City Boy (Hot off the Ice #1) by A.E. Wasp
City Boy: Hot Off the Ice #1 by AE Wasp – 3 stars
Bryce Lowery is a professional hockey player who has recently been bequeathed an apple orchard and house that he decides to move his mother into. On the way to check it all out he blows a tire and is rescued by local boy Dakota. The instant chemistry between them confirms to Bryce that he is indeed gay; something he has been wondering about for a little while. Dakota can’t believe his luck. Bryce is sex on legs and enormous – everything he has been looking for in a boyfriend. So what if there are 10 years between them, Dakota has far more experience with men and is very happy to initiate Bryce in every way possible.
The relationship that develops amid very precarious circumstances is sweet and sexy. The supporting characters are all suitably interesting and the substance of the story is intriguing. The sex is hot and Bryce and Dakota are both gorgeous in their own ways. However, I found parts of the story a little too far-fetched in terms of how Bryce in particular reacts to things. For instance when Bryce and Dakota start quoting Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice at each other - it was just silly and totally out of context and out of character, in my opinion.
Furthermore, I couldn’t realistically imagine a 34 year old ‘straight until now’ macho hockey player embracing his newly discovered homosexuality without any concerns at all and with no hostility from anyone. His mother, sisters, brother, team mates, friends were all accepting and no one made any deal of it whatsoever. Even his ex-wife was on board with it. It was almost a non-issue (which would be lovely but rarely happens).
I winced at some of the terminology that was bantered about as I found it trivialised being gay, and I found some of Bryce’s dialogue and naiveté at times inconceivable.
A further frustration on my part was that there were a few turnabout situations where the characters said one thing then immediately did the exact opposite having changed their minds. It threw me a few times and I found the story lacked continuity in those places.
I loved some aspects of this book and really wanted it to be great however, the story had so much potential but didn’t quite deliver. I want to read the next book in the series because as I said, the two main characters are gorgeous, but I’m really hoping the author makes the story a touch more credible.