Summary
Nothing interferes with Shane Hollander’s game—definitely not the sexy rival he loves to hate.
Pro hockey star Shane Hollander isn’t just crazy talented, he’s got a spotless reputation. Hockey is his life. Now that he’s captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, he won’t let anything jeopardize that, especially the sexy Russian whose hard body keeps him awake at night.
Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov is everything Shane’s not. The self-proclaimed king of the ice, he’s as cocky as he is talented. No one can beat him—except Shane. They’ve made a career on their legendary rivalry, but when the skates come off, the heat between them is undeniable. When Ilya realizes he wants more than a few secret hookups, he knows he must walk away. The risk is too great.
As their attraction intensifies, they struggle to keep their relationship out of the public eye. If the truth comes out, it could ruin them both. But when their need for each other rivals their ambition on the ice, secrecy is no longer an option.
Excerpt
Shane Hollander was as close to losing it as he ever allowed himself to get.
He’d endured two periods and twelve minutes of one of the most frustrating hockey games he’d ever played. It should have been a glorious win at home for his Montreal Voyageurs against their archrivals, the Boston Bears. Instead it had been a grueling humiliation, and the score stood at 4–1 for Boston, with less than eight minutes left on the clock. Shane had had no less than five beautiful scoring chances. He’d taken shots that should never have missed. But they had. And the Bears had capitalized on the Voyageurs’ mistakes.
One man had capitalized more than anyone. The most hated man in Montreal: Ilya Rozanov. The near century-old rivalry between the Montreal and Boston NHL teams had, over the past six seasons, become personified by Hollander and Rozanov. Their intense animosity was clear even to the fans in the farthest, cheapest seats.
Hollander bent at the face-off circle now, facing Rozanov as the referee prepared to drop the puck after the Russian’s second goal of the game.
“Having a good night?” Rozanov asked cheerfully. His hazel eyes sparkled the way they always did when he was talking shit.
“Fuck you,” Hollander growled.
“Still time for a hat trick, I think,” Rozanov mused, his English barely comprehensible between his thick accent and his mouth guard. “Should I do it now, or wait until last minute? More exciting that way, yes?”
Hollander gritted his teeth around his own mouth guard and didn’t answer.
“Shut up, Rozanov,” the referee said. “Last warning.”
Rozanov stopped talking, but he managed to find an even more effective way of getting under Hollander’s skin: he winked.
And then he won the face-off.
“Fuck!” Jean-Jacques Boiziau, the Voyageurs’ giant Haitian-Canadian defenseman, hurled his stick at the wall of their dressing room.
“That’s enough, J.J.,” Shane said, but there was no real threat behind it. To make it clear that he was in no mood to fight, or even argue, with anyone, he slumped into his dressing room stall.
Shane’s left wing line mate, Hayden Pike, sat on the bench next to him, as always. “You all right?” Hayden asked quietly.
“Sure,” Shane said flatly. He tipped his head back until it met the cool wall behind him and closed his eyes.
Using the word “passionate” to describe Montreal hockey fans would be an understatement. Montreal loved the Voyageurs to the point of absurdity. Their arena was one of the toughest places for visiting teams to play, because they faced not only one of the best teams in the league, but the loudest fans in the league as well. The fans also had no problem letting their own beloved team know exactly how disappointed they were with them.
But when Montreal fans were really devastated, like they had been tonight, they were almost silent. And that was Shane Hollander’s least favorite sound.
“You know what would be sweet?” Hayden asked. “You know that movie, The Purge? Where you get to, like, break whatever laws for one night with no consequences?”
“Sort of,” Shane said.
“Man, if that was real, I would murder the fuck out of Rozanov.”
Shane laughed. He couldn’t disagree that bludgeoning that smug Russian face would be at least a little satisfying.
Review
I didn’t expect to enjoy it that much. Enemies to lovers is a trope I rarely see well done–most of the time it’s pure lust and I never see a deeper connection. And for a long time, I had trouble rooting for Shane and Ilya.
On top of being enemies, they’re both men with little to no experience with other men. They feel a deep attraction even when they’re pit against each other as rookies. They still admire each other, even when they play the roles of arch-enemies. They’re also complete opposite–Shane is a good boy, Ilya a bad one. When they finally succumb to temptation, it’s almost ugly. There’s little love here, and though hate sex can be hot, I felt it was just degrading. I felt like that for a long time.
But at some point, there are more and more proofs of deeper feelings, but never in scenes where they’re together. And the denial… definitely more than just a river in Egypt. Still, it wasn’t enough for me to appreciate the couple. It was toxic. And then, almost out of nowhere, come gentle touches, sweet caresses, nice words. I fell hard–probably because there were no sign of them before. Well, almost no sign.
In short, instead of a gentle slope from hate to love, it was more bumpy stairs with extra high steps.
From start to finish, it’s them against the world. Against their families, who may or may not agree with their sexuality. Against the NHL, because even after Hunter’s coming out–that happens in book one in the series–they can’t admit their feelings as everyone thinks they hate each other. Maybe a bit melodramatic, but it works.
The steam? At least five wow–once you forget the degradation, or if you’re into that. What I found the most interesting is actually how the intimate scenes go from barely consensual, or at least with a lot of power play, to passionate and meaningful. Since they rarely see each other, their contact are either on the ice, or in the bedroom, so most of the major shifts in their relationship happen around sex.
Some tough topics are present. With Ilya being russian, the treatment of homosexuals in Russia is touched on. Dealing with a family member suffering from a degenerative disease and suicide of loved ones are also part of the story. With a forbidden relationship on top of heavy subjects, there were barely space for some humor and levity. Not that you’ll cry–there IS a happy ending of sort–but your heart won’t remain intact.
Quickie
- Series: Game changers #2 (can be read as a standalone)
- Hashtags: #MM romance #hockey romance #closeted gay #bisexual #enemies to lovers #secret relationship
- Triggers: sort of cheating, mention of homophobia, sickness, suicide, depression
- Main couple: Shane Hollander & Ilya Rozanov
- Hotness: 5/5
- Romance: 3/5
- + *fans herself* that was hot
- – it took me time to warm to Ilya
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