#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!

[curiouschlideverreviled]

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

[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. 

[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. 😌

[geoffwhaley]

Book 1,045: Scoring Position (#2) & 1,046: Winging It (#1) (Hockey Ever After) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

Yes—I accidentally read these out of order. I didn’t realize Winging It was the first in the series and only figured it out 1/3 of the way through Scoring Position so of course I immediately had to download the first and start it right after. Overall, this series was good, and these first two books were well written, and the stories were engaging, but OMFG they were all entirely way too long, or…

[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.

[hussyknee]

You know you've gone too deep down the ice hockey romance hole when you, 37 years old, start thinking of Sidney Crosby (also 37) and Alex Ovechkin (39) as old-timer legends who should retire soon.

[squidsquadlove]

I am NOT giving the title or author of this hockey mm romance novel out, but oh my God I'm about to start stomping around my house yelling some things about it, mostly that top Division 1 college hockey players are not skipping all their years of draft eligibility for no reason!!! They are not just saying, oh, I guess I'll look for an agent at the age of 21+!

Also they don't have fights as we know them in the NHL, because all these doofuses are wearing cages. Not visors and not bubbles -- the NCAA mandates cages! It's a point of contention among hockey doofuses because of course it is. But the cages are there.

I refuse to believe these guys are carrying their gear bags across campus. WHY. Why would they do that. They are not playing in the beer leagues. They have equipment managers, and it could take half an hour to walk home. Carrying your gear bag?!? With a 20-foot stench radius because you have to get it home first before you let it air out? No.

Back to gnashing my teeth and all. It only took three years of watching hockey for me to groan at the inaccuracy of details about the entry draft -- the first time I read this book I didn't even notice these things!

[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.

[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: Tal Bauer

To conclude the hockey portion of our programming, I bring you the most yearning-ful author yet: Tal Bauer. 

Baurer writes a variety of genres in the romance world, from sports romances to political thrillers, but one thing that he has in common with all of his books is the feels. I think I’ve teared up reading every single one of his books. His characters are great, his writing is great, and the emotional turmoil is top notch. 

The first four books are his sport romances. The two football books are connected, and focus on college football in Texas. The hockey books are also connected, and focus on the best pro hockey team, Montreal, in the first book, and the worst hockey team, Colorado, in the second book. My only beef with the Colorado book is that it’s set in Boulder instead of Denver, but as Bauer is clearly not from here, he can be forgiven. These books have all of the feels, just constantly, and you def want to read the warning labels on all of them, but particularly The Rest Of The Story. 

The next four books are actually all one story, and should be read all together, binged over a long week of doing nothing but reading these books. Our two MCs are the president of the United States and the head of his Secret Service, and it’s so good. There’s political intrigue, there’s international politics, there’s a fantastic cast of side characters. There’s also two more books after this series that focus on a set of the side characters, and I haven’t read it because I haven’t been in the right emotional state to subject myself to that amount of the feels. 

And then there’s the last four books, which are a duo, and then two unconnected books, but what they have in common is the law enforcement characters. The Murder Between Us and The Grave Between us is about two FBI agents, one who profiles serial killers. Hell and Gone is set in the wild mountains of Montana, and Never Stay Gone is set in small town Texas. There’s murder and mystery and hot spice in all of them. Also, a lot of yearning. 

Check out Tal Bauer if you’d like to get your feelings hurt or to have a good cry. There’s happily ever afters for all of these, but jeez do the characters go through it. 

[tinycupcakesstuff]

Unpacking Heated Rivalry and the OG Hockey Husbands

I can't unpack Heated Rivalry before covering Breakfast with Scot, who walked so the whole m/m hockey romance genre could run. The film based on the novel by the same name which explores intergenerational issues between queer adults parenting a queer child. The film ups the ante with making one of the queer adults a hockey player and the layers that come with being in the closet as a professional athlete.

The year was 2007 and we are introduced to Eric McNally, who retired sometime around 2002 (Ellen came out in 1997), so his career would have been 1990s-2002. He would have played junior hockey in the 80s. Heated Rivalry takes place covering the decade after Breakfast with Scot, 2008-2018.

For Eric, the context of AIDs epidemic, shifting social views on LGBT issues in general society let alone the sports/hockey world are very much his lived experience.

We meet Eric, now retired from hockey in his late 30s, in a long term committed relationship with his partner, Sam who is a sports lawyer (and was apparently Eric's lawyer). Eric is out to the important people in his life but not publicly because he works as an analyst for a Canadian sports network. He is living a double life, or at least his sexuality is somewhat of an "open secret" in hockey circles. One he takes great lengths to avoid drawing any attention to.

Eric is aware of how things have changed, but all of the societal progress and multitudes of public figures coming out post-Ellen hasn't necessarily changed anything for him. He is still very much under the microscope of the Toronto hockey media landscape, having become a sports caster in his retirement and hosting a Sportscenter-like hockey program on TV. Despite the fact that he is out to his assistant who relentlessly teases him for not being out at work. When Eric does finally come out at work, she confirms, "everyone already knew."

In daily life Eric seems to be comfortably out. Eric's comfortable balance of his homelife with Sam and hockey life explodes with arrival of Scot, Sam's brother's dead ex-girlfriends son, who they need to take custody of temporarily.

Scot is not the 11 year old boy Eric was expecting. He was bracing himself for a homophobic terror that would destroy their home and sell their electronics for booze. Instead they got Scot, who wears Pink Gardenia hand cream and a charm bracelet. Scot who turned down Eric's invitation to watch hockey because, he "only likes musicals."

Somehow, this was just as bad as what Eric was predicting and he starts having a harder time keeping his worlds separate. Eric attends Scot's parent teacher night with Sam, which the topic of discussion is how to manage Scot. All 3 adults have no clue. The teacher offers that he should watch TV to find more "traditional" role models. A microaggression that Eric bristles at.

Scot has no qualms being who he is, clearly his mother raised him in an affirming manner. He wears pink, glitter, make-up, and is 100% true to himself at all times. And interestingly, Scot faces little bullying and ridicule even though Eric is terrified of this. Scot is innocent and confused about homophobia, although at one point he admits to Eric that he thinks being gay means "no one likes you." To which Eric forcefully tells him, "It doesn't mean that." Which for a guy like Eric, with a pretty limited tool box in which to discuss feelings, is pretty big!

On Scot's first day with Eric and his partner, he outs Eric to a mall security guard.

Eric immediately responded above, stammering I'm not, I'm not, because he was caught off guard. I don't necessarily buy into that he is ashamed. I think Scot outing him AGAINST HIS WILL wasn't something he was prepared for and I do have a lot of sympathy for him stumbling through it. I'm not sure the film and the fandom are always very sympathetic to Eric.

Scot continues, "Him and Sam are married" and Eric's response is probably my favorite line in the film. He says, "We're not even...we're not even married."

For me, he is redeemed. He is not denying his relationship, he clarifies that they're not married, but doesn't deny that they're together. I think he did his best navigating a very nuanced public situation with an impressionable child as a gay public figure in the closet!

So what does all this have to do with Heated Rivalry?

So in the entire DECADE after we meet Eric still in the closet 5 years post retirement.....we get a fictional NHL player coming out publicly in the Game Changers universe!

Heated Rivalry covers, in excruciating detail, how difficult and painful it is navigating falling in love as a closeted NHL player. And when I say excruciating, I mean it is agony.

I don't know if it is a weird take because I am 7 years late to the Ilya/Shane party, but the angst was just so painful. I am in an emotional twist. Physical/psychic pain. Damn, their love was so hard. Damnnnnnn.

I have a Eric McNally origin story where I speculate about Eric's Heated Rivalry glory days which would have been roughly 1992-2002, and what he got up to while he was playing. I do NOT have him falling in love back then lol. But he did have a boyfriend or 2. He saves it all for Sam. It's certainly not on the level of Ilya and Shane, but I am sure he had someone to meet in hotels all across North America. The only other mm hockey romance that touches on that experience is the character Wade in Breaking the Rules.

Eric and Sam are the OG hockey husbands!!!!!

I am working on an Epic novel length Eric and Sam romance novel, full of smut a la Ilya/Shane.

This is just another part of my (and a few of my fandom comrades) ongoing effort to produce Breakfast with Scot propaganda to entice others to join our esteemed ranks which number in the DOZENS! We are dozens!

Breakfast with Scot has me in an absolute choke hold because we meet Eric and Sam as hockey husbands. They live the most stable, quaint life on the outskirts of Toronto in the cutest brownstone known to man. Their relationship is calm and safe, despite Eric being an absolute neurotic mess 100% of the time.

It's a deep well to draw from thematically. The character of Scot is an absolute delight. This is a queer family film, a hockey romance, it is everything! And the Toronto Maple Leafs allowed their logo to be in a queer film!

It's taking every shred of willpower NOT to abandon my WIPs and start working on the Game Changers x Breakfast with Scot crossover no one asked for...But I need a universe where Eric and Ilya and Shane can exist together...Soon, I hope.

[qbdatabase]

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid For Landon Stackhouse, being called up from the Calgary farm team is exciting and terrifying, even if, as the backup goalie, he rarely leaves the bench. A loner by nature, Landon knows he gives off strong “don’t talk to me” vibes. The only player who doesn’t seem to notice is Calgary’s superstar winger, Casey Hicks. View the full summary and rep info on wordpress or check it out for free from the Queer Liberation Library!

[josephqunnies]

I’m sorry but sports romance should be m/m only. Like?? Rivals to lovers? Esp when they’re teammates? Captain from two rival teams? You need to get better that this stick ball game? Let me help you practice and yup you’re so hot? Friends turn rivals turn fwb turn lovers because one lost couldn’t be captain while the other got the spot? Yes yes the opportunities are endless?