Pretty Sassy Cool All Things Pretty, Sassy, and Cool.
Him by Elle Kennedy, Sarina Bowen Also by this author: Us, Addicted, One Night of Sin, Good Boy, Stay, The Fifteenth Minute, Rookie Move, Goodbye Paradise, Hello Forever, Temporary, Heartland
Published by Rennie Road Books on July 28, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance, New Adult
Pages: 276
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They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?
Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.
Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.
Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—
can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend...and a big one to learn about himself.Warning: contains sexual situations, hotties on hockey skates, skinnydipping, shenanigans in an SUV and proof that coming out to your family on social media is a dicey proposition.
Erin: So am I the only one that squeed like a maniac when they found out that the powerhouse combo of Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy were writing a hockey book together? And not just any hockey book but an M/M one at that? If you’re like me, or well, if you’re simply breathing, you did the Carlton and then promptly marked down the release date on your calendar. I can tell you this, HIM is worth all the excitement.
Ryan Wesley and Jamie Canning are two of the hottest (and I mean that both literally and figuratively since they both play for top ranked college hockey teams) hockey players in college hockey. They’ve known each other for years, having spent their summers together at Elite’s, a specialized hockey camp for only the best of the best. Competitive, brash, athletic with the skills to back up all their smack talk, these two sizzle both on the ice and off. A falling out during their last year at camp (I really loved how this played out!) before they started college, they don’t see each other until they’re set to face off during college’s Frozen Four.
Second chance stories are among my favorite, and when you throw in best friends turned lovers, well, it’s like getting whipped cream AND chocolate on your sundae. The writing in HIM was fun and witty and so utterly engaging that I read this book in one sitting; I couldn’t put it down. Bowen and Kennedy know their hockey (as should be obvious from their other work) and they sure know how to write hot guys with a side of bad boy and cocky asshole. Wes and Jamie were FUN! Their antics will make you laugh, their ‘mine is bigger than yours’ thing they have over just about everything they do from skating, to orgasms to who can out prank who will have you laughing over and over again. Their connection to each other is so believable and easy.
I loved how their relationship progresses once they reconnect back at Elite’s where they spend their final summer before entering the NHL coaching. It was fantastic to watch Wes seduce Jamie, to see Jamie give into his bi-curiousness and trust Wes. With as well as these two know each other, once they give up fighting their attraction (well not so much for Wes since he has loved Jamie for years) the physical part explodes.
After a while, it works. He sets the phone down and drops his head onto the pillow. “You feel good up there.”
“Yeah?” I thrust my hips downward and feel him pushing back at me.
I slip a hand under his T-shirt, stroking his side. Then I work the shirt upward and kiss his back, and he flattens under my touch, his body lazily shifting on the bed.
“Want you,” I whisper. Lately, those two words define me.
“Have me,” he says.
My heart stutters in my chest, and my dick hardens into the approximate texture of an iron bar. Does he even mean it the way it sounds? We haven’t talked about fucking since the one time. I want him so badly, but only if he wants it.
*fans self* So. Hot.
These two are absolutely scorching together. The dual points of view worked great and really lets the reader get to know and feel each guys motivations and feelings; I loved it. I loved the setting, the secondary characters: Pat the head coach at camp was great, the boys at camp really helped to show a different side to Wes and Jamie, Jamie’s family is super awesome whereas Wes’s are vile and awful. I wasn’t a huge fan of Holly, but that’s just a minor complaint. My other is some of the dialogue between Wes and Jamie felt a little to frat boy cliché and it felt forced and unnecessary. There were only a few instances however, and definitely not enough to take away any of my enjoyment of HIM … just enough to make me roll my eyes and groan.
Overall, HIM is a fantastic book that will make you laugh and sigh and swoon, and then need to take a cold shower because the sexy times are truly something else. I’d love to see more from these two, see how they balance Wes’s pro career with Jamie’s coaching, what happens when the inevitable happens and Wes is outed, if Wes ever mends the divide with his family or if he ever even wants to. I need more Wes and Jamie, and when y’all read HIM, you will, too! Do yourself a favor and grab this one right away, you’ll love these guys, promise.
She's a Texan, though she drinks her tea plain and NOT sweet. She loves cheesecake, strawberry limeade's from Sonic and her favorite color is purple. In her books, she loves an HEA, but she never minds if the road is rough to get there, as long as the reward is worth the struggle.
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| Overall: | 4 |
Looks amazing!!!! I’m so going to read this!
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You are going to love it, Meredith!