Thank you to Sarina Bowen and her team for the advance reader copy of I’m Your Guy, the second story in the Hockey Guys series.
I adored this book which comes to me as no surprise because I love Sarina Bowen’s M/M romances! I did find it a bit slow going but once I was hooked it was blast off and I tore through the rest of the book.
TOMMASO
The furniture district is my personal hell. I don’t know my ass from an ottoman. But when a hot designer comes to my rescue, I realize my problems are bigger than the house I’m trying to furnish.
A scorching kiss over fabric samples makes me question all my choices. But is it too late to change my entire life to get more of them?
CARTER
I need this gig, but my cocky new client leaves out a couple crucial
He doesn’t mention that he’s a famous hockey player. And he doesn’t own up to the way he’s always trying to undress me with his dark, broody eyes.
The man throws out more mixed signals than a broken traffic light. I’ve never been more sexually frustrated in my entire life. I need to back away before I do something stupid, like lose my heart.
Oops. Too late.
Check out my more detailed thoughts below…
- Characters: Our heroes are the hockey player Tommaso and the interior designer Carter. Tommaso is the grump and Carter is the sunshine, but I could not help but find them both endearing. Both read a bit like lost souls, as while Carter struggles to find a healthy financial footing, Tommaso is struggling with his sexuality. I got attached to each of them super quickly as I wanted them together so badly. This book also had some great side characters, I loved Carter’s friend Rio and his man and of course, I loved Tommaso’s mom. Fans of the first book The New Guy will be so happy with all the cameos from Hudson and Gavin.
- Setting: This is Sarina’s first hockey romance that is not predominately set within the world of the Brooklyn Bruisers. Instead, the end of the last instalment put us behind the scenes of the Colorado Cougars. It is a whole new team to explore and I liked the change of pace from busy Brooklyn to the quiet moments of Colorado. As Tommaso brings Carter in to furnish his place it should come as no surprise that the majority of the book takes place inside Tommaso’s home. It really made it feel like this romance was given a safe place to blossom.
- Pacing: It was in the pacing where this book fell a tad short for me. I struggled to get into it, as the first few chapters simply don’t grip you. There was some point where I realized I was hooked and at that point, I did not want to stop reading. Then the feelings of poor pacing crept back in at the end. Don’t let that dissuade you if you are open to much more of a slow-burn romance.
- Romance: The grump and the sunshine sure had a slow-burn romance. As I got to know these characters it made total sense, Carter had been hurt before and Tommaso had never embraced falling for a man before. It is not a complete sexual awakening, rather Tommaso suppressed what he truly wanted due to family issues and his working through that had me tearing up at a few points. I adored their first kiss, and their first time you just have to savour the moments leading up to them.
I’m Your Guy receives four out of five stars.
You can pick up the story below…
Amazon | Apple Books | Kobo | Nook | Audio
Thank you again to Sarina and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!
