The Book Boyfriend Addict

I’ve always loved being part of a team. Is that what a relationship thingy is like? 

No wonder so many of my friends have fallen victim.

Between reading so many hockey romances this year and actually following real-life hockey for the first time, I can safely say that I’m solidly in my hockey era – and I love it. Unfortunately, my new favs the Seattle Kraken were just knocked out of the playoffs so I’m going to be filling the void with more hockey romances! Lucky for me, there are loads of hockey books out there that I have yet to read, starting with this one. I’ve seen this series all over the place so I decided I’d finally check it out. It took me a few chapters to really get into it but once I did, I enjoyed it. It was a fun and light read with some good banter and plenty of heat.

Ezra Palaszczuk and Anton Hayes are polar opposites and have a history of not liking one another. Ezra is notorious for partying, having a good time, and hooking up with lots of guys. In contrast, Anton is known for his dedication to the game and for keeping his private life private. But when Anton lets his control slip for one night with Ezra, he realizes it’s not enough. They may not even like each other but they both find themselves looking for a repeat performance. With every night they spend together, the list of things they like about each other starts to overtake the list of things they always thought they hated about one another.

As I mentioned earlier, it took me a handful of chapters to really get into this story. It seems to be a spin-off from a different series so I think I just needed to find my footing with the “universe” and the characters but once I did that, it was an easy read. Enemies to lovers is always a fun trope and these two definitely had the enemies thing down. Anton dedicated his hockey career to upholding a certain image and while he’s not exactly closeted, he doesn’t want his sexuality to overtake his accomplishments on the ice so he keeps his private life as quiet as he can. But then there’s Ezra who flaunts his sexuality and has done so since day one. In a way, Anton respects that Ezra is so out and proud but he can’t imagine that life for himself and he knows that getting involved with Ezra is a bad idea if he wants to keep his romantic life out of the public eye. But Ezra proves to be hard to resist and Anton finds himself craving more and more time with him.

I liked how these guys balanced each other out. Anton brought out a more serious side to Ezra and allowed us to see beneath the puck boy antics. And Ezra helped pull Anton out of his comfort zone and helped him loosen up a little. I thought their chemistry was good and they had some really fun banter. And it’s always fun when enemies start hooking up and then realize they *gasp* actually like each other. Overall, the book was very low angst and just an all-around fun read. I enjoyed a lot of the other characters as well, especially the Queer Collective and I’m intrigued by the setup for the next book in the series – it sounds like there’ll be some pretty epic pining in that one! I look forward to checking it out very soon.