I enjoyed every minute of this book- definitely a hockey romance that is so incredibly satisfying for fans of the sport. I loved that it was more than just a simple love story. These characters were dealing with hard things in life while they were exploring the new relationship and it felt very honest. I loved (and loved to hate?) all the characters, i laughed, I cried at least twice, then I cried again reading the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS?? I'm already so excited for book too, and feel super lucky that I got to read this one ahead of time!

Excellent hockey romance that was entertaining but actually had plenty of build up in their relationship. I'm a big fan of romances that don't immediately jump straight into sex and this was great for that. Both characters were likeable and they had a great healthy relationship. Friends to lovers is one of my favourite tropes and this did it so well. Looking forward to future installments of this series.

The story was okay, there was too many issues going on that I didn't care for it. There were so many mental health issues, internal homophobia, panic attacks, homophobic parents, etc. that for me took away from the romance & hockey. Though those were there, it was just a little much for me. I really liked both MC's. I will probably try the next book in the series.

3 out of 5 stars

On the whole., Season's Change is a decent mm sports drama. I wouldn't call it a romance because the romance between Olly and Benji seems very much secondary to everything else going on. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just not what I expected. The blurb conveyed more of a romance aspect to me, but that could be my interpretation.

What we get with Cait Nary's novel is all the hockey. So much hockey. Hockey games, hockey training, hockey positions. Hockey line-ups. Hockey team structure. How hockey relates to everything in these characters' lives. If you're a big hockey fan with a good handle of hockey terminology and the rules of the game, you'll have no problem getting immersed in the story. I have no hockey knowledge and had to stop reading to do some internet research in order to figure out what was happening.

I found both Olly and Benji to be very well developed characters with interesting backstories. Some of the backstories didn't work for me, such as Olly's legal issues and Benji's sister. I did very much enjoy the other characters, especially the other team members. These side characters rounded out the story.

One thing that did bother me was the constant use of "buddy" and "bud" by the hockey players, including Olly and Benji, to refer to one another. Maybe that's how those guys talk to each other? I dunno.

As this is a series, I'm hoping the next book follows Olly and Benji as they navigate their relationship. The book ends just as they are getting together and I feel like I need more of them as a couple. If the next book follows a different couple, I'm not sure I'll continue the series.

If you're looking for a total hockey immersive experience featuring gay/bi characters and a rich supporting cast, I recommend Season's Change. But, take heed; this is a hockey story secondary to romance.

Season's Change is the first book in the Trade Season series by Cait Nary. A well-written romance with intriguing characters, a near-perfect amount of hockey, and phenomenally strong writing that will leave you wanting more. I stayed up all night to finish this one.

I liked this hockey romance a lot, but it's not going to be for everyone. Potential readers should know that it is truly a slow burn. Really, really slow. I mean, S—L—O—W. It’s about the furthest thing from instalove as you can get. It does leave a lot of time for hockey for the true fans, though.

In the context of the story, the glacial pace of the growth of the romantic relationship between Benji and Olly makes sense, because Olly is a complete mess at the beginning of the book. He suffers from acute anxiety caused by a mix of the pressure he feels to be successful on the ice and a deep fear of being outed and forced out of hockey entirely. Olly has good reason to be afraid, because the fallout from his previous team finding out he was gay nearly broke him. More than romance, he needs friendship and support, which Benji offers him freely. It’s not until Olly is in a somewhat better place mentally that he begins to realize that he wants them to be much more than teammates and friends. And in Olly’s mind, that is simply impossible.

So, Olly has feelings and can’t bring himself to act on them, and Benji . . . Benji is just utterly, completely oblivious to his own emotions and what’s happening between them. He is very young and totally focused on his hockey career, so I guess it’s possible he could be just that clueless about love and relationships. Maybe his teammate sums it up best, though, when he finally calls Benji out about his feelings for Olly and tells Benji he’s “the dumbest fuck I ever met.” 😂

Between Olly’s fears and Benji’s cluelessness, their romance takes forever to develop. They don’t even kiss until Benji makes the first move, and that happens almost two-thirds of the way in. It takes a lot longer than that for Benji to figure out that he and Olly are more than friends with bennies.

The slow pace didn’t bother me, though, because I really liked Olly and Benji and was totally invested in their story. Even before the romance really took off, Olly’s struggles with his anxiety and the issues both Olly and Benji have with their families held my interest. I liked the way they became friends and how they slid into being a couple in everything but name long before anything physical happened between them. I thought Benji’s obliviousness was a little overdone, but by that point I was so caught up in the book that I didn’t really care. I just wanted Olly and Benji to finally get their happy ending. That ending isn’t neatly packaged like in a lot of romances, all tied up with an epilogue bow, but I liked that it’s a messy and little open ended. They still have things to work through both on their own and as a couple, but Olly and Benji are finally together, and that’s all I needed from the story.

Overall, I thought this was a great read. I’d recommend this to fans of hockey romance who appreciate a good slow burn and want something that’s maybe a little different from the average book in the genre.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
SEASON'S CHANGE is the debut in the Trade Season series, as well as appears to be the author's debut novel. Congratulations, Cait Nary.

First things first, I struggled at the beginning for several reasons, which I'll state below. But as you can see by the five-star rating, once I overcame the hurdle, I was effectively hooked until the last word. I started the novel at bedtime, deciding to read a handful of chapters, struggled a bit but was curious, and ended up finishing at almost 5 am. This review is written while I'm dog tired.

Shout out to all the PA locations from this Pennsylvanian. I got a good chuckle from that, especially with Duncannon as one of those places. The funny ribs about DC and Virginia as well.

Olly is struggling, mentally and emotionally suffering, having been traded after a series of murky events the reader isn't privy, (the gist is there but not truly). Olly fears making a home for himself, truly connecting with the team, feeling as if there is a constant anvil over his head where he will be kicked from the team or his teammates will reject him. He's an emotional ball of constant turmoil and angst, hurting and angry.

I need to state that Olly isn't a difficult to relate to character. I applaud Nary for the characterization, as it was flawlessly executed. Realistic. Where the characters are subject to the human condition, their actions and reactions befitting the personalities they were given, versus acting out of character to propel the plot. This is definitely a character-driven novel, and Olly stays true to character during his journey.

Rookie and new roommate, Benji is a strong influence, a calming presence for Olly. Steady and protective. Perpetually in a chill mood, always friendly, always understanding, always attempting to "heal" Olly. Benji has his own demons with his family, but he shows a healthy way of slaying those demons.

The dynamic between Olly and Benji was lovely. The friends/teammates/roommates-to-lovers, hurt-comfort, with a slow-burn journey from reluctant roommates to true friends to lust-fueled lovers. The pacing on the connection (friendship and romance) was just right, which is what kept the pages turning all through the night, which is why I handed out a rare five-star rating, despite the issues I had with the novel itself.

SEASON'S CHANGE was a hockey romance, and I felt both the romance and the hockey were realistic and engaging. There was a snarky, French-speaking side character in particular that I'm positive returning readers are ravenous to read. I do recommend to fans of those genres, but please note the cons below.

The struggle was real. That sensation that you're missing something that happened previously, as if you were dropped smackdab into the middle of book three, where I actually checked to make sure this was the debut in a new series, and discovered it was the author's first book. That settled me down some, but it didn't erase the confusion until I was halfway into the novel.

Most of this confusion centered on Olly, where past events are talked "around" more than explored. I understood the need for Nary not to do a massive info-dump, as well as attempting to create a bit of a mystery surrounding Olly's past, but it only led to disinterest and confusion. The reader has a front row seat via Olly's narration, to where he becomes an unreliable narrator by somehow closing his mind off to events. I battled through it, knowing eventually all the pieces would be unveiled, but there were still much missing from the overall puzzle of what caused Olly's mental and emotional struggles. It didn't need to be a mystery with so much angst and emotional turmoil. Olly needed the reader in his corner, not frustrated with the evasions. I didn't believe this was executed well, even if it was a solid plot point.

Another factor that created the "am I missing a previous book?" sensation was due to name-dropping. I am no hockey expert, so I just rolled with that info, but I wasn't sure who all these random names belonged. If they were actual hockey players, characters from other novels, or whatnot. The names were dropped all over the place, to where I couldn't keep up, no matter the role in the novel, they were named, and I was missing a reference. I finally just catalogued (mentally) who the small grouping of actual side characters were and just glossed over those random names to avoid any confusion.

This is a hockey book, and I appreciate that there was a strong focus on actual hockey. Not a romance novel using hockey as a plot device that got left to the wayside. There was a ton of hockey, hockey references and influences. Did I understand all of it? No. As I said, I'm not a hockey enthusiast, but I appreciated the authenticity.

SEASON'S CHANGE was an average length novel that read long. I can appreciate a long novel when the scenes produce character building and connections between characters, but there seemed to be a ton of redundancy that effected the flow, slowing the pacing down to molasses. If the reader wasn't emotional invested in the lives of the characters, I could see how they could become disinterested, as it did become tedious in parts.

Cait Nary’s debut novel, Season’s Change, covers some familiar territory for readers of M/M sports romance, and if you love hockey, you get bonus content. The sport is an integral part of Olly Järvinen’s life, it dictates his actions and the way he moves through his world, and has since he was just a kid growing up in Minnesota, for better or for worse. In this case, things lean heavily towards the worse.

This book is about the life of a closeted gay athlete who lives in dire fear of being outed, and one of the issues I had is that there are few other nuances offered to his characterization. Olly is gay, Olly is a hockey player, and I don’t know much else of substance about him. I’d have loved to know him better. One thing we do know is that his time with his former team ended badly—attorneys and NDAs were involved—and it left Olly an emotional, physical, and psychological wreck. When Olly shows up at the Washington Eagles training camp, the team he’s been traded to, he is clearly suffering from anxiety and panic attacks, and those things manifest themselves physically. He is under so much stress that he routinely vomits and suffers from insomnia, not only owing to the event that prompted his trade to the Eagles but in addition, his father berated him for running away from his former team when the going got tough, not knowing the reason behind Olly leaving the Minnesota Wolves. His dad is, by nature, judgmental, controlling, and critical, though, so I’m not sure in the moment it would have made a difference even if he’d known the reason behind the trade.

Benji Bryzinski is a twenty-one-year-old rookie. He also happens to be Olly’s new roomie as well as Olly’s opposite in nearly every imaginable way except for their mutual love of hockey. Benji is extroverted and a lot more in touch with his feelings than Olly could have ever expected—Benji does yoga and mindfulness meditation and isn’t at all embarrassed about admitting he’s seen a therapist. He does these things in lieu of losing his temper and smashing other players’ faces in during games, but the end result is that Benji is a guy who isn’t afraid to give another guy a hug if he needs it. Olly needs it but doesn’t necessarily want it. Until he starts to depend on it. And wants more. Then things get tricky.

The big elephant in their relationship, of course, is that Olly is terrified Benji will figure out Olly is gay when Benji, and/or the other guys, might start to notice Olly doesn’t date or sleep with the “puck bunnies”, and I felt no small amount of sympathy for him as he struggled to keep his life together while he was very clearly falling apart. It wasn’t as painful to watch Benji get rebuffed time and time again in his earnest desire to help, but he does eventually convince Olly to try yoga, and it’s in this and other ways that they begin to grow closer.

Benji got a bit more in-depth characterization. His backstory was offered enough detail for readers to understand that he had a less than ideal childhood, and to see why hockey is so important to him. He has plenty of billet family to love and support him (I would have liked to get to know them better), but his sister is the only biological family member he is in contact with, and she was awful, selfish, narcissistic, opportunistic, shallow, vacuous, and voluntarily played the doormat to a husband who is also a hockey player. He routinely and publicly cheats on her, but it’s okay because he ups her influencer profile? In case it’s not obvious, there is nothing I respected about her. I’m not sure if that was supposed to be the case, but maybe she’ll get a redemption story as the series evolves.

The dude-bro-buddy-bud-broski-speak was overdone, and I do hope those things were addressed before final publication. I also had some admittedly personal issues with the way Benji’s “bi-awakening” played out. It needed to happen for his relationship with Olly to turn the proverbial corner, but it served Benji’s needs only and came at the expense of Olly’s already fragile wellbeing; he threw up after it happened. I wouldn’t say this was the best impetus I could have imagined for Olly to come out to his brothers, it might be the worst in terms of how it ignored his basic needs, but that’s where it ended up. At least they, and eventually his other family members, including his dad, were loving and supportive. And, after a bumpy start, to say the least, Olly and Benji worked things out.

My tepid feelings for Season’s Change are, obviously, my own, so if you’re interested in reading it, definitely see what others think about it. The possibility exists that if I’d read this book, say, ten years ago, my experience with it might have been very different. I hate not loving a book, which is no consolation at all to the author, I know, and Season’s Change did have some moments where it shined, but, overall, this one missed the mark for me.

As a hockey fan, I'm always wary when reading hockey romance books as there's oftentimes inconsistencies between how it's written in books and how it actually works in real life, for both on and off the ice situations and it can kind of take me out of the story. This is definitely one of the more accurate books/ways of speaking about hockey and that really allowed me to enjoy the story. On the other hand, I think it's still accessible to people who may not know much about hockey, which is great.

Beyond that, I really did love the characters and the story. I wanted to tuck Olly into bed with a warm blanket for most of the book, and I loved seeing him get rewarded for his hard work. Benji was very much a "hockey himbo" and I loved the way he came to terms with his sexuality when he really started to think about things. The supporting cast was lovely, and I would love to see more books about them, especially Luke or Poiro!

I would recommend this book if you like: hockey (duh), roommates/friends to lovers, men with good hair.
I would not recommend if you don't like: lack of communication.

I wasn’t a fan of a couple of things, but I still enjoyed this story quite a lot.

My main complaint was with Olly. I loved the character, I wanted to hug him so hard. But the way he was often described on one hand (long hair, pretty face, long fingers, I always thought almost feminine, so the author insisted that he was a man, big and strong, to counterbalance) and how weak he seemed (though I understand that mental illness can make you look like that) bothered me a little. I thought of him as whiny, to be honest. Even knowing everything he went through, family- or workwise. Especially when he had such a support system. But, again, I understand how mental illness works, and it was pretty much Olly’s main problem.

As for Benji, his friendly demeanor felt a bit too much at times, and clearly the sign of someone who wants to hide his struggles. That was the case here. He was young and clueless, but overall a good guy. I loved him. His friendship with Olly, the way he supported him, fought for him, was beautiful.

I couldn’t wait for it to become more, and I had to wait. And wait. I have really no idea how I feel about the pace. I enjoyed seeing their relationship develop slowly, moment by moment, each of them a step in the direction of real love. But it was also real slow. I admit that at one point, I thought I had been mislead and there would be nothing between them. Thankfully I was mistaken.

The whole hockey part of the story was quite interesting. Strategies, ups and downs between two games, players’ care, real actions on the ice, I was sold. All those scenes were necessary in order to develop the characters, and how they change between the beginning of the season and the playoffs. Well done.

Sometimes, the story stalled at times, but the romance was cute, the characters compelling and the hockey bit interesting. A solid debut novel.

Quickie

- Series: Trade season #1 (can be read as a standalone)
- Hashtags: #MM romance #hockey romance #friends to lovers #bisexual
- Trigger: various mental health problems, homophobia
- Main couple: Oliver Järvinen & Benji Bryzinski
- Hotness: 3/5
- Romance: 4/5
- + the strong connection they share even when they’re just friends
- – I felt that Olly was often ‘feminized’ while at the same time reminding the reader that he was very well a man

This was a complex hockey/love story featuring Benji and Olly. Benji, a rookie player, figuring out life in the big leagues. Olly, gay, terrified, coming out of a bad situation with his former team. Their tentative friendship sparking deeper feelings.

This book is full of hockey. More than any hockey book I’ve ever read.

Very angsty. I like angst but this book was over the top occasionally. At times it felt as if the roadblocks were just a way of lengthening the book. It was slow in places.

I liked the characters and their supporting cast. The story was slow burn between two men who didn’t have a clue and it was very sweet. This is the authors debut book and it’s a promising beginning.

I really wanted to like this book. A hockey romance is right up my alley but what a slow torturous burn. The hockey was too descriptive, and the romance wasn't prevalent enough. There were so many times I had to go back a page to figure out whose point of view we were in or what was even going on. Olly and Benji's relationship had so much potential but it just wasn't fleshed out enough. So much just wasn't said and it drove me crazy.

Did any of this stop me from staying up late to keep reading? No. The vulnerability kept me wanting more. I hope the author's next book shows development because I would be willing to give it another try.

<b>I was provided with an ARC of this book by the author because I was shameless and actually asked.</b> (I feel special, I have no regrets)

The moment I read the blurb for <i>Season’s Change</i>, it became one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. Receiving an ARC a little over a month in advance of its publication date was a truly undeserved gift on my part, as my words will never remotely be able to communicate how special this story is. So, first of all: Cait, thank you for putting in the effort of telling it.

Rachel Reid said it best (ofc she did), “This is hockey romance for hockey fans”. <i>Season’s Change</i> takes the classic premise ‘let’s make these two really hot hockey players who are also roommates fall in love with each other’ and puts it in the context of real-life hockey culture, where toxic masculinity and homophobia are undeniably an ongoing concern. From time to time, this makes this book emotionally hard to read, as one of the two MCs, Olly, slowly starts the process of healing from the awful situation he’d found himself in on his previous team and the general hurt caused by spending years upon years being gay and loving a sport where the word ‘gay’ is liberally thrown around as an insult in many contexts.

The fact that Olly’s healing journey is such an essential part of the story that <i>Season’s Change</i> tells makes this book feel like a romance mixed with a little built-in <i>Bildungsroman</i> about what it means to be in your early twenties and figure out how to make your soul finally fit into your skin, how you have to learn to accept help willingly given and understand that, no matter the circumstances, you can “bring the joy and the peacefulness to your own practice” - thank you, Benji, for this profound knowledge that escape Olly, but for sure didn’t escape me.

It works that it’s a slow-burn, it works that these emotionally immature dudes first need to learn kindness, proximity, friendship; it especially works that they both understand that love and sex don’t fix anything if you don’t fix yourself first. It works that the younger, seemingly less experienced character, Benji, actually has something to teach Olly; it works that Olly is such a mom even when he really needs to be mom’d himself. It works that Olly, who is very, very gay, is such a stereotypical feral hockey dude from Minnesota who enjoys fishing and, I suspect, bow-hunting deer in full camouflage gear (somebody write me this fanfiction, please). It works that this book is such a masterclass in what it means to <i>pine</i> and to feel unhinged about somebody else’s hair. It works that this story “wasn’t chill; [...] wasn’t bros”, not even for one single line.

A propos of hair, this passage makes me feel <i>insane</i>:
<blockquote>“He lay on his stomach, face turned [...], his hair everywhere, the skin at the back of his neck like a secret.”</blockquote>
It is poetry, but the entirety of this book reads like poetry. Please do yourself a favor and read it, as we never have enough poetry in our lives. Now excuse me while I go be in my feelings about Olly some more. Read this.

(If you are a reader of Rachel Reid, just know that Olly is right behind Ilya Rozanov in my personal list of favorite romance characters ever - Ilya is no. 1, the Connor McDavid without the assholish parts to Olly being Leon Draisaitl. Read this.)

(Seriously, read this book.)

(If you experience feelings about this book and want someone to share them with, slide into <a href="https://twitter.com/drartemysia">my Twitter DMs</a> at any time. Really, ANY TIME.)

(Read this.)

I completely devoured this book. Like, didn't have a family, a life, a job, responsibilities for a full 24 hour period while I inhaled every single word of Cait Nary's incredible debut. Now I have an intense book hangover that I have no way of abating!

Firstly, I would do absolutely anything for both Olly and Benji. I would commit a crime for them if they asked me to. The way Olly and Benji's relationship morphed from teammates to friends to more was so skillfully done. I loved watching the nuance of the fondness of their friendship turn into the electricity of lust and love, especially from Benji. I loved that they were surrounded by people who loved them as individuals and also as a couple, especially their teammates (POIRO!!!!! PLEASE, MY KING). Cait created a cast of characters that I adored across the board - from the leads to their teammates, to Olly's brothers (crying forever at the scene in the minivan), and even Olly's dad. That incredibly poignant scene in the kitchen brought me to tears, and I'm really not a book crier. There were just so many tender, real moments that broke my heart and then put it back together.

I also absolutely loved the very realistic anxiety rep with Olly. I just felt like I could reach out and touch these people—they were so fully fleshed out, these messy, imperfect people who were clawing their ways to an HEA. This is the exact kind of book I love, because it’s not just about the love story. It’s about the story of each individual person as well. Getting to see their personal growth and how it helped them step into a relationship that they both deserved is always my most satisfying reading experience.

I'll just be shouting about this to anyone who'll listen, and I truly can't wait to see what Cait puts out next. I'm a forever fan!

Season’s Change is an MM hockey romance for readers who love the game. There is lots of hockey talk and a slow burn romance but the wait is worth it.
This book doesn’t shy away from toxic elements of hockey culture, including homophobia and stigma regarding mental health.
This was a very enjoyable book and I’m looking forward to the next book in the series.

I’m a huge sports romance fan, especially hockey so I may have gone into this book with too high of expectations. It moved too slow for me to really get latched into the story. I also felt like I wasn’t quite sure why Olly was always so down in the dumps. To be honest, he kinda brought me down while reading. He never really opened up to Benji about his past, and as a reader I felt a bit “outside looking in” when it came to Olly’s past. I really liked Benji, but his sister was a little over the top and I just wanted her to mind her own business. I never really felt the connection between Olly and Benji and would have liked to see more of their relationship develop in order to find that connection. As a hockey fan I enjoyed the hockey shop talk, but that was the highlight for me. Unfortunately this one missed the mark for me.

4.5-5 stars...

I came really, really close to not requesting Season’s Change when I saw it offered for review. Something about it drew me in though and I’m glad I finally decided to take a chance on it. Olly and Benji’s story was much more than I expected. ❤

Even though it took a while to get to Olly’s back story, his anxiety and nervousness along with his need to get over it broke my heart. It didn’t take long to figure out that Benji and his positive attitude were exactly what Olly needed.

Benji was pretty much everyone’s friend, but there was something about Olly that made him want to figure him out and maybe lighten up just a little. I loved watching these two interact and grow closer.

It took Olly a while to realize that his new teammates were nothing like the ones he left behind. He had a lot to come to terms with in Season’s Change, but most of all he had to learn to trust. The supporting characters were great, from Olly and Benji’s teammates to their families. I’m not sure exactly where the author is going next with Trade Season, but I’m hoping we haven’t seen the last of Olly, Benji and the rest of their teammates. 😉

3.5⭐

Season's Change is the debut novel by Cait Nary, and I was really excited to get an early copy. As I love hockey romance, especially the m/m variety and I truly wanted to love this and there were parts that had me wholly engaged.

And I can't deny the story had promise. As this isn't your typical hockey romance, mainly because there is a lot of focus on the hockey and so a lot of hockey takes place. Which, for me, was a big plus point, even though, as a Brit Ice Hockey isn't my forte but I knew enough to get by.

Furthermore, I liked how Ms Nary wasn't afraid to tackle big issues such as homophobia, mental health and abuse.

But what was lacking for me was the romance. Which is very slow burn and that sadly isn't my cup of tea. Also, it very much felt like a happy for now rather than a happy ever after, which I don't have a problem with I just wanted more.

Yet, saying that I will admit to being intrigued by these characters and therefore I'd certainly look out for more and if you like your hockey romance extremely angsty and slow burn and aren't afraid of hockey detail then you should definitely look out for Season's Change when it's released.

Season’s Change by Cait Nary is the first book in her Trade Season hockey series. Olly Järvinen is starting over with a new team and trying to deal with the repercussions of his previous team’s mishandling of his sexuality. He thinks he’ll be able to focus on the upcoming season until he is told he’s rooming with Benji ‘Bowie’ Bryzinski. Benji knows his new roomie is guarded but never expects the level of anxiety that Olly experiences during camp and the season. He does everything he can to help Olly relax and as the two men spend more time together their bond becomes more than just teammates and roommates. Olly knows that nothing will come from allowing Benji close but he can’t seem to help himself.

Olly Järvinen broke my heart. His extreme levels of anxiety were painful as he barely managed to keep it together both at home and at the games. Watching him allow Benji in while still struggling to trust that it won’t blow up in his face was hard. I appreciated that he didn’t just assume everything would be okay and worked through the entire book on himself, his relationship with his family and even with his hockey career. Olly truly won me over with his overwhelming honesty and need for comfort and safety rather than just physical intimacy.

Benji ‘Bowie’ Bryzinski is a complicated character. He struggles to embrace his newfound wealth from playing professional hockey, managing the complicated relationship he has with his sister, Krista, and having the best rookie season he can. He never imagined his roommate Olly would create a whole new layer of complication in his life. He, at first, starts trying to help Olly using his own personal experience with yoga and therapy. He then learns that he is able to lend comfort in small touches and warm snuggles. These are at first mostly beneficial for Olly but then it takes a turn where Benji must look inward for what these actions truly mean. Benji’s path towards understanding was painful at times especially when he makes mistakes that push Olly away. It also was frustrating that he almost seemed unwilling to open his mind to it being more than physical.

Certain parts of this book worked for me and there were definitely others that left me scratching my head. Olly and Benji as well as the other teammates were developed characters who you saw grow and change as the season goes on. Some of the plot choices left me scratching my head and I definitely understood why Olly felt the need to back away from Benji after a variety of moments. I do feel like the back and forth in the last quarter of the book started to feel taxing and just had you wanting some sort of resolution.


3 stars for two hockey players learning to support and comfort each other through a season of ups and downs.

Ya’ll know I love my sports romances. Especially, hockey. So, it hurts me to say this one, was a little difficult for me to get into.
I think it was more the presentation of the material than the actual storyline. The story was good. There were too many page breaks and not enough transition from scene to scene that I got lost a couple of times. There were a lot of shifts in time that weren’t entirely clear.
There were aspects about Olly that I think the reader was supposed to infer but later it’s finally spelled out. I’m not a fan of that in writing. I need to understand why a character acts the way they do for me to connect to them better. I didn’t connect as much with Olly and Benji as I usually do with characters.
On to the actual story.
Olly is a bit of a jaded, veteran hockey player. He’s got a lot of issues that impact how he plays on his new team and you can see it in how he plays the game now. Benji is the bright-eyed, excited rookie. He is himself, no matter what anyone else (Olly) may think about his yoga, meditation, and kale smoothies. I like that about Benji. Even if he was pretty clueless at times lol.
Olly and Benji are a good balance of each other. There is a push/pull kind of relationship that developed between the two men. Benji doesn’t back down when Olly is his angry, grumpy self. Olly listens to some of the things that Benji talks about, like yoga and meditation.
I was very surprised when Olly and Benji participated in a … spoiler alert …. I’ll let your mind do the running or you can check my tags. I just, don’t feel like Olly would have done that no matter what. Benji? Yes, one hundred percent. That I could see happening.
I wanted more affection between the pair. I wanted more tender moments of actualization. I wanted more romance.
This was definitely a story that focused more on Olly coming to terms with who he is as an individual and as a hockey player on a new team. It got a bit angsty at times, but that was an emotion called for in this storyline.