Book Reviews

Book Blurb

A sweet and sexy hockey romance about two ex-teammates and former best friends with benefits who are about to discover whether you can ever really have a second chance.

After moving back to his hometown ten years ago, Riley Tuck thought he had left his major league hockey career—and his broken heart—far behind. But when an unexpected tragedy strikes, it brings ex-teammate and former best friend with benefits Adam Sheppard back into his life.

Coming to the small town of Avery River, Nova Scotia, might have been a mistake. Adam’s not sure he’ll ever win back Riley’s trust after the way they left things—and the attention he’s getting as a huge hockey star isn’t exactly helping. Yet the chemistry that crackles between them is undeniable, even now.

As Adam helps Riley navigate his grief, long-buried feelings start to resurface. But they’ll have to square off with their complicated past if they’re going to have a real shot at a new beginning.

 

Book Review

Rachel Reid hooked me with ‘Heated Rivalry’, the first book I was ever awarded for review through NetGalley, and I’ve stayed on her hook ever since. To say I was looking forward to this story is an understatement, and my excitement when chosen as a reviewer was over the moon. Happy birthday month to me! Was I disappointed in this new story that didn’t have my favorite Canadian hockey players? Absolutely not! This story is totally different and yet is crafted with the same talent and care that’s been a hallmark of author Reid’s work. 

 

Two middle-aged men, best friends through childhood and into their professional hockey careers, become sexually involved but are eventually separated by one’s deep and dark closet—filled with shame and denial and all things one hates about homophobia.

 

All the ingredients for an intense emotional read are included here — two richly developed characters, angst for both personal and professional reasons, heartache, heartbreak, family tragedy, and its resulting numbing grief. However, Adam and Riley are destined to be together and are finally reunited, Adam now ready to admit he’s gay — twenty years after losing Riley, the love of his life, and after having been married, divorced, and fathered two children, now teens.

 

The author takes readers on an emotional roller coaster ride, through the depths of despair over lost love, the destruction of a career due to depression, alcoholism and unmanageable anger, and then through grief over loss of a family member, before climbing the emotion-coaster to the top of the slope where lies a second chance at love, hope for the future, remorse and redemption for past mistakes, and more. But wait — there’s still time to plummet downward on a few more loops as we get glimpses of those past mistakes, feel the pain of denial, and of loss. Finally, one more climb, where we readers bear witness to Adam’s final decision about his commitment to Riley and their future.

 

Was Adam my favorite character? No. Nope. I was not a fan of his failure to return Riley’s love wholeheartedly in the past. But I did come to care for him as he found a way to be worthy of Riley in the present. Riley, on the other hand, was my favorite from the moment the book started. Who couldn’t love this emotionally damaged character? He had survived so much before we even met him. What a beautiful example of how finely honed an author can make a character! 

 

This bundle of words, crafted into a book, is all things wonderful—a true gift to those like me who love a good Romance with a capital R. Get ready to feel the feels. I couldn’t ask for a more romantic saga or for a better outcome for a couple I came to love.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 332 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	04-March-2025
Price	$11.99 ebook, $17.09 paperback
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Shots-You-Take-Rachel-Reid-ebook/dp/B0CW1H3HT7