Reviewed by Kat
TITLE: Hard Landing
SERIES: Cross Check (Book 1)
AUTHOR: Julia Talbot
PUBLISHER: Turtlehat Creatives
LENGTH: 232 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2026
BLURB:
Hockey and snowboarding come together for an Olympic dream and beyond…
When pro hockey player Hawk Montineau literally runs into snowboarder Caleb Lancaster at the Olympic games in Korea, the two of them have an instant chemistry that’s hard to deny. They’re happy to spend time together, but they’re both focused on their gold medal runs, and on their careers, so they know nothing will come of it.
They keep in touch through highs and lows, through Olympic medals and injuries, and they’re very different people when they come together in Milan, where Caleb is taking one last run at the gold.
Hawk has to deal with his career ending blow out, and he also has to decide if he can support Caleb as he puts his body in danger to go after what he wants. Together, they have to confront their demons, but can they learn to start over together?
REVIEW:
I’ve become a bit of a hockey junkie and have always been a Olympics fan, especially the Winter Olympics, so this was a no brainer for me. Plus it’s a Julia Talbot book!!!
Hawk Montineau is competing at the Winter Olympics on the US Men’s Hockey team in South Korea. While out waiting for his noodle fix in the nearby village he is body checked by a customer. Caleb Lancaster is at the top of his sport in Snowboarding , at PeyongChang, South Korea. When he accidentally keeps ramming into the hulk of a man in front of him he apologizes and then discovers that Hawk is a fellow American competitor. The two have instant chemistry and a fellow competitor offers his solo room to the two until his roommate shows up. What starts out as a quick romp in the sheets soon developed into a week-long tryst. But as soon as the games begin their fun times end. However, for the next 8 years they keep in contact via text. That is until they run into each other in Milan. But can an ex-hockey player/podcaster/tv announcer and a snowboarder trying one last time at his shot at gold due to medical issues make a go of it?
Okay, so I get that Caleb is an elite athlete and had competed at several previous Olympics chasing the elusive gold metal that he rightfully deserved. He had proven it over and over again at Worlds and other top completions with the best of the best. But having a disease as debilitating and aggressive as RA AND a cracked foot AND still going for gold??? That’s just crazy. Don’t get me wrong. I know athletes do it all the time. Downhill skier Lindsey Vonn did it with at ruptured ACL chasing gold at Milan but almost wound up with an amputee leg. I feared that Caleb’s would be worse. And I understood both men’s reasoning. Hawk worried what the consequences would be. And he knew first-hand what career ending injuries were. Caleb had worked so hard, without his parent’s support, to be at the top of his sport and just knew it was his last chance. But what a gamble it was.
Eight years was a long time for neither man to actually reach out and meet up. I get that they were both working hard on their careers. And that they were honoring what they thought they agreed to in South Korea. But the both lived in Colorado and meeting up for coffee and a chat wouldn’t have been a bad thing. It’s just that they lost 8 years of a chance to be together. And yes, with their active careers it would have been hard but I just mourn that they lost all that time.
This proved to be much more than a sweet romance between two athletes. This is a tale of how much athletes put themselves on the line for our entertainment. And getting hurt doing their sports is not an if but more like a when in pro careers. Caleb’s was his own body working against itself. Hawk’s just made me mad. That was a cheap shot and a low blow by a sore loser in my humble opinion. That just makes me furious. Watch what happened to Hockey Star Austin Matthews flashed in my mind when Hawk was hurt so badly. Sometimes they are accidental and sometimes, like what happened to Hawk, I think are truly intentional because they are mad or jealous. There needs to be more serious consequences for that type of behavior in my opinion.
I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.
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