Goalie Interference by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn was enemies to lovers goodness! It’s not always a favorite trope of mine, but they nailed it out of the park. Ryu Mori was coming off a great past season and expecting to be the starting goalie, but the team management has different plans when they bring in Emmitt Armstrong. There was so much to love about this second installment; let’s get to it.

Highlights:

-DIVERSITY. Emmitt is African American, and Ryu is Japanese American. I don’t think I’ve ever read an M/M romance where both main characters were POC. In this day and age, that’s fucken sad. I was a little emotional when I stopped and thought about that. Heartfelt thank you to both authors.

-Opposites Attract.

-Bisexual rep.

-Flawless pace.

-Dual POVs.

-UST. There was some serious sexual frustration built up between these two.

-Relationship growth. I love the progression from enemies to “friends” with benefits, to more.

-It was nice to catch up with Seb and Tristan from Off the Ice.

-The end was HFN. Honestly, I expected it given their situation. I admit I had anxiety building up to the conflict- I had no idea how their situation would resolve itself. I was okay with the outcome.

++Can this be read as a standalone? Absolutely, but the first book, Off the Ice– is pretty awesome, so don’t miss out.

I’m digging this writing duo. Sports, steam, diversity, and romance- I’m here for all of it!

4.5 Stars

These two were so hot they could melt the ice they play on! Wow. I'm a sucker for a good mm, I love sports romances, and enemies to lovers, when done right, I could read all day.

Ryu and Emmitt are fighting for the same spot, and they seem to be total opposites. Ryu is serious, quieter, reserved. Emmitt seems cocky, confident, kind of a brat on purpose. But they have a lot in common with their history and family, and once they collide- ooh boy it's like sparks. It's one of those that start with the heat and build to the sweet, and I loved it. I couldn't get enough and I can't wait for the next book in this series, I'm so into it all.

A Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words Review
Rating: 4.5  stars out of 5

It’s goalie vs. goalie in this brand-new enemies-to-lovers hockey romance from Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn…

Ryu Mori has had a stellar season as goalie for the Atlanta Venom. So when he’s called into management’s office, he’s expecting to hear he’s the new starting goalie for the team, not that some new guy—an incredibly hot, annoyingly bratty rookie—is here to compete for his spot.

Not everyone gets to play in the best league in the world. Emmitt Armstrong knows that, and he’s not about to waste the opportunity after grinding his way from the bottom to the top. If the Venom is looking for a meek, mild-mannered pushover, they’ve got the wrong guy.

Ryu doesn’t want to admit the other goalie’s smart mouth turns him on. Beating Armstrong at practice feels good, sure, but there are other, more fun ways to shut his rival up.

In this league, it’s winner takes all. But there’s more to life than winning, and if Emmitt and Ryu can get past their egos and competitive natures, they might just discover they work better as partners than they ever imagined possible.

Goalie Ryu Mori was an intriguing personality in the first novel, Off the Ice, and I couldn't wait to find out all about him and get his story.  I was so thrilled to see the release of Goalie Interference (Hat Trick #2) by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn, which focuses on Ryu Mori and Emmitt Armstrong, both goalies for the Atlanta Venom.  And what becomes a competition to become the starter for the team and incredibly, all while starting and maintain what neither expects to find, a real relationship.

One of the I find so interesting here is how the authors set the men up as people with comparative family histories and upbringing, even though from different parts of society,culture, and country.  The dichotomy pulls them together even as it pulls us in to the sparks and popping hot dynamics of their relationship on and off the ice.  The ice of Ryu to the heat of Emmitt and it really works.

I love all the elements and layers to these mens personalities that the authors have worked into their characters. From the personalities and expectations of their parents and their upbringing, to how each man handles their sexuality and being out or coming out to the team.  It's also learning out to adjust to a relationship while accepting the competition to be number one goalie, a huge element here.

I loved every aspect of this story.  The romance, the team dynamics, the men and their families, and the competition for lead goalie.  Just amazing.  Another bonus? Being able to see the couple from the first story, teammate Tristan Holt and Professor Sebastian Cruz from another viewpoint.  Very funny.

The games were exciting, the playing just like being there watching them on the ice. Fast, furious, and magical!

How I love this series.

I can't wait for the next story to arrive.  Love hockey, and romance?  Even if hockey isn't your thing, this series will be.  Grab up both books and dive into  a sport romance you will  love to read.

Cover art is perfect.  The graphic and action is everything.  Love it.

4.5 Stars
An awesome enemies to lovers hockey romance that literally could melt the ice rinks they skated on. Two men doing the same job couldn't be more different. Ryu is the seasoned goalie that has reigned with his team the Venoms. Emmitt is the newbie goalie backup brought in from the minors. Where Ryu is cautious and deliberate, Emmitt is wild and fierce. They both are strong men with polar opposite personalities. As the men compete a friendship sneaks up on them. I enjoyed both of the MC's but found the subtle changes of the aloof Ryu the most endearing. The two made a very convincing pair and their chemistry was epic. As challenges and demands from their beloved sport increase can the men hold onto their fledgling relationship? I absolutely recommend this fun and intensely romantic book.

Rating 3,5.

I loved Off the Ice so I had really high expectations about Goalie Interference, and it kills me to say that those expectations weren't fully met. Don't get me wrong, the writting was flawless and the plot was good but I guess I wanted more.

The diversity is the strength of the book. It was so refreshing and well done.
Emmitt was a such a good MC. Cocky, loving, open. I identified with Ryu and felt for him but at the end of the day his internal monologues dragged the whole thing down for me. Coming from the previous book I expected more steam. And, while realistic, the ending was disappointing.

I really hope the next book is about Morley, he deserves it. And that we get to see more of Emmitt and Ryu's relationship.

An incredibly interesting, exciting, hot and sexy story featuring two goalies—both playing for the same team. Competition? Yes, loads. Sexual attraction? Just as much. From the moment I picked this up and started to read, I couldn’t put it down. The excitement and tension surrounding not only the relationship between the goalies, but also the hockey games and potential to go all the way to the Stanley Cup, kept me riveted.

Both MCs are men of color in a traditionally white player’s sport. Not that pro sports isn’t changing, but for now it’s best to keep their sexuality to themselves. Both men show support for young persons of color to pursue their dreams in professional sports, with a special emphasis on their support for hockey.

Ryu Mori grew up with Japanese traditions as the son of a surgeon—his mother—and a skating coach—his father, who is also a former Olympic Medalist figure skater. From the moment he first tried hockey, he knew it would be his life. And though his parents didn’t actively encourage him in the sport, they did encourage him to be perfect at whatever he does. Emmitt Armstrong grew up as the son of a former pro football player who wanted him to follow in his footsteps and never acknowledged his preferred professional career in hockey. His only interest is football—for himself and for Emmitt. Divorced, both parents now live in different states, and Emmitt chose to live in the Chicago area with his mother, who supports his career wholeheartedly, cheering him on every chance she gets. But without his father’s approval… Let’s just say that one good word from that man would work wonders for Emmitt’s pride.

The two goalies are set against each other to compete for starting position when Emmitt is traded into the NHL Atlanta Venom team from the Marauder’s AHL team. Emmitt wants the starting spot, so from the moment he meets the stoic, quiet, focused Ryu Mori, he dislikes him and actively tries to get the starter position away from him. But opposites attract, and it becomes evident they want each other, so when the chance arises, they decide to give in to sexual attraction but go no further. Like that’s going to work, right? Of course, they become more than just sex buddies, and when the managers decide to use them in tandem during the course of the season, they allow their relationship to grow.

And then playoffs start and they are once again pitted against each other and the relationship suffers. This story is so exciting. I don’t want to give anything else away. The guys are amazing. The secondary characters are fantastic. The sport is awesome and the excitement the authors build is downright stressful. I highly recommend this story and the first, Off the Ice. Thank goodness, there will be one more in the series. I can’t wait. Oh, and by the way, though second in the series, this can easily be read as a stand-alone.

This was such a good read, I love how cheeky and straight up annoying Army is and Ryu's stoic nature made Army winning his affections so much sweeter.
Their relationship, while steamy from almost the beginning, developed slowly and sweetly. I love that they fell for each other despite being each others biggest competition. Their interactions were so sweet and genuine. and I adored the banter.

As always, a hockey romance by Avon Gale can do no wrong.

Emmitt Armstrong worked darn hard to make it to the NHL. He’s dedicated his whole life to hockey, being the best goal tender he can possibly be. When he meets Ryu Mori it’s hate at first sight. When he finds out he will be sharing his job with the cold, detached, insufferable man he is not happy. Ryu thought his job was safe, then he was told he had to share. Share? With the rude, loud, obnoxious pain in the butt rookie, he was devastated.

Their ultimate goal was always The Stanley Cup. To get it they would have to work in tandem, for the team and for themselves. Their journey would change both lives.

Goalies are my weakness when it comes to hockey romance. That this one had two was amazing. I loved the give and take between Army and Mori on the ice, and the developing love between Emmitt and Ryu off the ice. The collaboration by these authors has brought me another wonderful hockey romance to love and reread.

This second book in this series was a pretty good read. Emmett and Ryu were a well matched pair in this friends to lovers themed book as they competed for the starting goalie spot on the Atlanta Venom's team. Their story can be read as a stand alone despite it being the second book of the series and overall their story moved along well but there were places where I thought it was lacking. I understand the issues with both characters having professional athletes as parents but I felt that the issues that Ryu had with his parents were pushed aside and forgotten while Emmett's issues with his father were big at first but then were brushed aside until the end. The chemistry between the pair was palpable and they were a well matched pair in that they were proved that opposites could attract and they continued to challenge each other throughout the book. I did feel that the ending was a little rushed as it felt that their conflict had just come to a head and then in the next minute it was resolved. Overall, this was a good read and I would recommend it to others.

For me, a good enemies-to-lovers romance has layers of dislike wrapped in scintillating sex that leads to the inevitable "maybe there's more to this MC than I thought." Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn's Goalie Interference brought all the goods.

Emmitt is a new member of the Venom, his first NHL team. The problem? He's working in tandem as goalie, when he wants to be starter. Enter Ryu, the team's current goalie who assumed he had the starting position in the bag. Only he's in the running against the cocky rookie Emmitt, and Ryu isn't feeling it...

At first. But the challenge Emmitt brings as well as his bratty mouth has Ryu itching to give Emmitt another way to stay busy.

The dynamic between these two was perfect for a rivalry. They're both gunning for the same spot, but they also have a lot in common, both vying for their parents' attention and approval, only in different ways. Ryu's parents are happy for his career, but they want the best, and not being starter for his NHL team means he isn't the best.

Emmitt has done a lot to get accolades and praise from his father, but hockey isn't football and frustration has him more determined than ever to get the starting spot. They both have an intensity to them, only Emmitt has the goofball spot down, while Ryu brings the seriousness and sobriety to the pair. They were fun to watch play off the other--both on and off the ice.

I also love the cultural rep here. Ryu is Japanese American and Emmitt is black, and I really appreciated how the authors dug into the whiteness of hockey overall and brought to light misconceptions and cultural and societal expectations. It was really well done.

The side character and blood brother atmosphere was icing for me. I'm excited to see more of Morley, in particular. He was a hoot! I'm excited to see what's next in the Hat Trick series.

4 stars!

Overall this was a quick and entertaining read. However I felt that the characters lacked heart. There was not much in the way of individual development before their romance kicked off. Because of this the scope of the story felt a little flat.

Curse you my insatiable thirst for Hockey Romance! Why do you always make me so hopeful only for me to end up slightly disappointed?

I had mixed feelings about the first book in this series, but I thought that was mostly the teacher/student aspect of it, so I really wanted to give Avon Gale another shot. Because Hockey!!! Hockey Romance!!! GOALIE ENEMIES TO LOVERS!!
And I did like some of the earlier books of Avon Gale a lot, so was definitely hoping that the disappointed feeling I had with the first book would be a one-time thing.

Alas, it wasn't so.

Part of it was a style thing. I didn't really connect to the writing voice in this at all. It all kind of felt overly explanatory and repetitive. I'm definitely not an expert, but I've been a hockey fan for a long time now, have watched hours of post-game interviews and I'm sorry, but this isn't how hockey people talk. So much of the dialogue felt overly obvious and too... clean. Even when they were thinking about dicks and fucking, the writing still felt weirdly detached and too polished.

I was really into the conflict and set-up of the story, two goalies competing for the same starting position. And when this conflict rose up, I got really into the story. I even cried at some point. However, because they're both goalies, the issues and conflicts overlap a lot, and that didn't help the repetitiveness. On the other hand, I did appreciate how differently they dealt with the issues between them, since they were two very different people personality wise.

In fact, I really liked both Ryu and Emmitt as characters, loved their quirks and personalities, loved their drive and the relationships with their friends. I even really liked the enmity and tension between them at the start of the story and how that developed into a sort of enemies with benefits situation. Alas, the actual romance kind of seemed to happen off-page. Or at least I wanted more of it.

The ending felt a little rushed too, and again I felt like I wanted more. Normally that's a good thing, when a book grabs me so much I want more and more of it after it's finished, but this time I mostly felt unsatisfied.

All in all, there's a bunch of stuff in the good column and a bunch of stuff in the not good column and I'd probably give this 2.5 stars. But there was one personal squick I really didn't like: (view spoiler) , so I'm rounding it down.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I'm always iffy on enemies to lovers stories, but this was very well done. There was no insta-love or lust, the build up to the relationship was fairly realistic and the way things played out when there was hardship seemed plausible. All in all an enjoyable read. I haven't read the first book in the series, but it's not at all necessary.

Superb second book in the series by Piper Vaughn and Avon Gale. This is Ryu story. He was on the first book and it's really nice to see him come to life in this book. It was a bit disappointing to find out that Emmitt was Black all the way to chapter 5, a little bit sooner would I been nice. On a plus side, I absolutely loved the way the story between them develops at an even pace. It wasn't just about the sex. We get to see them go from enemies to lovers. We learned a lot about Hockey play in the process. This was an amazing M/M read. Bring on book 3.
I voluntarily reviewed this ARC on my own voluption and the opinions expressed here are all mine.

The second novel in Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn’s Hat Trick series Goalie Interference is an enemies-to-lovers story about rival goalies, Ryu Mori, and Emmitt Armstrong competing for the starting spot. Both characters were both likable and believable. I cared about them and their stories.

Being on vacation makes reading harder so it took a bit for me to finish this. Although that wasn't the only reason.

Unlike the first book, this one didn't drew me in like Sebastian and Tristan did. Maybe it was the whole Prof/Student and power exchange theme of the first book or the expectations I had for Ryu based on what he had said on Off the Ice.

I loved that the story had 2 people of color, Emmitt being African-American and Ryu being Japanese-American, that it was dual POV, about their feelings and thoughts about them fighting for the goalie starting position and progressing to teammates and accepting and even liking playing in tandem.

But that's just it! I know more about them as goalies than them as a couple. I know they had epic fucks and Emmitt was being drilled through the mattress but I didn't see it! They faded to black and I wanted to read and see the intensity they had as enemies-to-lovers and competitors for the starting position in the bedroom and not just a couple BJs and HJs! I wanted to see them together forging their relationship and not snippets here and there through internal monologues.

All in all I was wavering between 3 and 3.5 stars but in the end there were more scenes between Emmitt and Morley talking than of Ryu and Emmitt.

Still I can't wait for Trade Deadline and I'm curious of who is it about since I'd love to read Morley's and Bellamy's stories... or 1 story if they are paired up or something.

** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

Technically second in the series, but it can definitely be read as a stand alone. Two hockey players competing for the starting spot is going to be a disaster right? Except the mutual attraction proves to be too much for both and friends with benefits begins. I loved how two people who are so very different can become so important to each other and eventually fall in love even though they are still competing against each other. The additional aspects of two people of color playing a sport known for being so white being addressed head on but not as the focus of the story was also a delight. The authors managed to create two characters who represent the less focused on parts of the sports stars. Add in showcasing their lives and families outside of sports created a powerful narrative that was a joy to read.

* 3.5/5 *
Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais je suis complètement fascinée par les joueurs de hockey, c'est vraiment un sport qui me fait rêver. Du coup, j'ai un gros faible pour les romances avec des hockeyeurs, et si c'est du M/M, eh bien c'est encore mieux !

Ici, en plus du hockey, on a un autre trope qui me plaît bien, à savoir le 'ennemies-to-lovers', qui est en fait plutôt ici du 'frenemies-to-lovers'. En effet, Ryu & Emmitt sont tous les deux goals dans l'équipe de Venom (en NHL, soit l'élite du hockey nord-américain). Les dirigeants & entraîneurs de l'équipe n'ont pas nommé de titulaires, du coup, les deux héros se retrouvent en concurrence pour obtenir le poste convoité de gardien en titre. Si Ryu n'en est pas à sa première année de NHL, Emmit évoluait jusqu'ici dans la ligue inférieure, c'est donc un grosse promotion pour lui, et le rêve de toute une vie ! Si dans les premiers temps, leurs rapports sont tendus, Emmit & Ryu vont nouer une certaine amitié, jusqu'à ce que celle soit ... et plus si affinités. ^^ J'aurais voulu que les tensions entre eux durent plus longtemps, je suis restée sur ma faim en ce qui concerne cette promesse que me faisait miroiter le résumé.

Les auteurs ont mis en scène des personnages 'de couleur', et abordent ainsi la question de la représentativité des Afro-Américains et Asiatiques dans une NHL très très blanche. C'est un aspect du récit que j'ai trouvé intéressant. La question de la culture et de l'origine est aussi très marquée pour Ryu, qui subit la pression de ses parents, pour qui les émotions ne doivent pas être montrées et dites, et l'excellence doit être atteinte.

La romance est mignonne et sexy, mais c'est très compliqué pour eux d'être à la fois amants et concurrents ... Ce qui fait que je suis moyennement convaincue sur leurs chances à plus long terme, mais enfin bon, on a quand même un HFN !

Petit point bonus pour un personnage secondaire : Morley, qui m'aura fait beaucoup rire, même si je trouve que c'est un copier/coller complet de Blake, personnage secondaire inoubliable Him & Us, la géniale série de Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy).

Une sympathique romance dans l'ensemble donc !

This M/M sports romance features two goalies on the same professional hockey team competing for the starting position. When their initial enmity turns to attraction, both Ryu and Emmitt are surprised, but as the season progresses, both their professional and personal lives come together and they realize everything is better together. Although the second entry in the Hat Trick series, this can be read as a stand-alone. I am definitely looking forward to the last book in the series.

Goalie Interference was actually better than I expected, though I'd still say it's more like 3.5 stars than four. Gale and Vaughn are good writers and they actually depict games, so that's a big plus. Ryu Mori plays as the goalie for the Atlanta Venom. The team hires another goalie, Emmitt Armstrong, and these guys have to fight for the spot in the limelight. First they hate each other and this tandem thing until they start to grave for one another and soon they are friends with benefits. Then that turns into something more. So, quite simple in a sense, but effectively done. Ryu's character works and he's very interesting and I liked that he's the solid one of the two. Emmitt is harder to grasp and somehow he didn't feel like a black character for me. Of course the topic of them being of different race was touched, but too lightly for me.

I just wish stories like this took more time to develop the hate into love. Ryu and Emmitt hit it off too soon and it's always weird when sex is the only thing guys ever think (and blowjobs). I do enjoy the lovely dovely approach, but at that point the most interesting part is already behind. There's drama in the book too, but gladly not about getting caught or something alike, but actually something games-wise. I always want to read about sports and happily the book has more of it than just training. Thus I'd say this is one of the better stories if you're into sports and guys loving other guys.