Hi everyone. I’m Ryan Taylor, and I’m here with my husband and co-author, Joshua Harwood. We’re thrilled to be here today. We always enjoy our time with Dani and the Love Bytes blog. In case you aren’t familiar with Josh and me, we were married in 2017, after meeting in law school a few years earlier. We had such an exciting courtship and romance that we started writing gay romance books to celebrate what we were lucky enough to find in each other.
Has everyone been enjoying spring? It’s one of our favorite seasons, and this year, it has been especially splendid. Everything is green, the blossoms are gorgeous, and the air is fresh with new possibilities. As romance writers, it’s easy to focus so much on creating beautiful lives for our characters that we sometimes forget to look around us. This year, we’ve made it a point to be more aware of our surroundings, and the natural beauty has helped us appreciate our own love more.
Book-wise, it’s been a very busy time. We released our latest novel, Ice Devils, at the end of March. The last few months have also seen the release of three books in our Bethesda Barracudas Hockey series as audiobooks, all narrated by the very talented Nick J. Russo.
Today, one more book of the series is available! Ice Devils, Bethesda Barracudas Hockey Book 5, is now an audiobook.
Ice Devils is a hot, funny, heartwarming book. Blake and Sako are two of the two most interesting characters we’ve ever written, and their story makes a great read. They’re both hockey players, and each one is smart and smart-assed. Even better, they hate each other. Or at least they think they hate each other. When they finally get around to talking, each one figures out the other guy may not be so bad. When things reach a boiling point, watch out—you don’t want to get burned!
We hope you’ll listen to Ice Devils. You really don’t want to miss out on the incredible job Nick Russo did with this audiobook. He perfectly captured the snark, the love, and everything else that makes this series what our readers know and love. Josh and I couldn’t be happier with how Nick brought Blake and Sako’s story to life. Thank you for your time and consideration, and—as always—if you listen to Ice Devils, please leave a review on Audible. Happy reading and listening, and may the gay romance force be with you.
💕💕 Ryan & Josh
Ice Devils (Bethesda Barracudas Hockey, Book 5)
By Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood
Narrated by Nick J. Russo
Publisher: Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood
Release Date: May 26, 2022
Version: Unabridged Audio
Whispersync – Voice Enabled
Length: 6 hours 31 minutes
Heat Level: 3 – Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Gay Romance, Sports Romance
Tropes: Hockey, Jock/Jock, Enemies-to-Lovers, Closeted MC, Teammates, Low-angst, Out-for-You
Skating the line between love and hate.
When winger Blake Conti signs with the national champion Bethesda Barracudas, he isn’t looking to get involved with anyone. Still bruised from an old relationship, his focus is on playing hockey. But when one of his new teammates turns out to be the hottest man he’s ever met, Blake wonders if he should reconsider his aversion to romance.
Mark Sakamoto—Sako—one of the Barracudas’ rising young stars, is immediately smitten with Blake. Deeply closeted because he fears revealing his sexuality to his family, Sako resists his attraction by using scorn and insults to push Blake away. Hurt by Sako’s behavior, Blake reacts in kind, and the two men are soon at war.
Just as their fighting threatens to disrupt the team, the unexpected happens, and Sako and Blake bond over a silly prank. Their newfound camaraderie soon develops into a relationship, and the men become inseparable. With “ice in public, heat in private” as their motto, they keep things secret, but as they fall for each other, Sako knows he has to tell his family the truth. He dreads their reaction, but it’s the only way he and Blake can live happily ever after.
Ice Devils is a low-angst, enemies-to-lovers romance featuring scorching athletes, light-hearted comedy, riveting hockey, sweet-steamy romance, and a beautiful HEA.
We won the game 5– 3, a triumph because we hadn’t beaten Seattle for more than a year. Our victory playlist was already blasting through the speakers when we reached the locker room, and we took time to savor the win. The guys made a big deal about my goal, which put a huge grin on my face. I’d signed with the Barracudas the previous summer as a free agent, and tonight’s was certainly my most impressive goal of the season.
A reporter asked for an interview, and when we finished, I turned to go to my stall. Sako stood in my way with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. “Good goal,” he mumbled. Sounds of celebration filled the background while an awkward moment ticked by. “Score a few more like that, and you might convince me you know how to play hockey.”
“Get real. I hope you were watching. You might up your game to a professional level.”
He dropped his arms and stepped forward, too close for comfort, causing me to move back. I’ll be damned if he didn’t inch nearer until we were nose-to-nose. A shudder ran up my spine as his musk surrounded me.
“Oh yeah?” He curled his lips into the half-grin, half-sneer that had taunted me all year. “Conti, I played better than you when I was in juniors.”
While I tried in vain to come up with a smart retort, he called Nick’s name and walked away.
Bitterness washed over me as I wondered again why he hated me so much. I’d never had trouble getting along with people, but arrogant Sakoshit had taken an instant dislike to me the minute we met. Somehow, he knew exactly how to push my buttons. It didn’t take me long to figure out how to push his too, and our interactions quickly disintegrated into a series of snarky comments, glowers, and petty arguments. We both gave as good as we got, and I came to enjoy pissing him off. If he was going to be an asshole, it seemed like I was determined to be a bigger one.
ICE DEVILS. Copyright © 2022 Ryan Taylor & Joshua Harwood. All rights reserved.
Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood met in law school and were married in 2017. They live in a suburb of Washington, DC, and share their home with a big, cuddly German shepherd. Ryan and Josh love to travel, and hockey is practically a religion in their house. Ryan also enjoys swimming, and Josh likes to putter in the garden whenever he can. They began writing to celebrate the romance they were so lucky to find with each other, and the sharing soon developed into a passion for telling stories about love between out and proud men. You can contact Ryan and Josh through their website at https://www.ryanandjoshth.com/.
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