Ryan Price may just be one of the most feared men in professional hockey. He’s the enforcer, the player charged with protecting his teammates with his fists, if he has to. But for whatever reason he can’t seem to stay signed to a team for more than one season. Besides dealing with the constant upheaval of having to move cities every year, Ryan also struggles with general anxiety, especially around flying – which isn’t something a pro hockey player can exactly avoid. But he’s hopeful that maybe this year in Toronto will be different. He’s on new medication for his anxiety, he’s seeing a therapist who is kind of helping, and he’s living in Toronto’s Gay Village and looking forward to exploring its thriving LGBTQ+ community. Then he bumps into Fabian Salah, a blast from his past and former crush. Fabian isn’t into hockey, at all, but he remembers Ryan and the kiss they almost shared, and is happy to rekindle their relationship. But Ryan soon finds himself torn between the life he wants for himself and the demands of his team, and to keep Fabian he may have to hang up his skates for good.
Tough Guy is the third in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, and is a fun change of pace. Ryan is out, if not fully, so we don’t get the same tension we do in Game Changer and Heated Rivalry. Here the conflict is whether he can or even should continue to play hockey when it is actively damaging his health, his mental well-being, and his relationships, and it’s an interesting conflict to explore. Ryan himself doesn’t know what he wants, just that he’s unhappy but unsure how to change anything. And while Fabian pushes too hard, in my opinion (and also Vanessa’s, so there!) he is motivated by concern for Ryan. Even though this isn’t a coming out story, there is lots of discussion of hockey culture, and how badly it can treat gay or effeminate men. Fabian’s lack of relationship with his parents is just sad, and helps you really understand what makes him tick.
Tough Guy is just as steamy as the first two books, though Ryan’s anxiety does give it an interesting nuance. (Not all sex involves orgasms, and that’s ok.) It’s also nice to see a different representation of masculinity and queerness in Fabian, who is creative and androgynous-to-feminine in way we haven’t seen from our previous protagonists or their love interests. And because this is a shared universe, we get an Ilya Rosanov cameo, and then a Shane Hollander appearance in the epilogue.
Tough Guy is fun, sweet, slow-to-medium paced, and just overall enjoyable.
