The Understatement of the Year

The Ivy Years Series- Book 3

Release Date: September 29, 2014

By Sarina Bowen

Synopsis:

What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now.

Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he’s made an art of hiding his sexual preference 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.

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.

Buy: Amazon/ Kobo

 

Michel’s Review

The Ivy Years series by Sarina Bowen has been phenomenal.  Each book has addressed some very different and difficult subject matters.  They were written with compassion and great care.  The characters are larger than life and jump off the pages.  The reader’s completely connect with their stories, their emotions, and their lives.  The Understatement Of The Year has followed in the same excellent standard that the previous books in the Ivy Years has set.

The Understatement Of The Year approaches the very difficult subject of homosexuality in the world of sports.  Not only did it lay out the difficulties of a college athlete being gay, it also showed the difficulties of “coming out of the closet”.

John Rikker was kicked out of his former college and kicked off the hockey team because his homosexuality was exposed.  Harkness College, known for being a liberal school, accepted John Rikker in the middle of hockey season.  Not only is John a very gifted athlete, he is the first athlete to be outed in college hockey.  This has put him on the media’s radar.  It has also put in him a position where he has to prove himself as an all-star athlete to his teammates.  It’s hard enough being the new guy on the team, add being gay and it makes the welcoming committee very sparse.  To add ugly to ugly, Michael Graham is on his new team.

Michael and John have a history.  They were best friends in middle school and high school.  They also discovered their sexuality together.  A very bad incident separated the two of them.  John was sent away to live with his grandmother.  There he was able to become open about his sexuality.  For Michael Graham it was quite a different story.  He denied his homosexuality to himself and all those around him.  Now he’s threatened that John is going to expose his secret.

This book not only focused on the discrimination of being gay, it also showed a very emotional side side of being a homosexual.  The emotions from hiding your secrets, denying yourself love, and fighting the very person you are is gut wrenching.  Also the emotions that go along with being the odd man out, having your life on display, and having to go far and beyond to prove your worth as a player, friend, and human being will tear the reader up.  Add a secret affair, an emotional romance, and self discovery and you have the perfect book.

The Understatement Of The Year is one of those “must read” books.  I absolutely loved this book and can honestly say is my favorite in The Ivy Years series.

Sarina Bowen is a gifted writer.  Her writing is not only romantic, it is highly emotional.  Each story reflects the glory of the human spirit.  She tackles some very difficult and unique subject matter and gives her characters a life that jumps off the pages.  Her delivery of an emotional romance is phenomenal.

Author Bio:

Sarina Bowen writes steamy, angsty Contemporary Romance and New Adult fiction from the wilds of Vermont.

The Year We Fell Down, Book #1 in The Ivy Years series, began breaking hearts in March 2014. Book #2, The Year We Hid Away, is brand new.

For Harlequin-E, Sarina writes the Gravity series. Coming in From the Cold features an angsty downhill ski racer and one of the most unique plot conflicts in contemporary romance today.

Sarina enjoys skiing, coffee products and a nice glass of wine. She lives with her family, eight chickens and more ski gear and hockey equipment than seems necessary.

She would be honored to connect with you at http://www.sarinabowen.com.

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