Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Drawn to You
SERIES: The Call-Ups #1
AUTHOR: Hannah Henry
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 274 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 30, 2025
BLURB:
Minor league hockey player Brandon Gatlin knows he has the on-ice skills to make it to the big league. The battle for NHL recognition is fierce, but balancing delicate hockey friendships, his family, and the online college class he’s taking might be harder than snagging a permanent roster spot.
Gabe Langley is working three jobs and desperately trying to graduate with his studio art degree this year. After joking with his roommates about finding a rich guy to foot his tuition bill, he meets shy Brandon in their creative writing class. Their friendship sparks as Brandon finds Gabe’s risqué drawings. Slowly, Gabe becomes Brandon’s safe space as Brandon becomes Gabe’s muse.
The more important their friendship becomes to both of them, the more their mutual attraction threatens to disrupt it. Gabe is conscious of the weight of Brandon’s trust. Brandon doesn’t want to take advantage of the man whose bills he’s been paying. It will take something big to make them both realize what they need to do.
Drawn to You is a slow burn friends-to-lovers MM hockey romance with an HEA.
REVIEW:
Gabe and Brandon are both nontraditional college students. Brandon plays hockey for one of the Minnesota AHL teams. He’s taking one class at a time. Gabe is a student who is working three jobs to pay his way in life as well as pay for college. He lucked into a living situation with housemates, but it’s always a struggle for him. He posts about finding a sugar daddy to pay for his next semester’s tuition so he can finally graduate with his art degree. When they meet, Brandon is a bit smitten with Gabe.
When Brandon searches for Gabe, he finds his insta and his patreon where he discovers just how talented Gabe really is. He’s got a NSFW art behind his Patreon firewall and an online store for his prints. Brandon orders a bunch of them – some for his sister and the spicy ones for him. Gabe is surprised, but happy to have the extra cash.
From there, Brandon starts doing very nice things for Gabe. Buying him things he needs for his art and school. Sending him food and gas money. Brandon confesses to Gabe that he is gay – something he’s never told anyone before. But his AHL team is pretty accepting and when he gets called up to the NHL to replace an injured player, he tells his captain and his husband that he’s gay. This is a huge weight lifted off of him and he knows he has support. Gabe agrees to act as his boyfriend and they have a great time while Brandon is in Minneapolis. But Gabe seems reluctant to make tings more real.
When Gabe gets injured, Brandon can’t hold his feelings back any more. They both realize that they have each become the other’s “person” and want to take things forward. Once they admit their true feelings, things get so much better!
I’m not sure exactly what I expected in this book, but I honestly enjoyed it sooo much! Gabe and Brandon are so adorable together. I appreciated how much they both were trying so very hard to do the right thing every step of the way while also struggling with how honest they should be about their feelings and what they wanted. Gabe is working himself to death to cover expenses plus college and it’s taking him a while to get there. Brandon can only take one course at a time since he’s also a professional hockey player in the AHL. Their meeting is rather serendipitous in that they have a class together and it’s creative writing. Brandon is so adorable in how he sort of quietly pursues a friendship with Gabe. But soon he really wants to take care of Gabe and lighten his burdens. Gabe who has joked about finding a sugar daddy then feels a little weird about Brandon spending money on him. When Brandon comes out to his teammate who he stays with when he gets called up, things get a little more blurred, but Gabe is game for it. Brandon definitely feels something for Gabe, but the money stuff muddies the waters. He doesn’t want Gabe to feel obligated to to something he really doesn’t want to or isn’t comfortable with. I loved so much how Jackson and Ryan’s confession of the beginning of their relationship helps Brandon and Gabe get to the point where they can be honest about how they really are feeling. Brandon’s family is awesome too 🙂 Gabe’s housemates were so supportive and protective of him but they realized that this “situationship” had a lot of potential – maybe before Gabe did.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I really liked the style. Sometimes in books with younger protagonists, I don’t enjoy the byplay of the back and forth or the lack of communication or whatever is the conflict. I didn’t feel that here. For one thing, while they are in college, they are not 18. They are very mature 20 somethings – Gabe likely because he’s had to manage his own life and livelihood for years. Brandon already has a job with hockey and the college thing is really just for him. Their support for each other throughout this whole journey – school, relationship, juggling a lot of responsibilities – was very well written and believable. I understood the motivation and the actions of both guys because the story is told from a dual POV. I can definitely recommend this sweet and spicy friends to lovers story. I am looking forward to the next book in the series which comes out next week!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
