Seduction on the Slopes by Tamsen Parker

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Title: Seduction on the Slopes
Author: Tamsen Parker
Series: Snow & Ice Games #2
Published by: Swerve
Release Date: January 16, 2018
Format: eARC
Pages: 165
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Sports Romance, LGBT
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Adult Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Platypire Diversity Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Big Summer Birthday Bash 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

Welcome to the Snow and Ice Games where competition is not the only thing that is heating up! The second book in bestselling Tamsen Parker's romance series continues with two competitive teammates.

Miles Palmer has dominated the downhill slalom in every Snow and Ice Games he’s competed in. Double gold, double gold, double gold, and he’s confident he can round out his career and his trophy case with two more medals in his last appearance at the games. The only thing that could stop him? Crash Delaney.

Crash is a young upstart who came out of nowhere and shocked the downhill world with his swagger and untraditional style. As a kid, Crash didn’t have the resources to learn how to race properly, but he begged, borrowed, and stole equipment, and went to any competition he could thumb a ride to. Now the only thing between him and his dreams coming true is his childhood hero, the man whose posters have graced his walls since before he’d ridden in his first chairlift.

Miles and Crash are technically teammates, but you wouldn’t know it from the way they fight. The veteran and the nobody have both got big things riding on this race, and neither can afford any distractions. Especially not each other.

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3.5 stars — This was one of those ones where I felt a bit conflicted.  I was drawn right into this story, and after having been a bit burned out, I was so excited to be pulled into reading again.  But our heroes, particularly Miles, were really volatile characters, and occasionally that made me uncomfortable.

I know this is going to sound silly, but I totally didn’t pay close enough attention to the cover to notice that Miles was black!  So bonus diversity on this one!  And while it didn’t play a huge role, it wasn’t just token either.  I loved that he was from the wealthy family, and that he got into skiing because his parents wanted him to fit in in the neighbourhood where they lived.  Intriguing.

Occasionally both Miles and Crash were a bit over the top, almost caricatures of themselves.  Miles was an extreme stick in the mud…like, I’m a fan of a wide ranging vocabulary, and while the definitions of the words he used were always correct, occasionally they felt a bit forced…I kept meaning to run them by my hubby, b/c he would totes know if they were actually used correctly.  It just didn’t feel natural if that makes sense.  I was also really turned off by his volatile moods, his quickness to anger, and while he constantly acknowledged that he was being an asshole to Crash, it felt like lampshading.  I never saw him grow in that aspect…like, uh, that’s great that you realize you’re being a jerk, but what are you doing to change that and be better?  It made it hard to like him.  And on Crash’s end, the constant use of stoner type language (the gagillion euphemisms for everything, from throwing up to sex) got old REALLY fast.  When we started learning more about Crash, I wasn’t sure if he was putting on a persona, or if that’s really who he was.

Now, saying all of that, I really did come to feel a lot for these guys…though if I’m honest, moreso for Crash than Miles.  I did feel for Miles’s fear and uncertainty over his future and the end of his career.  But it was Crash’s childhood history, and his constant insecurity, that really got to my heart.  I could feel his pain, feel his wounds.  And yet he still put himself out there.  I just wanted to hug him.

As for the romance…I enjoyed so many parts, and the steam factor was at “hoo boy!”  But it also felt fast, and at the beginning I didn’t buy what was drawing them together.  Once I let myself buy into it and ignored those misgivings, I was more invested.  It’s hard to write romance in the timeframe of an “olympics” type games…it’s always going to feel fast.  This one wasn’t bad, but I’ve read better…

The sports felt fairly well done.  Made me wish I’d made time to read this during the Olympics, b/c now I’m feeling all winter sports-y.

So all in all, this was a fun addition to the series and is making me want to read more…and the emotions with Crash and the steam factor have me rounding up.