I was provided an eARC of this book by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I really wanted to like this book. A bi main character, enemies to lovers, and a sports rivalry, all seemed like a perfect storm of elements to create a book I would love, but unfortunately, I mainly found myself frustrated with it.
My biggest issue with this book was its pacing. This book was very slice of life which I wasn’t expecting, and the moments the author chose to focus on were the mundane moments instead of the moments that showed character growth and development or would have pushed the plot forward if it seemed at all like they were inclined to follow the plot and conflict the synopsis laid out. I was expecting to see Mickey and Jaysen’s rivalry that bloomed into romance then develop as they deal with the ramifications of the all-important NHL draft decision. Instead, I got Mickey and Jaysen going from enemies to extremely suddenly lovers, which only got slightly developed and multiple conflicts between them were ignored. The draft that seemed to be the driving event of the novel occurs in the epilogue and there was truly no payoff to the tension and conflict the draft created. Most of the Royals’ season occurred off-page which continued to make the entire story feel unfulfilling in its payoff.