Him by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Title: Him

Author: Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Publisher: Self-Published

Release Date: July 28, 2015

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / B&N / Indigo

They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waiting a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend…and a big one to learn about himself. 

I love sports romance something fierce, especially the NA variety. And I love a good m/m romance. When I heard that two authors whose romance books I love were writing an m/m sports NA? I was all over that. It should go without saying that I absolutely adored Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy’s Him.

Four years ago, Ryan Wesley pushed the boundaries of his relationship with his best friend. On their last night at hockey camp, things got heated and one night changed their friendship completely. After that night, Wes cut Jamie off completely. Fast forward four years and Jamie and Wes are about to face off in the college hockey championship. When they see each other for the first time since that last night of camp, things quickly go back to the way they were before. But when Wes shows up at camp to join Jamie on the coaching staff, things are going to be heating up in ways neither one of them ever expected. Both Wes and Jamie have discoveries to make about each other. But more importantly, about themselves.

2015 has apparently been the year where I read all the awesome m/m romances. To be completely honest, they’re not really something I’d really read before this year. It’s not that I was opposed to them, there just weren’t really any on my radar. But I seem to be on a roll with the m/m romance this year, and the latest in that streak is Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy’s Him. Elle Kennedy and Sarina Bowen are two romance authors whose individual books I have loved (I’ve gushed plenty about Elle’s Off-Campus series, and gushing about Sarina’s Ivy Years series is coming soon) so when they announced they were writing a romance about gay hockey players, I was beyond excited. And when Him landed on my Kindle, I pretty much dropped everything and started reading it right away. And I read it all in less than a day. Because once I started, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. This story was fun. It was touching. It was sweet. At times it was downright hilarious. And at others it was heartbreaking. But I loved every single page of it. Him is absolutely one of my favourite books I’ve read this year and is quite possibly one of the sweetest and most touching romances I’ve ever read. It was just THAT GOOD. And I fully plan to talk people’s ears off about it and recommend it to everyone I know. Because anyone who loves romance is pretty much guaranteed to love Him. At least that’s my opinion on the subject.

One of the reasons I loved Him so much is because I pretty much adored Wes and Jamie. I don’t really know how to put either one of them into words other than to say I loved them. But I’ll try even if  I won’t even come close to doing them justice. One of my favourite things about Wes and Jamie were that they had a history. They’d known each other since they were thirteen years old and you could just tell. They were so comfortable around each other and it made their relationship feel real and genuine. The back and forth between them was always so fun and the more quiet moments could be incredibly touching. Wes and Jamie just worked together even though they were pretty different. Sure they both played hockey, but where Jamie was the definition of laidback, Wes was always on the go, likely getting himself in trouble. I loved how easygoing Jamie was, how he was always willing to go with along with whatever potentially crazy idea Wes had. And so often my heart broke for Wes, because he felt like he had to hide his feelings. I just wanted to give him a hug. So I loved Jamie. And I loved Wes. And most of all, I loved Jamie and Wes together. 

If you are a fun of either Sarina Bowen’s or Elle Kennedy’s books, I can guarantee you will love Him. The story was sweet, it was hilarious, it was touching, it was everything I could have ever wanted it to be. Him is the kind of book that reminds me why I love romance stories as much as I do.