5 Stars

Confession time, I was a bit leery going into this book because 1) I was not a fan of the previous collaboration by these two lovely authors and 2) The slightest mention of hockey these days makes my eye twitch. But I also couldn’t remember the last time I read some hot for teacher naughtiness, so I figured why the hell not? As it turns out, this was definitely one of my better ideas because I thoroughly enjoyed Off the Ice, hockey and all.

The writing was sharp with a quick turnaround on the dual POVs to keep the pace flowing. I thought the characters were really fleshed out and interesting and most importantly, relatable and likeable – even Sebastian, who was supposed to be a bit of an ass. He only came off as a jerk in the classroom to be honest. In fact by 15% I was absolutely spitting mad at him on Tristan’s behalf, which if nothing else was a sure sign I was invested in the story pretty early on.

Now when I say I actually enjoyed the hockey action in the book, that sadly didn’t extend to pop quizzes on hockey during sexy times (although to be fair, I would’ve found any kind of quiz obnoxious during sex). Speaking of sexy times, can a girl get a trigger warning for dirty bathroom sex please? I’ve had to DNF books in the past when the grossness got too descriptive and there was one notable scene that would’ve been a dealbreaker if I wasn’t already invested the the book (but seriously, I did not need further details beyond “highway rest stop”).

Despite skipping over a few early sex scenes, I still got plenty of uh, bang for my buck in that department. I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between Seb and Tris. There were some light but highly potent BDSM elements to their relationship that added a whole other layer to their compatibility. But to be honest, there was never an doubt in my mind that these two were perfect for each other – they just worked.

I thought the authors did a great job writing two complex heroes navigating a newly developing relationship. The book started out with plenty of (and sometimes overly repetitive) naughty teacher-student references but the relationship evolved way beyond that to something much more. Tristan being completely in the closet had a huge hurdle to overcome but Sebastian wasn’t without his own hangups when it came to their relationship. And while I’m aware that coming out is a hugely personal and often high-risk decision, it seemed strange that Tristan had never seriously considered coming out to two of his closest buddies on the team.

For all the challenges the men faced, the book was surprisingly low angst. I have to give props to the authors for making our heroes wait for their happy ending – too often it seems as if conflicts in romance don’t even last a day before they’re magically resolved. I also thought the HFN ending was a nice touch and was suitable for where they were in their relationship and in their lives as a whole.

I thought Off the Ice was a really successful collaboration and I look forward to more from them. Not only that, Avon and Piper managed to pull off the unthinkable – they had me enjoying hockey again. I’ll end my review with another confession: Off the Ice is only the first book of the series but I’m already 150% hooked, no thanks to Tristan’s enigmatic teammate Ryu. All the side characters were larger than life but Ryu easily stole the show for me and I need more of him in my life. Like, stat.

Off the Ice is a great story that partners a super sexy testosterone fuelled professional Hockey Player with an intellectual, out and proud, by the rules college professor. Yes, we all know how messy this one is going to get; especially when Sebastian realises, that Tristan is hiding his true nature for fear of losing that all important superstar persona.

But while their attraction is never in doubt, the shackles placed on their relationship range from the teacher/student connection they are unable to ignore, and Tristan’s public denial of all things Gay. This certainly make this one hell of an intriguing read.

Off the Ice is so much more than a sports romance. It's a coming out story. It's a story about making choices. About friendships. About family. It's basically the story of a relationship.

So, we have a teacher, we have a pro athlete and we have a summer class. Although they met in said class, that was taught by Sebastian and that Tristan was attending, this is not a student/teacher romance. They were attracted to each other from the beginning but nothing happened between them while the class was in effect. They both consciously waited until the end of it to make a move.

Tristan and Sebastian were opposites in every aspect of their lives but somehow they fit together perfectly. They each brough what was missing from the other's life. They were mature, they talked about a lot of things and they communicated the important stuff istead of letting them pile up.

They had about ten years between them but that never became an issue or the focal point in the story. I liked that instead of focusing on the age difference, the story explored other tropes.

The secondary characters had real presence here and were part of the story. The MCs didn't live in a bubble but had friends, family members and colleagues. That's one of the things I liked most about this story.

I liked the relationship that Tristan had with his parents and siblings. It was obvious how much they loved each other and how strong that relationship was. I enjoyed reading about their interactions and I was thrilled that they got as much page time as they got. I would have liked to see more scenes with Sebastian and his family because their relationship was a complicated one but I'm still glad with what I got to see of them.

With the book being a sports romance, I think most people can guess that there is a coming out side-plot at some point. I won't say anything else about that to avoid spoiling the story for those who haven't read it yet, except that in this book took place one of the sweetest and most heart-melting coming out scenes I have read.

As this is the first book in a series we get introdused to a few potential MCs, or at least I hope that we are getting their stories in the future!

Out of all of Tristan's teammates, only three got real page time here but I liked eveything I learned about them so far. Ryu was Tristan's best friend, supportive and always there when he needed him. Molrey was still trying to grow up (at 27) but he was a genuinely nice person, always joking and defusing stressful moments. The captain, Daniel Bellamy or "Bellzie", was the one I liked a tiny bit more than the rest. He had a strong character, always there for his team providing support and advice, conscious of his actions and fully aware of himself, mature and well-adjusted.

The story covers about a year of the characters' lives so this isn't just the beginning of a relationship. It's the story of two people building a life together. And that's my favorite kind of story!

5 stars, obviously, and have fun reading this!



* An ARC of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *

Great start to a new series. I'm really loving the Gale-Vaughn collaborations that have been coming out this year. This is a solid romance book with sexy scenes and a bit of a teacher/student kink all within the backdrop of professional hockey team. I never really thought I would enjoy "sports books", but lately have been really loving all these sports romances on the market. I particularly enjoyed this book because Sebastian is a sociology professor, and that allowed for discussions about just human behavior, pre-conceptions and biases in a way that other stories don't necessarily get the opportunity to broach fluidly in their narrative. Definitely recommend this book and am looking forward to more. Gale and Vaughn did a solid job setting this series up for future installments!

I love Avon Gale writing about hockey, so I was extremely excited to read this book about Tristan, an NHL player, and Sebastian, Tristan's sociology professor. I appreciated how there was quite a bit of slow burn, and that the conflict between the two characters- Tristan, who is closeted, and Sebastian, who isn't, wasn't an obvious answer. I've read a few books about NHL players and the conflict of coming out, and I thought the resolution to both Tristan and Sebastian's problems seemed like a logical compromise with minimal angst. I'm looking forward to the upcoming books in this series!

I was a bit hesitant going into this because while I love Avon Gale's solo books I was not a fan of this writing duo's previous book Permanent Ink. I did like this one better but not by much.

Tristan is a NHL hockey player who wants to finish off his college degree. (And on a side note, real life professional hockey player Colton Parayko is the inspiration for Tristan. You should take a minute to google him because sweet baby jesus he's something fine to look at) Tristan takes a Sociology class (which is the perfect way for the authors to work in some social justice preaching to the reader *eye roll*) where he finds himself attracted to his hot, grumpy teacher, Sebastian. Once the class is over the two men hook up and then start dating.

The story then proceeds the way most professional athlete books do. They fall for each other and then the athlete has the decision on whether he's going to come out or not. I'm not a good reader for this trope because I just hate it. There are numerous things that must be considered for a professional athlete to come out. They're risking their job, their incomes and in some cases their safety. The fact that the other person presents it as "You have to come out or we can't be together" is emotional blackmail in my opinion and it's never going to work for me. I could write paragraphs as to why I hate this so much but I'm just going to leave it with 1. I hate it and 2. Sebastian was a jerk for pushing this on Tristan.

I could have maybe overlooked disliking a plot point if I felt a lot of emotions between the characters but I didn't. A lot of telling me they cared for each other but no showing. I was not committed to these two or their relationship at all. (which was part of my problem with Permanent Ink too). A lot of the emotion that is in Gale's solo books does not come through in these joint efforts.

There was some dirty talk and some mild kink which was fine. That's a bit of a problem for me though. Kink shouldn't be "fine". It should be "Omg this book was so hot". There was a spanking scene that just came from left field. Tristan is missing his family on Thanksgiving and then Sebastian intuitively "knows" what will help Tristan and then spanking ensues. I was doing my Scooby Doo head tilt and "ruh?" for this. (I wish I could just break out the random spankings on people I just intuitively "know" need one. A spanking for you. And one for you. And you too!)

So, this was not a bad book. It also wasn't a great book. It's one of those middle of the road, meh books that I will forget by next week. I'm assuming by the series title "Hat Trick" that this will be a three book series. If so we've met the next two MC's. Both of which are teammates of Tristan's.


**ARC provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Off the Ice (Hat Trick #1)
Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn

My Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Tristan is a professional ice hockey player, but he still wants a backup plan. During the off-season, he has decided to return to education, and finish his business degree. He's hoping to keep his head down and blend into college life. What he didn't expect was his hot gay professor.

Sebastian is focused on his career he can't afford any distractions. A little eye candy during his lectures is okay as long as it stays at that. He can't date a student, but when schools out Tristan may just be too much temptation.

This is a Male/Male romance novel with ex-rated scenes and a little ice hockey. The story is realistic and an easy read. 4 stars out of 5.

*ARC received in exchange for a fair review*


ebook, 283 pages
Expected publication: October 30th 2017 by Riptide Publishing

Tristan is a hockey player who knows he cannot play the sport forever. He makes plans for the future. Going back to school is the best solution. Being attracted to his teacher, is just not an option.

Sebastian does not want to be attracted to his student. He needs to stop dreaming and thinking of the one man he cannot have. But, it seems like it might be mutual....

These characters were just such a joy to read. I am not a fan of the teacher or forbidden trope. In this story, it just works. I will not spoil it for you - but I really am looking forward to reading more in this Hat Trick series. These authors never disappoint.


*** This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and its publishers.

4.5 Stars
I’m a big hockey fan but Avon Gale is a new author to me and I really don’t know why I haven’t read any of her previous books because Off the Ice was a great read, it had everything you want in a book the humour and banter was perfect, the men are hot and the characters have depth. It’s a beautifully written love story with some sizzling chemistry. A college professor and a hot hockey player, one is out of the closet the other is not sure his career will except a gay player but sometimes love makes the decisions for you and often the outcome is not what you expect. If you love sports romance and M/M Reads then this is a must click. Looking forward to reading other books by Avon Gale

This has been on my "need to read urgently" shelf since just about when it got announced. I love hockey fiction, and I really like Avon Gale's hockey fiction, so I understandably had high hopes. I'm not setting this up to say I was disappointed, because I wasn't - I know what Avon Gale's writing is like, and it was just as good as most of her other books. There were just a few aspects of it that I wasn't quite expecting, namely the age gap and (how do I put this) rather rough (BDSM-lite) sex.

When I read the blurb, I expected that Tristan would be somewhere in his late 20s, early 30s, approaching retirement from the NHL and looking to have a career post-hockey. More fool me, because he was actually only 22. Me and age gaps don't generally get along, so that was obviously a pretty big NUH UH from me.

Moving on, we get to the relationship. Now, the biggest problem I have with respect to this aspect is more of a general problem with the genre (which I'm sure I've mentioned about a million times). There is just never any relationship development before BAM they're lusting after one another and then BAM they're having sex and then maybe (MAYBE) if you're lucky you get some before BAM they're in love. So my issue is that there is not nearly enough slowburn in this genre. And by slowburn I mean genuinely having to wait 80-90% of the book before anything happens. I mean pining and longing and angsting. I don't mean them jumping into bed with one another after like 30% because that just feels like it's then porn without plot (oh. Wait. Some of this shit basically is just that. But I'm getting off topic).

I mentioned the sex earlier, and I'll briefly mention it again. It involved (consensual) slapping, face and arse. And like. I just find that really uncomfortable no matter the characters participating so. That wasn't fun.

Besides all that, I did enjoy the book in the same way I've enjoyed most of Avon Gale's (and to a lesser extent because I've read less, Piper Vaughn's) stuff. And I'm definitely looking forward to the other books I assume will be in this series (my bets are on Ryu and Bellamy as the MCs) because the characters are, as usual, wonderful. If only I'd enjoyed some of the other aspects of it as much.

Welp.

This was good.

Off the Ice certainly ticked a lot of boxes: hot teacher/age gap, kink, crankpot-meets-sweetie, smart boys, POC, sports, lots of sweating, supportive family, mutual (private) coming out of fellow teammates, realistic love affair.

Thing is, I was told a lot how much of a cranky asshole Seb was ... and I saw evidence of this...I just didn't really feel it. I couldn't picture myself in that classroom having a teacher like Sebastian Cruz...and getting pissed off at the attitude he brought to the table. Similarly, Tristan was sweet. He had enough agency to stand up for himself, to make his own decisions. But neither felt particularly complex. Neither character was particularly flawed. Both got through issues quickly and easily. The resolution of anything causing discomfort came fast (no pun intended).

Also...it's another coming out book, one whose main plot point revolves around "does he or doesn't he" with flavors of "if he doesn't, we can't be together." Not saying it isn't a big deal because it is. Being out and proud is hard won and it is never, ever easy. In published works, though, using this as a plot point is simply ubiquitous. There's more to being queer than coming out. That doesn't mean the stories don't need to keep being told, especially in cases when the supports are in place--like they are in this book. But if you need a break from coming out stories, maybe come back to this one when you're ready.

And for having this be a kink-book, the emotional line and the power exchange seemed...well...vanilla. Decent vanilla, mind you. But vanilla nonetheless.

That said, I sincerely hope Ryu gets his own book. His future looks very promising, indeed.

This is not my type of book. Sorry, I should have read the description better. I"ve read this author in the past and I requested this book based on the author

I was immediately hooked when I started reading Off the Ice. I liked the initial dynamic between the student and the professor, Tristian and Sebastian.
They didn't started out liking each other but you could see that there was heat simmering between these two.
I liked watching them grow and explore as individuals and also as a couple. The little D/s play wasn't forced or wires.
The authors kept their story fresh and new throughout the book.
I also liked how Sebastian's friend continued to support his friend.
We're given a few leads for possible next books. I'm looking for to reading more from these authors

Let me start by saying I was skeptical that I'd enjoy this. In reader circles I'm in I've heard a lot of talk about how fantastic this is, how much I'd love it, blah blah blah... you know the deal. I try not to listen to book hype because I end up being disappointed.

I was not disappointed.

Off the Ice is, quite simply, a wonderfully refreshing take on some very popular themes. This is a story about coming out. A story about perceptions. A story about finding strength in yourself and courage to fight for what you want. It's a story about family and friends and trust. About communication and compromise. About knowing yourself. About forgiveness. Honestly, there is a lot going on is this book and it would really be fun to buddy read this just to be able to discuss all of this with someone. Alas, I was on my own.

In the beginning, the themes of perception, the way we perceive others and how we tend to place people in a these categories and a hierarchy, and the way the story kicks off between Sebastian and Tristan was so perfect. It really sets up the tone for the rest of the book. By the end of chapter two, I was hooked. Just the first moments in Sebastian's classroom... so unbelievably hooked. I wanted to take his class. Totally and completely hooked, and it just kept getting better from there.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Sebastian and Tristan, the way they start off as Professor and Student. I loved the push and pull that happened throughout class, and then the way things change once Tristan is no longer a student. The progression of their relationship moves authentically and in a way that had me finding it difficult to put the book down. The slow and almost methodical progress they make as a couple really played out perfectly for me. I love that the authors gave them time to not only fall, but get to know each other, form a friendship as well as a sexual relationship. Their foundation made the experience of this book even better.

As the summer moves on, making way to the new season and having things change again, progressing in different ways, had me thinking the authors really put a lot of work into this... not that any writing team wouldn't, but I really felt that work and consideration in the writing. The way the story progresses felt so incredibly carefully constructed, and I appreciated that so much. Every aspect of the really big and important moments in the book really hit home when they happen. I ran through virtually every emotion while reading this and I'm greatful for it.

There is a lot that I could talk about here. I highlighted so many sections, passages, as well as quotes to remember. There are literally so many moments that warrant in-depth discussion, but I think readers should experience them and discuss them in the moment. If there is anything I could be picky about it has more to do with my personal preferences than anything else. Like every time Sebastian becomes Seb, and Tristan becomes Tris. Seriously... that's something that has always bothered me so when it happens here, I just tried to pretend it wasn't happening at all. Otherwise, I loved how the story progressed. I loved the main characters and how I felt like I not only connected with Sebastian, but with Tristan as well. I loved the HFN ending. There is perfect balance between romance and hockey. And the supporting cast? Well, they were all interesting and I want to dive into their characters more.

I can not wait for the next book in the series. I don't know who it will be about but I have some theories. All I know is that I want that book now. I hope I love it as much as I loved this. And yea, in case you didn't know yet, I really loved this.

Highly recommended.

This is probably my third attempt at writing a review that will do this book justice. Reading it was like being allowed a handmade, exquisite chocolate that you wanted to devour but you had to force yourself to slow down and savor. I wanted to race through it but I literally had to force myself to read a couple of chapters and then have a break because I really, really didn’t want it to end. We have Tristan Holt, NHL player for the Atlanta Venom, studying part-time at Georgia State to finish his business degree ‘cos if he gets injured he at least has a backup plan, right? and Sebastian Cruz, his Sociology professor who, with eyes set on tenure, is focused, takes no prisoners and a tough taskmaster in the lecture hall. First of all, the UST, oh jeez... the UST goes on for days and it’s sublime. I think my heart rate for half the book was out of control as they both noticed each other and knew they couldn’t act on this mounting lust and attraction (and don’t get me started on those damn sweatpants!). The chemistry between them was palpable and I loved this tension so very much, it’s one of the best parts of a book for me and, as in real life, a new, budding relationship holds so much promise and possibility (I was going to add innocence too, but there’s nothing innocent about the thoughts going through Seb and Tris’s heads). Prejudice and wrong assumptions then rear their ugly heads which forces a meeting in Sebastian’s office and things take a turn from this moment on and no longer can they ignore what’s happening between them and the feelings they’ve been wrestling with. Thing is, Seb’s out, but he’s aiming for tenure and Tristan is his student, nothing can happen, and Tristan is firmly in the closet and no other player in the NHL is out. But, never say never. I felt for each MC and I understood and sympathised with Tristan’s reluctance to come out and also Seb’s refusal to live life in the shadows. The sex scenes were phenomenal and the heat simmered all the way through the book and I just adored it when Seb knew just what Tris needed and which cheeks to redden. They complemented each other perfectly in and out of the bedroom, Seb being very commanding and stable, and Tris just needing him to be exactly that, and there was this level of comfort and contentment between them from the get-go but that didn’t negate any of the heat and passion. The supporting cast in this book are so intriguing; I’m chomping at the bit to know more about Ryu, Morley and Bellzie, who offered a few surprises and each have an interesting story to tell I’m sure. I got so engaged with the sport too, it was infectious and I *think* I’m just about okay with the ‘icing’ rule now. This story had everything I’d ever want in a book and things I didn’t know I needed. I seem to say ‘I loved this story’ a lot because there are some very good books around but I just want it noted that this one is rather special and one of the outstanding reads of this year for me. It will definitely go on my favourite’s shelf and be revisited again. I am a big fan of Piper and Avon’s solo works and as a writing duo, I think this union is just magical and I hope there’s plenty more stories to come from them. PS. Hats off to whoever thought of the band name Phloydian Slip, pure brilliance.

Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMG Reads.