Review by Valerie
TITLE: Out on the Ice
SERIES: Out in College #5
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
NARRATOR: Michael Dean
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 6 hours, 22 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 30, 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:
Acknowledgement #1: Lane Hayes knows how to pick her cover models. All of her Out in College men are smoking hot and this one is no exception.
I love Out on the Ice, a winsome, bisexual-awakening love story between two college seniors. Not only is it a great story, the narration is top-notch, as well. Hot-headed Colby is exploring his sexuality while dealing with a precarious situation with an enemy on his college ice hockey team. Collegiate baseball player, Sky, is harboring sorrow and anger from a nasty break up and heartbreaking family circumstances. I haven’t read Out in the Field, fourth in the series, in which Sky is an important secondary character. I’m glad he is a new character for me so I have no preconceived notions.
Colby and Sky have their first encounter in a summer school economics class. The supposedly straight Colby has been checking out the handsome Sky for weeks, fixating on his biceps and other, um, attributes. “Yeah, that was weird,” he thought of his interest. Their initial meeting is comical. Let’s just say it isn’t a meet-cute. More of a pissed off meet-ugly. Colby’s over the top reaction is hilarious. Fists are flying and boners are popping.
Somehow from there it leads to hanging out, a date or two, Netflix and Chill, and some hot lessons in sex. Lots and lots of sex, much of it off-page, unfortunately. They have to navigate working together and keeping their secret from friends, family, and mostly their teammates. But their attraction to each other is unexpectedly intense and the status-quo can’t be maintained without the risk of discovery.
I adore Colby and Sky. They are made for each other, each providing the soothing force the other needs to calm his demons. I appreciate that Colby doesn’t deny his interest in a man once he realizes it, he just accepts it and turns to Sky for guidance. Sky is much more mature than the opening scenes would have us believe, but he also has much less self-confidence than it appears.
He acted cool, calm, collected and even a little cocky, too. But I had a feeling the act exhausted him more that he let on. He visibly relaxed against me, chuckling at the animated hijinks [on TV] like a kid. Or like an adult who’d finally found a safe place to rest for a while.
The book is told in Colby’s first person POV. I personally think the book would’ve benefited from a dual POV because Sky has so much backstory he could’ve shared. I would’ve enjoyed having a greater sense of his inner turmoil.
Acknowledgement #2: Lane Hayes knows how to pick an excellent narrator – one of my favorites, Michael Dean. He has put his voice to over one hundred MM romance novels, including all of the Out in College series. As usual, Dean is masterful in his delivery. He’s very animated at the appropriate times, which draws in the listener and maintains attention. He did a terrific job capturing both the fun and sexiness of the sex scenes. There’s something Dean does that not many narrators do, and that’s make sounds such as laughter. Instead of just reading “he laughed” he’ll add in some actual laughter. It sounds basic but it makes a big difference.
I’ll always remember the books I read and listened to during #stayathome as being a conduit to entertaining myself, keeping my mind busy, and reducing stress. Out on the Ice will surely be among my favorites in my Quarantine Collection. This book surprised me. I expected an easy, fun story; what I hadn’t anticipated was the addition of such a deep connection between the leading men and all the feels it produces. And the angst is low, befitting my de-stressing requirement. The epilogue is realistic and I give the men a good chance of this being a happily ever after, even though they’re young.
Thanks to Hayes and Dean for brightening my days at home. I highly recommend this audiobook.
RATING: 
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