Reviewed by Ro
TITLE: Breakaway for Love
SERIES: Hockey and Love #1
AUTHOR: Koko Klein
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 213 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 3, 2025
BLURB:
Between hatred and desire.
Nico was brought up to hate Daniel. The feud between their families is centuries old. But now they are both part of the Terengian national ice hockey team.
Working together is proving difficult. A medal at the Winter Olympics in Beijing seems increasingly out of reach. Frustration threatens to tear the team apart. Still Nico and Daniel grow closer every day.
But Nico is keeping a secret. A secret that threatens his very existence. But with every second they spend together, Daniel comes closer to uncover it.
REVIEW:
This is the first in a new series, Hockey and Love, and it is set in the made-up country of Terengia. The book is told in alternating point of view of Nico Hovenberg and Daniel Miller. When the blurb says the feud between their families is old, it means OLD. This feud started in the 1530’s and has continued on.
Nico is way deep in the closet and the story starts with him self-pleasuring. When he is remembering the story of how he got this huge dildo he’s using, he also gives a glimpse of his life, “Little did he know that from an early age, my parents trained me not to show any emotions in public”. Nico is a hockey player who didn’t quite make the top, just missing an Olympic spot. When a member of the Terengia Olympic team is injured, Nico gets called up. This is the greatest news, except for the face that he is going to have to be on the team with a member of his families nemesis family. Namely, Daniel.
Daniel is also from Terengia but plays NHL hockey for LA. He recently got dumped by his long-distance girlfriend and has just decided to come out as bi. The scene where he does so, with his distant cousin the prince and his husband, is decidedly sweet.
Daniel has some long-time, lovely friends in Elizabeth and Benjamin. The three have been friends since kindergarten,, and the two getting together did not make Daniel a third wheel. These friends are solid, and it’s them who broke the news that Nico has been brought up to the Olympic team.
Nico’s family just really are horrible. His father is a crooked politician who just barely escaped arrest for human trafficking, then 25 years ago “…my father tried to use his position in the government to impose new laws. Laws that would have given my family various business monopolies and turned Terengia’s ports into holding docks for all kinds of illegal goods…without the police retaining the right to search.” Unfortunately for him, Daniel’s mom was not fooled by it.
Two things were a little off-putting about this book. As mentioned, it is told through both MC POV, except they each get a POV within a chapter. It was a little confusing and sometimes I had to page back to see who was talking. The other was the exclamation points. Yes, it’s a small issue but there were 534! We don’t need that many! After about number 100, it was getting annoying.
There is a lot of hockey in the book, which is to be expected with a hockey book, but my favorite was the sledge hockey. I loved reading about that.
The book gradually changes from enemies to lovers, and when you see why the feud has continued, it is understandable. The fact that it was Daniel who “…brought up the elephant in the room that’s always been between us”, really shows how mature Daniel is. And Nico’s response shows how emotionally bankrupt his family is. “What is wrong with this man? How can he be so sympathetic and approachable? Doesn’t he know those qualities make him vulnerable?”
They are teammates on a cohesive team, which I appreciated. They transition from enemies to teammates to friends to lovers without difficulty, except for Nico’s father, who is really a nasty piece of work. Nico’s reaction after that was a testament to just how much baggage he carries.
The next book will be Gabriel’s, a fantastic side character on the team.
RATING: 
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