Review: Him and Us by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Him (Him #1) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Published July 28th 2015 by Rennie Road Books
Genre: M/M, Sports, Romance

Synopsis from Goodreads:
They don’t play for the same team. Or do they?

Jamie Canning has never been able to figure out how he lost his closest friend. Four years ago, his tattooed, wise-cracking, rule-breaking roommate cut him off without an explanation. So what if things got a little weird on the last night of hockey camp the summer they were eighteen? It was just a little drunken foolishness. Nobody died.

Ryan Wesley’s biggest regret is coaxing his very straight friend into a bet that pushed the boundaries of their relationship. Now, with their college teams set to face off at the national championship, he’ll finally get a chance to apologize. But all it takes is one look at his longtime crush, and the ache is stronger than ever.

Jamie has waited a long time for answers, but walks away with only more questions—can one night of sex ruin a friendship? If not, how about six more weeks of it? When Wesley turns up to coach alongside Jamie for one more hot summer at camp, Jamie has a few things to discover about his old friend... and a big one to learn about himself.

Us (Him #2) by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Published March 8th 2016 by Rennie Road Books
Genre: M/M, Sports, Romance

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Can your favorite hockey players finish their first season together undefeated?

Five months in, NHL forward Ryan Wesley is having a record-breaking rookie season. He’s living his dream of playing pro hockey and coming home every night to the man he loves—Jamie Canning, his longtime best friend turned boyfriend. There’s just one problem: the most important relationship of his life is one he needs to keep hidden, or else face a media storm that will eclipse his success on the ice.

Jamie loves Wes. He really, truly does. But hiding sucks. It’s not the life Jamie envisioned for himself, and the strain of keeping their secret is taking its toll. It doesn’t help that his new job isn’t going as smoothly as he’d hoped, but he knows he can power through it as long as he has Wes. At least apartment 10B is their retreat, where they can always be themselves.

Or can they?

When Wes’s nosiest teammate moves in upstairs, the threads of their carefully woven lie begin to unravel. With the outside world determined to take its best shot at them, can Wes and Jamie develop major-league relationship skills on the fly?

I really love Jamie and Wes! They're soooo good together. It took me forever to get around to reading these books. Mainly because I was afraid they wouldn't hold up to the hype. I'm glad I was wrong, because these books were truly fantastic!

There was so much to love about both of these books. Him was more of a discovery and exploration of Wes and Jamie's attraction. They were both going through a transitional period in their lives and their careers, and they had to work out how to be together. Us had more angst and drama and gave me all the feelings!!! The boys had a few relationship and communication issues to work through, but by the end I can firmly say that Wes and Jamie are definitely one of my favorite M/M couples.

I haven't read anything by either of these authors before, but I will definitely be checking them out in the future.

4 Stars