After last season’s heartbreaking loss to his hockey team’s archrival, Jacksonville Sea Storm goalie Riley Hunter is ready to let go of the past and focus on a winning season. His new roommate, Ethan Kennedy, is a loud New Yorker with a passion for social justice that matches his role as the team’s enforcer. The quieter Riley is attracted to Ethan and has no idea what to do about it.
Ethan has no hesitations. As fearless as his position demands, he rushes into things without much thought for the consequences. Though they eventually warm to their passionate new bond, it doesn’t come without complications. While trying to financially help Ethan, Riley must hide his family’s wealth so as not to hurt Ethan’s immense pride. For their relationship to work, Ethan will need to learn when to keep the gloves on and let someone help him—and Riley will have to learn it’s okay to let someone past his defenses.
Author Name: Avon Gale
Book Name: Save of the Game
Series: Scoring Chances
This book is a ‘Scoring Chances’ novel. It can be read as a standalone.
Pages or Words: 200 pages
Release Date: January 29, 2016
Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Sports, Hockey
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson
Save of the Game by Avon Gale is the second book in the Scoring Chances series. I’m so glad Riley got his story because I felt bad for him in Breakaway. No really, I did! When he started asking Lane about Jared, there was just something that screamed unrequited crush to me. I wanted him to find his happy.
At first glance, Riley and Ethan seem like the Odd Couple. Ethan is a loud, obnoxious enforcer and Riley is the quiet goalie doing everything he can to prove himself as a goalie. As the reasons for Riley wanting to prove his worth unfold, I felt even more deeply for him.
Ethan is the character who sticks out more in my mind after the end of the book. He struck me as the dumb jock used to using his fists because it’s what he’s good at. At no point is he portrayed as a rising star. He’s a utility player there to do a job. He has potential, but given the fact that he’s slow and clumsy on the ice, smokes, and doesn’t eat right, he’s unlikely to reach that potential. All of that’s gotta give a guy a complex.
Even though Riley’s the better player, he seems to be jealous of Ethan to some extent, with good reason. Ethan has the one thing Riley would give up anything to have. And once they’re together, he gets a taste of what he’s missing.
Avon Gale walked the line between making Ethan accept his feelings for Riley too quickly and writing him as so tortured that it’s difficult to read. For a while, I did think he was too accepting and willing to explore what he felt, but once I met his family, it all made sense.
The Scoring Chances Series is quickly becoming one of my go-to series. I can’t wait to get my greedy little hands on the third book. I won’t go to extremes and threaten to tie Avon Gale to her chair until she hands it over, but only because illegal activity is frowned upon and I’m not sure how I’d get books in prison. Seriously, if you love a good hockey book, read this series. If you’re not a hockey fan, I won’t hold it against you, but I will still tell you to pick up Breakaway and Save of the Game. You won’t regret it!
5 pieces of eye candy!
His phone beeped, alerting him that he had a new text message. It was from Ethan Kennedy, the defenseman the Storm had acquired before the trade deadline last spring. The rowdy Kennedy, who had a heavy New York accent and was a huge fan of the New York Rangers—a team Riley hated, by virtue of being a New Jersey Devils fan—had bunked with him for a few weeks during the finals. He’d gone back to New York after the Storm lost in the playoffs. Riley hadn’t been sure if he was coming back or not, but the text message indicated he’d just gotten back to to
wn, and would Riley mind picking him up from the airport?
And oh, he got a cheaper rate by flying into Tampa, which was three hours away. Was that a problem? And one last thing. Riley didn’t need a roommate by any chance. Did he?
Riley looked around his apartment, which was nice and clean and quiet. Just like it always was, except for those few weeks last spring when Ethan was there. He was loud and messy and always in Riley’s space, left half-full cans of Pepsi everywhere, drank whiskeys with dubious-sounding names, and smoked like a chimney.
be there in 3 hrs, Riley texted and grabbed a few boxes of coconut water out of his fridge. The idea of coming home alone after games reminded him of those car rides in Wyoming, and he was getting tired of the silence.
Amazon
Dreamspinner eBook
ARe
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Character Interview
Excited to be interviewing Riley Hunter
- What do you find attractive in a man?
Ethan would probably say my answer would be “blonds” but that’s just because I think Martin Brodeur is hot. But really I think my answer is passion and confidence. Also, tattoos.
- The first thing that went through your head when you saw Ethan?
That I was going to be killing a lot of penalties. Sorry, Ethan, but my first impression was that you were a loudmouth who would end up in the box a lot and give the other team a lot of man advantages. And I was right about that. I wasn’t sure about the whole being into guys thing yet, but I noticed Ethan’s tattoos.
- Do you think you’ll insist the author visits you again?
I hear I show up in the third book, and am at least mentioned in the fourth. I don’t mind if she comes back to visit, especially if she writes a book about how I’m the starting goalie for the New Jersey Devils. Then Ethan would have to cheer for the Devils instead of the Rangers, haha.
- Before you met Ethan, what was your ideal man?
Uh, Martin Brodeur? (Laughs) I wasn’t really sure if I was bisexual or not. But I always wanted someone in my life to shake it up a bit. Someone to make things not so quiet all the time. I definitely got that.
- You’re going out for dinner. What’s your favorite food?
I’m really boring about food when I’m training, which is basically always. I eat a lot of grilled things – chicken, fish, vegetables. I do like pizza, and stealing Ethan’s cheese fries from Cruisers. You’d think we would eat more seafood living in Florida, but I play hockey for the ECHL. Seafood is kind of out of our budget, unless maybe we caught it ourselves. Which I could do, but no way would Ethan have the patience.
Thanks Riley!
Avon Gale was once the mayor on Foursquare of Jazzercise and Lollicup, which should tell you all you need to know about her as a person. She likes road trips, rock concerts, drinking Kentucky bourbon and yelling at hockey. She’s a displaced southerner living in a liberal midwestern college town, and when she’s not writing you can find her at the salon, making her clients look and feel fabulous. She never gets tired of people and their stories — either real or the ones she makes up in her head.
Where to find the author:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avongalewrites
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authoravongale
Twitter: @avongalewrites
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/avongalewrites/
Other: (join my mailing list) http://eepurl.com/bGLSrD
Tour Dates & Stops:
29-Jan
Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Posy Roberts, Book Lovers 4Ever, Mikky’s World of Books, Jessie G. Books, Gay Book Reviews
1-Feb
Boy Meets Boy Reviews, Kirsty Loves Books, Love Bytes, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Divine Magazine, Hearts on Fire, Open Skye Book Reviews
2-Feb
Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Inked Rainbow Reads, V’s Reads, Nautical Star Books, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, BFD Book Blog
3-Feb
Bayou Book Junkie, Alpha Book Club, Molly Lolly, Happily Ever Chapter, Unquietly Me, MM Good Book Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark
4-Feb
The Novel Approach, Boys on the Brink Reviews, Three Books Over The Rainbow, Carly’s Book Reviews, The Hat Party
I can’t wait to read this! Congratulations on the release! 😀
My favourite sport, also on the ice, has to be figure skating – beautiful and amazing. I wish I could skate like that! ;D
Congratulations on the release. Thank you for the character review – I really enjoy these.
It is very difficult for me to claim a single sport as a favourite. In my culture, people worship sports and always have their favourite team or player. I think my least favourite are those involving repetitive movements. Watching one person against the clock go around and around a track, that sort of thing. I do enjoy creative sports like gymnastics and figure skating. I get rushes of adrenalin when following the Isle of Man TT. I appreciate strength and skill.