She takes a bit to recover her spirits after the first book on her reading list makes her mind feel like mush. Thank goodness I will only read one book per author before I decide on whether to take Capitolium up on the challenge! I can't imagine reading another book from that author after reading about a couple whose only chemistry is in bed! Maybe the next one will be different from the one I just read! The question is how...
However, by the time she recovers her spirits, it was almost time for her to go to bed, and hence decides against buying the second book on her to be read (TBR) list for the time being. And rest she needs to get.
The following day at work, at the Institut de la Statistique du Québec (or ISQ), she hears her colleagues talk about hockey. Sure, she can follow the conversation relatively easily, but when her turn comes to talk, she feels like she needs to slip a mention of hockey romance:
"Est-ce normal pour un livre d'amour de hockey de ne pas avoir de hockey dedans?" (Is it normal for a hockey romance book not to have any hockey in it?)
Why hockey players as male leads? In my mind, if you were going to have a hockey player as a lead, there should be some hockey! Caro muses as she watches her amused colleagues' reactions to her question. The book I read and abandoned last night was about sex.
"Ça fait un bout, mais as-tu entendu parler de ce qui s'est passé avec le Kraken autour de ça?" (It's been a while, but did you hear about what happened to the Kraken about that?) Jacques, a colleague, asks her.
"Non?" Caro shrugs.
"Ça paraît que t'as pas lu de livre d'amour de hockey avant, mais pour répondre à ta question, ça arrive souvent" (It shows that you didn't read hockey romance books before, but to answer your question, it happens often) another colleague answers her.
Damn! If I accept the challenge issued on air last night, I already know what it must have: HOCKEY! And not just a game where two players fight over the female lead, or scored the game-winning goal for his love interest! Caro feels a light flashing in her mind, as her colleagues explain what happened to the Seattle Kraken over hockey romance books. Sure, it happens often that hockey romance doesn't have hockey, but I guess, I was okay with asking viewers to rec books to me over a purely random sample of hockey romance books, since I would have needed to read more books than I would have time for with rigorous sampling!
But the grim truth sets in as she realizes that so many in the hockey romance world seemed to judge a book in that genre by the quality or quantity of sex content in it.
Yet, after her work day ends, she streams getting her battle pass dailies in on air. Later on, she resumes reading the books her viewers recommended to her, and buying the second book. Right there on air, near the end of the stream. But she gives a quick review first:
"I am a little disappointed by the first book you recommended to me on air, because it focuses too much on how they get better at sex! Maybe the second one could prove different, and not simply because someone else wrote it!" Caro comments on the first reading, with Capitolium in the voice chat.
"Did you decide yet?" Capitolium asks her.
"I feel like I can't decide based on a single book"
"Have a good night then!"
The streamer starts praying that the book Glitter recommended her last night was better than the first book. Or at least different.
It doesn't take long for Caro to realize that something doesn't sound right. Only a chapter or two past the meet cute, she realizes that, somehow, both leads have traumas to resolve.
Maybe it's a bit early, but I feel like she needs therapy to make any relationship work. They open up to their traumas far too quickly for their own good! Unless perhaps the hockey-playing lead pays for her therapy. If that happens, this book will automatically be better than the previous one, Caro reflects on her expectations for what is to follow.
But then the hockey player begins his descent towards abusive behaviors. Which the FMC must endure, at least at first. I could understand if either one secretly booked an appointment with a therapist, and this lead time meant they must endure each other until then. If that doesn't happen, then, should I feel forced into writing an abusive relationship, I would want one side, whichever has the better mental health, to book an appointment for therapy, maybe even secretly if necessary. But this isn't fantasy, where often love is a cure for mental illness, the statistician starts formulating her own set of expectations. I am not giving up on this book just yet because at least here, while they do have sex, it isn't everything.
Yet, it wasn't immediately clear to her in what range of cap hits the hockey player would fall into. Once again, however, she is left wondering where did the hockey go. And she can hardly contain her disappointment at both the lack of hockey in this book. That he can take his mind off hockey with her, but she feels like life outside the relationship has fallen by the wayside.
Yet, the hopes of finally seeing the characters undergoing therapy, or otherwise working on their mental health, as well as seeing hockey being played, are what keeps her reading this book. She keeps her fingers crossed, hoping for the best.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
Her hopes get dashed approximately a hundred pages later, when it becomes clear that therapy isn't forthcoming, nor did they show any signs of getting any characterization other than their respective traumas. Which spurs Caro to get on Discord and DM "Glitter".
Caroline: Is it me or I found the characters in the book you recommended to me... flat?
Glitter: Flat?
Caroline: They are nothing without their traumas; I expected the female lead to have booked, at least secretly, a psychological or psychiatric evaluation
Glitter: For herself or for the player?
Caroline: I'd say for the player, or couples therapy
Karine, whom I watched back in the day, blew me away intellectually. Caro makes me feel like she's a genius in her own right, much like Karine. But, from my recollections of hockey players, often hockey players, at least in romance, feel therapy is for the weak, Glitter is left wondering what kind of ideas Caro could come up with, but might be unwilling, or unable, to execute, at least in a month's time.
Glitter: How deep are you in the book?
Caroline: About two hundred and fifty pages; at this point, I feel like this couple is a little odd
No better than the first book, whose relationship was, yes, very sex-centric, but not as abusive. Yet, even if my hopes materialized and that they actually get therapy, I think the hockey player would keep his therapy sessions a secret from his teammates, not that his team's social dynamics are explored, much less the athletic ones, Caro's mind starts churning thoughts, faster than she would like, about how the relationships differ between the two books.
And the main similarity is, of course, its near-complete absence of actual hockey in the plot. Given this, she gets off Discord and goes back to the first book, now that she has a better idea of what to watch out so that she can skim through the sexual scenes.
The rest of the first book, from Caro's standpoint, feels like its author can't seem to do much of anything other than sex. As a result, she doesn't actually miss much by skimming (or perhaps skipping) chapters devoted to sex, except maybe for a few lines of foreplay banter.
However, the only new thing she finds off about the first book that isn't already present earlier is that, somehow, neither person seems to suffer any real out-of-bed consequences for indulging in what feels like ever-increasing amounts of better sex. Tabarnak! You could cut two-thirds of the sex out of this book, and it would remove half its total length! You would think that a player with a $9-10M cap hit would see his play deteriorate by having too much sex, and maybe even trade rumors!
And, because of the speed at which she finished reading the first book, she goes back to the second book. She chances upon a scene where the male lead buys her a first-row seat to a hockey game, next to his teammates' wives and girlfriends.
"What's going on here? They sound the siren for half-time? There are three periods! Even if there was some stoppage in play around halfway through the second period, the siren isn't sounded then!" Caroline yelps, after reading the game, written in such a way that it destabilizes her.
So I have more questions for Glitter or Lagado, the followers whom I can most readily ask questions to outside of the stream. But now is not the time for me to ask them. So... very tired of devouring books for longer than I should! She starts feeling mounting headaches after she reads about what is supposed to be some sort of happy ending. Maybe someone else could find an abusive relationship appealing to read about. They might be happy in the present, but I am worried it's not going to last. But the game scene near the end is where I have a better idea of what kind of player he is: some bottom-line pest. At least he spends consistently with one, so his cap hit is about $1.5M at most.
But then, the following day, Caro takes what little time she has before work to ask her questions to her followers. However, since Glitter isn't online at this time, nor is Capitolium, Lagado is the one who might answer her questions:
Caroline: Is it normal for romance books to have abusive relationships?
Lagado: Unfortunately, yes
Caroline: I understand that abuse is a cheap source of conflict, but even I know abusive relationships don't work out
Lagado: You must understand that romance is often read and written as wish fulfillment
Caroline: You would think some people wish for a healthy relationship with someone fit and well-off
In the first two books, the hockey player is just an excuse for one such person. You would think that people would read and write about football or basketball players because some of them are very tall... 6'5 or more, Caro then starts checking out the third book, which was suggested to her by Lagado.
Which is a male-male romance, and both players on the same team. But she doesn't feel like she's in the right head space to read it just yet. Once again, she prays that the hockey part is done better than in the first two books.
Around the breakfast table, that morning, she talks about these new reads with her parents, who feel like her newfound interest in hockey romance is a little sudden.
"Il y a quelque chose qui cloche" (Something's fishy) Caro whines to her parents about her readings.
"Qu'y a-t-il?" (What's wrong?) her dad asks her over pancakes.
"Pourquoi le hockey domine le monde du livre d'amour sportif?" (Why does hockey dominate the sports romance world?)
"Le racisme systémique" (Systemic racism) her mom answers her. "Les personnages sont présumés blancs jusqu'à preuve du contraire" (Characters are assumed white until proven otherwise)
You would think that sports romance writers would be drawn to basketball, mostly point or shooting guards, since a lot of them love making their male leads in the 6'2-6'5 range. However, mom is right: hockey is a very white sport, and hence its use as an excuse for an athletic and well-off male lead, Caro reflects on her mom's statement about systemic racism.
"Je peux te garantir que tu connais le hockey bien mieux que certains auteurs de livres à la glace de rose! Je t'ai entendu te plaindre d'un personnage comptant pour neuf à dix millions sur la masse salariale et qui ne pense qu'à améliorer son sexe, hier soir!" (I can guarantee you know hockey much better than some hockey romance authors! I heard you complain about a character whose cap hit is in the $9-10M range who only thinks of getting better at sex, last night!) her father whines.
"Je connais peut-être mieux le plafond salarial et l'aspect transactionnel du sport, mais c'est pas dur à battre" (I might know the salary cap and the transactional aspect of the sport better, but it's a very low bar)
But of course! Lagado recommended the third book to me, and it seemingly starts with one of the leads being traded to the other lead's team. Or so the blurb would say. I have high hopes for that book, since the last two books disappointed me, Caro then turns to her cell phone and gets the book Lagado recommended to her on Kindle Unlimited.
Yet she starts to realize that maybe some readers would skim past the hockey scenes as she skimmed through the sex scenes. Especially after checking the first two books against review websites such as Goodreads and Amazon (since she obtained them through KU).