The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years #3)
Sarina Bowen
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars
4.16
· Steam/Spice level: 3 of 5
Open door [?]
· 116 ratings · 306 pages · Published: 16 Sep 2014

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexuality from everyone. Including himself.
So it’s a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team’s new left wing could destroy Graham’s life as he knows it.
John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it’s worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only “out” player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused.
And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room.
Rikker didn’t exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won’t even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former… best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn’t doing so well. He drinks too much and can’t focus during practice.
Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won’t be easy is the Understatement of the Year.
THIS BOOK IS A STANDALONE. NO CLIFFHANGERS. NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE NECESSARY.
Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Contains sexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.
Tagged as:
- gay romance 26
- contemporary 24
- athlete hero 24
- friends to lovers 24
- sports 22
- enemies to lovers 16
- second chances 14
- angst 12
- college 11
- secret relationship 10
- new adult 9
- dual pov 9
- young adult 8
- hockey 8
- male pov 6
- first person pov 5
- queer romance 5
- forced proximity 4
- queer awakening 4
- hurt/comfort 4
- slow burn 2
- Add topics
- content warnings
- abuse 21
- queerphobia 7
- past abuse 4
- substance abuse 4
- third party abuse 2
- religious trauma 2
- geography
- connecticut 5
- north america 4
- usa 4
- vermont 2
- michigan 2
romance tags
The 'The Ivy Years' series
488 ratings 4.02 ·
sports · new adult · college · contemporary · athletes · hockey · open-door · m-f · friends to lovers · young adult · dual-pov · length-medium · first-person-pov
The Ivy Years reading order and complete book list ❯