#mm hockey romance

[missgeevious]

Welcome to HOCKTOBER!

💞 👬 🏒 🥅 👬 💞

Here’s the deal: @weathereyehorizon and I have decided that October should be MM Hockey Romance month. We will be reading and recommending books in this category all month long and we’d love it if our friends played along. What are your favorites, old or new?

My first recommendation is @xiaq ‘s Breakaway series. It will make your heart happy and fill you with soft feelings. It’s a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read for me that I’ve returned to several times. And if I run out of things to read in Hocktober I will be returning to it again.

(Kuzy, my love 😍)

Give us your recs!

[mostlyinthemorning]

Today is the day!

Stick Handling is officially out in the world and available at all of the usual places.

The hockey romance of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers meets the fashion world of The Devil Wears Prada. 

For fashion journalist Devon Waters, success brings opportunities to interview the best up-and-coming designers. His interviews showcase new trends and add a much-needed sense of refinement to the pages of Yonge Street magazine—if he does say so himself. 

When an unexpected and unwelcome assignment takes him off the fashion beat and into a world he never imagined—profiling Toronto Tigers hockey star Jamie Bennett—Devon finds himself immediately out of his depth. His inability to understand hockey slang and the play on the ice is one thing. Not knowing what Jamie wants from him is something else entirely. 

Jamie has Devon’s number from the moment they meet. As Jamie forces Devon to reveal parts of himself, he challenges everything Devon knows about what it means to truly get to know someone. But love is for other people and Devon is counting the hours until he can leave the hockey world behind and return to his beloved clothing design studios. 

If Devon hopes to return to the fashion world with his heart intact, he’s going to have to find a way to beat Jamie at his own game. Because falling in love with a hockey player—even one as kind and confident as Jamie—is not an option.

Score your copy today!

[jennireadz]

i haven't been an active user on tumblr for like a decade and now i'm back and i am lost. i've never been in the booklr (is that even a word?) space so uhhhh i'm here to vibe and figure things out i guess.

i read queer books and have accidentally fallen into queer hockey romance (and i love it). follow me as i talk about all the little gay books i read

[bookswithpurride]

since making this graphic, I've read Sword Crossed and You Should Be So Lucky and they both were in my top reads for 2024. fucking slap. I own Diablo's Curse but was having a real mental block reading YA for pretty much all of 2024, so despite my excitement for it, I haven't read it yet.

((Cross posting some older posts from my insta (same username) because I’m not sure about the future of meta platforms/my use of meta platforms & I don’t want my content to be lost.))

[curiouschlideverreviled]

soooooo, i'm curious: who are we fancasting as Shane and Ilya? i came to the realisation a couple weeks ago that i can't think of a single celibrity that reminds me of any of them.

i kinda thought about brenton thwaites for shane but he's missing the ✨half japanese✨ looks (i saw a picture of brenton with his long hair tied in a bun/ponytail, and he kind of had this soft look to him? Like a good/chill aura? The typical vibe in a person that'd make you look at them and be like "oh he seems nice! He looks like a good person!" -vibe that i don't often get from celebrities *AND* I think is Shane's fundamental essence-, and also he's bi!!!) (ugh i hope brenton is actually nice or this is going to age poorly and come back to bite me in the arse, but hey! the point here is to discuss looks i guess)

[poisindonottouch]

Queer Reads: Sarina Bowen

For day 3 of Sandi reads gay things, we have Sarina Bowen. 

Bowen writes lots of romance, both gay and straight. The four books I have in the little graphic are four of her mm hockey romance novels. The Him/Us/Epic series is co written with Elle Kennedy, and is a post-college/new adult kind of story following one couple through their early adulthood. It’s a childhood friends to lovers, second chance kind of story, and is very sweet with sides of both angst and spice. 

The Hockey Guys books, The New Guy and I’m Your Guy, have protagonists who are a little bit older and mature. Story Graph says they’re both emotional, light-hearted, and funny books.  The New Guy is a hockey player and a physical therapist who works for the team. I’m Your Guy is a hockey player and an interior decorator. I enjoyed them both quite a bit.

If you like your romance way more angsty, I also recommend Bowen’s Hello, Goodbye duo, (Goodbye Paradise & Hello Forever). 

Remember folks, read queer all year. 

[sbbarnes]

A long shot if there ever was one, but one of the main characters in the current draft I am writing is a Russian Tatar and a Muslim playing in the NHL. Anyone out there up for a sensitivity read?

[tinycupcakesstuff]

This is a cute read. But trigger warning: domestic violence B blot.

I’m normally not into series in which there are a ton of mm couples within the same universe, but this final installment in the Rules of the Game series was really well done. I loved both MCs. The premise is so similar to Breakfast with Scot. Retired NHL player-turned-agent (Wade) out after spending his whole career in the closet has sparks flying with baddie D-man (Trevor). They’re both a bad boy/tough guy type with a soft side. **Chefs kiss**

The cherry on top of the Breakfast with Scot sundae is Wade is a single dad to his 11 year old son Braden, who is a well fleshed out character in his own right.

✅formerly closeted nhl tough guy

✅ sleeping with your client

✅cheeky tween boy

It’s on Kindle Unlimited. Enjoy!

[kelliealtogether]

This beaut is out today and you should go buy it.

Gil Roussin's been traded. From one of the best teams in the league to the worst: the San Francisco Sea Lions. It's not the best situation, and Gil wants to get out of San Francisco as soon as possible, but the move puts him back on the same team as his first boyfriend, the one that got away, Sebastian Martin.

Except Sebastian's not playing anymore. He's one of Gil's coaches. And through a mix-up at the hotel the Sea Lions put them up in, they end up sharing a room.

With only one bed.

Now that they're thrown back together, can they put the past ten years behind them and be friends again? Can they keep things "professional" at the rink after the Sea Lions find out they once dated? And though Gil thinks he's over Sebastian, is he?

(Hint: He's not.)

Ten years is a long time. Gil and Sebastian aren't the same people they were when Gil got drafted and left Sebastian behind at college. Now that Gil has the chance to get Sebastian back, he's not going to give up that opportunity.

But is Sebastian enough to make Gil stay in San Francisco, a place he doesn't want to be?

Light Up the Lamp is a second chance romance chock full of great stuff: friends-to-lovers, mutual pining, there's only one bed, a hint of forbidden romance, and, of course, hockey.

Give it a read. I think you'll enjoy it. 😌

[mostlyinthemorning]

It's almost here!

In three days, Stick Handling goes out into the world. If you love opposites attract MM romance, hockey puns, road trips, and excessive hand-holding, this might be the story for you.

Coming December 3 to bookstores across the internet.

[jennireadz]

i have no idea what i’m doing and what people want so i thought i’d ask? i have multiple people interested in my journey to booklr from booksta & booktok and i still can’t grasp what posts people are interested in so plz help me

not sure if it helps but like… for gay books. any queer books under the sun. what kinda posts are we doing? 😂

[bookswithpurride]

📖 currently reading 📖

despite having a wickedly busy week, I am almost 200 pages into Textbook Defense by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. I love this series so much (no really, I’m 75 pages away from finishing annotating my physical of Winging It & halfway through my first listen of Unrivaled.) there’s a lot going on right now, both in my own life and *gestures broadly*, but comfort books are good 🥰

also, you can see how Cleo changes my page every time he stretches… which is pretty frequently because he can’t sit still while getting pets. if only I could harness the power of his paw stretches so I never had to turn my own page 😂😂

[curiouschlideverreviled]

may i suggest tom hardy as ilya rozanov? an after-retirement, 40-ish ilya

[hussyknee]

The power of the ice hockey mm romance genre has me comparing the power play and penalty kill unit configurations of different NHL teams to decide the efficacy of different combinations using player stats. To be clear I have never been interested in any sports before six weeks ago and I have still not watched an ice hockey game because they look stupid

[tinycupcakesstuff]

Hi, hello,

I also reconnected with the mm romance genre, particularly mm hockey romance while suffering pregnancy complications! I think we need to be friends. Glad to hear you and baby are doing well. We made it and baby is now a toddler and here I am STILL having a great time reading my hockey books, following hockey due to this, and writing fics. I will delve into this post and respond my thoughts, but I totally agree there is just a secret sauce in mm hockey and it’s my current obsession to use as a coping mechanism/dissociation tool.

I was a lurker, never participated in fandom. Certainly never wrote! I made a few drafts over 20 years ago. So while I was pregnant and ran out of Breakfast with Scot fics (the OG hockey husbands IMHO) I started writing my own, I was not yet aware of the hockey mm romance genre. I found it later through TikTok and I squealed **my people**

So here I am writing a mm romance novel based off my fic characters giving them the epic romance they deserve!! I went on my own epic journey of self discovery in the pregnancy and postpartum period discovering the craft of writing and the beautiful sport that is ice hockey. What began as research for my writing project turned into a true passion for the sport. I was doing research and I watched some of the Amazon documentaries to kind of understand the culture a little bit better, it also happened to be the beginning of October, which is apparently the beginning of hockey season. So I said to myself what if I watched a couple games? Well I got hooked immediately and I became a rabid Toronto Maple Leafs fan overnight.

It was a very difficult year, with the very serious pregnancy, complications, preterm, birth, postpartum recovery, breast-feeding struggles, returning to work, struggles, postpartum, depression struggles. But it was also this transformative and beautiful experience where I was for the first time in my life able to tap into my creative potential and so in love with the craft of writing and that was such a journey and I am so glad that all of these different life events came together.

Cant wait to check out your blog more!!!!

Hockey Romances. Why?

So I was taken out of work a couple weeks ago due to ~pregnancy stuff~ (mostly just stress, the baby and I are fine) which has left me with a lot of spare time on my hands. And as one does, I have been filling my time reading lgbtq+ romance novels. Because I can.

In this time, I have fallen headfirst into the hockey romance novel subgenre, and I ask myself, as I have done every time I see these books advertised, why? I am not a sports fan. One time, my husband was watching football (European), and a team in red kits was playing against yellow kits, and I started laughing because "it looks like ketchup is playing against mustard". His expression was great, but he hasn't taken me seriously since.

So why is hockey of all things such a draw for the mlm romance subgenre? Especially given the NHL's apparent fear of rainbow tape? Why do I now know what the word "celly" refers to and what an "enforcer" is? Why why why?

Here are my answers:

Extremely organic way to set up some of the most classic romance tropes. Forced proximity? Being on the same team takes care of that. There was only one bed? Shared hotel rooms during away games. Enemies to lovers? Rival teams.

Lots of potential for drama given that players lead very transient lives in terms of the constant possibility of trades. In mlm love stories, even more so given that the NHL is so blatantly homophobic.

Perfect level of fame. Fame and wealth as a draw for a love interest are kind of staples of the genre, and NHL players are famous, sure, but not all of them, and they aren't as famous as football stars (either kind of football). They are still filthy rich, which makes great wish fulfillment. You can have the sexy penthouse and the anonymity.

I would go on to talk about how different roles on the team lend themselves to different tropes (goalie = tightly controlled dude who needs someone to help him cut loose; enforcer = misunderstood fighter with a heart of gold; coach for all your forbidden love/sleeping with the boss desires) but that would very quickly reveal my utter lack of hockey knowledge, so let's not. Instead, here's a quick reclist.

Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. It's a classic in the genre for a reason and it has everything. Forbidden love? Got that, maybe the definitive example. Redemption arc? Got that. Misunderstood bruiser with a heart of gold? Got that. Age difference? Got that. Also really excellent sex scenes, not gonna lie, and satisfying endings throughout - sometimes a happy end will come a little suddenly for me, but these books really delivered, and the nice thing about how romance series are structured is that you get a little peek at what comes after for the couples in the other books.

2. Him, Us and Epic by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy. This one surprised me, I don't generally go for first person POVs, but I did enjoy this! Coming-of-age story turned coming out story featuring a budding hockey star and his best friend. Lots of fun.

3. Scoring Chances series by Avon Gale. This series is fun in that it doesn't focus on the NHL, it actually focuses on the minor leagues in the southeast of the US, a place almost no one associates with ice hockey. As such, there's a chance to tell different stories about professional athletes who aren't super rich and famous, which I appreciate a lot. TBH the first pairing wasn't entirely my cup of tea, but I'm glad I kept going because I especially enjoyed the later books, which tackle tough topics (including eating disorders, abuse etc., so content warning for that). These are still romance novels though, so rest assured that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. What I especially appreciate is that these books don't have relationship drama, in that the main couples communicate and work together instead of a third act break-up-make-up!

4. Hockey Ever After series by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James. These are just great. Lots of fun to read, lots of cameos from character in later books, just excellent mood all around. Also features my favorite ever trope (secret relationship, sorry, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for it I just can't help myself) heavily, which is a win in my book. I especially enjoyed book two, "Scoring Position". Is that because Nico is German and I loved him? Is that because Ryan is my new blorbo? We may never know.

Happy reading and please give me recommendations for more books like these, I'm lowkey obsessed.

[tinycupcakesstuff]

✨new chapters up✨

Eric McNally’s NHL career was spinning out of control, crushed by the secrecy of living a double life. Sam Miller’s life was empty, the perennial people-pleaser, always overextended with nothing left for himself. When Eric sustained a hit from his archrival, ending his NHL career and pitting him against the entire Maple Leafs organization, it put both of their lives on a collision course toward finding themselves— and finding love. Will Eric accept love and come out of the closet? And can Sam finally learn how to put himself first so he can claim his hardwon chance at happily ever after?

——————-

This is my take on the Eric/Sam origin story told as an alternating POV m/m hockey romance novel. This is a 70k completed work that I am going to need a bit of time to finish posting as it is my first fic!

There will be more parts to this series within the Breakaway Universe, I have another fic set during and after the movie that is almost done!