REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Rebound
SERIES: Overtime
AUTHOR: V.L. Locey
PUBLISHER: V.L. Locey
LENGTH: 209 Pages
RELEASE DATE: December 30, 2019
BLURB:
If there’s one thing that’s a certainty in life, it’s change.
It’s taken Victor Kalinski years to settle into the kind of happiness that he thought he’d never find. The small town of Cayuga, New York, has welcomed him warmly. It’s given him a championship team to coach, a tightly-knit group of friends, a father who he has reconciled with, and a safe place to raise the son he adores. The small town has also blessed him with Dan Arou, his husband and his soulmate, and one of the most skilled forwards on the Cougars. Given Dan’s outstanding play in their recent Calder Cup win, it was inevitable that Dan’s time in the minors was about to come to an end.
When Dan is given a starting position in Boston, Victor’s serene life is thrown into complete chaos. Pride over Dan’s accomplishment fills his heart but facing a long, lonely season in Cayuga is causing no small amount of discord. Add in a wedding that will give his son a new stepfather, health issues for his dad, and Victor’s own penchant for saying things that aren’t exactly politically correct, and the impending explosion is guaranteed to blow Vic’s life to bits. Life-altering choices will have to be made. Will Victor rebound from the challenges, or will he be unable to accept the upheavals that life has dealt him?
REVIEW:
You really should read Coach’s Challenge before starting this series, as that is where we first get to know Victor and Dan, learn their backstory (Victor’s is a doozy). Having done that, I was excited to see these guys again. Dan has just been called up to try out for the Boston NHL team, along with a few other players. So, Victor is learning to cope at home with his man not by his side.
Here is where I will probably be in the minority on this one. The first 25% of the book had me almost giving up. I am not a huge fan of children in my stories, and I was really looking forward to more hockey, more hot hockey players and all the action that goes along with that. However, this starts out focusing on Victor’s son, a supposed 4 year old genderfluid child who we are told in every way possible how he/she checks off just about every box on the rainbow chart. My issue isn’t with the genderfluid child, but in the preaching tone and bringing up every possible negative thing this child should be prepared for. He is 4 years old, yet he often speaks as a much older child. He apparently picks out his clothes when shopping, designs his own outfits, etc. He is frequently telling us what his boy heart or his girl heart want or feel, and while many will probably find it cute, it was just a bit over the top for me and, like I said, I was about to give up.
Eventually, Victor’s other problems take over, and even though one of them involves Victor’s ex and her fiancé planning to move and the child, he takes more of a back seat as we begin to see Victor implode as the things and pressures begin to pile up. He loses his job, is worried about losing his child, has a newfound father not taking care of medical issues, his husband now living in another state, etc. Dan remains the solid voice of reason in Victor’s life, though he is at a bit of a loss due to his location. But Victor never tries to hold Dan back from being the superstar his is and encourages him even though he wants to be selfish.
So, the story picked up for me, and I was glad I stuck with it. I really do enjoy these guys and can’t wait to see what happens next.
RATING:
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