Blurb:

Two Goalies. Only One Net. A Game They Never Saw Coming.

LOUIS

I thought I knew exactly who I was—until a career-threatening injury forced me to realize I was wrong about my hockey future. And my heart.

My name is Louis Tremblay, and I’ve spent twelve years being the King of the Crease and the life of the locker room. But when a brutal on-ice collision tears my world apart, I’m suddenly the guy on the sidelines watching a rookie take my net.

My body is broken, my “straight guy” identity is crumbling after one too many dreams about my backup, and now management wants me to mentor that same backup who’s gunning for my job.

Teaching Tanner Sinclair is supposed to save the team’s season, but the more I show him about life in the pros, the more I realize he’s the only one who truly sees me.

TANNER

I don’t do “low-maintenance” because I’m easy; I do it because I’ve spent my life trying not to rock the boat or cause problems. I came to the Seattle Sasquatch to prove I’m a starter, not to fall for the legendary veteran who thinks he has to push me away to save both our careers.

Helping Louis through his injury was supposed to be a professional courtesy, but it ended up being the first time in my life I felt like I belonged.

Now a starting job with another team is on the table, and the only thing more terrifying than leaving the man I’m falling for is staying in a net he thinks he has to give up for me.

The high-stakes world of pro-hockey only has room for one Number One goalie. But as their connection grows, Louis and Tanner must decide if being the starter is a prize worth holding onto—or if they’re ready to rewrite the game plan together.

Tropes: Bi-Awakening, Grumpy x Sunshine, Goalies in Love, Hurt/Comfort, and one very judgy bearded dragon.

Louis is a complete standalone novel in the Seattle Sasquatch series with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed HEA.

*****

Review:

This is the first of Harper’s books that I’m reading and I really like her style. It’s a smooth, easy read and her characters were interesting, with complex issues. Louis’s fear after his injury was soaked into every page and in the way that he interacts with Tanner. And oh Tanner. The way that he spent his entire life making himself small, never finding a place where he fit in, to just be. And them finding a space together, one of support and connection … buuuut, because of that I wanted more. I wanted more of the two of them with their friends and teammates. I wanted more of them together, Tanner learning from Louis, forming a relationship so that the potential trade had more bite. It’s a solid story and one with a good dose of heart but also one that needed just that little bit more to elevate it.