* * * *
Can your favorite hockey players finish their first
season together undefeated?
Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a
record-breaking rookie season. He's living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming
home every night to the man he loves–Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend
turned boyfriend. There's just one problem: the most important relationship of
his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will
eclipse his success on the ice.
Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks.
It's not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their
secret is taking its toll. It doesn't help that his new job isn't going as
smoothly as he'd hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has
Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be
themselves.
Or can they? When Wes's nosiest teammate moves in
upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the
outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie
develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?
Warning: contains sexual situations, a vibrating chair,
long-distance sexytimes, and proof that hockey players look hot in any shade of
green.
As I write this, I have the cheesiest of grins that has
not disappeared since I finished Us. I thought Him was pretty spectacular but with Us, the brilliant writing duo that is Bowen and Kennedy bring a whole new level of awesome!
Everything that we enjoyed about Him from the humor to the
hot magic time is back. Things are better though not easier now that the
honeymoon period is over. The difference now is having a relationship under
stringent constraints. They both went into it agreeing that publicly
acknowledging their relationship during Wes’ rookie year in Toronto would be unwise. The plan was to stay under the radar until Wes could formally come
out at the end of the year along with the full support of the front office.
Instead of being in love and enjoying their relationship, they’re “managing”
it.
Us explores the dynamics of their relationship now that
they’ve moved in together and how they’re handling the pressure from the time
apart due to Wes’ constant travels, and the need for both of them to be
secretive. Both suffer from insecurities: Wes wondering if Jamie will up and
change his mind about being with him while Jamie feels embarrassment because he
sees financial inequities in their arrangement. I felt most connected to
Jamie’s story probably because his struggle with his identity as a person and a
partner during this time resonated with me. How they conduct their relationship
is directly tied to Wes’ career. Jamie’s not used to hiding himself and as a
result he begins to feel isolated leading to resentment and confusion. Keeping
things on the down low is not a healthy thing for either of them.
Complicating things would be one of Wes’ teammates moving
into the same apartment building. People, you will love Blake! His
larger-than-life persona is the much needed comic relief when things between our
lovebirds get too tense. He also makes you nervous with his tendency to just
barge in on the boys. But when he’s present, be prepared to double over
laughing!
I enjoy reading M/M romances though in the past I’ve
tended to go for the angst-filled tropes. Us (and Him before that) are
different. The emotionally charged moments are balanced out by humor or
exceptionally hot magic times. I did like seeing other aspects of their lives
such as Wes in professional athlete mode and Jamie as a kids coach. There’s
always that tiny bit of apprehension whether or not a sequel will deliver that magical thing we loved about the first book but also introduce something new to keep
things interesting. Us is a success in both regards! Our boys are going to be
okay.
~ Bel
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