Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Defensive Zone
SERIES: Chicago Thunder
AUTHOR: Jodi Oliver
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 263 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2024
BLURB:
Zach
Since I was six years old, my world has revolved around two things: Carter Lockwood and hockey.
We made a pact in college before we turned pro to always put each other first. To make each other our priority, but being in love with your straight best friend can make that hard, especially when you have to watch them fall in love with someone else.
I don’t want to break my best friend’s heart to save my own, but I need to put some space between us to save our friendship.
Only this time, it’s not just the defensive zone I’m protecting, but also my heart.
Carter
From the moment I met Zach Reid, we were inseparable.
Nobody really understands why I always wanted to be with him. Our relationship is what some people call codependent, but he’s been my favorite person for over two decades, and life is always calmer when he’s around.
But something changed between us over the summer, and I started to see him in a different way.
Then the pact we made in college started to fall apart, along with my football career.
I don’t know what happened or how to make it right, but there’s one thing I know for certain.
I’m lost without him.
Defensive Zone is a childhood best friends to lovers sports romance featuring a hockey player and football player. It includes unrequited love, a bi-awakening, mutual pining and all the Thunder found family vibes.
It is book three in the Chicago Thunder series and can be read as a standalone.
REVIEW:
Oh boy! These guys 😉 Poor Carter just is so clueless. I loved that everybody else could see what was right there.
Zach and Carter have been best friends since Carter moved in next door when they were both 6. Carter lived and breathed football. Zach comes from a hockey family. Carter declares them best friends for life immediately. They go to college together and once they get to the pros, they see each other when they are playing in each other’s cities. They spend their off-seasons together. They vacation together. They are pretty much joined at the hip. All their lives they’ve been oddly tactile with each other. There have been comments over the years but no one wants to mess with two very fit pro athletes 🙂
Carter has only been interested in/dated women and Zach has only dated men. However, Zach has long harbored feelings for his best friend. He is jealous when Carter has a girlfriend – although they don’t seem to last long. Until a vacation in Hawaii that Carter quickly arranges after Zach’s team loses in the playoffs. They have a great time but then they both meet people and things get weird. For the first time Carter feels a bit protective and jealous of Zach. He tries to extricate himself, but Zach follows. But then the person Carter meets is in Denver and they start dating. Zach feels like a third wheel. He knows that this is it. Carter is finally going to start his life with the person who will be his spouse and the mother of his children. He can’t take the pain. He goes back to Chicago and decides he needs to protect himself. The only way to do this is to not be in contact with Carter. Which nearly kills him.
Poor Zach tried to keep his feelings hidden but after 20 years of friendship and 16 years of loving his best friend, things are getting too hard for him when it looks like Carter might settle down for real with his latest girlfriend. Only when he cuts Carter off does Carter finally realize that maybe their friendship is more than the codependence they’ve been accused of in the past. Not talking to Zach, not seeing Zach, not hearing from Zach has Carter off his game. Literally.
Carter has no idea what is going on. And then his life takes another turn. He tries to reach out to Zach, but Zach continues to blow him off basically. When his season is over and he does what he always does – go to Zach’s in Chicago – he’s shocked but what Zach tells him. He feels terrible. He feels like he’s been the worst friend ever. He begins to see thing in a different light. He also starts to understand why his life hasn’t worked out the way he thought it might by this time. When Zach is injured though, things become clear. To everyone 😀
Oh poor dear clueless Carter. And poor pining Zach. These two boys really needed a couples therapist 😉 I loved that these guys were besties who weren’t afraid to say they loved each other. It was just that Zach was in love too. And Carter didn’t understand what he’d done to make Zach stop talking to him. Twenty years is a long time to be best friends and then have things turn on a dime. Not wonder Carter’s game took a dive! These two were hot as heck when they finally realized what was right in front of them. Carter was extremely enthusiastic now that he could have his best friend and the love of his life in one person. Zach is in disbelief at first. He just couldn’t quite figure out how he was getting every single thing he ever wanted. As usual, the rest of the team and their boyfriends/husbands were there to offer support. I particularly loved Carter’s girlfriend who was incredibly mature and such a good friend. Another good book in this series and I still can’t wait for Jackson’s book!
RATING: 
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