"...he did that- he made Troy Barrett smile like that. Somehow, Harris had earned that, and he realized, in that moment, how fiercely he would protect that smile. How fiercely he would protect Troy."
Oof... y'all, this was an emotionally charged read. The emotions were flying in from every angle. I was angry, sad, proud, laughing- sometimes at the same time. These books have fun, cute covers, and on the surface they're gay hockey romance books... but Rachel Reid goes so much deeper and weaves dark and emotional themes into each book.
Troy Barrett is traded from one of the best teams in the NHL, to the worst: the Ottawa Centaurs (what a bad ass team mascot, btw). The reason for the trade was because he went off on star player (and his former BFF) Dallas Kent for being a rapist. The team manager didn't take too kindly to Troy calling out his friend and teammate in the middle of a game, and traded his ass.
Troy's reputation isn't the best in the NHL because he was so close with Dallas. People assume birds of a feather. So it's fair that the Centaurs are leery with Troy, despite his attack on Dallas. In addition to the Centaurs being leery, the Toronto fanbase is livid, because you don't turn on your teammates, and you don't support women attacking a man's character. Sadly, this was just another realistic element to the series.
"Men never believe women. Women don't believe women... What were you expecting to happen? The whole league rallies behind Barrett, and Kent gets kicked out of hockey?"
Rachel Reid really understood the assignment with this one.
Now. I'd like to say I know Troy Barrett is a fictional character, but every single sport franchise needs a Troy Barrett to call players out on their bullshit. I live in Wisconsin and am a huge Green Bay Packers fan. We're dealing with some Josh Jacobs bullshit, and I am disheartened and disappointed in his recent assault and battery charges. We don't roll that way here. It's not accepted or tolerated. And we believe women. Period. Unless their names are Blake Lively.
Harris Drover is the team's social media manager, and he's a big, gay, bearded ray of sunshine. He tries to crack Troy's tough exterior, but Troy is filled with self-loathing over supporting Dallas Kent for so long, and he's a closeted gay man. He wants to move in the world like Harris does, but everything is telling him that's wrong and shameful. The emotion bleeds off the pages of this book.
The only player willing to give Troy the benefit of the doubt is Ilya Rozanov. Of course. He's the team captain, and he hates Dallas Kent. "People like Kent stand in the way of other people being happy. For no reason. I am always glad to punch people like that."
I wonder if Rachel Reid has a blast writing Rozanov's dialogue. It's hilarious. And for the record, as we roll into Pride month, I too want to punch people that stand in the way of other people being happy. You got a problem with gay people? Cool. I have a problem with you. Move the fuck along.
Anyway, Troy finds himself catching feelings for Harris. He's envious of the way Harris moves in the world. He's just so comfortable being himself. He doesn't care what people think. Meanwhile Troy is still dealing with hate online and has a homophobic father who idolizes Dallas Kent.
The team is on their way to a game when their airplane almost crashes, and it has Troy re-evaluating everything in his life. Ilya reminds him he's got to focus on what's important, and later that night he finds himself in Harris's hotel room.
From there, Troy starts creating the type of life he wants to be proud of. He starts spending more time with Harris. He posts resources for sexual assault survivors on his Instagram. He plays damn good hockey. And little by little, the small choices lead to happiness, which lead to bigger, braver decisions, and more happiness.
The book ends with an unrealistic happily ever after. Because let's be honest here: star athletes accused of sexual assault are rarely ever held accountable, and they have an entire team of people to cover up their mistakes and continue enabling them. But I want to live in Rachel Reid's world, where bad people are punished for their poor life decisions, gay people are accepted for who they are, and hockey is way sexier than it has any right to be.
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