This series began with Ten and Mads, and with Ten being the star player and Mads being the defensive coach, their characters are present and play important roles throughout the various other players’ stories. I can’t imagine anyone reading this series (which must be read as a whole) not being devastated by the injuries Ten sustained at the end of the previous book, so to see another story with them as the focus had me a tad excited. As expected, Ten is still recovering, and Mads is trying to told it together in his absence as he recovers at a top notch rehabilitation facility in Arizona. Suffice to say, things are taking a toll on each of them.

Ten is struggling with his recovery, or more importantly, how difficult it has been, that he isn’t back to normal at supersonic speed and holding on to the hope of skating again.  He’s extremely determined, but when things are just simply out of his control (as is the case with his brain injury), his frustration continues to grow.  Mads, on the other hand, is struggling to be supportive but not overprotective, to maintain the business-as-usual routine at work, keeping his guys focused and in line when they are all still reeling a bit about what happened. He is still freaking out a bit inside about what happened and almost losing Ten, and having to be there for the entire family is putting a lot of added pressure on him.

What Ten and Mads mean to each other is never in question, but their struggles make them seem a bit more human. I absolutely love these guys, love the side characters (almost all of them :)) and love this series as a whole. So many of the teammates are important friends now and part of the overall family. It is always great to see them again and to be reminded of their own stories. Stan is one of my favorites, and it looks like there’s another chapter to his story coming up, as well as another in the side series that showed us Ryker’s (Mads’ son) story. I hope these authors keep this series going, because it has continued to keep my interest and excitement and I definitely recommend giving it a try.