Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Out on the Ice
SERIES: Out in College #5
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 219 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 19, 2020
BLURB:
Colby Fischer is a bad boy with attitude and a chip on his shoulder. As a senior at a Southern California college, he knows this may be his last shot. He doubts he’ll ever become the hockey legend he dreamed of being as a kid, but he definitely doesn’t want to be an accountant. Things get interesting when he’s asked to train the new intern at his step-dad’s firm, who happens to be the troublemaker from his econ class. And the one guy Colby can’t stand.
Baseball is Sky Jameson’s life. He’s happy to be back at Chilton for his senior year, but he’s burned a few bridges and has a bit too much free time off-season. He could use the money and something to keep him busy until his season begins. But his accidental crush on his prickly coworker could be a problem. Colby is straight and Sky is in the closet. Their timing isn’t great, but the intense attraction is hard to deny. With his final season on the hockey team in the balance, Colby may have to decide if he’s ready to come out on the ice.
REVIEW:
I had a harder time with one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good book. But since I ‘met’ Sky, so many books ago, I’ve disliked him so much. Don’t misunderstand me again, everyone deserves a second chance, especially if they really mean it and are trying to move forward and make things right. But a part of me can’t get over the way Sky acted, especially when he starts that cockiness and smirky attitude with Colby.
Colby doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life as a plan B. He’s always lived for hockey and it seems to be the one thing left he has of his dad left. His life has not been an easy one, sure others may have it worse somewhere in the world, but for him, it’s still devastating. And he did what all teens do. Lashed out in all the ways he knew how. But now all he wants to do is finish college and move forward, but running into Sky in a class that ends up getting him in trouble, seems to set a tone for things for the next while. Sky has a way of getting under people’s skin and he’s gotten under Colby’s, in ways Colby never thought of before. And it’s freaking him out. When he gives him the 3rd degree about the job at his step-father’s place of business, he learns a lot and actually finds out he feels a little bad for Sky. Not that he wants to, but losing your family because you come out is harsh and wrong and no one should have to go through it. Little by little, they get closer and their relationship draws deeper, until it’s basically thrown in their face by a bully. Colby gets into a fight, Sky decides he doesn’t want to be in the closet anymore and decides to give Colby space. But Colby doesn’t want space and it’s time to decide what he really wants out of life. And after talking to the last person in the world he thought he would, he knows. But now it’s a question of whether he can follow through.
Even with all my issues with Sky, I do have to say I’m happy and proud of a sort. Coming out is never easy, especially with parents as his. It’s bad and was bad his whole life. And when things were coming to a head with Colby, he did the right thing and backed off to give Colby the time to do things in his time and in the right way. He never before would have done that. And I’m proud to see that’s he’s grown up. Because, even with my reservations with him, he is trying and deserves someone who loves him and to give him the chance he needs. He feels broken because of what his family did and Colby is putting the pieces back together for him. But for Colby, it’s hard too. He’s always identified as straight until Sky came along and rocked his world. And that’s a wake up call and a half. And it’s not easy to come out, it’s not easy to accept a side of yourself you never knew. Especially when you struggle with so much already from a rocky past. And not knowing how you’ll be accepted or not when you hear horror stories such as Sky’s. So I felt bad for both of them. They had a lot they had to work through and probably will for a long time.
Things they have had to deal with in their lives, don’t magically disappear. Thankfully, Colby’s already doing the therapy thing to get help for himself and maybe someday Sky will too. Either way, it’s a work in progress everyday. And in their honeymoon phase, they both still realize that it’s not an easy life they’ve had or will have. There will be issues and things they have to work through, but for them what’s important is that they’ve found a family in each other, in Colby’s parents and in friends that do love them. One day at a time.
RATING: 
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