Reviewed by Chris
TITLE: New York Nightwings – T
he Complete Collection
SERIES: New York Nightwings #1-3
AUTHOR: V.L. Locey
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 207 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 5, 2018
BLURB:
The Nightwings Complete Collection contains all three novellas in the New York Nightwings MM hockey romance trilogy. The first two—On Broadway and Rookie Moves—were previously available in the Changing on the Fly charity anthologies. The third novella—Transitions—is a brand-new story written just for this collection. All three books are filled with passion, romance, humor, and fast-paced hockey action!
The set includes –
On Broadway (New York Nightwings #1)
Rookie Moves (New York Nightwings #2)
Transitions (New York Nightwings #3)
REVIEW:
This collection is split up into two main story arcs. The first, which covers the two beginning novellas (On Broadway and Rookie Moves) is centered around Riley, a new(ish) hockey star for the fictional New York City NHL team, and Kieffer (aka Rocket), who is an (semi-)ex rent boy that Riley finds himself increasingly attracted to. Over the course of the two stories they deal with Kieffer’s past, Riley’s issues with coming out while still playing professionally, and where they are going in the future–both as a couple and individually.
Since their stories take up roughly 2/3 of the collection, Riley and Kieffer certainly have more time to grow and show us who they are, than the couple in the last third of the book. Which is probably why I was a bit sad that these two stories didn’t really go more into Riley and his character/backstory. Don’t get me wrong, I really did enjoy these two stories (I had read one of them previously when it was part of the Changing on the Fly anthology and it still holds up), but both Broadway and Rookie tend to lean heavily on the side of Kieffer, leaving the story a bit lopsided. There seemed to be a lot less focus on hockey, and more on Kieffer dealing with being an ex-prostitute and finding his way in the world now that he has better choices at his fingertips. It is not a bad focus, and it certainly makes for an interesting story, it was just that it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for from this book. Perhaps is this collection was not sold as “MM hockey romance trilogy” it wouldn’t have bugged me so much. Because the stories themselves were not bad. They just had decidedly less hockey-focus than I had hoped.
But that aside, I did enjoy these first two stories. Riley and Kieffer were cute together. Even if I think Riley was a bit too naive about taking home this random dude he met on the street. And I really liked where the story took Kieffer. Certainly not where it looked to be going at the end of the first story, but Rookie Moves took a really nice turn, and I liked the change.
The third story, Transitions, is centered on a friend of Riley’s, Tommy (aka Hector) and a hockey goalie named Vincent. Riley and Hector knew each other back when they were both on the streets, and after Riley reconnected with him in Rookie Moves, Hector decides to help his friend set up a safe spot for homeless LGBT kids on the streets. It is through trying to raise funds for this venture that Hector meets Vincent. Vincent is older, and nearing the end of his hockey career, but still is unsure about how open he wants to be about his attraction to men. He and Hector fall for each other, but with Hector’s past, and Vincent’s life so near the spotlight, they are unsure how far they can take things.
Though I found this story to be a bit cheesy, it was the right kind of cheese. There are certain aspects of this story that I thought were kinda unlikely, or just incredibly convenient, but I also think the story was never expected to be anything more than that. Like the previous story, Hector having ready and willing access to money at a moment’s notice meant that a lot of the problems here were ridiculously easy to solve. You never once actually thought that things would not turn out for the best. But…in this kind of fantasy world that this–and the two previous stories–live in, that is perfectly fine.
All these stories are a touch on the ridiculous side. I’m not sure I would buy any of it in “the real world,” but these stories stick to the rules of their own universe, so I’m ok with that. Fluff isn’t all bad. Sometimes it is even great. And by not really trying to be a lot more than cute stories about a couple of guys who fall for hot hockey players, it didn’t overreach and cause the whole thing to implode. Yes there were some nice bits that talk about how LGBT kids are more likely to find themselves without resources if forced into homelessness by their “parents,” but at the end of the day, these two ex-rent boys landed millionaires and were able to radically improve their lives and the lives of other homeless kids, without huge effort or hardship. It is a bit of a fantasy…but a well written and enjoyable one.
RATING: 
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