Review of Training Season by Leta Blake

by Leta Blake

2.5 Stars

 Unquestionably talented figure skater Matty Marcus is willing to sacrifice everything for his Olympic dream, but his lack of discipline cost him the gold once before. Now the pressure’s on. He needs a coach who can keep him in line, but top coaches don't come cheap, and Matty can't afford to stay in the game no matter how badly he wants to win.
When a lucrative house-sitting gig brings him to rural Montana, Matty does his best to maintain his training regimen. Local residents turn out to be surprisingly tolerant of his flamboyant style, especially handsome young rancher Rob Lovely, who proves to be much more than a cowboy stereotype. Just as Matty requires a firm hand to perform his best on the ice, Rob shows him how strong he can be when he relinquishes control in the bedroom. With new-found self-assurance, he drives himself harder to go straight to the top.
But competition has a timetable, and to achieve his Olympic dream, Matty will have to join his new coach in New York City, leaving Rob behind. Now he must face the ultimate test. Has he truly learned how to win—on and off the ice—during his training season?

Let’s start off with saying that this book had so much potential, and we really really really wanted to love it.  Because really a figure skater and a cowboy, how couldn’t it be all awesome and unicorns?  But really, at 343 pages it felt liked it dragged.

Matty (who’s name by 10%into the book annoyed us!) is an injured professional figure skater who moves to Montana to housesit and meets sexy rancher Rob Lovely.  Their relationship is temporary as Matty will only be in Montana for 6 months, but their feelings are anything but temporary. 

Let’s talk about our 2 MC.  Rob, is that strong sexy rancher who has taken on his families ranch to continue on his father’s wishes.  Matty is a bratty immature, feminine man with SO many mental health issues. He struggles with being good enough, an eating disorder and blaming others for his problems, and somehow falling in a BDSM relationship with Rob is the best way to handle his problems.  See, the thing is we really wanted to like Matty, but man, it is hard sometimes.  We found it hard to see through all his bluff and bluster and see a redeemable man underneath, but struggled. 

So the sex is hot and too much.  It gets a little overwhelming that we started to skim.  And the slide into BDSM was actually surprising for us, and not really super enjoyable.

Redeeming qualities of this book – the writing.  Matt and Rob do have lots of sweets and tender moments together, that you almost can see their allure to each other.  They have a fun banter that kept us entertained and wanted more of that fun flirty relationship and not the angst that Matty always seems to slide into.  And Ben, Rob’s kid is a welcome in this story.