I don't know what to really think about this story. The writing, editing, etc. was fine. The subject matter seemed a little strange to me even though the MC's seemed to be just normal people at first. We had Aaron, an ice skater training very hard for the Olympics, and Zach, a writer hired to write a story in a Sports Illustrated like magazine on Olympic skating. Okay. Then very early in we find out that Zach is into bondage with sexual overtones (knowledge obtained by very public Instagram pict...

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I would say, however, that skating kind of overrides everything else - romance, plot, other worldbuilding. Also, there are a number of elements that seemed to be thrown in but didn't get fully developed.

New to me author pairing. This is a mm contemporary story set in the USA around the figure skating world. Main characters are Aaron a figure skater looking for a place in the us Olympic team and Zack a journalist for war zones with PTSD. I liked Zane more that Aaron. Second character Matt, Zack friend was great. I’ll read more from these authors.

The skating parts are very well done. I really liked some of the side characters, the ex-nun landlady, other top skaters, the friendly straight guy. The romance, however, left me a bit flat I think because both men annoyed me. They are not awful people, but one was a little too pompous and the other a little too young and needy. I couldn’t get a good feel for what made them like each other besides the physical. Also, I couldn’t figure out what either lived on financially. And both the bondage pl...

Fun-and-angsty-but-the-fun-kind-of-angst, slightly kinky m/m romance about an ice skater trying for the Olympics and the journalist who seriously messes up his journalistic objectivity. (Disclosure - I know one of the authors.)

Dnf @ 38% I should have read reviews. But really, if you're going to have an MC into bondage that ought to be in the blurb.

A Joyfully Jay review. 4 starsI really enjoyed the story for the most part. On the surface, I would say this has some strong instalove qualities to it. Aaron and Zach are clearly attracted to/interested in one another from the get-go, but they don’t immediately fall into bed or even into a definite relationship. The boundary between Zach and Aaron doing things in the name of journalism and because how else do you get to skate with the Hot Guy was delightfully blurred. The scene were Aaron, the p...

As I have said in many other reviews of work by Maltese and McRae, they create characters who are interesting, complicated, often messy, and always compelling. Once again, I loved the latest offering in the Twin City series (the second book after After the Gold). They effortlessly weaved in elements of magical realism, very real relationship challenges--made all the more so by the ambitions and ambitiousness of those involved--and a satisfying love story all into one book. Aaron and Zack were de...

Aaron and his twin sister Ari live on a small island near the Canadian border with a folklore of seals who migrated from the ocean inhabiting the area for generations. Four families live on the island which is a tourist destination in summer and his family operate a restaurant in season. Aaron is a figure skater who goes to St Paul Minneapolis for training in the winter. Zack is a journalist with PTSD from war zones who is assigned to write an article on two skaters competing for one vacant spot...

The physical chemistry between Aaron and Zack was on point, but the romantic attraction less so. Lots of funny bits sprinkled throughout. I liked that Aaron made the Olympic team but didn't medal. It was a good mix of letting the protagonist win but still tempered with realistic expectations. The BDSM thing felt like a dropped plot thread. Certain scenes made me expect Aaron's photos would get leaked, but that did not happen.

The characters in this book are so tender and strong and weird, they make me feel like my heart is being tugged from chest. The settings in the story are also characters in their own right - intricately crafted and pulling the reader in. The book had plot and heat and characterization and intimacy in all the right amounts. I got lucky to have this book released as I left for a long weekend on Lake Erie (as COVID safe as we could manage), and the book made the trip better. This is the pick-yourse...

So so. I didn't connect to the characters, neither special boy Aaron the figure skater, nor the war journalist Zack. The conflict between them was opaque for me. The most interesting part was the competition chapters and I have one question about it.Why authors decided not to use the specific songs for Aaron's programs? What's behind the idea? I thought it was a suspense technique at first.

If you like figure skating books and fast romance with issues, then this is perfect for you.It is a fun, entertaining book about being strange and possibly a bit of magical beings thrown in.Worth the read.

Some sports themed romances have little to do with sports - I’ve read some books in which it felt as though the author picked a professional sport at random in order to have a MC with a great body, a big paycheck, and some measure of fame. This is NOT the case for Ink and Ice: A Twin Cities Ice Book. Figure skating is key to the story and the romance and might as well be a third MC. Aaron and Zack are interesting, both singly and together. There’s a bit of a BDSM kink that’s never fully explored...

Maaaybe a 3.5 but I can’t round up. This book had some strong parts, but I feel like it needed one last round of edits for copy and content to tighten it up a little more.The core issue: I don’t think the leads really spent enough time together. There wasn’t the development in relationship to convince me they’d last long term. The sex scenes were also pretty tame despite BDSM elements. But I love gay romance and winter sports, so it was still enjoyable.

some really cool aspects of this book: the skater grew on a small island in Lake Erie & I am familiar with the area! I enjoy figure skating books, learned a lot about the sport. Interesting about the seal folklore of the islands, which I have to research more. good romance.