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A review by jennylizreads
Country Boy by A.E. Wasp
5.0
(Rating: 4.5 stars)
Country Boy is the second in A. E. Wasp’s Hot Off the Ice series. I really enjoyed the first book (City Boy), and I found that I liked the second even more.
While City Boy was about a hockey player coming to terms with his sexuality away from the sport, Country Boy is about two hockey players: Robbie Rhodes (who we met in the first book), who is out, but on the down-low (he’s out to his family and friends, but not to the public); and Paul Dyson, who is deep in the closet, due to his strict religious upbringing. Robbie and Paul meet for the first time in college, when their teams play each other; they have one awesome night together, but when they meet on the ice the next day, Paul makes it pretty clear that he has no intention of keeping in touch when he fouls Robbie pretty violently.
Of course, two years later, when Paul joins the Seattle Thunder, the hockey team that Robbie already plays for, they have to not only content with their shared past but also with the attraction that’s still between them and the fact that, as professional hockey players, they’re under the microscope as far as their personal lives go. Robbie doesn’t mind if people know that he’s gay, but he doesn’t want to be the poster boy for gay hockey players. Paul just doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s gay. But despite all of this, Robbie and Paul can’t keep away from each other, and they fall in love. Ultimately, they have to make some big choices about what is important to them and what they are willing to sacrifice to be together.
I really liked the Robbie/Paul relationship in Country Boy; they find ways to support each other, even when their relationship is a (poorly kept) secret, and they come to accept themselves in a really positive way. I’ve read a few M/M romances recently where there’s a discussion of “would you still come out if we weren’t in a relationship?” Basically: are you coming out for me? In Country Boy, the answer is no, and I appreciated that while it was their romantic relationship that got them both to this point, their reasons were not about making the other person happy: Robbie comes out in large part because he wants kids who might be questioning to see that you can be gay and play; Paul comes out because he’s ready to be his authentic self.
I have some small quibbles with this book that are pretty similar to my some of my quibbles with City Boy, mostly that there were a couple of characters/plot threads that I would have liked to be more developed (Paul’s dad and Skipper; Georgia). Overall, though, I thought this was a great follow-up to City Boy, and I’m excited that there are three more books in this series!
Country Boy is the second in A. E. Wasp’s Hot Off the Ice series. I really enjoyed the first book (City Boy), and I found that I liked the second even more.
While City Boy was about a hockey player coming to terms with his sexuality away from the sport, Country Boy is about two hockey players: Robbie Rhodes (who we met in the first book), who is out, but on the down-low (he’s out to his family and friends, but not to the public); and Paul Dyson, who is deep in the closet, due to his strict religious upbringing. Robbie and Paul meet for the first time in college, when their teams play each other; they have one awesome night together, but when they meet on the ice the next day, Paul makes it pretty clear that he has no intention of keeping in touch when he fouls Robbie pretty violently.
Of course, two years later, when Paul joins the Seattle Thunder, the hockey team that Robbie already plays for, they have to not only content with their shared past but also with the attraction that’s still between them and the fact that, as professional hockey players, they’re under the microscope as far as their personal lives go. Robbie doesn’t mind if people know that he’s gay, but he doesn’t want to be the poster boy for gay hockey players. Paul just doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s gay. But despite all of this, Robbie and Paul can’t keep away from each other, and they fall in love. Ultimately, they have to make some big choices about what is important to them and what they are willing to sacrifice to be together.
I really liked the Robbie/Paul relationship in Country Boy; they find ways to support each other, even when their relationship is a (poorly kept) secret, and they come to accept themselves in a really positive way. I’ve read a few M/M romances recently where there’s a discussion of “would you still come out if we weren’t in a relationship?” Basically: are you coming out for me? In Country Boy, the answer is no, and I appreciated that while it was their romantic relationship that got them both to this point, their reasons were not about making the other person happy: Robbie comes out in large part because he wants kids who might be questioning to see that you can be gay and play; Paul comes out because he’s ready to be his authentic self.
I have some small quibbles with this book that are pretty similar to my some of my quibbles with City Boy, mostly that there were a couple of characters/plot threads that I would have liked to be more developed (Paul’s dad and Skipper; Georgia). Overall, though, I thought this was a great follow-up to City Boy, and I’m excited that there are three more books in this series!