Ice & Ibuprofen: A Sweet & Spicy MM Hockey Romance (Second Shots Book 1)

This is the first book in the Second Shots series. Jaxon is a hockey player who slipped on black ice trying to rescue a cat. Leo is the physiotherapist for the team and helps get him to the med room to check for injuries. Jaxon has a shoulder injury and Leo is told by management to stay with Jaxon to rehab him so he is ready for playoffs. This is a sweet, hurt/comfort, grumpy/sunshine, funny romance with plenty of spice. You will also enjoy Gerald the cat who has a tendency to make you giggle.

MY OPINION: This is a new author to me, and I am glad I got to read this story. Marketed as a hockey romance, it’s mostly hockey adjacent. If you are looking for a lot of ice time in your story, you won't get it in the book, but the romance between these two is worth staying for. The MCs in this book are both professionals in their field. When the physio is told by their bosses that they have to move in with their injured superstar, Jaxson, to make sure his rehab goes perfectly, Leo has no choice. Plus, the way Jaxson got hurt went right to his heart. There are some solid tropes: grumpy / sunshine, forced proximity, coworkers, and Jaxson is most certainly not gay. This book may not bring us a lot of hockey time, but it’s all about the quiet moments, and there are so many of those. Moments that each man experiences together and alone. Learning about themselves from what they like in and out of the bedroom. As they get to know each other, they fill in little bits of each other. Smiling more, quieting some of the things that make life difficult. It becomes clear that they are better together. Reading how they changed little things one at a time, not even realizing it, was lovely. There are some fun bits where you laugh, and there is an adorable kitty. There are some spicy bits, but it’s a very slice-of-life, which I appreciated. The men are good people trying their best, and that is even found in the bedroom. They work as a couple, and you can tell they will be existing and…

I liked the plot of this book and I liked the characters but the execution needed refinement. The book needed a proofread and probably an editor, but the thing that kept me from truly enjoying it was that there was too much unsaid. Too many things happened through looks that were not defined or assumptions that weren't clarified. As a reader, I felt excluded from a lot of the understory and things happened that didn't fit what was previously implied. I also personally had an issue with how many times the broody character asked the chatty character if he ever shut up or ever stopped, even after it was established as part of his personality and at least one reference to him having ADHD. The fact that this story resolves with him "calming down" was upsetting.