Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?
Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.
Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.
Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend…and a big one to learn about himself.
I love to watch love and romance grow and bloom. Especially when they start as friends as kids. Developing that bond that can seemingly get them through anything- as long as they are together.
Him is such a story but with a slight twist. Jamie and Wes were friends, but only saw each other during hockey camp in the summer. In between camp they lived on different coasts and communicated with a box that they would fill with something related to them and mail and it back and forth.
As they grew, Wes not only realizes that he is gay, but goads Jamie into experimenting with him on the last night of cap. That was the beginning of the end of their friendship. Wes thinks he ruined it all and Jamie is just completely confused. When their college hockey teams are playing in the same tournament 5 years later, they both blame themselves and begin a tenuous relationship again.
I found this story to be emotionally gripping, tender and heartfelt. The heart break Wes feels because Jamie is “straight”. The confusion Jamie feels because he doesn’t understand his feelings for Wes and wants his best friend back. Coming to grips with themselves and their maturing relationship.
Deeper than the confusion and muddling through a potential romantic relationship was the true friendship of men who were best friends and so desperately wanted that again.
Being together means a lot of different things to both of them. They have to reevaluate and look at their lives. Trying to decide if being together is worth the potential consequences.
Sweet, hot, tender and romantic. With humor and lots of hockey on the side. A must read.
Sales Links: Amazon
Book Details:
ebook, 276 pages
Published July 28th 2015 by Rennie Road Books
Original TitleHim
ISBN139781942444077
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHim #1
CharactersJamie Canning, Ryan Wesley
Literary AwardsGoodreads Choice Award Nominee for Romance (2015)
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 