Monday 26 February 2024

Book Recommendations: CU Hockey Series by Eden Finley & Saxon James

 Hello, hello,

If you enjoy MM/ gay romances, then I have some fun recommendations for you. 

This is a series of 5 books by Eden Finley and Saxon James and all of them are available for free as part of your Kindle Unlimited subscription. 

These are all books that are:

  • Low Angst 
  • Sweet 
  • Medium spicy/ steamy 
  • Sort of funny with some laugh out loud moments 
  • HEAs 
So, if you want to read something fun and light within the broader sports romance sub-genre, then these are good books to pick up. 


Quick mini reviews: 

Book 1: Power Plays and Straight As 

Plot Summary: “Look out for Zach and don’t hit on him.”

My brother’s request sounds easy enough. Keep an eye out for his best friend on campus and keep my hands to myself.

Easy.

Even if Zach is a quintessential nerd, who I’ve always thought was cute, I don’t have the time to think with my … stick.

There’s only one stick I should be focused on this year, and that’s my hockey stick. My goal once I graduate is to get an NHL contract.

The last thing I need is a distraction. On or off the ice.

Only, keeping to the rules is harder than I thought it would be.



ZACH

People confuse me.

And no one more than Foster Grant.

I’ve barely spoken two words to him in the whole time I’ve known him, but the second I step foot on campus, he’s impossible to shake.

I can never anticipate his next move. And whenever we’re together, my next move is a total mystery as well.

I want to give in to him, but that might mean coming clean about something I’ve never been bothered about before.

I’m still carrying my V-card.

And I think it’s time to turn it in.


Review: This is such a cute opposites attract story! Foster is a prodigiously talented hockey player and Zach is a socially awkward Masters student. He doesn't really understand people well and that has held him back from trying to date anyone. So, when his best friend's brother volunteers to help him learn about dating, he reluctantly says yes. 

I loved the dynamic between Foster and Zach. Loved how sweet Foster was with Zach and how they slowly fell for each other in spite of all their differences. 

Rating: 4/5 


Book 2: Face Offs & Cheap Shots 

Plot Summary: 

JACOBS

For the last three years, I’ve lived and breathed hockey with one goal: team captain.

There’s only one thing standing in my way. TJ Beckett.

Beck is irresponsible and immature, and I’ve hated him since the moment we met freshman year.

Yet, the coaches see something in him I obviously can’t, and they refuse to choose between us. The captain spot is going to a team vote, and the team thinks that what we need are a bunch of challenges to prove our worth. Challenges that have nothing to do with hockey. Challenges that are throwing me and Beck together.
And he’s still as infuriating as ever.


BECK

I have no idea why Christopher Jacobs hates me, and I can’t say I care. I like pushing his buttons, but the guy needs to loosen up. I’m going to win these stupid challenges easily and spend my senior year as hockey king on this campus.

Tormenting Jacobs at the same time will just be a bonus.

Even if I’m getting confusing feelings toward him, I won’t let it hold me back.

When it comes to competing, I’m all in, and nothing will get between me and the W.


Review: This was a rivals-to-lovers story and both Beck and Jacobs were so cute! Becks is like an annoying sunshine-y boy, who has his own burdens that he shows no one whereas Jacobs is more serious and focused. Their banter was so funny and even how they get to know each other and let down their walls was very nicely done. 

Rating: 4/5 


Book 3: Goal Lines & First Times 

Plot Summary: 

COHEN

It turns out making out with my best friend in high school could be considered gay. Who knew? Apparently, everyone but me.

Now that it’s been pointed out, I can’t help reliving it in my head. Repeatedly. Goodbye Denial Town, hello Confusionville.

When my path leads me down the gay dating app route, I don’t expect to meet anyone I like, but then I meet him.

He can’t be more opposite than me. He’s smart, he hates hockey, and he identifies as demi—something I’ve never heard of.

Yet I can’t deny something’s there. Something I want to explore in person. If only I could get him to agree.



SETH

All my life, I’ve felt broken.

Sick of being asked if I could be gay by ex-girlfriends, friends, and even my parents, I join a gay dating app to prove a point.

I don’t expect to find what’s always been missing. A real connection.

The problem is, I’m too scared to meet him in person. He’s a hockey player, and I fear when he finds out my twin plays for the NHL, I’ll be overshadowed by my overachieving brother. Again.

Worse yet, what happens if we meet and that connection isn’t the same?

When I tell him I’m not ready, he’s disappointed but supportive. Fate, on the other hand, isn’t as accepting.

I had no idea the person I’ve been falling for is someone I already know.


Review: Seth and Cohen were just so cute! Seth has had a tough dating life. He thought he was straight but after a few failed relationships, he began wondering if he is asexual or demi sexual. Cohen also thought he was straight but he wants to find out for sure. Both of them get on a gay dating app and come across each other. Both want to chat and get to know each other before even meeting up. 

I loved their conversations and how they started to like each other without knowing their real identities or what they looked like. And it was priceless when they realised that they actually knew each other (a little bit) in real life! 

Rating: 4/5 


Book 4: Line Mates & Study Dates 

Plot Summary: 

ASHER

Hockey, studying, and school runs. That’s my life now.

After a tragic accident that took our parents’ lives, it’s up to me and my big brother to take care of our five younger siblings. 

In between burning their meals and keeping them from killing each other, I’m supposed to get a college degree. It’s hard when I don’t have time to breathe let alone study, and if I don’t get my grades up, I’m in danger of losing the one thing that makes me happy: my spot on the hockey team.

Which is why when the new equipment manager offers to tutor me, I really can’t afford to say no. Even though I should.

He’s Coach’s son and way too tempting.


KOLE

As this year’s equipment manager for Dad’s hockey team, I’m expected to deal with sweaty jock straps and herding hockey players to their rooms at away games.

The job is easy, but babysitting Asher Dalton is not supposed to be a part of it.

So why, when his brother asks me to keep an eye on him, do I agree?

Why, when he’s struggling in classes, do I offer to help?

And why, when we’re studying, do I suggest a reward system that lands us squarely in bed?

Asher's trouble, I know he is. But there's something about him that makes it impossible to stay away.


Review: This was sweet hurt/comfort type of a book. Asher is angry- with himself, with his older brother and with the tragic death of his parents. His anger finds a vent on the ice and his new teammates have taken an instant dislike to him. Plus, looking after five of his siblings doesn't leave enough time for studying. So, he is struggling with grades. Kole is the coach's son. He is a pre-med student, who is kind and when he sees Asher struggling, he steps in to help. 

Asher and Kole's relationship - their banter, their bond, the way Asher lets his guard down- is just *chef's kiss*. This is definitely one of my favourite books in the series. 

Rating: 4.5/5


Book 5: Puck Drills & Quick Thrills 

Plot Summary: 

WESTLY

The fall from NHL superstar to domestic disaster was swift and painful. When I became the legal guardian of my five younger siblings, I had no idea what I was doing.

One year later, I’m still lost.

Coaching CU’s hockey team might be the only thing I’m excelling at. But when our star forward is failing math, I have to do what it takes to keep him on the team. Even if it’s going head-to-head with Jasper Eckstein.

One minute I’m confronting the notorious hockey-hating professor, and the next I’m agreeing to be his date to his twenty-year high school reunion. 

I don’t know how that happened.


JASPER

My rules are simple. I don’t give extra credit. Ever. No matter how entitled jocks think they are, I refuse to give them special treatment. 

It's not because I hate them. It's not because a hockey player broke my nose in high school. 

It's fair. 

But when Westly Dalton bursts into my office like a hurricane, all my principles fly out the window. 

Suddenly I'm giving extra credit.

And I have a date to my reunion. 

After one explosive night together, I want more, but his home life is a mess, and I don't want to get in the way. If all we can have is quick thrills, I’m okay with that.

It’s not like I could ever fall for a jock.


Review: West, Asher's older brother, is struggling. He has given up a dream NHL career, is struggling with raising teens, tweens and two 9 year olds plus Asher's rage doesn't help either. He has no time for himself or even a break. 

Jasper doesn't like jocks after a bunch of them nearly beat him to death in high school, but he has a high school reunion coming up and he wants to show up and show his bullies that he is no longer the same scrawny kid they beat up. So, West agrees to be his fake boyfriend. 

The dynamic between West and Jasper is just so sweet. West is the responsible father-figure at home, but when he is with Jasper, Jasper takes care of him and West needs that much more than he even knows. Their romance is slow, caught between adulting and real life challenges but is just so good. 

Rating: 4.5/ 5


This series has likeable, fun, sweet characters and low angst, so, if you are jonesing for some light but fun reading, then give this series a go. 


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