One man’s passion, another man’s lies. Can love fix even the darkest of hearts?Trent Hanson is a figure skating phenom adored by millions around the world. His whole life has been dedicated to the sport he loves even when the sport – and his own family – have turned against him. From the playground to the Olympics to his parent’s living room, Trent has fought against bullies and homophobes to be … homophobes to be the out and proud gay man he is. But the constant fighting has left Trent tired, lonely, and skittish. All those fears will have to be shelved though when he’s hired to spend the summer working with the Harrisburg Railers ice hockey team. Who would have guessed that the man fate has decided to pair him off with is Dieter Lehmann, all-around sex god and a man who seems to have everything to prove and doesn’t care who he hurts to get what he wants.
Dieter has spent too many years languishing in the minors, and a secret addiction to prescription painkillers means his career is in a downward spiral. His ex is blackmailing him, and he’s close to walking away from it all. But when he’s called up in the run for the Stanley Cup to cover injuries he has a taste of what it’s like playing in the NHL, and he realizes that a place on the Railers’ roster is what he wants more than anything. More than listening to his heart, and even more than caring for the infuriating figure skater who gets under his skin. When he crosses the line to get what he wants, he knows he has lost his way. He has to change, but is it too late for both his career and any chance he might have at love?
Word Count: 51,000
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Trent and Dieter certainly had a tough road in finding love. We meet both men as their lives are in turmoil and watch as they sort through their own messes in order to form a healthy and happy relationship. Trent’s Lola was my favorite character in this book as she brought both love and truth to every situation. Onto the next book in the series!
KU. I didn’t have high hopes for this as I’m usually disappointed by “recovering addict” stories. They generally *end* with a “and then he went to rehab” with an epilogue thrown in about how they’re totally cured and all is well.
I was pleasantly surprised and impressed that Dieter’s admission of a problem, his treatment, and his relationship with Trent during that time were actually a large chunk of the story. As with the previous books ~ I like that the “angst” in these stories is mostly external factors. Any internal angst is handled with maturity and respect.
Trent is unabashedly flamboyant and Dieter is equally unabashed in his appreciation of Trent in that. My biggest complaint is that we learn so much about Trent: history, family, career, dress, passions, food, etc that Dieter feels significantly underdeveloped in contrast.
I liked that not everything was wrapped up in a neat/perfect bow. The “resolution” with Trent’s stepfather and his feelings about Dieter’s Dad’s reactions felt authentic.
Again, the disproportionate number of gay/bi players in a single team continues to chip away at believability.
Adler makes a few appearances and I hope he continues to do so. His adorkable-ness would be sorely missed otherwise.
Trent Hanson once had it all, now after his step-father stole everything, he is trying not to lose his skating rink and the roof over his head. When given the chance to sort of make a comeback, but in the reality TV world, Trent doesn’t even blink and agrees. It’s not until he finds out just what and who he will be working with that he refuses. As much as Trent doesn’t want to work with jocks, he can’t really refuse. So he will work with the hockey players that come to his rink, and he will let it be filmed for the world to see. Dieter’s life is a bit of mess at the moment, but that doesn’t stop him from joining the few guys from the team that will work with the pro-ice skater, every tip helps. What Dieter doesn’t take into account for, is the instant lust when he see Trent. Will Trent get over his aversion to jocks? What happens when he figures out just what Dieter’s issue is.. that he is an addict?
The drama just keeps on going in this series! A bit different from the first two stories, but just as good. Dieter’s issues and how Trent helps him see that, yes, he does have a problem. With not as many laughs, loads of drama, and some steamy moments, I give this 4 stars.
I appreciated Trent’s sass in this book. These two MCs were a lot different than the previous ones in this series but still interesting to me. I liked getting to know Dieter because from what I experienced of him in the previous book, he was sort of clueless. It was nice to understand him and see him connect with Trent.
These authors do a great job of really connecting the books in this series and connecting all of the players to each other. The amount of support we see between the team members is pretty awesome. They all are there for each other no matter the situation and that is displayed heavily in this book. They are all also very entertaining and it was cool to see Trent interacting with each of them as an outsider to the team. It showed that not only are they great with each other, but they are all around good guys and I liked seeing them prove Trent wrong when he originally thought they would be jerky jocks.
There was a lot going on on the sidelines of this book when I wanted to see more of Trent and Dieter building their relationship. Both Dieter and Trent had a few things going on in their personal lives that took a little away from their dynamic with each other. There were definitely some emotional parts in this book that had me feeling when it came to the two of them. I liked how the author showed Trent and Dieter helping each other emotionally get through their personal struggles and how much that connected them in my eyes.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. ***
Trent and Dieter have a real chemistry together, but Dieter has an addiction problem to work through before he will be a reliable partner in any relationship either personal or professional. That work is not skimmed over in this book either. It is a hard slog and Dieter hurts people along with way. I liked the mix of this realistic addiction story line with that of Trent’s work with all the members of the team on the reality show. There was just the right amount of angst and steam.
I have to be honest. This one wasn’t one of my favorites. I didn’t like Deiter much. Trent was pretty cool though. His grandma was the best character in my opinion. As heavy and serious as the situations in here were, she kept it from being too heavy.
This story has been one of my favorites so far in the series. I loved how Trent was true to himself and proud to be out, proud, and flamboyant! Dieter struggles with addiction was heartbreaking! This story line and the writing felt a little more authentic to me. Loved it!! I’m voluntarily leaving a review form an advanced copy that I received.
Well-written, great characters, a terrible secret. Trent was my favorite character, so funny and strong. Easy to read, lots of excellent hockey, fun HEA.
Can I just state that I loved Trent, I loved his bravery and I loved that he is flashy and I loved that he is vulnerable, even when he pretends not to be. I stayed up a good part of the night finishing this story, granted I am on vacation and did not need to be up for work, but that is a technicality….anyway, this was a great addition to this series.