Review: The Last Guy on Earth by Sarina Bowen (Hockey Guys #3)
Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.
I've been eagerly awaiting the third--and final--book in the Hockey Guys series since the previous one was released in October of 2023, and now, it's finally here! The Last Guy on Earth is a second-chance, forbidden M/M romance with a head coach and the team's newly traded goalie as the main characters. Fifteen years ago, Clayton Powers and Jethro Hale were teammates and roommates when they played for the Busker Brutes, a minor league team in New York. During that time, they became kinda-sorta-maybe more...until they were nothing more than a memory neither one spoke of all that much to anyone. They entered the majors separately, only for Clay's playing career to end earlier than anticipated, leading to the shift in his journey, which now has him as the youngest head coaches in the league. The two have managed to avoid each other over the past decade and a half, but now, with thirty-seven-year-old Jethro headed to the Colorado Cougars, the very team that thirty-nine-year-old Clay coaches, these two former friends--and kinda-sorta-maybe more--are going to have to figure out how to work together without messing up the team dynamic. And possibly even when a championship. And who knows? They could probably become kinda-sorta-maybe-ABSOLUTELY much, much more--but at what cost to their careers?
Who doesn't love a good grovel when it comes to second-chance romances? I think it's an absolute must for this particular trope. I need to believe that there's regret and remorse in order for there to be redemption and reconciliation. (And yes, I have a thing for alliteration.) I'd like to note that there was all that and then some when it came to Jethro and Clay, with what felt like a slow burn element added into the already scrumptiously entertaining mix. The history between the two main characters plays out via third-person flashbacks, with the switch from the first-person viewpoint in the rest of the book to the third-person point-of-view giving me pause the first time around, but then it ended up working well. Aside from Jethro and Clay's relationship, there's also the somewhat strained dynamic going on with Jethro's family and Clay's estranged one with his parents, particularly his father. My favorite, however, had to be the rest of the Colorado Cougars and seeing how they worked as a team. If you haven't read the first two books in the series--The New Guy and I'm Your Guy, respectively--then there are possible spoilers, but as someone who has read the aforementioned titles, I loved those cameos. The Last Guy on Earth marks the end of the Hockey Guys series, and Sarina Bowen made sure it was a five-starred closer.
Release Date: 18 February 2025
Date Read: 16 February 2025
Learn more about Sarina Bowen.
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