Title: Sugar and Ice
Authors: RJ Scott & VL Locey
Series: Arizona Raptors #4
Genre: M/M Romance, Hockey Romance
Release Blitz: July 12, 2020
Cover Design: Meredith Russell
When love is on the line, the worst decisions can end up having the best endings.
Tate Collins, an all-American hockey phenomenon, was the highly marketable face of Dallas hockey. Loaded down with endorsements and playing his best game, he was a superstar and a household name. No one ever expected him to fail, but overnight, after the worst decision of his life, everything spirals out of his control. Abruptly, his reputation is in tatters, and he’s traded to the Arizona Raptors in a shocking move. Brushing off the wild and unfounded accusations that he faces on social media, and stuck on the second line, he keeps his head down and works hard to earn his spot. Tate knows he can make a difference if only his teammates would let him. Something has to change for him to earn their respect, but falling for the captain might not be his best move.
Vladislav Novikov has been called many things over his long and illustrious career, but the new nickname of Iceberg seems to fit best. Perhaps it’s due to his icy blue eyes, or the way he rams into opposing players as he defends his goalie. Or maybe it’s because of his cool demeanor when not playing the game he loves. Whatever the reason, it’s why he’s the perfect team captain for this wild bunch of puck-pushers. His perfectly controlled life is smooth as ice until Tate Collins rides into Tucson with his apple pie ways and those damn dimples. The young superstar immediately catches his eye. Despite knowing better than to start something with a teammate, the big, bad Iceberg is about to have that chilly veneer around his heart melted away by Tate one sweet kiss at a time.
HOLY HANNAH BATMAN! and THE FROCE IS STRONG WITH MASTERS SCOTT & LOCEY!(Even more so in Sugar and Ice as one of the MCs is an adorable Star Wars collecting geek like myself - a definite plus in my book when it comes to character quirks).
I've said it before and I'll say it again, when reading a multi-couple series I always(98%) fall head over heels for the original pairing that no matter how much I enjoy those to follow, they never quite top the first. Well Arizona Raptors is no different but each entry's couple definitely gives Mark and Rowen(Coast to Coast) a run for their money and Tate and Vlad are right up there running neck and neck. Before anyone who has read the authors' Railers series finds themselves comparing Tate and Vlad to Erik and Stan, don't. Sure they both play hockey, they both play for the same team, one is Russian one is not but despite some of these similar elements, Tate and Vlad are very much their own people, their own couple, and S&I is their own journey.
There were times where I wanted to smother both men in Mama Bear Hugs and there were quite possibly just as many times I simply wanted to smother them. Now this is a point I mention often, that isn't because I've run out of things to say but because it's become almost a measuring stick for me to how suited the characters are for each other. If they can both raise those contradictory emotions within me than there is hope for them, their journey, and the storytelling.
As to Tate and Vlad, there is just so much I could say but won't😉. Tate being a Star Wars geek like myself was a plus, I mean a cat named Obi, how delicious is that? I wanted him to get his HEA from page one. Vlad? Well he took a few chapters to grow on me but once he did I knew I wanted to see him nothing but happy. I'll admit, I'm not sure why, it took about 2/3 of the book before I started reading Vlad's dialogue in a Russian accent in my head. It didn't even dawn on me that I wasn't "hearing" him in Russian until all of a sudden I did, I tried asking myself "why?" but couldn't come up with anything specific, it just was. However you hear his voice, the character is fun and together they have the makings of a lasting love.
Sugar and Ice is a brilliant blend of hockey, romance, friendship, heat, humor, passion, with just the right mix of drama to create a great read that doesn't disappoint from beginning to end. Certainly worthy of the Arizona Raptors moniker and the whole hockey universe Scott & Locey started way back in Changing Lines, Harrisburg Railers #1.
RATING:
Saturday's Series Spotlight
Arizona Raptors
Harrisburg Railers
Owatonna U
USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott writes stories with a heart of romance, a troubled road to reach happiness, and most importantly, a happily ever after.
RJ Scott is the author of over one hundred romance books, writing emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, millionaire, princes, and the men who get mixed up in their lives. RJ is known for writing books that always end with a happy ever after. She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing.
The last time she had a week’s break from writing she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a bottle of wine she couldn’t defeat.
She’s always thrilled to hear from readers, bloggers and other writers. Please contact via the links below.
USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.
When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.
RJ Scott
BOOKBUB / KOBO / SMASHWORDS
EMAIL: rj@rjscott.co.uk
VL Locey
👀Scott & Locey are removing their hockey series' from KU but at a staggered timeline so be sure to check the authors' website for wide seller updates👀
