Advanced Reader Copy Review - The Call-Up by K.C. Carmichael

ARC provided by Netgalley and this review is my honest opinion. My thanks to them, Storm Publishing and  the author for the opportunity to review.

The Call-Up by K.C. Carmichael is book 2 in the On Thin Ice series and features Rookie Brandon ‘Baby’ Bouchard and Ryan Christianson. Brandon has known and been in love with Ryan since he was fourteen when Ryan billeted with his family. The two are finally reunited when Brandon is called up to the NHL and get to explore their mutual feelings for each other as the season progresses in this second chance romance story. I really enjoyed this story as there was a lot of heart and heat from Ryan and Brandon. Ryan had the more complicated story of the two, with a difficult and sad family history. Watching him come to terms with had happened, recognise and accept his found family and embrace himself and his feelings for Brandon was a hugely rewarding part of the story. He was the more confident of the two characters and I really liked the dynamic he had with Brandon, and they were a very sweet and loving couple with strong chemistry. Brandon was a solid and funny character who was working hard to establish himself in his own right outside of his brother’s shadow. I really enjoyed the fact that their relationship was low angst and drama- free. I adored the camaraderie of the Mules team, and I thought the bonding element was so well written. Found family is huge part of this story and I thought the Bouchards, Brandon’s parents, were fantastic characters and you could feel the parental love coming off the pages. There is a lot of hockey in this book, which was great, and it also would have been nice to have a bit more time with the romantic elements and really see Brandon and Ryan as a couple. This is a nice solid Hockey Romance with a good HEA. 4/5 stars

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