Am I on a sports romance binge? Having read Mile High and The Right Move by Liz Tomforde, with Caught Up waiting at the library and Chloe Walsh’s Binding 13 in my library tbr stack, I seem to have an itch for sports romance right now. Behind the Net from The Vancouver Storm series by Stephanie Archer fits the bill, and with more in the series to dig into, you might be seeing more of her books on my blog.

He’s the hot, grumpy goalie I had a crush on in high school, and now I’m his live-in assistant. After my ex crushed my dreams in the music industry, I’m done with getting my heart broken. Working as an assistant for an NHL player was supposed to be a breeze, but nothing about Jamie Streicher is easy. He’s an intimidatingly hot, grouchy jerk who can’t stand me. The guy has a massive ego. Keeping things professional will be no problem, even when he demands I move in with him. Beneath his surliness, though, Jamie’s surprisingly sweet and protective. When Jamie learns how bad my ex was in bed, his competitive nature flares, and he encourages and spoils me in every way. The creative spark I used to feel about songwriting? It’s back, and I’m writing music again. Between wearing his jersey at games, rowdy parties with the team, and being brave on stage again, I’m falling for him. He could break my heart, but it might be worth it.

Behind the Net is a bit different from the aforementioned sports romances given Pippa’s aspirations as her music plays a big part in the novel. The spice is also a lot different, but compared to The Right Move (the close-proximity roommates situation and watching the games in person fits more with this novel than the simple shared sports link in Mile High) the storyline is a little less layered. That is good if you are looking for an easy sports romance with spice. Don’t worry, as there are layers to the story, but it isn’t as complex as The Right Move.

I am not quite sure how I feel about Jamie. While he is doing things because he cares, his bossiness and actions come across more as controlling to me. I can’t say much about his relationship with his mum and how she health struggles play into things, but I will say that his actions always seem a little possessive to me. There is also a lot more casual explicit thoughts that are part of the narrative than I tend to enjoy. He’s treading the line a little, and I’m not sure I vibe with him as a result. I appreciate how he encourages Pippa to rediscover her music and get out there and perform after what happened with her ex, and how he does things for her to make her feel better and get her out of her head post-breakup. Everything else though, well, I’m on the fence about.

I’m going to give The Fake Out a shot and see how the series develops considering I liked the dynamic between the lead characters for that novel in Behind the Net. Fingers crossed I enjoy it as the series is sitting on a teetering point right now. I do encourage any sports romance fans who haven’t read Behind the Net to give it a try, I think if you enjoyed Icebreaker you could like this one a lot.