Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Dump and Chase
SERIES: Watkins Glen Gladiators
AUTHOR: V.L. Locey
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 212 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 4, 2023
BLURB:
Working side-by-side on a charity project might just prove to be the foundation of a new romance.
Deandre Jones is enjoying his single life quite nicely, thank you. He’s a defenseman on the Watkins Glen Gladiators, gets to travel, dates frequently, and isn’t tied down to anything other than his mom and brother back in the windy city. He has time to do the whole family and kids thing. Right now he’s happy to be footloose, even if his mother has different ideas. As the playoffs near his focus should be on hockey, but for some reason, he can’t seem to give the sport its due. Ever since he volunteered to help the incredibly handsome assistant pastor of a local church work on an addition to the parish, his attention seems to be locked on curly hair and bright blue eyes instead of breakaways and body checks.
Gabriel Hansley has quite the full plate. Not only is he the first openly out bisexual assistant pastor for a small but highly active parish, but he’s also got his son to tend to as well as his work at the church, which keeps him hopping all day long. And that’s a good thing as the nights alone are hard for the young widower. Just when he’s about to give up on finding a person to share his life with—chaotic as it can be—he finds himself hammering nails beside Deandre Jones. As they work side-by-side under the bright spring sun, he’s getting warmer under the collar with each shared smile and terrible carpentry pun.
Dump and Chase is a low-angst, slow burn, age gap queer hockey romance with a not-quite-as-confirmed-as-he-thought bachelor, a harried single father, plenty of nosy but well-meaning parishioners and teammates, tons of joyous song, and a harmonious happily ending.
REVIEW:
Note: There are some spoilers here for the previous books in the series, but this can be read as a standalone.
Gabe Hansley is a widowed single dad preacher at his new church in Watkins Glen. As part of a community project, the local hockey team is helping the church community. As part of the volunteers, Deandre Jones, former Chicagoan, now local hockey team defenseman, is intrigued by the pastor. He feels a little weird about it. Also he’s a single dad and a widower. Deandre is a single bi guy enjoying his freedom – just concentrating on his hockey and living his life.
Their relationship build from intro at the church to friends. They continue to see each other in different circles and circumstances. As they get closer, things change. Deandre has his hockey job and the playoffs to plan for. Gabe has been married and has lost his wife, so his starting position is quite different that Deandre’s who really hasn’t contemplated a serious relationship. But there is just something about Gabe 😉
This is a sweet and fairly low angst story. I tend to shy away from books with religious themes for a number of reasons, but the way things were handled in this book made it OK. The church is called Open Arms Tabernacle and for the most part that is exactly what they are. Deandre and Gabe are really lovely characters. They go from strangers, to friends, to more. I loved Deandre’s interaction with Cliff, Gabe’s son. The Gladiators get in on the act here too 🙂 And of course there was lots of input from Gabe’s congregation 🙂 I really enjoyed the whole story.
RATING: 
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