Winter Ball (Winter Ball #1) [Skipper & Richie] by Amy Lane

I liked both Skipper and Richie and they surely deserved to find their HEA with each other, but somehow I wish this story would have been MORE than it actually was. The side characters (besides Clay) were very flat and predictable and the sex, IMO, took too much space in the book/romance. 

Skipper and Richie have been best friends for the past 6 years but they were mostly soccer buddies to be truthfully. For Skipper (our sole POV) he's actually the only real friend he has, though he does tighten his friendship with his work pal Clay throughout the book. He doesn't have a family so for him, the interaction of the team is the best he can have. He yearns for a true relationship but these never worked out before no matter how much he wanted them to work. 



One night Skipper and Richie share a bit more than just a kiss in Skipper's car and what follows is them trying to build something together, experiencing for the first time true arousal and scorching attraction. They care for each other, it's nothing new, they're just taking the relationship to the next level, though both are worried at how it would work outside of Skipper's house. 

Thing is Skipper is afraid the team with throw them out and Richie has enough problems with his family to worry that being gay isn't something they would simply accept about him. But as their relationship deepens they both feel that giving up on one another isn't an option even when Richie has to deal with major family crisis. 

It was a nice story. There was something sweet and tender about these two, how much they already cared about one another, and the wonder of their sexual attraction made them realize they can have everything they wanted - in each other. They are enough for one another. As the other half, as a new family. But that being said, the sex took A LOT of space in the story and though it makes sense, in a book that is not that long it also means it shadows other things. I wanted to see and understand more about each character, about their jobs, and lives in general, maybe more about the team that means a lot to both of them yet we didn't really get a lot of their mutual time together off the field. I think it would have given a better feel to both Richie and Skipper as well as Jefferson, one of the MCs in "Summer Lessons" - the next book.

Uncomplicated on the one hand (concerning the MCs falling for one another) and yet a bit angsty when it comes to Richie's family situation. In general a sweet story but not developed enough for me. 

Rating: ★★★½

E-Book Edition

197 pages

Read on: 28-29 Aug 2017