absolutely perfect

I finished the Barracuda Series and jumped right into this one. I loved the other series but THIS book is perfection. The writing and the story just hit another level. CITI has to be my favorite book by these authors. You can see the growth in writing and OMG they have me sooooo invested in Jack and Ecky that i need that story ASAP.

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Hockey love

what is there to say . Benny and Cole 's love story is off the scale. I was pleased that there was more to the story than Hockey but there isn't a Hockey story that Alexander Cendese doesn't bring to life .Both the book and narration gets 5⭐️

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Very good!

Story: 4.25 Stars!

Narration: 4.5 Stars! 

Overall: 4.5 Stars!

This is a lovely story of finding love again when neither of them expected it. Their connection was pretty much instant and so was their friendship, which made Benny's realization that he was attracted to Cole—when he had never been attracted to a man before—just as natural as the rest of their relationship had been. It was kind of refreshing how low angst and sweet it was and how nicely they fit with each other.

I loved catching up with the Bethesda Barracuda guys and getting to meet some new faces. 

Alexander Cendese did a great job with the narration, he's a really versatile performer and his voice is very pleasant. He made this experience even better for me with his performance. Definitely recommendable!

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Sweet and spice

I was anticipating this first book in the new Mohegan U Hockey series by one of my favorite writing duos.

Benny/ Caldy had lost his only love and did not handle it well. After some much needed tough love from his Barracuda friends and his personal hard work, still doing rehab, he is in a better place and ready to take on the job as acting hockey coach at his alma matter.
Cole is a music master student who has not been the luckiest with the men he dated in the past.

Benny and Cole meet for the first time when they live together and have an instant like and click. Their friendship progresses and soon they are dating and exploring what love is to them. I liked how natural the relationship progressed and how healing this relationship is for both men.

I also appreciate that the authors did not give Benny a personal crisis after finding he is attracted to a man and might even love Cole. He just accepted that there was a 'new' person who made his heart and world brighter and did not bother to label himself.
It seems the hardest struggle and most anxiety for them is finding a way to stay in one place after their time together seems to end at the end of the college year. They do however find a way to get their hea.

I so enjoyed reading this low angst, forced proximity, contemporary mm romance. with a side of hockey gameplay. If you love reading about men daring to love (again) this is a book I recommend.

I will be looking forward to other stories in this new series. I am wondering who could be next; Jamie & Kendall or even Eckie?

For this new series the authors have chosen Alexander Cendese as narrator an in my personal opinion they made a good choice. His voice fits with both characters and storyline. Before I knew it I was at the end of this hartfelt story of unexpectes love.

5* overall

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Wonderful start to a new series!

I was excited to see the start of a new series by Joshua Harwood and Ryan Taylor. I love the wonderful and easy-going writing style of the two authors. It didn't take long and I was right in the middle of the story.
Benny has had to deal with a lot of personal problems in the past. When Benny is offered a coaching job on a college team during his recovery, he jumps at it.
He meets Cole, a music student who has always been unlucky in his choice of partners. The two live in the same house and they are drawn to each other. Friendship turns into something more.
An absolute plus is the fact that Benny accepted it when he fell in love with Cole. There was no drama, no self-doubt, just acceptance.
I enjoyed Benny in his role as coach for the hockey team and also the short clips of the games. Of course, not everything always goes smoothly with the players and that's a good thing.
I was also very pleased to meet for brief moments, protagonists from the authors' previous books.
I recommend this heartwarming and sweet story that has everything for a good entertainment: Likeable main characters learning to find confidence in love, hockey, deep feelings, romance, a little bit of drama and fantastic secondary protagonists.
I really enjoyed this story and am already looking forward to more stories in this series!

Alexander Candese did a really awesome job. His voice was a great fit for the protagonists and I was able to perceive each character's emotional state. Alexander Candese has a pleasant voice and reads in a varied way with characteristic voices for the respective protagonists.
A fantastic audio book that I highly recommend.

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1 person found this helpful

Benny and Cole, such a great couple

I've enjoyed listening to a few of these authors books and was excited but wary to hear this one had a different narrator and one I hadn't heard before, I'm very picky. Alexander Cendese did a great job and I really enjoyed listening to him narrate Cracks in the Ice, I will happily listen to more of his work in the future.

Now to the story, I enjoyed meeting Benny and Cole; they were lovely guys to get to know, and I enjoyed their slow-building relationship. I liked the fact that despite Benny finding his attraction to Cole something new, he didn't freak out, but just accepted it, if only everyone would just be chill like he was and accept people are attracted to who they are attracted to and this can change throughout our lives.

Benny is still dealing with the loss of his wife, he had previously hit rock bottom and I liked that this new role as a coach was able to give him a way to have a break and start something new. Meeting Cole certainly helped with starting something new. Poor Cole, used and abused, but still believing in true love and lucky for him along comes Benny. These two really did work well together.

There was some drama with one of the players on Benny's team, and there was more than one underlying reason behind his behaviour, but I think he needed a lot of professional help to deal with all his issues.

I enjoyed the small catch-up with the guys from the other books, it's always nice to see how characters you've grown to love are getting on.

A sweet low angst story

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A great start to a new series; I love Cole & Benny

I loved this book when I read it with my eyes when the ebook was released in September 2022. Alexander Cendese made me love it all over again with his fantastic audio performance. His voice is pleasant to listen to and it was easy to distinguish all of the different voices. There really isn’t anything else I can say other than what I said in my original review, shown below:

Cracks in the Ice is another great story from the writing duo of Ryan Taylor and Joshua Harwood. It pulled me in right from the beginning and didn’t let go until I finished it – all in one session.

There were a few times when I had to hold my breath while reading but everything worked out. Cole and Benny really clicked, almost right from the beginning. It wasn’t insta-love; they built on friendship first and then their attraction for each other. I liked how accepting Benny was when he realized that he was attracted to Cole; it was refreshing that he didn’t have a big internal or external freak out.

It was great to visit with characters from the Bethesda Barracudas Hockey series. You absolutely don’t need to have read those books to enjoy this one but I do highly recommend them because they are great books (and they’re available in audio, too).

I am so not a sports fan but I seem to really love reading MM romances that have a sports theme. I appreciated that there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of hockey jargon and yet I think hockey fans will probably be satisfied with what hockey talk there is and with the scenes that take place while games are being played.

I was happy to learn that this is book one of a new series. There were several really great secondary characters that I hope get books of their own. In particular, I want to read more about Cole’s ex-boyfriend, Eckie; he needs a redemption story.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

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