Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don’t come cheap, and Matty can’t afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to … brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?
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If you love Adam Rippon, check out Matty Marcus! This is a compelling romance that skillfully blends elements of sports, ranching, coming of age, and a scorching sub/dom relationship. I rooted so hard for Matty and Rob to find their happily ever after despite the odds. Matty is a flawed hero who is at turns determined, immature, strong, insecure, and loving. As he struggles to make his figure skating dreams come true, he discovers who he really is through his challenges in rural Montana, his relationship with rancher Rob, and the unexpected depth of their feelings for each other. This was such a richly satisfying read, and something different and unique in the M/M genre.
Training Season is the first book in the Training Season series, a two-book, contemporary romance series. I highly suggest reading both books right after each other to get the full effect.
This book deals with many difficult themes and issues, but I thought Leta Blake did a fabulous job of addressing all these issues. Matty and Rob are both flawed men who have their own insecurities and demons. They have to figure out how to deal with their issues together in order to move forward. I found their relationship fascinating and enthralling. There were a lot of emotional scenes as well as beautiful and hot sex scenes. I loved this book and all its kink, humor, angst, and love.
The audiobook was narrated by Michael Ferraiuolo who did a fantastic job with the narration. There were a lot of emotional scenes as well as some sassy and sexy scenes that Michael performed wonderfully. The audiobook production was well done and overall this was a fantastic listen.
This story is PACKED with goodness… great characters I cared about and truly felt invested in…. I will add to this review at some point but five stars are really not enough….
I heard about this story long before I read it but I was unfamiliar with the author. When I finally read it I was so so glad that I did. The chemistry, the realness and believability of both the story and the characters certainly captured my attention. I’m a sucker for an age-gap story and especially one where the main characters have entirely different backgrounds.
An unlikely romance, this story had everything required of stellar romantic fiction. there were believable characters who, although not perfect, (no one is) were entirely likable/loveable. I wanted them to both win and somehow have their wishes come true.
Their initial connection occurred early in the story and there were so many barriers to their relationship. Olympic figure skaters don’t live in Montana. The passion was breathtaking and I was terrified that there wouldn’t be an HEA! Deep sigh of relief.
I very much enjoyed this read. I loved the figure skating, and I am bummed it was my first, but also it was nice, because I did enjoy it so much. First, you have Matty, who I just adored. He was such a fun character was also super driven and just had so many layers. Then you had Rob who was just wonderful for Matty! They fit in every way that you would not see and it was perfect. I loved Rob’s son and the time that Matty got to spend with him skating. I also like that once they got together, while they both knew it may be hard it did not deter them, and it just made the story that much more real. This book has all the feels for sure. A definite read, and I will definitely be continuing their story.
This book had a surprisingly personal note for me. Sports romance doesn’t always reflect the real effort athletes dedicate to their sport. Most of us don’t become multimillionaires. We are athletes because we love the sport. We love how it makes us feel to dedicate ourselves to being exceptional at something we enjoy. Too much emphasis is placed on winning, and not enough is placed on what else we gain by striving to be the best.
Leta Blake does an amazing job of showcasing how a sport is about so much more than just medals, trophies, and sponsorship. Winning is wonderful, but the people we meet, the experiences we have, and the strength we gain from participating are even better than the win.
This was by far my favorite sports romance book. I don’t even like figure skating. I’m a former ballerina who likes hockey (Mom thought I would be safer in ballet slippers), but I think I might appreciate figure skating a little more after this book.
The one part of this book that I couldn’t quite buy into was the light BDSM moments. I think it fit into the story, but I had a little trouble seeing how it worked between the characters. There is a sequel so I might get to see how this fits into their dynamic a little better.
The characters are beautifully constructed, and the narrator does an amazing job of narrating each character.
This is a wonderful story filled with tears, sweat, angst, ice, and eye liner.
I am a fan of Leta Blake’s books, but I have to admit to having mixed feelings about this one. I genuinely liked the characters and enjoyed the way the relationship between Matty and Rob unfolded. I loved imagining Matty’s grace on the ice, and my heart ached at how unworthy he felt. I loved Rob’s strength, and his ability to truly see who Matty was. My heart ached for them both, knowing they needed each other, but would soon have to part.
About half-way through the book, totally out of the blue, there is an incredibly intense breath play scene between Matty and Rob. The scene took me totally by surprise and made me uncomfortable. As the book continued, the scenes became more and more intense.
I don’t have an issue with MCs who are into the BDSM lifestyle. In fact, I have read or listened to books that have incredibly intense BDSM scenes. I think my discomfort came from the fact that Matty and Rob had not discussed BDSM, their likes, dislikes, safe words, etc., in the prior pages of the book. Had such a discussion taken place, my reaction would have been different – just a personal preference.
Regardless, Leta Blake’s writing is impeccable, and the storyline is interesting.
Fell in love with these characters and definitely enjoyed the ride! Couldn’t put it down after about 1/4 of the way through.