Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Ice Devils
SERIES: Bethesda Barracudas Hockey
AUTHORS: Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 6 hours and 31 minutes
RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2022
BLURB:
How can they get past old wounds to find their perfect happy ending?
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.
REVIEW:
Note: This book is part of a longer arc series. As such there are spoilers for prior books in the series, but it can be listened to as a standalone.
This is a good addition to the Bethesda Barracuda Hockey series. In this one, Mark Sakamoto and Blake Conti start off as something less than friends. It’s clear though that this animosity is the flipside of attraction. Mark’s obviously got some issues though since he basically attacks Blake after hours and kisses him at the practice rink and then runs away. It’s clear he’s having a lot of trouble with his sexuality. But he’s terrified of his dad’s reaction to him being gay, so he’s kept his sexuality WAAAAAY under the radar. Blake is really pissed off at Sako’s hot and cold act. They bond over the pranks that Sako has been playing on the team. Blake and Sako become the Ice Devils – the pranksters who keep the Barracudas on their toes. When Sako finally confesses his issues, Blake gives him the benefit of the doubt because he is really attracted to Mark anyway. Sako doesn’t want anyone to know about them, so they agree to continue their animosity in public despite the heat behind closed doors 😉 They also find it harder and harder to keep their relationship secret. Their captain has already caught on and others suspect.
When Sako almost makes a real error not being honest with Blake about a real misunderstanding involving a past hookup, things look like they might go belly up. Thankfully Blake gets talked off the ledge 😉 Sako still is struggling, but he realizes until he comes clean with his family, he won’t be able to move on with his life or be truly happy with Blake. As much as he dreads it, he has to bite the bullet and tell his parents his truth. Regardless of their reaction he has to do it in order to live his life out with Blake.
I enjoyed this audio and especially Nick J. Russo’s narration. He must be a hockey fan because his narration of the games are filled with drama and action! As usual, his performance levels of the material. There is nothing too new or groundbreaking in this story but Sakamoto’s learning to come to his truth on his sexuality was well done. Both he and Blake are sympathetic characters and I liked how their relationship evolved. It was fun revisiting the guys from the previous books too 🙂 This is another good addition to the series and if you’re a fan of enemies to lovers, hot sexy times, pro hockey players coming out of the closet and HEAs, you’ll enjoy this one too.
RATING: 
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