Winter Ball

Winter Ball by Amy Lane This book was a sweet story of 2 men,Richie & Skip, trying to navigate their way through family drama, worrying about how their soccer friends will take the news and falling in love. What they find is as surprising as the depth of their love for one another. I really enjoyed the passion, protectiveness, friendship and love for each other and their friends.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Winter Ball is the first book in Amy Lane's Winter Ball series. Skipper is a normal, every day guy. He owns his own home; goes to work every day at a normal, boring job; coaches and plays in rec league soccer; and hangs out with his friend. Skipper longs for a family of his own, and nurtures and cares for his team members and his co-worker. Unexpectedly one night when hanging out with his best friend Richie, things change between them. Neither Skipper or Richie consider themselves gay, but they can't deny the attraction to each other or what feels good for them. They start spending their weekends together, hanging out more after games, spending holidays together and before long they have to admit to themselves that what they have is more than friendship. Richie loves Skipper, but he also has a father who he has spent his whole life trying to make happy.

I loved that even though both of these men have always considered themselves straight and have only dated women, they aren't really concerned about their attraction to each other. They are concerned with how they label themselves, and that caused them the most issues personally as they accepted that they were gay. The relationship between Skipper and Richie was easy because they just fit, but they were just two guys who liked to drink beer and play soccer so building a relationship beyond sex took a little more work. These were well developed and written characters, and by the end of the book, the author had created a great cast of supporting characters with Skipper and Richie in the center holding everyone together.

If you haven't read this series, you should do so now! If you love the friends to lovers trope, you are going to adore this one!


Audio Review:

Nick J. Russo narrated Amy Lane's Winter Ball and he did a fantastic job! There are a lot of characters in this story so the narrator had his work cut out for him! The narrator gave each character a distinct voice, portrayed the emotions of the scene, did a great job with the humor in the story, had no weird pauses, and really nice flow throughout the story. He kept me engaged in the story and really brought a book I love to life!


Overall: 4.5 stars

Performance: 4.5 stars

Story: 4.5 stars

Review By: Tracy at Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter

’Winter Ball’, in my opinion, is Amy Lane at her finest.

[She] knows how to write the sexy, tender scenes and Russo’s narration only magnifies that. Amy Lane and Nick J Russo made me laugh, made me hot, made me tear up and made me believe in love.

Real Full Review at Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter:
http://bit.ly/2qpfNwR

I had a really hard time getting into this book (had nothing to do with the fact that I hate soccer) but ended up loving it (despite the fact that I hate soccer).
It was entertaining and fun and all kinds of adorable; with great, loveable characters (main and side) and a well done friends-to-lovers storyline that ranged from "made me laugh so freaking hard" to "that was heartbreaking" and stirred so many emotions in between. It was sweet and lovely and light on angst and sexy and cute. And also a little awkward, in an adorable way.
What threw me off at the beginning was the writing style. It was, Idk, strange, didn't work for me. I took me quite a while to get used to it, and when I did nothing could stop the hearts in my eyes.
I only wish there had been an epilogue, just a glimpse into the future... or rather a huge chunk of a glimpse (rhetorical bs, I know). I would've loved to read more about Richie and Skip *dreamy sigh*

This is a romp through the fall and winter holidays as these two men learn to accept themselves and each other and figure out how to work it all out. This story is by turns lots of fun and then heavy as the character deals with their fears, their insecurities, and the hate the coming out can sometimes generate in others.

Over all a good read and great start on my holiday reading plan