Rating: 4
Steam: 3
PoV: dual, 3rd person
Series: Portland Evergreens #4
Genre: sport romance, MM
Trope / tags: age gap, love after loss, slow burn
If he’d thought his crush was bad, back when Gavin had been his coach, it was nothing compared to how it felt now, taking up so much inside him Zach thought he might choke on it.
The series had been building up to this one and I really enjoyed Zach and Gavin’s story!
I loved the connection between Zach and Gavin, and their romance was a slow, slow burn with a ton of tension. They quickly became close while working together and things slowly built from there, with late night phone calls and some flirting. There was a lot of push and pull, as Gavin wasn’t sure he was ready to move on, but he also couldn’t hide his attraction to Zach.
Gavin being hot and cold with Zach was a bit frustrating, but considering the circumstances it was easy to understand his reasons and fears. It made my heart ache to see Zach pining, going back and forth from being hopeful to devastated. Ultimately I liked them together, and their HEA was very sweet. There were overall a lot of emotions in their story, along with tenderness and hurt / comfort.
Luckily Zach had Hayes, and their friendship was utterly precious. They were both pining for men they couldn’t have, and they found a lot of comfort and support in each other. I’m thrilled that we’re getting Hayes and Morgan’s story, and I’ll keep my finger’s crossed for Ramsey’s somewhere in the future as well. He was such an interesting character and I loved to see his observations and insights during his conversations with Zach.
Breaking the Ice was a highly anticipated read for me and I’m very happy with how it turned out! Zach and Gavin had a lot of chemistry and I loved the slow build between them. It was interesting to get some background to the previous books, and the found family and banter within the team was fantastic as usual. It was definitely worth the wait, and the intense pining and slow burn was perfect for these two!
“Like you like this,” Zach murmured against his lips. “Pliant. Horny. All mine.”
Book links:
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