I wholeheartedly agree with what my friend Emma said on her review...I don't think that this is a classic romance fiction about Mac and Fritz. When the story starts, Mac and Fritz are already together. And I never have doubts regarding their love to one another -- even with slight miscommunication in the end. Sure, Mac is insecure about coming out as a hockey player and he also contemplates whether it is the right time to tell Fritz "I love you", but I feel that it has never really been the big issue.Instead, I feel that the big question here is Mac's love for hockey, whether he has what it takes to stay in the game and keep loving it. While Fritz seems to get his big ticket, being drafted both ways to the A and N league, Mac is the one left behind. Mac struggles to figure out what to do, if he no longer has hockey in his life (and his lover is away doing NHL games)...He didn’t know, but he could admit to himself that while they trained for the new season, he did have certain fantasies about retiring from hockey and taking up a new profession where his sexuality didn’t matter.Gay plumber. Gay accountant. Gay used car salesman. (Chapter Five)There's also the issue about Mac being one of the "veterans", even in his 24-years of age. There are younger people coming, and he doesn't know if he will stay in the team or being cut off. If he does, would coming out matters? Or should he come out now, and see whether the team's reaction will make it or break it for him.It's a wonderful and thoughtful read as I am reading Mac's journey towards accepting his love to the game and his love for his man, with every single consequences that come along with it. And Isa K. manages to insert great humor too. The ukulele scene in the end, I love that. I also particularly love this part, where Mac's imagining some melodramatic scenarios on why Fritz doesn't answer Mac's telephone call ...Fritzy is crushed by his demotion. He has lost his will to live. He’s lying drunk under his kitchen table. He’s gone on a torrid downward spiral involving crack-addicted gay escorts. He has locked himself in his bedroom and is listening to the Cure while experimenting with eyeliner. (Chapter 11) *lol*I love it -- a very good sport-related book, that is for sure.PS: I agree that it is too bad Mac doesn't pursue friendship with Sarah the girl-plumber. I think they can make good friends indeed. Especially since Sarah is the only female secondary character in this book, and she's not at all whiny or bitchy or annoying. That' refreshing, people!
