Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Punchline
AUTHORS: L.A. Witt & Cari Z
PUBLISHER: GallagherWitt Publishing LLC
LENGTH: 270 Pages
RELEASE DATE: October 15, 2025
BLURB:
Jake Radovitz is finally figuring himself out again. After he accidentally injured a friend so badly during a tournament that it ended the guy’s MMA career, Jake shied away from the mat and their friendship. Now he’s inching back into that world, working alongside his friend and coaching young fighters.
Ethan Bernier is trying his level best to prove that he’s ready to move up from the farm team to the NAPH. He’s playing hard, he’s playing well… and he’s playing with some newfound grit. Unfortunately, a humiliating attempt at fighting turns him into the joke of the league.
When a teammate suggests fighting lessons, Ethan agrees. Anything to avoid a repeat of that embarrassment.
But it’s really, really hard to focus on the instruction when the fighting coach is the hottest man Ethan has ever seen.
And now Jake is struggling to teach this cute student who’s making him face the bisexuality he’s tried to ignore.
Even as their careers pick up steam, maybe they can have it professional success, strong friendships… and love they won’t have to hide from their fans.
REVIEW:
I enjoyed this story of Jake and Ethan. I really enjoyed Carson’s story from last season, Even Strength, so I had some familiarity with Jake’s backstory. That being said, this totally works as a standalone (although some spoilers for Carson’s story 😉 ).
Jake’s got issues due to his past as an MMA fighter who accidentally injured his friend Carson, ending Carson’s career. By the beginning of the story though, Carson has moved on with his life and is doing well with his gym and his boyfriend Marek, a hockey player. Ethan is Marek’s teammate and he has a truly embarrassing situation with a fight on the ice that is bad. Marek suggests that he get some training at Carson’s gym and the Jake is the perfect guy to train him.
When they meet there is a little bit of a spark, but Ethan assumes that Jake is straight and he’s NOT going to crush on the straight guy. Except it turns out that there might actually be some mutual crushing here 😉 But Jake is not out – hasn’t really acknowledged that he’s bi. But Ethan is right there as he’s starting to figure things out and they begin to navigate a new direction.
Jake is still dealing with things. He’s getting help though and things are getting better. Dating a guy though is new to him. Between that and figuring out his future and the MMA world, etc. He’s got a lot on. Ethan is a good guy though and they work things together.
I liked that this was a fairly low angst story. The major trauma had occurred in the past. Ethan and Jake were good together and I liked how they addressed the issues that came up. I have no knowledge or interest in MMA, but that didn’t detract from the story. I do love hockey, so that part of the story was more familiar to me. All in all, a good follow up to last year’s story as well as a fitting addition to this year’s series. Recommended.
RATING: 
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