Reviewed by Elizabetta

TITLE: Blood on the Ice

AUTHOR: Katriena Knights

PUBLISHER: Samhain Publishing

LENGTH: 382 pages

BLURB:

“The neutral zone is no place for a vampire.”

 

A right wing for the Chicago Blackhawks, all Travis Payne wants is to see his name on the Stanley Cup. He certainly doesn t expect to be attacked by a vampire on the eve of the Finals. But when he wakes up in the Warm Room of the Cook County Morgue, he knows his life will never be the same.

 

Fortunately, Travis can still play hockey with the Chicago Cobras, the local vampire league franchise. Cobras captain Marcus Antonius, a former Roman gladiator, is more than willing to help Travis adjust to his new life, his new team, and the erosion of his formerly flaming heterosexuality. Travis is a difficult student, though all he wants is his life to return to normal.

 

Unfortunately, learning to be a good vampire is even more complicated than following concussion protocols, and Travis will have to let go of everything to find a new normal.

 

Warning: Contains two hot alpha males playing hard on the ice and in the bedroom. ”

 

REVIEW:

 

Ice hockey + vampires = blood sports supreme.

 

Check, check, and… check. And add in a nice vamp coming-of-age story. ’Cause in this world, vampires are out and proud, fully integrated into human society. Think: Fangs… and lots of lovely biting.

 

Our main character, Travis, is a popular and talented hockey player on a team headed for the Stanley cup championship game. It’s all he wants… his name engraved on that silver trophy… he’s worked long and hard for it.

 

And then, bad timing… one night, acting as a good Samaritan, Travis saves a young woman from death-by-vampire draining, and he finds his life changed when he becomes the victim and is inducted into vamp-hood. Luckily for Travis, it’s only the end of human life as he knows it… low and behold, there are vampire hockey teams, too. And one of them, the Cobras, captained by hunky Marcus Antonius, is hot after Travis’ ice talents. Well, Marcus may be after a little more than just ice blading… let’s say he gets some, um, blading in elsewhere, too.

 

Marcus is a bit of an enigma… I’m never clear on what it is about ice hockey that attracted him to the sport. My guess is that the centuries-old vamp who used to be a Roman gladiator just likes exchanging one blood sport for another. And, you know, hard-forged by all those centuries— he is a manly… erm, vampire-ly bloodsucker who knows how to give good stick.

 

Travis is lucky to have Marcus to teach him the new-vamp ropes and also act as mentor in the blood and gore known as vamp ice hockey: where game speed kicks up by a factor of fifty percent, protective gear is eschewed, and having a puck drive straight through your torso won’t slow the game down.

 

Both characters are very likable. Marcus gets shorter shrift— it’s from Travis POV after all— but for a two-thousand-year-old tough-guy vamp, he is surprisingly tender and caring. So, it’s Travis’ show… he’s a monster on the ice with a soft heart. And his journey, as we are taken through his metamorphosis from human to vampire, is interesting. There is some skimping on the process, but we are privy to his difficult transition from one culture to another.

 

It’s convenient that becoming a vamp means you become omni-sexual. Travis makes the jump from straight to… bisexual in a snap. No muss, no fuss. Marcus is looking pretty tasty, and the man on man loving is not a huge deterrent for Travis. You just know these two will be getting busy.

 

On the other hand, omni-sexual means that we get some action that dips into M/F territory, too. Here’s some background: The vamps exist mainly on canned animal blood which, of course, is a poor substitute for a fresh vein. Occasionally, the guys go out for ‘blood snacks,’ or human donors, male and female, who willingly sell them an unadulterated (no drugs/no booze) bite, sex included. So, a small warning is needed if M/F action in your slash reading bothers you. Granted, there’s nothing penetrative, but the word ‘cunnilingus’ does appear on page… you can take it from there. Did it stop me reading? No. But, every time Travis got busy with a female ‘blood donor’ I wished it was a guy.

 

The author looks to have written a number of het romance novels. Kudos for what seems to be a debut M/M romance with Blood on the Ice. This is fun and nicely written (despite a couple plot holes), and I liked the sneaky humor. If you’re a hockey nut, there is enough here to entertain— the sports talk and action is graphic— and it won’t overwhelm those who aren’t fans. On top of that, add some nasty-sweaty-dirty smexin to steam things up. I really hope this author continues to write more in the M/M rom world, I’d line up for that.

 

 

RATING:

 

BUY LINKS:

Samhain Publishing

Amazon