After spending years guilt ridden for his part in Max’s accident, Russian native Misha Samarin has no idea what to do when he’s confronted with Max’s presence. Max’s optimism plays havoc with Misha’s equilibrium—as does the fierce attraction that springs up between them.
Not only must they navigate Misha’s remorse and a past he’s spent a lifetime trying to forget, but also a sleazy GM who is determined to use their history as a marketing hook. But when an unwelcome visitor targets a player, Misha revisits his darkest days, and that might cost him and Max the beginning they’ve worked so hard to build.
Comment: This is the 3rd installment in the Scoring Chances series, featuring several characters in a minor hockey league in the East coast. This time the focus is in the coach and the assistant coach of the team many consider the worst and which has been mentioned other times in the previous two novels.
Max Ashford is a optimist player whose career in a NHL team ended because of an injury. The player on the opposite team, who many blamed, is Misha Samarin who also blamed himself and when his team won the Stanley Cup, he didn't play and didn't feel he was worthy of any win anyway. Now, years later, the two meet again and Misha is surprised by how Max smiles, cherishes life and faces things with a happy mind frame, and he certainly doesn't blame Misha at all. He knows their cultural background is very different but still Misha can't help but be impressed by Max's personality and then he and Max start hooking up. As their feelings progress, so does their coaching and the team improves a bit. Then problems come their way, but between Max's optimism and Misha's stoicism, can they have it all in the end?
I've been finding these stories to be quite charming, in the sense they are easy to read and the characters, or at least one of them, is definitely on the silly adorable side! It seems the idea is to pair up a more serious or almost aloof character with one who is more laid back, optimistic. I think this pairing works because of that old idea of opposites attracting but also because it dos reinforce the notion the couple is a complement of each other's traits.
Max is bubbly, a genuine nice guy and he doesn't even feel much resentment he had to end his career. We discover he has a good support system, his family is happy and he feels he can have their help and caring in the bad times. Obviously what a contrast it ends up being too in relation to Misha, whose family back in Russia isn't a loving one, in particular his father who was an authoritative and punishing figure, even influencing Misha's mother, who felt she couldn't do a lot for him. When Misha realized hockey was his way out ticket, he took that chance, despite some issues at first in a different place.
The romantic relationship between these two starts a bit too quickly actually, right after they start working together, but somehow the way this is written makes it look as if it's something natural, easy and if at first both were a little unsure about where this would go, it was obvious they were liking one another a great deal. I don't think many authors are able to do this that well, to give away immediately this sense of kismet or whatever one wants to classify it, when two characters are clearly "destined" from the start (and if the genre isn't fantasy). It might be something related to each author's style, but in these books, this isn't a negative detail.
I was quite delighted with Max, he is so cute and a little clueless in regards to certain things, but not his interest in Misha, and his developing feelings. Misha doesn't share as much but his actions speak for themselves. They, as coaches, also involve themselves in the life of a player and they help him when he needs, which I bet will have repercussions since the next book features that character. But I liked how this allowed us to have a different perspective of them and of their roles as people who are working yes, but also guiding the players and being there for them.
There is, as expected, a lot of hockey conversations and elements but while the rules of the game escape me, I was dedicated enough to the characters for it to seem good enough content for the story the author wanted to convey. I think some characters and situations in the whole game vibe were a bit unlikely, but I decided to not think too hard on this and simply enjoy the story.
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