Review: Draw (Overtime #3) by V.L.Locey

Rating: 4.5🌈

Jackie Blue Kalinski has been a strong favorite character of mine in this series and the Cayuga Cougars series since I met him.

Uniquely awesome, endearing, funny, and able to be the focal point of every scene, regardless of the nature, Jackie Blue grew up through these books and is now a 19 year old ready for his future.

In other stories a 19 year old seems young, but Jackie is in college, is sure of what he wants out of life and who he is personally. He’s a centered being with the full support of his family.

Then he meets Martin McKittrick, Marine fire chief , 45, divorced father of two adults,soon to be grandfather. Martin is also a player on the gay hockey team that Vic, Jackie’s dad, coaches.

It’s a moment of intense instantaneous connection between them, making any differences in age vanish. At least for them.

The main thread is the intense romance and immediate bond between Jackie Blue and Martin. It’s also how their families and friends respond to them as a couple, see that 25 age gap as a factor as a part of a realistic relationship, and if it’s possible to have real acceptance for such a May/December couple.

Having a 19 year old and a 45 year old as a couple and the heart of your story is a risk. Having it be successful really hinges on the writer being able to make each of those characters a completely fleshed out person who’s personality is set out in depth for the readers across the story’s pages so we believe each man’s passion for the other. Including the fact that age has both been factored in, discussed, and then discarded, because it’s about the inner connection here.

Locey also is aware that there are readers that are looking at this couple and that age gap with real misgivings. It’s a honest reaction and one of many that finds it’s way into the mouths and dialogue of Jackie Blue’s dads (yep, Vic went off the rails) or one of Martin’s adult children. The characters for whom acceptance was not an easy road stood in as a family Greek Chorus of questions and honest disapproval, voicing thoughts that I’m sure there were readers out there thinking.

And as both the couple weathers obstacles, Jackie and Martin continue to communicate with each other’s families and inner circles. The couple talks to them about their relationship, allowing those close to see into their dynamics, and slowly the disapproval and misunderstandings dissipate. Each point that had been a major misgiving had been dissected through honesty and open communication in scene after scene. Great job by the author.

There are other elements to this story as well. Jackie adjusting to life as a partner of a firefighter and the stress that comes with that. That felt very well done.

Also the joyous aspect of Jackie Blue pursuing his career as a clothier and designer. This section I could see so clearly. His drive , the love of the clothes as well as fashion. It was perfect.

Draw turned out to be just like Jackie Blue. Unusual, unanticipated, unconventional, wildly moving, as well as satisfying. Turns out just what Jackie Blue hoped for and what he got. In every way.

V.L.Locey wrote an intelligent, beautifully crafted book. It had a risky premise but in her hands it turned into a gorgeous love story.

One I’m recommending.

There’s one last novella in this series. That’s Jackie Blue and Martin’s wedding. How could you miss that?

Now on to Black Tie (Overtime #3.5)

Overtime Series complete:

Rebound #1-Vic’s story

Final Shot #2 -Dan’s story

Draw #3 – Jackie Blue’s story

Black Tie #3.5 – a Overtime novella

Synopsis:

They say first loves never last. Jackie Blue Kalinski was about to show them—whoever they are—that the word never is not in his vocabulary.

From the time Jack Kalinski was a preschooler he had a good sense of who he was and where he wanted to go in life. His childhood was spent drawing beautiful dresses for pretty people, male and female alike. Growing up with two dads who played hockey wasn’t exactly conducive to late night talks about tulle or tailor’s chalk, but he never let that stop his dreams of becoming a fashion designer or expressing the genderqueer heart that beat in his chest. His family’s love and support helped him through some painful losses that shaped him into the strong, vivacious, and charismatic college student he is today. Life hasn’t been a smooth ride, but Jack has persevered and is about to take the fashion world by storm.

Little does he suspect that his tidy life is about to be scorched by a chance meeting with one of the men playing hockey on the gay team his father coaches. Martin McKittrick not only catches Jack’s eye, but the much older man wins his heart. The passionate affair with the captain of the Marine Unit of the BFD burns red hot until the new couple run into a few snags that might dampen the inferno: Jack’s ascent into the fashion world, Martin’s job and the inherent dangers that come with it, and the fact that the well-kept secret romance has just been exposed to the world in a rather big way.

25 year age gap, genderqueer, 19 yrs,

Draw

(Overtime #3)

by V.L. Locey

Nmby-genderqueer-femme, extreme age gap,

Review: Final Shot (Overtime #2) by V.L. Locey

Rating:4.75🌈

Two of the most complicated men and one of V.L.Locey’s most deeply complex couples is that of the Arou-Kalinski hockey romance. It’s now spanned two , maybe more series, as these characters are too large, too dynamic to be contained within just one series.

They also required their own short series to see their family together facing emotional battles and physical struggles. Rebound was Victor’s book. Final Shot is Dan’s story.

While it seems that the issues stems from Dan’s injuries, his growing dependency on opioids, and his addiction, the strength of the story much like that of the couple’s relationship comes from the fact that it’s still very much a Dan and Vic love story.

They don’t work without each other. Whether it’s facing the enormity of addiction, the battles of withdrawal, the fears of admitting that you’re an addict to yourself, family, friends and organization, that your grounding, your support is always there is evidenced here by this couple in every way.

It was with Vic’s alcohol abuse, and now with Dan’s opioid addiction. The struggles with their injuries and daily pain is portrayed realistically and heartfelt.

The other heart rendered elements, that of their son Jackie Blue, a genderqueer teen who went to live with his mother and her new husband, is painfully on point for these times.

That it’s layered on top of issues already needing to be dealt with seems about right as well. Things have a way of doing that. Complications always seem to pile up, not the other way around. No matter how much we wish it would.

Locey has written an amazing story of addiction, bullying, loss, recovery, family, and love.

It’s really remarkable. As is the Arou-Kalinski family at its heart.

You don’t need to have read the other series to appreciate this one, though it helps.

Read the Overtime series in the order it’s written. You’re going to love each and every book.

Synopsis

Sometimes family is the light that leads you through the darkest parts of life.

Living the dream. That’s been Dan Arou-Kalinski’s life for the past ten years. That life hasn’t always been an easy one though. Dan has worked hard to get where he is and has faced some major obstacles on his road to success. It’s not always been a rose garden being married to Victor, but his love for his sometimes thorny husband has no bounds. His career has given him years of great success, memories, and championship rings. Yes, fate has been kind to Dan Arou-Kalinski for quite a long time. Looks like destiny is about to start calling in some markers.

The paybacks come due when a recurring health issue turns into a life or death situation and threatens to take him out of the game he loves permanently. Then there’s Victor’s son Jack, a proud and out nonbinary preteen who is living a daily nightmare in a small southern town. Juggling two major life issues is taking its toll on him, and just when he thinks he’s found the path out of the woods, Dan will face an unexpected and devastating loss that will require all three of the Kalinski men to pull together to help each other through the dark times

Overtime Series complete:

Rebound #1

Final Shot #2

Draw #3

Black Tie #3.5 – a Overtime novella

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsFinal Shot (Overtime, #2) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Final Shot

(Overtime #2)

by V.L. Locey

Review: Two-Man Team (Stick Side #5) by Amy Aislin

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Kris Xappa’s getting ready to make his post season retirement announcement. On top of that, there’s the eminent launch of the charity youth foundation, Forward Thinking, he started with his two long time best friends but nothing is going according to plans.

In trying to stop a fight at a friends bar, Kris comes off looking like the instigator in a vid someone posted to a media account that went viral. That’s had a huge negative effect on every part of his life.

Additionally , there’s his teammate, Rory Stanton ,who’s also the younger brother of his best friend. Rory is injured and and in need of his assistance.

What more could go wrong? Ah yes, mutual attraction and Kris ‘s sexuality which has always been identified as “straight “ to his fans and team.

Once more Aislin has given us complicated men in hockey, off the wall chemistry, a great story, and a romance to sigh over.

Hockey romances are my jam and Aislin’s Stick Side series is just one amazing book after another. Each managing to loosely connect the characters and their stories to each other’s by their teams and struggles with their sexuality and battles to navigate homophobia within and without their sport.

Each character is layered, individualist, and nuanced. From the main couple to everyone who supports them, all feel believable and relatable.

When Kris is feeling the intensity of the exposure from the media and the unfairness of the slights against his character, which he’s not allowed to push back against, it’s such a real situation that the reader feels absolutely in his corner.

Everything in the book will connect you to these men and their journey towards love and happiness.

It’s a pleasure to join them on the road to HEA and whatever their future may hold. Have i said how much I adore this series?

I truly do. Indeed I do. Including Two Man Team.

Highly recommended. All of them.

Stick Side Series:

On the Ice #1

Christmas On the Ice #1.5

A Valentine’s Trade #1.7

The Nature of the Game #2

The Nature of Christmas #2.5

Shots On Goal #3

Risking the Shot #4

Calder & Lacroix #4.1

Two-Man Team #5

Two-Man Team

Synopsis:

NHL team look bad. Now, with orders to keep his head down, the last thing he needs is to develop feelings for his younger teammate—and best friend’s brother. The fact that he can’t stop thinking about their one illicit kiss doesn’t mean anything.

Rory Stanton is perfectly capable of taking care of himself and doesn’t need his brother’s best friend keeping an eye on him. Sure, he likes having Kris’s attention, but he’d rather have it for entirely different reasons. Too bad that one kiss they shared wasn’t enough to convince Kris to take a chance on him.

When an injury lands Rory in Kris’s care, will these teammates be able to see past the obstacles to become a two-man team?

Review: Extraordinary Things (Star Shadow #4) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.75🌈

Extraordinary Things is the series finale for Star Shadow, Beth Bolden’s rock band romance.

While all five musicians got their HEA, the heart of the band and much of its drama centered around the couple Leo Humphries and Caleb Chance. It was the disappearance of Caleb that caused Star Shadow to disband and Leo to shatter. And it was his reappearance that eventually put them all back together…4 books later.

In Terrible Things, we got the background of the band, the group’s long friendship and the couple’s relationship. It was completely Leo’s perspective, including watching and being unable to help a Caleb who’s addiction to alcohol was spiraling out of his and everyone’s control.

It was raw, angry, and painful.

And I wondered about Caleb’s viewpoint in that book.

In Extraordinary Things Bolden gives us Caleb’s story and missing voice. A perfect way to come full circle and wrap up the series.

We’re able to go back into the past with Caleb, his addiction, his feelings about what drove him away from Leo and his friends. As well as what’s still driving him today. It’s a complicated and complex internal picture of a man still struggling with forgiveness and the destruction he caused to those around him.

The other side of which is Leo who also is trying to adjust his life to Caleb’s needs as well as his own.

Bolden’s story, the band’s new dynamics, and ongoing trust issues are beautifully defined and well written. I love that communication works out to be key to forward movement here. Frank discussions and finally a leap of faith in each other’s feelings and strength.

This is an emotional story who’s journey starts with Terrible Things. For me books one and four are the jewels here but the others are the necessary pathways to get there.

Read them all in the order they were written with pleasure. I’m highly recommending them.

Star Shadow series:

Terrible Things (Star Shadow #1)

Impossible Things #2

Hazardous Things #3

Extraordinary Things #4

Synopsis:

Leo and Caleb have been through hell—addiction, destruction, and even a five year separation—but they’ve come through on the other side with their love stronger than ever.

Caleb knows he’s earned Leo’s forgiveness. He wants to believe he deserves it, but just when Leo needs him more than ever, a voice in his head insists that maybe he doesn’t. It’s so loud, he can’t block it out. So loud, he’d do anything to silence it.

Including risking everything he and Leo, and the rest of Star Shadow, have built together.

Extraordinary Things is a continuation of Leo and Caleb’s love story from Terrible Things. It should not be read as a standalone.

Review: Pines and Violets (Colors of Love #7) by V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

Colors of Love has quickly become one of my favorite series and one I highly recommend when people ask me for a contemporary romance novel to read.

Beautifully written, well crafted characters of depth that immediately grab at heart and mind, the stories all have certain fascinating elements.

One main element is a hockey player who is at a pivotal stage in his life. It could be that he’s facing a decision to retire, or a debilitating injury, perhaps the player is rehabbing a image or being traded. Even questioning their sexual identity. But the man is at a moment in his life where change is needed, whether he’s aware of it or not.

In Pines & Violets, that element is filled by Greg Mattar, D-man for the Surge NHL hockey team. He’s still mourning the loss of his beloved wife to breast cancer while adjusting to single parenthood to twin daughters. It’s not going well as he hasn’t been able to move forward, emotionally.

From the gut wrenching Prologue where we meet Larissa, his wife as she and Greg feel the lump in her breast to Chapter 1, where they are dealing with her death,we are as devastated as this small family. And 100 percent invested in Greg’s recovery and the family’s future.

When Greg’s sister talks him into spending summer in the Catskills in a cabin near their new summer house, the anticipation is huge and heartfelt that changes are coming.

And it does…amazingly accompanied by a flock of honking geese, a pair of adorable fainting goats and wearing a old straw hat.

Which brings me to another strong and reoccurring element to Locey’s series. That of the fascinating, unexpected, usually complicated second main character. They have truly run the gamut here, from cross dressing gorgeous jazz singers to yoga teachers and everyone imaginable in between. Often they might have never been mates you would have expected the author to pair the hockey player up with until it’s absolutely magical.

Like it is here.

Aiden Burke is a walking scar, his past trauma and painful history literally written in the tears across his skin. He’s a powerful character yet gentle and oh so moving one.

The way in which the men, and girls connect over the summer is so heartwarming and emotionally satisfying. You’ll need to break out the tissues in more than one moment here.

Their story is hilarious, especially where the girls are concerned, realistic, painful, and incredibly moving.

Pines & Violets made me so happy that I know I’ll be rereading it sometime soon. I’m just not ready to let these people, this small family go yet. I adore and have taken them to heart so.

I believe you will too.

Make this the top of your TBR list. It’s such a great story and perfect for the holidays.

And if you haven’t read the other books in the series, I recommend them too. Marvelous!

Colors of Love series:

Lost in Indigo

Touch of a Yellow Sun #2

The Good Green Earth #3

Slow Dances Under an Orange Moon #4

A Brush of Blue #5

Songs of a Red Currant Wine #6

Pines & Violets #7

Synopsis:

He never thought he’d find love again, but one summer changes his entire life.

Greg Mattar always had a clear path in life. The son of wealthy professionals, he and his sister wanted for nothing growing up in Montreal. His skills playing hockey led him to be picked first in the draft and a successful career as one of the premier defensemen in the league. He married his college sweetheart and within a year, they’d been blessed with twin girls. Then the unthinkable happened, and Greg’s life was turned inside out.

After losing his wife to cancer, he’s left alone to raise his daughters and at the same time balance his career. After a rough two years of mourning coupled with a dismal season, Greg and his girls travel to a small vacation community deep in the Catskills. There he meets Aiden Burke, a local artisan with a past who enchants not only Greg’s daughters but Greg as well. During a vacation filled with laughter, acceptance, and morning goose parades, the two men fall for each other, which begins a journey down a winding road of revelations and romance.

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsPines and Violets (Colors of Love, #7) by V.L. Locey – Goodreads

Review: Gingerbread Mistletoe (Lighthouse Bay #2) by Amy Aislin

Rating 4.5

Gingerbread Mistletoe is a story who’s events and romance runs concurrently with those of the first book in the series, Christmas Lane. So yes, they really need to be read together and in the order they were written to understand the relationships and personal dynamics.

Ah, Christmas tales and loves stories! Honestly, I think they go together better than at Valentine’s Day, a holiday if I’m truthful I’ve never been on board with.

But Christmas? White snow? If you’re not Australian that is, holiday tunes to sing, candy canes, icicles, sleigh rides… magic! Fireplaces blazing and hot chocolate even. Yup. Romance.

While this story may have its earliest beginnings in LA, it’s heart and romance lies in the Christmas ready and heavily decorated town of Lighthouse Bay, Maine where both men have returned to. One , Mika Jones, seeking comfort, his family and a place to recover.after his diagnosis and treatment for cancer.

The other is lonely, and unsure what he’s seeking, and has returned to a town that used to be home after years of absence. Divorced, amazingly successful, his grown children spending the holidays elsewhere, loss and loneliness are driving Jeff Bellmoor, to return to his dad’s favorite place to discover why.

Mika Jones, hugely successful actor in LA was diagnosed with cancer and returned to the only place he knew he had love, family, and support… Lighthouse Bay.

There was enormous drama behind Mika’s return, a broken romance and two men left unable to trust, including himself.

Here Mika’s dealing with the aftermath of recovery, chemo after effects and the physical alterations to his system which are now permanent. He’s doing that while running Christmas events for the town and the shops.

Aislin does a beautiful job of realistically showing how undergoing chemotherapy and other cancer treatments has permanently affected Mika’s life and body, from issues with memory to joint pain. It’s not overly dramatic but with a plain acceptance of his new state. It made me love him all the more . Especially as Mika never refuses to take a hard look at the issues that have happened in the past to make him arrive at the state he’s at now.

The author has truly done a outstanding job with this character.

Jeff Bellmoor, CEO, lonely and seeking… his father who’s recently died …is equally complicated. Angry , isolated at first….and then as the town and Mika works their charm on Jeff, the man changes. The memories start to flow as well as feelings for Mika.

We get a swirling rush of romance among the Christmas pageantry of a town putting together its holiday list of events, a new hockey tournament, a parade, and an overall sense of homecoming. For Mika, for Jeff …well , I’ll say no more.

The Magic of Family, of Love and of Christmas is alive and well here in Gingerbread Mistletoe.

This series and story is the perfect holiday reads! Grab up a Snickerdoodle or three, a cup of hot cocoa and settle in for a wonderful magical Christmas read!

I’m highly recommending it!

Gingerbread Mistletoe

Lighthouse Bay series:

Christmas Lane #1

Gingerbread Mistletoe #2

Synopsis:The last thing Jeff wants is to spend time with the man who totaled his car—the one he spent years restoring with his late father. But if he wants to resurrect his childhood town’s annual outdoor hockey tournament, he’s got no choice.

The last thing Mika wants is to work with the guy who took off right after the accident, without ensuring he was okay. And working together on organizing Jeff’s proposed tournament sounds like a complete nightmare. He’s got enough on his plate after surviving cancer.

Sparks fly as they’re forced to work together, but is that enough for them to set their differences aside and pull off the tournament in only two weeks? Or will they prove to be

immune to the magic of Christmas?

Review: Desert Dreams (Owatonna U Hockey #6) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating: 5🌈

It’s been about a little over a year since the events of Valentine’s Hearts, the preceding book in the Owatonna U Hockey series. In that story we saw two momentous events, a sexual assault on Jacob and finally Ryker and Jacob’s wedding.

As the series finale opens, Jacob’s dreams have been realized and Mountain Vista Ranch is a reality. And ready to receive its first occupants, at risk LGBTQ youth and their families.

I love this story. Desert Dreams feels not so much like a final chapter but a novel full of new beginnings. Honestly by the end I was even surprised to find Ryker still a Raptor because so many new paths had been opened up here for so many new outstanding new characters.

R.J.Scott and V.L. Locey are great at crossovers when it comes to their various series and characters so I wasn’t surprised to see a prime character from Scott’s Texas series (and others) make a important appearance here. Seeing him sets the foundation for the ranch and potential storylines. Again with my assumptions.

Can I say my heart embraces the ranch and it’s environment, animals and people immediately? It did. Jacob is it’s heart with Ryker providing needed support but all the staff, including a Russian security guy who’s found his inner Clint Eastwood, it’s accumulating, and the animals (horses, goats, dog… each and every one with huge personalities) are also part of the chemistry and narrative magic that makes Mountain Vista Ranch work.

Then there’s the family that arrives needing shelter and so much more. They will grab at your heart. I’m hoping the son will be making more appearances in stories to come. I need to know what happens to him.

Desert Dreams isn’t about endings but new beginnings.

I’m hoping that means a series called Mountain Vista Ranch because never has a place cried out for a series than this place.

If you’re a Owatonna U Hockey fan, this book is a fantastic way to see the series out.

But if you’re like me, you’re hopeful that this a bright, beautiful start to something wonderful….a way to not only usher out a certain stage in Ryker and Jacob’s lives but to see them into a new journey and series.

I’m most definitely recommending this book, and series.

Note. There’s a element of physical domestic abuse , already happened,as well as threats here so for those who might see these as triggers, please take note.

Owatonna U Hockey Series: 6 books

Ryker #1

Scott #2

Benoit #3

Christmas Lights #4

Valentine’s Hearts #5

Desert Dreams – #6

Synopsis:

When danger stalks their new home, it’s only their strength as a couple that keeps them safe.

Ryker misses Jacob every day he’s away. At the start of a new Raptors season with everything to play for, Jacob, the desert ranch, and their small menagerie of animals have become an oasis of peace in a turbulent world. He’s never ridden a horse, he’s never considered how much this place would mean to him, but suddenly he’s forming a connection with a mare called Tops and loving every moment of this new life. Balancing hockey with his love for Jacob, he feels that nothing can ever go wrong.

With his life finally on track, Jacob is pouring all of himself into the dream he shares with Ryker. Putting the final touches on Mountain Vista Ranch, a halfway home for troubled LGBTQ youth and their families, fills his heart with pride. When their first clients arrive, he finds himself drawn to the small family and their plight. Little does he or Ryker know that the darkness the newcomers have fled from is following them.

Review: Terrible Things (Star Shadow #1) by Beth Bolden

Rating: 4.5🌈

Terrible Things is another terrific start to a contemporary rock band romance series by Beth Bolden.

Set in southern California, the location allows the author to fold in characters from her other series (Kitchen Gods, Food Truck Warriors) into making guest appearances where needed. Or even serving up as locations ala Terrior Restaurant and Chef Aquino.

Star Shadow is a defunct teenage rock band that disbanded when one of its members disappeared at the height of its world tour. Unable to continue, the band crumbled under the pain and betrayal.

The remaining four members keeping in contact personally while going different directions professionally.

That’ll the surface facts that the story opens up with.

The truth behind that traumatic breakup and the repercussions that are still hammering at the band members presently begin with the return of that missing musician and friend. Caleb Chance. He wants to resume that ill fated tour

Where he’s been, what happened all those years ago, and the deeply held pain and torn relationships is the beginning here.

The format the author employs includes the use of Interludes, important chapters from the past that highlights a pivotal moment in this couple’s and the band’s journey. Whether it’s from the moment they met or the moment it all imploded, the Interludes work better here then any flashback because the contrast emotionally between past and present if often stark and telling.

Told from the perspective of Leo Humphries, the man Caleb Chance left behind and who’s leaving shattered him almost completely, a one person pov makes this a strong story. It’s an unusual choice because I think most writers would have included Caleb’s as well given his own personal demons and battles. But to do that justice would have doubled this story easily.

Their romance, their tortuous journey back to each other, to forgiveness and love is hard and raw. And honestly as it deals with Caleb’s addiction to alcohol and how Leo had to deal with the everyday ramifications of having a alcoholic lover, maybe be hard to read if this is a trigger.

For me it also left some parts feeling less than fleshed out here too with regards to Caleb’s rehabilitation. He used aversion therapy at the end but there’s no real explanation here of that. Just that all other type of rehab clinics hadn’t been effective.

I would have expected something more definitive here. Especially considering that the men are honest about other stages and parts of their feelings and expectations for their new relationship.

I’ve come to relish and prefer stories where the relationships are emotionally adult. They talk, communicating their feelings, thoughts, and share elements with their partners those aspects of their lives that bring them closer together . Or learn how to do that…it’s a process.

That’s shown here in all its pain, truth, recovery, and love.

It’s quite the journey.

I wonder where all the books will take us and them. I intend to find out. I recommend you start here.

Star Shadow series:

Terrible Things (Star Shadow #1)

Impossible Things #2

Hazardous Things #3

Extraordinary Things #4

Synopsis:

When Caleb Chance walked out in Detroit five years ago, leaving his band, millions of his fans and his lover behind, Leo knew he could never forgive.

Some things, no matter what the cause, are unforgivable.

But Leo never expected Caleb to show up again, clean and sober and wanting to get their band, Star Shadow, back together. He definitely never expected to agree to Caleb’s plan.

He never expected to confront the love of his life again—or the disaster of his past, the hopelessness of his future, and every terrible thing he’s been carrying inside him.

But maybe some things aren’t so terrible after all.

Review: Keeping Kellen (Keeping Him #2) by Amy Aislin

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Well, really my only issue here is with the title. It should be called Keeping Brant because Kellen? He’s a done deal here. Has been for years since he realized he saw Brant as more than his BFF’s younger brother.

So the question here? That’s Brant not Kellen. So yep, a definite change up in title needed.

Otherwise, this is a splendid story that sees us catching up on the lives of the group of men from Keeping Casey. It’s been a while, they’ve graduated from Glen Hill College and moved forward with their partners and future plans.

As with Brant, those years has been ones of growth and now he sees himself ready to move forward again, this time in a familiar direction… home and new opportunities.

Aislin opens a path into Brant’s world with this story, one barely hinted at in the first novel. Now Brant’s past, present, and , his potential future is laid out in all its pain, love, familial dysfunction , and emotional distress. It also includes his boyhood crush which has never faded. And who now has returned as well. Aislin’s writes this all so superbly that you are pulled into Brant’s world and situation, feeling easily a part of it.

Yes, I googled that region even. I could go there, indeed I could.

Then there’s Kellen, the crush. Kellen, an immediately likable and connectable character, is one with a few painful layers himself. Although not as many as Brant.

The story and the men’s relationship begins immediately as they reconnect over a drive home from the airport and bond over Ollie, a “shared dog” and just great chemistry.

Through obstacles and new challenges raised by career changes, this pair grows together by using communication and love to get stronger and solidify their partnership. I just loved that.

No failure to talk things out, no childish misunderstandings. Just two adults working together towards a loving, mutually respectful relationship. Sigh. More pls.

And they treat others in the same manner. Be still my heart.

Ok, yes. I’m so happily on board here.

Even if Keeping Him series stays at two novels , which I expect it won’t become there are others unattached, this is absolutely a book and series I recommend.

Keeping Him series:

Keeping Casey #1

Keeping Kellen #2

https://www.goodreads.com › showKeeping Kellan (Keeping Him, #2) by Amy Aislin – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Brant Harkrader is done living by other peoples’ rules. He may not know exactly what he wants out of life, but he’s perfectly happy letting that question figure itself out while starting a new job as a tour guide.

Too bad the one thing he does want—his sister’s BFF—only sees him as a little brother.

Or so he thinks…

Kellan Shelby-Briggs has never shied away from going after what he wants. And what he wants is the important contract that will put his brand new company on the map—and Brant.

Too bad Kellan’s career keeps yanking him away just as things heat up between them.

Now that Brant is back in town—up close and personal in Kell’s living space—can they finally get the timing right to go after the love that has eluded them both for too long?

Review: Valentine’s Hearts (Owatonna U Hockey #5) by R.J.Scott

Rating: 5 🌈

Ryker Madsen and Jacob Bentsen have been through a lot in their years together but actually making it to their wedding day might be the most trying times they’ve faced yet.

If you’ve been reading this series and the Arizona Raptors one concurrently, as I have, then you’ve watched this couple undergo incredible growth separately and as a couple as they graduated college and moved to Arizona when Ryker was drafted by the Raptors.

Not a smooth transition, emotionally, especially for Jacob who missed his snow, family, and the farm that was lost financially. He had to adapt to a new environment and potentially new goals while Ryker fought to gain footing in what was initially a hostile team.

Scott puts both young men through an education on relationships and balance over the course of both series to arrive here… weeks before their wedding. And a somewhat shaky feeling emanating from both of them.

Reading the previous stories are a must otherwise you will be lost as to what the conflicts are between Ryker and Jacob at the start of the story.

And considering the gravity and huge emotional impact this element will have on them , their relationship, and the entire circle of people around them, knowing what’s behind this turmoil is essential .

While I’m surprised it’s not worked in earlier in the book, I’m also not sure how the author could have recapped such a large storyline with so with to tell with this story too.

Anyway, this brings into Valentine’s Hearts such an emotionally heartbreaking and shattering new stage to this couple and their relationship as they face together the unthinkable.

Without any spoilers, Scott’s in her element here with this section of their story. The treatment is responsible, we feel , so painfully so, that we have a window into the traumatic impact and ongoing nightmare that Jacob’s life becomes.

And the love, support, and therapy that gets him through it.

I love the simplicity and paired down ending. After everything they’ve been through, it seemed perfect.

Plus we have the finale to look forward to and it’s out now.

While it’s hard to say goodbye to this series, we still have the Raptors so really it’s not a forever goodbye.

I’m definitely recommending this and the previous stories.

Just make sure you have a bunch of tissues at hand.

Owatonna U Hockey Series: 6 books

Ryker #1

Scott #2

Benoit #3

Christmas Lights #4

Valentine’s Hearts #5

Desert Dreams – #6 series finale out now

Synopsis:

Will broken hearts replace the wedding they dreamed of?

Ryker’s heart has space for three things—his family, hockey, and Jacob. As their wedding grows closer, it seems that nothing can stand in the way of an idyllic celebration, surrounded by friends and loved ones. But things appear to be changing; Jacob is forging a future that might take him away from Ryker, and Ryker alternates between pride and fear when a new man comes into his fiancé’s life. A hockey season from hell has him doubting his life choices, but worse, he’s driving Jacob into another man’s arms. How has their perfect life suddenly gone so wrong?

Life has certainly thrown many twists and turns in Jacob’s path. Most of the goals he’d set for himself as a teenager had to change, but one has remained constant: finding his heart’s desire and marrying him. That aspiration was reached when Ryker said, “I do”. Planning their wedding was meant to be the best time of their lives, but Jacob unwittingly puts his trust in the wrong man and finds himself in danger. Is their love strong enough to survive the fallout?

https://www.goodreads.com › showWeb resultsValentine’s Hearts (Owatonna U Hockey #5) by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

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