Reviewed by Stephen K.
TITLE: Open Ice Hit
SERIES: Sin Bin #1
AUTHOR: E.M. Lindsey and Marina Vivancos
PUBLISHER: Independently Published
LENGTH: 276 Pages
RELEASE DATE: October 26th 2021
BLURB:
Vicki and Tommy aren’t just enemies on the ice—they’re explosive off it too…in more ways than one.
Noah Viklund doesn’t play hockey in order to make friends. That’s not what the game means to him. And he especially can’t stand the Sea Dog’s new rookie, Tommy Tremblay. After all, Tommy’s the sort of player that gets under Vicki’s skin.
He’s reckless.
He’s wild.
And he won’t take anything seriously.
But when a chance meeting during the off-season shows Vicki what a good boy Tommy can be for him, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep seeing him as the bad guy. After all, how can he hate the only man who has ever made him feel worthy?
Tommy is tired of Vicki’s stuck-up, holier-than-thou attitude. He’s fought hard to get where he is, and he’s not going to let some tightly wound guy make him feel like he doesn’t deserve his hard-won success.
So, he can’t explain why they keep falling into bed together, or why he’s starting to fall for the man he’s supposed to hate.
They both know this shouldn’t work, but the more they try to push each other away, the more their souls seem to connect. The question is, will they find a way for their hearts to be vulnerable and let love in?
Open Ice Hit is a steamy MM romance set between the fictional NHL teams of the Brooklyn Phantoms and the Queens Sea Dogs. It contains hate that might not quite be hate, team as found family, sick goals from soft hands, some really stinky marine animals, praise kink a mile wide, and an unexpected journey that might just be worth taking.
REVIEW:
Enemies with benefits? Tommy Tremblay is a rookie playing in the Stanley Cup when his aggressive play results in him tripping Zed, an opposing player. The spill results in a torn ACL. Zed’s teammate, Noah, takes offense to the brash youngster’s play, and can’t understand how Zed can so easily forgive Tommy. But when Noah and Tommy are both booked for an underwear modeling gig in the off-season, Noah begins to see the appeal. Though it starts as aggressive Dominance/submission play, there’s something about Tommy that starts getting under the normally standoffish man’s shell.
The “Hate sex” that they initially engage in is hot. But both soon realize that their feelings are going beyond “sex the sport” to something deeper. That’s all to the good as far as I’m concerned. To each his own, but I’m a bit baffled about why these two find being hateful to each other is sexy. When they start caring for each other, that’s when my “feels” kick in.
It’s also a bit weird that Tommy gets so turned on by being praised. It’s clear that Noah is the one with a hateful father that’s never given him the paternal approval that he still feels is missing.
This is the first in a series and there’s even a thruple involving one of Noah’s team-mates that is intriguing. I understand it’s detailed more fully in a freebie that’s mentioned at the end of this book. I’ll definitely be checking that out, and waiting for book #2.
RATING: 
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