A second chance M/M romance set in the world of professional hockey, Ari Baran continues this series with undeniable chemistry between Aiden and Matt, but also with numerous problems and issues that need to be overcome. I liked that it delved into how devastating retirement can be for talented athletes who are unsure how to proceed afterward. This is a love story for the ages.

This series just keeps getting better and better. I loved Aiden and Matt and their second-chance romance so much. It was beautifully written! Their journey is not an easy ride. They both make mistakes and there are realistic struggles they each have to overcome, which is part of why I loved it. Just being in love doesn’t magically fix everything and they both have to make choices to work on their relationship, and on themselves, to forge their happy ending.

It was also a really fascinating look at retirement in the sporting world and how to approach the struggle of redefining your life in your thirties.

The whole cast of characters were wonderful and so fleshed out. One of the things I love most about Ari’s books is how large the universe of these books feels. The stories all subtly interconnect and it’s so much fun spotting characters from previous books when they make cameo appearances.

If you love sports romances and second chance love stories then you’ll absolutely love this book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Finding the love of your life in a teammate in your 20s when you’re both playing professional hockey in NYC of course didn’t have a happy ending for Matt and Aiden. Meeting Matt in a bar 10 years later, freshly retired and without any plan for his future wasn’t what Aiden planned on. But the feelings aren’t gone even a little bit, so after a passionate night together, finding Aiden depressed and without any direction for the rest of his life Matt decides to take him in. I think these two found each other again at the perfect time and while this was super angsty, it was also a really beautiful story about two guys I absolutely rooted for individually and together!

I generally enjoy this Authors work and book 1 & 2 of this series,I particularly enjoyed.
Although the authors lovely writing style still shines through in this one, the overall story and characters didn’t quite seem to grab me and therefore feeling like this was a somewhat uneventful story.

I do hold out hope that whatever Ari Baran has in store for us next will be another hit.

I enjoyed the story that unfolded through Ari Baran's Goaltender Interference. Second-chance romances are always an interesting premise for me because it demands a lot of skill as an author. Many rely on telling the reader about the former relationship and then lean too heavily on the telling rather than showing the development and reparation of the aforementioned second chance. While it didn't top my list for the most skillful development, it was still well done and I was not left feeling the relationship was hollow. The character's reconnection was unlike any approach I've read before; they have such a volatile and impulsive need for one another despite their past pain. I found the depression representation to be well done, especially the aspect of "when therapy doesn't work." Many times I've seen the mental illness go very smoothly towards the outcome of remission, and Baran shows another side that we experience but don't see often in books. My main hangup that kept me from rating this story higher, was the resolution of Aiden's mental health and ultimately his relationship with Matt. There was little progress and that was repeatedly acknowledged, however, one confrontation from a side character - who repeatedly crossed boundaries - in an attempt at tough love suddenly was the catalyst for change. I would have preferred to see the confrontation of the self or even from one of Aiden's loved ones, who repeatedly reached out and supported him, be that catalyst. For me, that would have been more meaningful.

"I remember being pleasantly surprised by Delay of Game when I read it a few years ago and wanting to read more from Ari Baran, though I skipped Game Misconduct after reading some reviews and determining the bully romance angle would not be for me (though I loved seeing that couple in Delay of Game). Here we follow Aiden Campbell, who has just retired from his job as the New York Liberty starting goaltender. He's not handling retirement well and when his rookie (and new Liberty starting goaltender) forces him to go out one night, he runs into Matt Safaryan, captain of the Montréal Royal and Aiden's ex. The reader quickly realizes that the breakup was messy and despite being a decade ago has still left its mark on both men. This run in leads to Aiden and Matt reconnecting and we follow that journey. One thing I love that Ari Baran does is give us a really deep character connection. Aiden and Matt are both messy main characters and they make mistakes but they feel authentic even if they can be frustrating. I also love that Baran writes diversity into a sport that is still very straight and white. All of these books follow M/M relationships but Aiden's mom immigrated from South Asia and that detail is baked into who he is as a person rather than just a token diversity element. This also really digs into the concept of ""after"" for professional athletes. Aiden retires at the start fo the book and Matt is in the final year of his contract and they're both struggling to learn what a life without hockey could be and I thought that was really well done. I think I struggled with some of the second chance elements of this because for one, it's not my favorite trope, and for two I didn't love the pacing and the way the previous relationship was explained throughout this story. I also struggled with the fact that some key plot elements would have been resolved if they just talked to one another. As previously mentioned, I think those pieces made sense given where the characters were at but from a pure enjoyment level, I am a hard sell on plots that hinge on miscommunication. I enjoyed this though and I will likely go back and read Home Ice Advantage and any future works they write in this series."

I love that the MCs are older and that the book deals with real/deep emotional issues. The development of the relationship is sweet and I love the depth of the side characters too.

Heat Factor: They start in chapter one and really don’t quit

Character Chemistry: We communicate with our bodies

Plot: Aiden is in the midst of a depressive episode after retiring, bumps into his ex, and rekindles the old flame without addressing any problems. What could possibly go wrong?

Overall: Gabe is the hero of this book, and I have very big feelings about everything else

Uff da. Okay. This book probably falls into the “too close to home” category for me, so I realized while I was reading that while I could understand what was happening and why, I was alternately frustrated by or disappointed in everyone in the book…frequently. Except Gabe. Gabe is an angel and I love him.

The basic premise is that Aiden, a professional goaltender, realized he kind of had to retire due to injuries and getting slow, but his entire life was hockey, so when his team is knocked out of the playoffs he has absolutely nothing to do. His baby goalie, Gabe (squish those cheeks!), drags him out one night, and he runs into his ex—the ex who proposed a decade ago, but for whom he refused to come out or otherwise jeopardize his career—and he spirals. The ex, Matt, appears at his door, and they just bang it out every day until Matt’s vacation is over and he goes home to Montreal. While talking was not a thing that happened during the banging, with separation text chatting becomes a safe option, and Matt invites Aiden to stay in Montreal for the summer so he’s not just spinning his wheels depressed at home. Aiden moves to Montreal, and… Basically neither of these guys deals with any of their BS. But they are almost 40 now, so they’re less young and dumb, at least.

So, this is where it gets tricky. Even though both Aiden and Matt are POV characters, this is really Aiden’s story. Aiden is the one dealing with the depressive episode and is also the one who limits what’s up for discussion. There are a few times that Matt tries to talk things out, and Aiden just shuts down. Matt has some stuff to deal with, like his feelings about the end of their relationship back when and his own looming retirement, but without Aiden addressing his inability to find a raison d’être in his own life, there’s not a lot of room for them to move forward together.

Okay, so, Aiden. What about Aiden?

I’ve said he’s having a depressive episode (at a minimum—he could have clinical depression, but we’re only looking at a snapshot in time). My evidence for that is as follows:

- He shuts out his friends and refuses to leave his house unless he’s kindly bullied into it by Gabe, his Captain, the head WAG in Montreal, etc.
- He experiences anxiety about changes to his Routine (caps his) after his retirement.*
- He routinely has thoughts about his lack of worth and that he’s going to drag Matt down.
- He also routinely feels extreme guilt about what happened with Matt when they ended their relationship ten years prior.
- He engages in avoidant behaviors, especially where his most challenging feelings are concerned.
- Any thinking about what to do with his life without hockey starts a doom spiral.
- He relies on rigorous routines to get through his day, but he derives no satisfaction from the routine.
- He’s constantly tired, doesn’t sleep well, and looks worn down.
- He stops taking care of his hair and beard.

Even Matt, shortly after Aiden moves in with him, recognizes this clearly:

"Matt couldn’t explain to Jammer that he had thrown caution to the wind, invited his ex to stay with him for the summer and had promptly realized two things: his ex was fucking depressed and also, that Matt was still as stupidly in love with him as he had ever been."

In addition to all this, Aiden is autistic-coded, and here’s my supporting evidence for that:

- Aiden struggles with social interactions. He’s frequently described as awkward around others, and later in the book his mother tells him that he wouldn’t play with other kids, except when he started playing hockey.
- Except that the hockey was actually parallel play, because his coach had to explain to him that his team would defend him better if he made an effort to befriend them, so he learned “cheat codes” to have conversations with them.
- He’s perfectly happy to eat the exact same thing every day, and the only reason he doesn’t is that he’s cooking for Matt, too. His mother later mentions that when he was a child he was extremely particular about what food he ate and how it was prepared.
- During hockey, he was completely absorbed by his daily Routine, and without hockey, he struggles with changes to the Routine, resulting in anxiety, stress, and irritability.*
- He doesn’t like to make or maintain eye contact.
- He engages in repetitive actions to calm himself, specifically cleaning and organizing Matt’s condo.
- His mother mentions that when he was a child he would organize and stack his blocks as his way of playing with them.
- His hyperfixation is hockey. For decades.
- Oh, and, depression is frequently co-diagnosed with autism.

Aiden being (possibly) autistic has nothing to do with anything, except that it probably makes the depression harder to treat, because in addition to the challenge of this particular transition in his life, he should probably unpack how constant masking has affected him. But mostly it would be harder because cognitive behavioral therapy has to be modified for autistic individuals so it doesn’t increase masking (since it’s focused on changing behaviors), and also because autistic individuals can be uniquely sensitive to brain medications. I mean, and also it’s just part of who he is, and anyone who values him should probably understand and value those aspects of him, too.

Okay, also. We frequently say [diagnosis] is a reason, it’s not an excuse. I won’t say Matt, Aiden, and everyone else should recognize all of Aiden’s autism indicators because unless they have reason to know, people (especially people Matt’s and Aiden’s and their parents’ ages) are really bad at recognizing low-support needs, high-masking autism. There’s a moment when Aiden asks his mom why she didn’t do anything for him when he was little, and that hit me square in the chest.

"Neither Mom or Dad had ever made him feel weird or different as a kid. They’d never taken him to a doctor. They’d just let him put his head down and focus on goaltending with the kind of single-minded drive that had taken him to a probable Hall of Fame career. But they’d always known… “Mom, why didn’t you do anything about this? About me?”

"She looked, for the first time, a little guilty. “What would we have done about you? You always seemed happy, or whatever happy meant for you, and you were so successful, we never wanted to upset things. I wonder now whether we shouldn’t have… but you’re almost middle-aged now, and it’s far beyond second-guessing that.”"

So, that is what it is. BUT THE DEPRESSION! EVERYONE SEES. NO ONE DOES ANYTHING ABOUT IT.

By the time I started having really big feelings during this read, I was fully invested in this book. I love Ari Baran’s writing. I was completely sucked in, and I always consider books that make me feel things to be successful stories, even if the feelings are uncomfortable, because I’m feeling things.

But this whole Aiden’s depression thing. I was so disappointed in everyone. Except Gabe. Gabe is golden. Like. We’re at 25% through the book when Matt specifically says Aiden’s depressed (that first blockquote). Hello, maybe that’s something to address. Aiden does start going to therapy in Montreal. He exercises for at least an hour almost every day, so his serotonin levels do have a chance to increase naturally, but it’s very clearly not enough. Six months later, and he’s still curled up in a ball in Matt’s bed with no improved outlook for his life. Like. WTF are the people in his life doing?

And here’s where I close the loop (finally) on the whole it’s tricky thing, because Aiden knows he needs help. That’s why he starts going to therapy. That’s where the reason not excuse things comes in. But it is really difficult for people in these situations to see clearly just how much their brains are being assholes, and that is why I would expect Matt, as Aiden’s partner, to maybe possibly bring up the need for, IDK, seeking out another therapist who might actually help him? Seeking out medication to see if that helps? Asking about his therapy homework and offering to go through it with him? Literally anything besides letting him float on that raft by himself and letting him avoid his feelings with sex?

But okay, Matt is not a healthcare professional, he’s a hockey player, and I don’t think anyone thinks they (collectively) have super high EQs. SO THEN WHY IS AIDEN’S THERAPIST NOT HELPING HIM WITH THIS? Holding him accountable for his emotional avoidance? Working through why he’s avoiding his therapy homework? Suggesting that his symptoms indicate depression and referring him to a prescribing colleague? Yes, Aiden needs to take ownership of his life and his choices and do the work necessary to make his own life better. Nobody can make him care or do the work for him. But when people are so far down the hole, they need a freaking lifeline.

It shouldn’t have been Gabe’s job to throw the lifeline. But he did, and I love him forever. Gabe is the hero of this story.

(I mean, to be fair to Baran here, Gabe is inhabiting the bestie/parent/perfectly observant stranger who finally says what needs to be said to get our protagonist’s head out of his ass role. Aiden was avoiding opening up to Matt because he was terrified of being vulnerable and that vulnerability not being enough. Is it even a romance if that combination isn’t in the book?)

Anyway. Maybe I’ve already found my thinky thoughts book for the year. I can’t deny that there are legitimate reasons why Matt acted the way he did, including not being the person who ultimately gave Aiden the kick in the pants he needed. I can’t deny that Aiden was not taking responsibility for his own self in a lot (a lot) of ways. I was really frustrated by the way these guys communicated (didn’t communicate) with each other, like, a lot. But at the same time, Baran wrote such a thoroughly considered story about a man in a total funk who couldn’t see his way out of making bad decisions. A story shouldn’t be too easy. A character needs to grow, and we should create space for messy people being messy. And these guys were messy as hell. It was a very compelling read.

But for realsies, give my guy Gabe a HEA, okay?

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

ARC Review
Goaltender Interference by Ari Baran
Penalty Box - Book Four

I think the writing style was absolutely excellent, however some of it was a bit long and drawn out. I know that Aiden is depressed (and I personally have severe depression) but it felt like a very one sided relationship.

It was okay. I got a little tired of Aidan and his depressive self. I know it's very real and happens all the time, but I wanted a little more romance.

A high angst second chance romance. Both these boys are so heartbroken and it it was so nice to see them melt back into eachother over time. Very realistic, no rushing. Well-developed characters. And as a friend of mine stated, you know it’s true love when you know when your partner needs to be choked. Plus, Baran is always spot on with the actual hockey playing.

This book is a moody, thoughtful, clear-eyes exploration of what losing the one thing you know how to do feels like, and what second chances really mean - romantically, and in life. I love Baran's writing.

As someone who empathizes strongly with book characters, this was a tough one to get through. Aiden's depression and identity crisis post-retirement hits hard, especially as he grapples with the lingering guilt and pain of his decade old breakup with Matt. The book starts off with an explosive reunion between Matt and Aiden, and hurtles into a summer of being together. Matt is a great supportive partner who does his best to offer Aiden love, happiness, and security, but Aiden is lost and can't see a way to a happy future. In the midst of a lot of emotional, very well written and realistic angst, there's equal amounts of sweet domestic moments, high heat, and hockey. There are great supporting characters, including Matt's teammates and Aiden's former teammates. The setting is so immersive and definitely made me want to travel to Montreal! If you're looking a book with second chance romance, two men in their late thirties, hockey, and healing - this book is for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and Carina Press for an advance copy of this book.

I’ve really enjoyed this series so far and I’m not sure why I didn’t click with this one. The plot was really calm and even but I put it down a few times and came back when I had more emotional energy for this one.

I am IN LOVE with this series and this was the perfect book to end on. Aiden and Matt exemplify why I love second chance romance so much. The yearning! The angst! They're just two sad boys desparately in love with each other. I loved this one so much. Sad to see this world end.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an advance copy in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is on me probably. I didnt enjoy the book before this i had gotten as an arc, i thought hey maybe its a fluke. I think I might just not vibe with the writing style. ALSO if yall break yo that many times you shouldnt get back together ever.

Ari is one of my favourite authors that I discovered in 2024, and this book is an excellent example of why!

If you like hockey romance you need to check out Ari’s entire Penalty Box Series. The latest in the series, Goaltender Interference, releases tomorrow and it is a must read! The stories are connected, but in my experience can absolutely be read as standalones.

Goaltender Interference is a beautiful second chance romance that follows Aiden Campbell and Matt Safaryan as they reunite 10 YEARS after the end of their first relationship.

So much is different for each of them, but one thing that remains the same is the fact that these two are absolutely meant for one another.

Their story isn’t without bumps and setbacks, and your heart will hurt for them, but it is all so worth it in the end.

Ari also has prequel content you can get by signing up for their newsletter and I have been saving them to read so that when everyone is swooning over these two I can revisit them!

Check this one out if you like
🥅 hockey romance
🥅 older mc’s
🥅 second chance
🥅 “it’s always been you” vibes
🥅 mental health rep
🥅 cooking as a love language

This fourth book in Ari Baran’s <i><b>Penalty Box</b></i> series is a second-chance romance featuring two top-flight hockey players who are at or near the end of their playing careers and are not handling the prospect of change at all well. It’s an emotional and very messy story, somewhat darker and more sombre in tone than the previous two books in the series, and while it does end with an HEA, the journey is a tough one, strewn with avoidance, poor communication and denial.

<b>Goaltender Interference</b> is very much a character (rather than plot) driven story with the focus firmly on the internal lives of the two protagonists, their thoughts and feelings about their renewed romance and their struggle, in different ways, to come to terms with big changes in their lives.

Aiden Campbell (I loved that his nickname is ‘Soupy’) is thirty-six and has just retired as the starting goalie for the New York Liberty. It’s immediately clear that he’s not coping well with retirement and that he’s deeply depressed without realising it. After so many years in which most of his waking moments were dictated by routine, he’s struggling to adapt to a life in which that routine is now redundant, a life without the one thing that gave him a sense of self. He tries to find things to occupy his time but he’s not feeling any of it; he’s is badly adrift and has no idea of who he is outside of hockey or what he wants to do with his future. And while he knows, deep down, that he needs to find a new purpose in life, he has no real idea as to how to go about it, and no real drive or enthusiasm to do it.

Matt Safaryan is Captain of the Montreal Royal and is the team’s heart, soul and backbone. He’s played for Montreal for his entire career, but isn’t sure what he’s going to do when his contract ends at the end of the coming season. Thirty-six isn’t old by any means, but it’s ancient in hockey years and he’s no longer able to ignore the aches and pains from injuries sustained over the years, and knows he won’t be playing for much longer. But he’s not ready to retire yet – he’s got a few more playing years in him, despite having a chronic knee injury he knows he’s going to have to nurse very carefully through the season if he’s going to make it to the end of it.

A few weeks after his official retirement, Aiden reluctantly agrees to go out for a drink with Gabe Walker, his protégé and now the Libs’ starting goalie. Buzzed after a few shots, Aiden is preparing to pay the tab when he looks up – and into the face of Matt Safaryan, standing just a few feet away. It’s the closest they’ve been to each other off the ice in a decade, and Aiden feels as though he’s been gut-punched. After a few awkward moments, Aiden beats a hasty retreat, shakes off Gabe’s concern and makes his way home, but even being in familiar surroundings can’t shake off the feeling of being on the verge of panic. He’s just downed a generous class of whiskey when the doorbell rings – and he opens the door to find Matt standing on the stoop. Aiden knows what they’re about to do is monumentally stupid – but they do it anyway and Matt leaves straight after.

Aiden and Matt first met as rookies, and not long afterwards, entered into a secret relationship which lasted for several years – until Matt bought a ring and Aiden turned him down. The break-up devastated both of them, leading Matt to seek comfort at the bottom of a bottle and Aiden becoming even more tightly controlled than ever. That they didn’t break up because they stopped loving each other is very clear and is what makes it all the more heartbreaking – and it’s just as clear that they still haven't fallen out of love. After a week of late-night hook-ups, Matt returns to Montreal feeling confused and heart-sore, while Aiden is going round in ever decreasing circles in New York, tourturing himself with all the <i>what-ifs?</i> he’d tried to stop thinking about years ago. It’s the thought of spending the rest of his life in this kind of awful limbo that finally gives Aiden the courage to pick up the phone and text Matt. The ice broken (pun not intended!), they start calling and messaging regularly, and over the next few weeks, they both realise that the sense of connection they’ve been craving and have never found with anyone else, has re-established itself between them. After the way things ended the last time, entering into a relationship a second time is surely not a good idea – but an impulsive invitation from Matt for Aiden to visit Montreal soon finds them doing just that and entering into a kind of easy domesticity as Matt starts preparing for the new season and Aiden finds purpose in taking care of him.

But they don’t talk. They don’t talk about what they’re doing, they don’t talk about how they feel and they don’t talk about the future. Matt knows Aiden is not in a good place but doesn’t know how to help him, and doesn’t want to risk saying or doing something that will cause him to bolt, so he just coasts along and hopes that love will be enough. There’s no doubt about the strength of their connection or their love for each other – but because they show that love through sex, it takes a while for the fault-lines in their relationship to really become apparent. They use sex as an avoidance tactic; they’re both finely attuned to each other when it comes to the physical and know how to give each other what they need – but the longer they go without addressing the issues lying between them, the greater the fallout is going to be. The author does a fantastic job of subtly ratcheting up the tension and permeating the story with feelings of uneasiness and uncertainty so that the reader is constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

<b>Goaltender Interference</b> isn’t an easy read but it’s a compelling one, and the depiction of a character in the grips of depression is one of the best I’ve read. The crushing loss of identity Aiden feels after retirement leaps off the page – he’s completely adrift without the one thing that has defined him for so many years and he simply can’t work out how to make a life without it. It’s not that he doesn’t want to – he tells himself several times that he needs to find something else to do with himself – he just <i>can’t</i> see himself doing anything else. And while Matt isn’t there yet, he’s in denial and, like Aiden, hasn’t made any plans for life post-retirement.

The characterisation of both leads is excellent, although Aiden feels somewhat more fully developed and rounded than Matt does. I’m not sure why that is, although perhaps it’s because Matt seems to be more self-aware and self-actualised; we’re told that he went to pieces after Aiden dumped him and that he went through therapy and rehab – but we never see any of that so by the time we meet him, he’s got his shit together. Aiden, on the other hand, is a complex mess, and has a lot of work to do – and here I have to mention that I really appreciate the way this author shows that people with mental health issues don’t have to be ‘fixed’ before they can have a happy ending, and that simply talking to a therapist isn’t going to help unless you are prepared to actually help yourself. Aiden is probably somewhere on the autism spectrum (reading Ari Baran’s <a href="https://aribaran.substack.com/p/goaltender-interference-research" target="_blank" rel="noopener">newsletter</a> after I read the book is enlightening on this), and while certain aspects of his personality have contributed to what made him such an outstanding goalie – intense focus and a need for routine among them – they have also left him particularly vulnerable to depression once hockey is no longer part of his daily life.

So yes, <b>Goaltender Interference</b> deals with some ‘heavy’ subjects, but there is plenty of humour and there are lighter moments to enjoy, too. The small, well-rounded secondary cast of players, friends and family add colour to the story, and while the romance is angsty and bittersweet, there’s never any doubt that Aiden and Matt truly belong together and that their hard-won HEA is very well-deserved. I’m not sure if this is the final book in the series – I’d happily read more - but if this is the end, I’ll be keeping an eager eye out for whatever Ari Baran comes up with next.

Grade: B+ / 4.5 stars

A chance encounter at a bar brings Aiden and Matt face-to-face for the first time since a disastrous breakup years ago. Can they pick up the pieces from where they left off? Or will everything crash and burn yet again?

At the beginning, it took me just a minute to get into the writing. This did not affect my rating; I didn’t realize that this was the fourth in a series, and the confusion could have been something that was on me (I didn’t realize it was the fourth in a series, so some of the character dynamics might have been cleared up if I had read the first three). Even then, I felt as if the characters could have had more distinct voices. Sometimes their sections of the text sounded quite similar.

All of that aside, I’m a sucker for a m/m hockey romance, and it was an added plus that it featured characters that weren’t in their twenties. However, I think that Matt had much more of the maturity that I crave from older characters. Aiden struggled to communicate, and I really had to suspend my belief that someone would be THAT THICK to make the decision he does in the final act and play it off like it was the right thing to do.

Overall, I didn’t hate it; I thought it was okay.

Thank you to Harlequin Romance for the ARC!

This is the 4th book in the interconnected standalone Penalty Box series and features a couple of cameos and mentions of the previous main characters. This one focuses on Aiden Campbell and Matthew Safaryan, on their second chance romance arc. Swipe to see the full synopsis.

Aiden is freshly retired as New York’s goalie and is struggling with what to do in the aftermath of retirement. Matt is the captain of Montreal, and they used to be together before it all imploded and they have spent a decade apart, but the feelings are still there, under the surface.

My thoughts: Aiden and Matt are messy, complex individuals, with a penchant for not saying things. So, there’s some miscommunication, but it’s understandable because it’s more like omission communication issues. They both struggle with saying their feelings, Aiden is depressed and struggling, Matt wants to help but doesn’t know always how to. These men are lovely and I love how Ari portrays depression and handles the tough emotions. And oh my god, the FOOD!! I’ve been craving Indian food for like a week.

Highly recommend for those who enjoyed Rachel Reid and Sarina Bowen’s hockey stories, you can start with this one, there’s only minor spoilers for the previous books.