I am an admitted hard sell for hockey stories. There are so many gay hockey stories that I cringe every time I spot another. This is an admission not easily made considering one of my all time favorites is Sarina Bowen’s Understatement Of The Year, a hockey romance that spends as much time on the ice as it does on the romance. Ashcroft creates in Elliot as very workable and mostly likable guy to navigate the whole fake relationship schtick. Danny is fine, but a bit more predictable.
I have always had a bit of a love-hate with Joel Leslie. Love the diction and the ability to slip into British accents, hate that he is so often frantic in his delivery – think of the How To Bang A Billionaire his constant shrieking the name “Caspian” – it became a thing of post read nightmares. However, he is (slightly) more measured in this book and while I will not go so far as to say it was great – that Boston accent is a train wreck, I can say that it was paced in a way that allowed me to appreciate the warmth of these characters.
Knowing that magazines overall are mostly dead with very tiny margins, it is mostly fashion based periodicals that still survive, so smart choice on Ashcroft’s part there. This is blissfully without a rift causing communication issue which will always earn points from me. The story moves at a nice pace and makes for a pleasant listen. Highly recommended.