Avon Gale & Piper Vaughn - Off the Ice

Tristan Holt is nothing if not pragmatic. Despite a flourishing career as a defenseman for the Atlanta Venom, Tristan knows he can’t play hockey forever. One day he’ll retire — if an injury doesn’t force him to hang up his skates first. His backup plan? Finishing his business degree. But he doesn’t count on a very inappropriate attraction to his standoffish sociology professor, Sebastian Cruz.
Sebastian is on the bottom rung of the Sociology Department at Georgia State. He has his sights set on tenure, and he can’t afford to be distracted, especially not by a sexy student with a body straight out of Sebastian’s dreams. No matter how much Tristan tempts him, that’s one line Sebastian won’t cross. At least not until summer classes end. After that, everything is fair game.
But Sebastian lives loud and proud, and Tristan is terrified of being the first out player in the NHL. Neither of them can afford to risk their hearts when they can’t imagine a happily ever after. The problem is, unlike hockey, when it comes to love, there are no rules.

Comment: Since I've read and enjoyed another series by author Avon Gale which featured hockey players, I felt like trying another, even though this one is a partnership with Piper Vaughn.

In this story, professional hockey player Tristan Holt is about to start a summer class, so that he can one day have his college degree and a way to have something else in his future when his hockey career is finished. He wasn't counting on being so quickly attracted to the teacher, though, and at some pint he also dreams professor Cruz might be as interested.

Sebastian Cruz is a sociology teacher and he wants to obtain tenure, which is why he doesn't complain when doing summer courses. At first, he thinks Tristan isn't really dedicated to the course, but when a plagiarism situation happens, he is quick to judge. When it's obvious Tristan didn't do it, their attraction seems to escalate, but they both contain themselves until the end of class. 

After that, they start seeing each other, and things seem to go well, but will their differences be too much to overcome?

As a whole, this was a good story. I was also hoping the story would be similar enough to Avon Gale's style as a solo writer, so I was ready to like the story anyway, even if Piper Vaughn's intake would make changes being obvious. In fact, I can't say what exactly was written by one author and by the author. This is recognizable enough as being by Avon Gale since I've read other things by her, but how much belongs to each I wouldn't be able to tell.

The plot starts of quite well. I'm not particularly interested in the teacher/student dynamic but if done well, it can certainly be challenging, and I obviously appreciated the fact they waited until they no longer had an established professional relationship. The scenes with them looking at one another sometimes, and the inner thoughts allowing us to understand just how much longing and sexual desire was in play, the small exchange of conversation here and there, then the misunderstanding with the paper Tristan delivered and so on, all made for the tension to be visible and readable and I was looking for to see how they would finally say something to one another.

I think this process was a bit quick, even though - I suppose - we had Gale's technique used here, for she has this ability, in books that don't have many pages, to develop things in a way that yes, it's quick on the page but relatively longer in context. Not all authors can convey the passage of time in a book that easily and, for the most part, I think this happens here. I still wish for some different things, other type of situations to let us know how much time is passing but this wasn't too badly done.

Tristan is fascinating, he's 23 and a professional hockey player but he is also a sweet young man, has a sweet family dynamic and is eager to keep studying which means he isn't keen on simply earning money and do nothing else later. I liked his attitude and his personality. An important part of the story is also dedicated to his decision to come out and how, and I think his reasons are quite valid as to why not doing it without some planning.

Sebastian is a bit more complex I'd say, he's a little older and has had other types of experiences, more so since he is Latino, but I did like his professor mode. He's more confident in himself and while out, he still feels bitter things changed and his parents accept him being gay but clearly don't interact with him the same way and probably still wish for this "phase" to end. I think his personality was more complex but easier to understand, although did I like him better? Not certain... I also wonder if each character was perhaps given a voice by a different author?

So, these two are kind of opposites but when they finally get together it's fireworks. I did like the romance and the evolution of their relationship, even though - along with a few other plot details - some things seemed to happen as bit too predictably and in a way that would ensure a specific result, which perhaps I would prefer to see differently... also, in the midst of all their personal and professional lives and dealing with new feelings, the sex between them sometimes went into a slight kinky level which I could do without. I understand why it was that way but I didn't really like it was the authors' choice.

When the story reaches the final conflict, which I also would have preferred had happened differently, the two guys are thinking they are in love but will love be enough to overcome the details of being with someone who has different experiences and a way of seeing things? I think the compromise was done well enough and the HEA was a sweet one. Still, a part of me wished for more romantic situations, more sweeter moments and less kinky sex scenes. I liked the story yes, but I think it could have been better too.

Grade: 7/10