Risking the Shot By Amy Aislin
Genre: Contemporary, Sports Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Tropes: Hockey, single dad, age-gap
Released: September 8, 2020
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: Stick Side, Book 4
Length: 84,000 words
Cover Design: Natasha Snow Designs
Time for distractions? Hardly.
A chance at making the playoffs? It’s a dream for NHL forward Taylor Cunningham that just might come true. If he can keep his eyes on the ball—ahem, puck. And study for midterms. Dakota Cotton, eleven years his senior, isn’t just a distraction, though—he’s everything Tay’s ever wanted.
Dakota has no interest in introducing someone who might not stick around to his four-year-old son. Been there, done that, with the divorce to prove it. But there’s something about Tay that hits all of the right buttons and has him wanting to take a chance.
As things heat up between them, and the pressure to succeed hits an all-time high, will they risk a shot at happiness or choke?
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
Ty and Dakota are so good together!
I have loved every book in this series and Risking the Shot was no different. Amy Aislin’s writing style makes me feel like I’m part of the story. Her rich, descriptive prose helped me to visualize the characters and scenes in the best way. Once I started reading Risking the Shot I couldn’t put it down.
Even professional hockey players can be insecure. Tay started drawing a comic strip when he was in high school but he’s only shown it to a few people. He has two older sisters who have intimidated him and he feels like he doesn’t measure up to them. Meeting his secret crush, Dakota, has him on cloud nine but his grueling schedule and studying for a profession he’s not even sure he wants any longer, brings out his insecure feelings.
Dakota is a single father who is totally devoted to his son, Andy. His wife left him when Andy was a baby because she just couldn’t hack being a mother. She is mostly absent from her son’s life and Dakota isn’t sure it’s a good idea to expose him to someone else who could end up leaving them.
I can’t say enough good things about this book. It’s a fairly low angst story and that was kind of nice for a change. I’ll admit that I kept waiting for some really major thing to happen but ended up being really happy that it there was only a minor bump, and that was smoothed out fairly quickly and easily. There is definitely enough other stuff going on to keep the story very interesting.
I enjoyed the wide variety of secondary characters and I hope I spotted good candidates for the next couple to be featured in this series. I don’t even know if more books are planned but I really hope so. I’m still somewhat in awe of the fact that I love hockey romance as much as I do. I know next to nothing about the sport, but I sure enjoy reading MM romance set in the hockey world. That’s thanks to several of my favorite authors writing about it, including Amy Aislin!
♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Scorcher
Clearing his throat, he said, “What are you drinking?”
“Oban 14. Scotch,” Dakota added at Tay’s questioning look.
“Smells good.” The scent had been wafting in his direction since he first sat down, strong and vaguely smoky, peaty. It reminded him of Dakota for reasons he couldn’t name.
Scooting forward on the bench, their knees touching, he said, “Can I try it?”
Dakota’s gaze caught his, gray and shadowy and searching. Tay held it, refusing to break eye contact. Let Dakota see how attracted he was to him. Dakota must already know anyway. What was the point of holding back? Tay wanted Dakota and he wasn’t shying away from it.
Without looking away, Dakota leaned forward, bringing their faces within inches of each other. Dakota’s soft breath whispered across Tay’s lips, making his own breath catch. Holding his glass out, Dakota still didn’t look away as Tay brought it to his mouth, placing his lips over the outline of Dakota’s on the glass.
Dakota didn’t miss it, his smile turning knowing. The heat in Tay’s blood had nothing to do with the scotch.
Which, in itself, was… “Holy fuck, this is good.” Strong and smoky, yes—even the taste reminded him of Dakota—with hints of fruits and honey.
Dakota made a sound in the back of his throat, an acknowledgment that sounded like a groan. The heat in Tay’s blood spread outward, flushing his cheeks, dotting his temple with sweat. Fuck, it suddenly got very, very warm in this coatroom. Warmer still when Dakota’s gaze dipped down to Tay’s mouth.
“Let’s see what you got.”
“Don’t judge if I fail,” Dakota warned, pointing a finger at him.
Tay mock gasped. As genuinely as he could, he said, “I make no promises.”
Dakota was shaking his head at him. In the next moment, he whipped a slap shot into the back of the net.
“Oh ho!” Tay crowed. “Look at you.”
“Yeah.” Dakota blew on his nails. “I still got it.”
“Wow, Daddy!” In his excitement, Andy hopped, unbalancing himself and landing on his butt. He was on his knees in an instant, clapping. “Again!”
Dakota skated backward, gaze over his shoulder so he didn’t hit anyone, and stopped just beyond the face-off circle. Seemed like he was giving himself a bigger challenge.
Never in his life had Tay been turned on by watching his teammates play or practice. Watching Dakota set up a shot? Knees slightly flexed, torso held straight? Drawing his stick back, his leather jacket pulling tight across the shoulders? Concentration lines furrowing his brow, pink lips set in a determined line? Tay was much more turned on than the situation warranted, but fuck. Why did Dakota have to be so damn sexy?
Dakota’s next shot joined the first. The grin that lit up his face did way more than warm Tay’s belly.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Cunningham. There are kids present.
Speaking of kids…
“What do you think, And—?” Dakota cut himself off when he noticed Andy making snow angels on the ice. “Yeah, that looks about right.”
Win one of two signed paperback copies of Risking the Shot, plus author swag. Open internationally.
Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group, Amy Aislin’s Readers, to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram, or sign up for her newsletter.
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