I’m going to convince you to read this book with just three tropes. Are you ready? 

 

Forbidden romance 

Childhood crush 

They were roommates 

 

I don’t know about you, but right there you have three tropes totally separate from “this is a hockey romance” that could convince any fan of LGBTQ romance to pick this book up. I’ll even give you this: it’s forbidden in two ways! Not only is it “brother’s best friend/best friend’s little brother”, it’s also “player/referee” (so you get a dose of conflict of interest there). 

 

I love all the Puckboy novels. I wouldn’t have been an ARC reader for them since book two if I wasn’t obsessed with these dopey dorks. While I maintain no Puckboys book is a bad Puckboys book, I think this book suffered some from having to do double duty as not only its own romance novel, but also because it had to spend a good chunk of its first half as a vehicle for the charity hockey game the Queer Collective has been aiming at putting together over the last few books. 

 

Narratively, it makes sense: Knox is one of the MMCs in this book and he’s the referee for the charity game, and Easton is the other MMC and is playing in the game. 

 

Was it a good choice for the book as its own romance novel? I’m of the opinion that it wasn’t. 

 

I’m not Eden or Saxon and I’m not sitting here saying I have a better idea or solution. What I am saying is that the Queer Collective is full of a lot of big personalities and energy, and it felt like all the energy in this book was used in the first half, leaving the last half lacking momentum and drive. 

 

It’s still a Puckboys book, and I’ll never look down my nose at my Puckboys. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by the authors via Foreword PR. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed within are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: Book Universe/Contemporary Romance/Forbidden Romance/Interconnected Series/LGBTQ Romance/Romance Series/Romance Universe/Sadenverse/Spice Level 2/Sports Romance