Rating: 3.75 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | All Romance | Amazon UK
Length: Novel

It’s been eight months since Jamie and Wes have gotten together and life is anything but settled. Sure, they are living together and Wes is having an amazing rookie season in the NHL, but to keep the focus on his hockey skills and not his private life he is hiding his relationship with Jamie from the team. Jamie made the decision to coach hockey instead of take his chance in the pros, but his job isn’t all that he thought it would be.

With Wes often on the road, the nights he is home have become extra special for the guys and their apartment has become their safe haven. That is until one of Wes’ teammates moves into their building and doesn’t know the meaning of the word boundaries. Hiding and lying become too much for the guys and their relationship starts to falter under the strain. The guys will have to figure out how to live in the spotlight or lose the relationship that was years in the making.

Us is the sequel to Him and is not intended to be read as a standalone. I was slightly hesitant going into this book due to what the published blurb stated the story was going to be about. Jamie and Wes got their spectacular HEA at the end of book one and the only thing the authors could possibly do here is mess with that, and mess with that they did. I’m okay with that if there is a story to tell, but I did struggle here with the way this story played out.

What added magic to Him was the way the guys interacted with each other, their banter, and how well they instinctively knew each other. With Us, the guys barely spend any time together. Wes is on the road with the team and Jamie is at home, but he has a busy coaching job as well. Then when Wes is home, Blake is introduced.

Now Blake is Wes’ teammate and he moves into their building. He has no boundaries and it was completely ridiculous that neither guy established any with him in their own home. They are so scared of being outed that they don’t even stand up for their own personal space. Blake was tough to take and even the guys themselves aren’t on board with all of his antics, but the authors kept reminding us of what a nice guy Blake really was. Sure he was on their side, but I didn’t think I had to be constantly reminded that I was supposed to like this guy when he wasn’t intriguing to read about and came off as mostly annoying

So they are keeping their relationship a secret until the end of Wes’ rookie season and that has a lot to do with the tension between them. But here’s the thing with that. All of Wes’ previous college teammates knew he was gay and his PR rep has a statement ready should the news get out. I had no idea how they were hiding this and how nobody knew.

A good portion of the story is filled with a lack of communication on both parts and it runs the entire course of the book. Then there was the overdone story line involving the emergency room, which for me is becoming completely tiresome. The tone here is more somber and again, while that can be okay, this story in general wasn’t capturing my attention.

When the guys are on page together the same magic was still there and we saw again what was so great about these guys together. I will offer points for the writing in general, the tone, and the polished feel of the book. The ending again offers the guys another HEA, but it came a little too late for me with this book. I was missing that element that made the first book special and if you haven’t read Him, I would most certainly recommend it. At the end of Us there is an invitation offered that definitely grabbed my attention and despite some reservations with this book, when that date is set I will definitely come back for more.