Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn - Goalie Interference

Ryu Mori has had a stellar season as goalie for the Atlanta Venom. So when he’s called into management’s office, he’s expecting to hear he’s the new starting goalie for the team, not that some new guy—an incredibly hot, annoyingly bratty rookie—is here to compete for his spot.
Not everyone gets to play in the best league in the world. Emmitt Armstrong knows that, and he’s not about to waste the opportunity after grinding his way from the bottom to the top. If the Venom is looking for a meek, mild-mannered pushover, they’ve got the wrong guy.
Ryu doesn’t want to admit the other goalie’s smart mouth turns him on. Beating Armstrong at practice feels good, sure, but there are other, more fun ways to shut his rival up.
In this league, it’s winner takes all. But there’s more to life than winning, and if Emmitt and Ryu can get past their egos and competitive natures, they might just discover they work better as partners than they ever imagined possible.

Comment: This is the second book in the Hat Trick trilogy by authors Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn. As I've said before, I've enjoyed books by Avon Gale and I also liked the previous book in this trilogy, thus why I'm reading the remaining stories.

In this second installment we meet Emmitt Armstrong, or "Army", a new goalie for the Atlanta Venom, and he is very eager to prove his worth. He knows Ryu Mori is the likely started but Army wants to be the best he can, even if that means being at odds with his fellow goalkeeper, who seems to be a rather rigid guy. However, as train and time go by, it seems there's more to their animosity than simply professional competition, and eventually they become more than co workers, so to say.

Ryu Mori doesn't come from such a warm family as other players and his cultural background isn't also one for demonstration of affection. Still, he starts to care for Army and might even think he could be happy with him, but the truth is they are both vying for the same job here, and Ryu still has this need to be the best, so his parents can recognize his efforts. It seems complicated, but proximity and understanding from Army might go a long way...or will the game push them apart after all?

For me, this book is pretty much at the same level as the previous one. I liked it and I liked reading about the characters but there are still some elements I'd change to better suit my preferences. Despite this I had a good time reading and it was one of those books where one turns the pages effortlessly.

The story starts when the hockey season is about to start and Army has a call to let him know the Venom wants him, and he is very happy to think he will play in the main league of hockey. Army is an interesting character, confident in himself but as so many people, he still feels he needs his father's approval. This is a bit tricky because his father was a successful football player, and he wanted Army to follow his steps, but Army preferred hockey, his true passion, even though a Black player in a sport which doesn't have much inclusion might make it more difficult for him.

Playing for the Venom is everything he wanted and when the coaches decide that he, a newcomer, and Ryu Mori, a more seasoned player, will play in tandem, he is even happier, for he believes this is the chance to prove he deserves to be the starter. Things with Mori start off a little badly, because Mori is hard to read and seems to not be very receptive to competition. Of course, this is just the beginning to a relationship that starts as casual and will develop into something more serious.

Mori is certainly a more introverted character but I could sympathize with some of his thoughts. I think the cultural part of him being Japanese and how people from different countries/cultures wasn't such a big deal in the overall story but it does add to why his personality is more contained. I still think that, as with Army, his need to still show his parents he is doing well and being successful plays a bigger role in his decisions than culture. Of course this means he isn't as demonstrative and isn't bubbly; some readers have said he seems to lack personality but to me this wasn't an issue.

I liked the pace of the story, the authors have, again, managed to convey time passing and things moving on in a good enough way to make me feel things were evolving. Nevertheless, the development of the relationship between Army and Mori was a little too quick. I know they start of as only "co workers with benefits" but I kind of hoped to see more scenes where things between them were obviously changing romantically, and not just because they talked on the phone about serious matters. I understand the constrictions of their work and that they were in the public eye a lot, but... I can't explain well, but this part, the romance, could have been better.

The biggest conflict comes later on, as expected, when things are stressful and at a decisive moment for the team. I think the fact they were thinking professionally was only an excuse for what they decide to do and if they were already committed at this point, perhaps they should have talked more, but I can also accept the pressure in such situation would be a lot (if one compares with real life possibilities in the same scenario). Of course, the resolution for the issues are quickly solved, there's a HEA and everything is fine, which only adds to the lack of real importance of these supposed issues.

Although Mori isn't the most demonstrative of characters in public, his relationship with Army has interesting and cute moments in private, besides the sexual part, and I was happy for them in general.

I'll look for to finish the trilogy next month.

Grade: 7/10