LGBTQ Romance
S
Sassafras
April 3, 2026
Loved Bastian & Tikh
A rivalry like no other. One based on cruel words that were spoken in a handshake line after a game.
Bastian, the man who never stops, with an ADHD brain with a hundred tabs open at once.
Tikh Volkov, the stoic Russian who has never culturally fit with any team he’s ever been on.
When Volkov is traded as part of the NHL expansion and ends up on the same team as his bitter rival, Bastian Fotenot, sparks fly and routes and shifts are blown because the two of them can’t play together.
The Team Cat, Kerimore, has kittens. 5 of them. Berger creates a leaderboard to determine who has first pick. Bastian and Tikh get kittens 4 and 5…the pair that is bonded and who cry and refuse to eat unless they are together. This forces the pair to co-parent the kittens.
What begins with ‘for the cats’ becomes so much more and Bastian can’t handle not being ‘seen’ and Tikh wants to keep the closet closed on their relationship.
The hurt they cause one another is painful. They do get their HEA or maybe a HFN since they haven’t officially resolved some of the issues like Avi and Ash have from Book 1.
The final chapters of the book are poignantly sweet with all the feels.
It was easier to relate to Baz than to Tikh. Tikh seemed very aloof and unapproachable at times, even when he was doing all the right things, the tender things that meant so much had Bastian only realised it before blowing everything to smithereens.
Håjek, a vocal character from book 1, is downgraded to a few lines in the…
