Power Play by Avon Gale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Avon Gale’s signature humor once again shines in POWER PLAY, the third novel in her bisexual M/M romance, Scoring Chances hockey series. The tone of the novel is ultimately uplifting, and the romance is an empowering confluence of eroticism, tenderness, and joy. Yet, the novel isn’t without hurt and heartbreak.
Main characters, Misha and Max, have been hired respectively as the coach and assistant coach of the Spartansburg Spitfires, the worse team in the ECHL, and are intensely attracted to each other. However, Misha feels responsible for the accident in a championship game five years ago that ended Max’s pro hockey career and effectively ended Misha’s career as a player as well. The broody Russian is not only harboring guilt about the accident but shame and sadness about the past he escaped from by immigrating to America and playing professional hockey.
Surprisingly, Max doesn’t blame Misha for the accident and the injury that cost him his career. In fact, Max is brimming with optimism when he joins the coaching staff. So, when Misha and Max find out that their manager hired them as a publicity stunt for the failing team, Misha and Max present a united front, determined to turn the Spitfires into a winning team. But first they have to inspire and motivate their passionate goalie Isaac Drake, whose secret past threatens not only Drake’s career but the team’s success.
Despite the complications in their relationship, I didn’t feel it was in danger, because Max is such an optimist. Max embraces his latent bisexuality and is eager to express his sexuality with Misha in a way that’s sexy fun, positive, and meaningful. He sees the sadness in Misha’s eyes and wants him to be happy, but Misha’s past, guilt, and shame have been holding Misha back from being himself and moving forward in his life.
I don’t want to give away the ending, but I have to say that the scene on the ice between Misha and Max was most beautiful. I totally approve of Max’s Russian language fetish and Misha’s penchant for top shelf vodka. And I loved how Misha and Drake found strength and support in sharing their stories. This novel addresses real and relevant issues in the LGBT community, including bi-erasure, and emphasizes the importance of self-love, compassion, and hope for those who have been hurt by bigotry-of getting up after falling down.
Like the previous books in the series, POWER PLAY shows gay and bisexual men being heroes in each other’s lives, on and off the ice. I very much look forward to reading Isaac Drake’s story in Scoring Chances #4.
*ARC received from Dreamspinner Press in exchange for an honest review.
