I pried myself—however reluctantly—out of his grip. “Yeah, I take it they don’t have Walmart on your side of the pond, but we’re not fucking around here. There is no universe in which that’s hot.”
Archie Bowman is a star on the ice. Despite his consistently good performance and continuous improvement as a pro hockey player, he keeps getting traded. When he gets picked up by the Bringham Bobcats, he has a serious case of imposter syndrome. Not only must he perform on the ice, he feels the need to cultivate a personality so charming, that his team and his coach would do anything to keep him. He is a menace, a flirt, a cutup, and never turns down an invitation to party. Deep down, he is painfully insecure and doesn’t even unpack his moving boxes in fear of having to do it all again as soon as he gets settled.
On top of this, Archie is homesick. He got recruited to play in the states and if he doesn’t make it, he has few options to play professionally back home in the UK. He wants to stay, but he also fantasizes about dropping everything and going back home to his rugby-loving family.
On his first night out with the team, he gets drunk and hits on Jamie, the team’s doctor of physical therapy. Jamie knows Archie is drunk and prays Archie doesn’t remember it. He’s older than Archie by at least ten years, and he does not want to mix his personal and professional life. He thinks Archie is hot, but also kind of a hot mess. At the start of the book, Jamie’s in the process of getting his business license so he can start his own practice and leave hockey and all of his painful memories behind.
The constant flirt, Archie makes it his mission to get a rise out of Jamie. He makes up fake injuries so that Jamie will give him massages. Jamie hates that Archie does get under his skin. In the process of watching Archie to see if he’s actually injured or not, Jamie does diagnose him with having an injured rotator cuff and recommends that Archie be pulled off of the ice and begin an intense rehab program so he will be ready before the hockey season begins.
Archie panics as he believes he is only valuable as long as he is on the ice. Of course, Jamie must put Archie through the daily rehab sessions himself. One thing leads to another, they let their guards down, and before they know it, they’re both catching feelings.
This book has two authors: one for Archie’s POV and one for Jamie’s. Despite having many, MANY issues with Archie (extreme workplace sexual harassment, lying to his PT, and being a childish, annoying dude), I loved his voice. He’s such a hot mess. Even when he’s making every bad choice imaginable, his POV is still funny as hell, especially when compared to uptight, anxious Jamie.
Jamie retired from professional hockey after playing injured and damaging his knee beyond repair. Not being able to play has him trapped in limbo; he doesn’t want to stay but he can’t quit the sport altogether.
After they get together, Jamie must decide if Archie’s rehab worked or if he must remain benched even after the mandatory rehab time. Archie is desperate to play, but Jamie won’t let him throw away his career when waiting another month could save him from career-ending injuries.
Jamie’s POV was fine, but the conflict was super boring to me. It is legitimate and it made sense, but there was no real weight to it. Despite how funny Archie is as a character, there was too much filler between the start of rehab and romance and the line between personal relationships and professional working relationships of doctor and patient.
In summary, this book is funny and well-written, but the amount of boring filler (rehab and the excessive amount of internal angst of each character) dragged down my rating.
