Us - Book Review

By Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

Synopsis

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?

Review

What can I say? I absolutely love Jamie and Wes. Wes is cocky and funny, but when he’s alone with Jamie, he’s also very sweet. He oozes confidence, but Jamie is the one chink in his armour because he’s truly afraid that he’s not enough to keep Jamie interested in being with him. While Wes is your classic fun-time guy, Jamie is the more serious of the two and they compliment each other perfectly. But no matter how much they love each other, their relationship is not all smooth sailing. Wes wants to keep his sexual orientation a secret until his rookie NHL season is over, to be known for his skills on the ice instead of who he’s sleeping with. And while Jamie understands and agrees, hiding is not something he likes or is used to. The hiding, the constant fear that they will be found out and the stress of an NHL career all take their toll on them and their relationship.

US is told in dual POVs and is book 2 in the Him series. I suppose it could be read as a stand-alone, but I’d recommend reading HIM first to see how Jamie and Wes got started. The ending was beautiful and perfect, and I wonder if this is the last time we’ll see these two. Maybe we’ll see more of them if Blake gets his own story⎯wink wink, nudge nudge, Elle & Sarina. I wasn’t sure what to make of Blake initially. He’s annoying, for sure, but he’s also stupidly funny and he proved himself to be a trustworthy friend and a really nice guy. If this is the end for Jamie and Wes, I will miss them. Lucky for me, I can pick them up again whenever I want.

P.S. The Laundry Fairy does exist, just ask my husband.