Narrated by Darcy Stark

Some of the events in On Thin Ice, the third book in Beth Bolden’s Portland Evergreens series of college-set hockey romances, overlap slightly with some of the things happening in the previous book (Cold as Ice), but the storylines are entirely separate, so you could listen to this one as a standalone. That said, I didn’t find the romance in this one quite as compelling in the previous book; the character development is well done, especially when it comes to the relationship between goaltender Finn Reynolds and his father, but the romance feels a bit rushed and is pretty much a done deal by the halfway point so the second half can focus more on the father/son story.

Finn Reynolds, goalie for the Evergreens, is the son of hockey legend Morgan Reynolds and has lived with the pressure of expectations ever since he was old enough to understand them. He played a variety of positions before realising that his true talent lay in goaltending, but no matter how hard he works or how well he plays, nothing he does is ever good enough for his dad who has never once told Finn how good he is or that he’s proud of him. The constant pressure of Morgan’s expectations is starting to get to Finn to the extent that it’s starting to affect his play – and, with an eye on a career in the NHL, he simply can’t afford to let that happen.

Jacob Braun was one of the finest goalies in the league but retired from professional hockey six months earlier owing to a serious hip injury. While he was playing, he was Morgan Reynolds’ nemesis; Finn knows his dad hates Braun because he could never score when Braun was in the net, and their emnity – which sometimes ended with punches thrown – was legendary.

Finn knows he’s not playing well and his mental health is taking a bit of a beating over his dad’s constantly being on his case. He asks Jacob for help, knowing he’s one of the very few people who never gave a shit about what Morgan thought of him, and Finn needs to learn how to do the same – but Jacob turns him down. A few weeks later, however, Jacob realises he could use some help on a project of his own. He’s planning to start a charitable foundation to encourage LGBTQ kids to play sports – which is going to raise eyebrows. He’s gay and spent his entire career in the closet, and now he’s retired he’s going to come out. His manager and publicist are on board with this, and think he should do that before announcing anything about the foundation, but Jacob realises he hasn’t the faintest idea about how to go about it – or how to live as an out, gay man – and that it would be useful to have another perspective. Maybe he and Finn can help each other out.

There’s just one potential problem. Finn and Jacob are desperately attracted to one another from the start, and as they spend time together on and off the ice, that attraction finds a foundation in friendship and understanding. I liked that they acknowledge how they feel even though they agree to keep things professional, reasoning that jumping each other’s bones isn’t worth messing up what they’re trying to achieve together. Except that maybe what they’re building is more than a working relationship. Jacob worries that he’s too old for Finn (he’s thirty-five to Finn’s twenty-one) but Finn knows what – and who – he wants and is having none of that. As the tension between them reaches boiling point Finn decides he’s had enough of fighting it – and he’s pretty sure Jacob has, too.

Their chemistry burns bright from the start although I did find some of the ‘mental lusting’ a bit overdone. I appreciated that Finn and Jacob are upfront about what they want from a relationship (and that they both want to BE in a relationship rather than just hooking up), BUT that also means that the emotional side of their romance goes from zero to sixty very quickly, and I couldn’t quite buy that. They know Morgan is going to be an issue and that they won’t be able to hide that they’re a couple forever, and are secure enough in their feelings for each other to know that they’ll be able to weather that particular storm. Despite my reservations about the speed of their emotional connection, I really liked Finn and Jacob together. They’re intutive and supportive and clearly want the best for each other, and I enjoyed listening to Jacob coming to terms with retirement and working out what his future life will look like and Finn working through his insecurities and finding his confidence on the ice.

I’ve read quite a few m/m romances featuring an arsehole dad who has screwed up his son by making him feel he’s not good enough and tries to pressure him to be and do what he (dad) wants rather than living his own life. Those stories often end with the son having to cut the father out of his life, but the dad is such an awful character that we know the son is better off without him. Beth Bolden seems to be setting Morgan up to be one of those pushy-father types – and he is (to an extent) – but she also does an excellent job of showing why he is the way he is and why he’s behaved to Finn the way he has. Not that any of that is an excuse, but she does show Morgan realising he’s been a dick to Finn, vowing to do better and making a concerted effort to fulfil that promise. Jacob and Morgan have never got on and there’s still a lot of animosity between them, but by the end of the book they’re on a much better footing; they’ll never stop needling each other, but their sniping becomes more good-natured as they bond (sort of) over wanting the best for Finn and are quite possibly on the way to friendship of sorts (although they’d probably die before admitting it!) I ended up actually liking him by the end and was pleased to learn he’s going to get his own book (strong hints are dropped as to who his love interest will be.)

Darcy Stark does a fabulous job with the narration, getting to the the emotional heart of the story and the characters, bringing out the deadpan humour and displaying a great range of vocal characterisations across the board. His portrayal of the two leads is terrific and they’re very well contrasted and easy to tell apart; Jacob’s dialogue has a deeper, slightly gravelly tone where Finn’s is slightly higher-pitched and full of charm and good-humour. He’s upbeat most of the time, but his vulnerability and frustration over his on-ice insecurities are right there in his voice, as is Jacob’s inner turmoil as he tries to squash his attraction to Finn.
On Thin Ice is a strong addition to the Portland Evergreens series; the book isn’t my favourite of the series, but the story – with its look at how expectations can be crushing and how hard it can be to find a new purpose in life after retirement from a job that has dominated your life – certainly has a lot going for it. But I enjoyed it, and the superb narration is more than worth the price of admission.

Breakdown of Grade: Narration – A; Story – B

Running time: 13 hours, 15 minutes