Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Shattered Hoops
SERIES: Chords & Courts (Book 2)
AUTHOR: Becca Seymour
PUBLISHER: Rainbow Tree Publishing
LENGTH: 396 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2026
BLURB:
Ollie Marshall has spent his entire life being composed. On the court, that control makes him dangerous. Off the court, it’s how he survives.
Now a rookie in the basketball league, Ollie is fighting for minutes, reputation, and a future that depends on staying flawless under pressure. The League doesn’t care who he loves—or what it might cost him if they ever find out. It definitely doesn’t care that the man closest to him is a rising rock star with cameras constantly in his face.
Rafe Ortiz is chasing momentum—tour dates, sold-out venues, and an industry that doesn’t slow down for anyone. He loves Ollie fiercely, completely… but loving him quietly is starting to feel like another kind of fracture.
They live in stolen hours.
Hidden touches.
Carefully edited truths.
Until one night cracks everything open.
As media scrutiny tightens, family expectations turn cruel, and mistakes become headlines, Ollie and Rafe are pushed toward a breaking point that changes everything.
SHATTERED HOOPS is book two in the Chords & Courts trilogy—an angsty, deeply emotional MM romance about love under pressure, ambition with teeth, and choosing each other when it would be easier not to… ending on a cliffhanger that carries straight into the final book.
REVIEW:
This book literally gutted me! Big ugly tears and hoping that it wasn’t going the way I just knew it was. Like watching a train wreck about to happen and no way to prevent it. Like having your heart torn from your chest and stomped on. Like knowing it’s happening yet just hoping…
Ollie and Rafe seem like everything is going their way. Their marriage may need to remain secret but they have each other. Rafe and the Steel Saints are really becoming a major thing now. On the move upward towards stardom. And Ollie managed to graduate early and not only got picked for the NBA in the first round but the top 3! And LA chose him!! They can finally have their life they dreamed of. But dreams can be confusing and not always become what they want. When Ollie’s birthday break goes off the rails they have to regroup and do what’s best for all. Even if that means big losses personally. Dreams have to shift and their careers are pulling hard on them. Spinning them in different directions. But can a marriage survive under such difficult strains???
I just wanted these two to be happy and able to enjoy their lives. Is that too much to ask? When you are a rising NBA basketball star and a front man, who’s band is exploding into stardom, that seems like it truly is too much. Especially when one is so deeply in the closet to protect his career. But it simply broke my heart. Ollie and Rafe love each other so much and watching their love be ripped apart was heartbreaking. There was never any doubt about their love and commitment to each other. But Ollie’s insecurities, high anxiety and worry over being found out was a death sentence to their relationship. And Rafe supported him until it was finally destroying him and, in turn, Ollie. So the direction Rafe chose was obvious. The pain has to be numbed some kind of way. And Ollie never being there allowed those fractures to expand and break. And in the rock world, parties and numbing agents flow like a strong river. But it was so emotionally charged and hard to watch.
I did love that people supported them. Rafe’s band and Ollie’s sister were awesome. Marco was a huge surprise and really showed his loyalty and support to Ollie. But love and support can only go so far when distance divides you. Cell phones and FaceTime help but physical contact is key in a relationship. Add in being apart for over six months when your relationship is spiraling and there is little that can help. And I did get Ollie’s needs. But it was destroying his husband in the process. Rafe supported Ollie and tried but he could only endure so much. He needed his Ollie as much as Ollie needed him. But Ollie just couldn’t risk it.
And that was the final crushing blow in my mind. Thankfully Rafe was getting help and Ollie had to do what he did. I’m just hoping that it isn’t too late. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book, which is due out next month. And, if I’m honest, I may have stalled a bit reading this book because I had a deep feeling that this one was going to be hard for me to read. I just felt for these two guys so much.
This is an amazing series and will take you through all kinds of highs and lows. The struggles are real and you can’t help but hurt for both of these men. I just need book 3 ASAP! I need their hard earned HEA after this cliffhanger ending!!!
RATING: 
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