Lucky Bounce
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4.2 • 29 Ratings
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- $1.99
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
"Lucky Bounce is a funny and charming hockey romance that I couldn’t put down." - Rachel Reid, USA Today Bestselling author of Time to Shine
A single dad pro hockey player falls for his biggest fan—who just happens to be his five-year-old daughter’s teacher—in this fun, flirty romantic comedy from Cait Nary
Ezekiel Boehm is no stranger to teaching kids with famous parents. But when the pro hockey player he’s been thirsting after walks into the Rittenhouse Friends School gym hand in hand with a tiny kindergartener, he figures he must be hallucinating. Spencer McLeod is a lot of things—Zeke’s favorite winger on the Philadelphia Liberty; a menace on the ice; a mumbling, reluctant but somehow captivating-as-hell postgame interview—but he’s not a dad. Except he is. Apparently.
Zeke can be chill about this. He can.
Surprisingly, the more time he spends with Spencer, the easier this becomes. School volunteer events turn into reserved seats at games, turn into…more. And even though Zeke is 100 percent committed to ignoring Spencer’s blush, to ignoring the way he looks in that one pair of gray sweatpants, he can’t take his eyes off him.
This can never work. Can it?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Nary (Contract Season) delivers full-on wish fulfillment in this slight but very sweet queer sports romance. Elementary school gym teacher Zeke Boehm meets his "frequent fantasy fodder" Spencer McLeod, a winger on the Philadelphia Liberty NHL team, after the athlete's daughter, Adeline, who the very private Spencer has kept a secret from the press, enrolls in his class. Zeke worries he "can't be normal" around Spencer, his favorite player, but the guys bond as he helps Spencer practice to lead Adeline's kindergarten class's reading circle. When Zeke admits he is gay to Spencer, he's confused by the athlete's "inscrutable" response and misunderstands Spencer's attempts at flirting—until a night at a bar allows the guys to share some intimacy while dancing. Their relationship soon heats up—but will it last? There's no huge angst to keep them apart, but Zeke is asked to "keep things kind of quiet," and he's doubtful about what Spencer sees in him. The palpable connection between the intense Zeke and the reticent Spencer charms, especially when the guys pick out a dog together at a shelter, but the lack of third act conflict and the abrupt ending will leave some readers wanting more. Those who prefer light, fluffy tales, however, will finish this one with a smile.
Customer Reviews
Sheerly delightful
LUCKY BOUNCE by Cait Nary is a lovely m/m romance between a teacher and a professional hockey player. Ezekiel Boehm has crushed on Philadelphia Liberty player Spencer McLeod for ages. But respectfully. And never imagining that (a) Zeke was ever going to actually meet Spencer, nor that (b) these feelings of attraction might possibly be reciprocated. When it turns out that Spencer is actually the parent of one of the students at his school, this is the best and worst possible thing that could happen.
Cait Nary’s story is sort of a lovely golden retriever of a book, with charming characters whom you can’t help but root for and fall for, whether you think of yourself as a dog person or not. Zeke and Spencer are far from perfect, and I can well imagine wanting to hug them and occasionally shake them or shake my head at them as they work through their issues and learn to communicate and to adult more. But Nary’s characterizations are rich and immersive, and Spencer and Zeke’s friends and families are equally full of life.
Lucky Bounce is an excellent read, and fans of Nary’s other work will enjoy this as well. If you enjoyed Rachel Reid’s Time to Shine or Ari Baran’s Delay of Game, you will likely be a fan here too. I very much look forward to more from the talented Cait Nary.