Soft Hands

The Sin Bin: West Coast, Book 2

De: E.M. Lindsey

Narrado por: John Solo

There are a few things Nolan Ouellet has come to accept about himself.

One: that his future with the NHL was irrevocably destroyed, thanks to his reckless actions as a teenager destroying his knee.

Two: that he will never fall in love because the very idea of it sends his skin crawling.

Three: he will bed as many NHL players as humanly possible before he retires his game.

And four: he will never apologize for who he is and what he wants.

Then two men come barreling into his life and turn everything he knows upside down.

He still won’t play for the NHL, and he still won’t change who he is because he’s fought too long and too hard to accept his identity. But suddenly, his future is starting to look a little different than he originally planned.

And that scares the absolute hell out of him.

When he met Marko Rudenko and Luka Wagner—two veterans of the Denver Huskies—they were supposed to be a game, just like everyone else. But now all he can think about is how to keep them around without compromising the person he’s become and ruining the love Marko and Luka have for each other.

Soft Hands is the second book in the Sin Bin: West Coast series which can be enjoyed on its own but is best listened to in order. Soft Hands features a goalie with a hard outer shell and soft marshmallow insides, a confused alternate captain who just wants to give up a little control, and a former NHL prospect who knows who he is, but maybe not what he needs. Soft Hands contains aromantic acceptance, no cheating, plenty of love and communication, and as always, a happily ever after.

©2022 E.M. Lindsey (P)2022 E.M. Lindsey

They were all a bit messy...

Quote from the book: "They were all a bit messy and a bit shattered and put back together slightly crooked." This describes this story and romance perfectly.

This is a perfectly imperfect story of three men each with their own struggles, battling their own demons. E.M. Lindsey has a way of writing such interesting characters, she never disappoints.

This is book 2 in EM Lindsey's series The Sin Bin: West Coast. John Solo did a wonderful job in the narration and the voices of these three men. I think I missed out on not reading the first book in the series and I'm old enough to know better... It's always better to start at the very beginning.

Unconventional polyamory, praise kink, cam boy, 1st person POV for all three of the characters

Was okay

This was my first book with an aro MC so I was interested in how he would integrate into a romantic relationship between the other 2 MCs. While I applaud EM Lindsey’s storytelling skills, I was left feeling unfulfilled by this story. There is hardly an intimate interaction between all 3 men, and Nolan doesn’t have an interaction with them in that way until 60% into the book. The friendship is there, and I enjoy the platonic scenes between all 3 but I wanted more once they’ve decided to deepen the relationship involving all of them. It doesn’t matter that Nolan is aro, he’s gone from just friends to more than but there’s so little full interaction. I wanted more of all 3, as well as seeing Nolan and Luka together as they have zero interactions without Marko there but Nolan and Marko do. I would have preferred either a longer story after things are settled between the 3 of them, or a story that only focuses on Marko and Luca. While I enjoy John Solo there are several mispronounced common words that kept pulling me from the story. I did enjoy his accents for Marko and Luca however. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

Luka, Marko and Nolan

Really enjoyed this book Nolan is Aromatic and it's the first time I have encountered this, learning something on the way. Luka and Marko play hockey for the Huskies and have been hooking up for awhile, when they go away the define there relationship and thunk they want to see if Nolan is interested in joining them. We'll written and superb narration

a unique hockey romance

Marko, Luka, and Nolan are three completely different men who eventually find themselves in a relationship none expected but all accepted. They had some trials getting to their happy ending but did get there. The narration by John Solo was done really well.

Intricate Threesome!

Marko and Luka have been fooling around and when they meet Nolan, they are both attracted to him. This entire story starts off quite sexual! Luka has been in love with Marko but quite afraid to voice it. Marko just did not realize he loved Luka too! These two were literally a Hot Sexy Mess! Nolan is aromantic which I cannot remember ever reading about before, so it brought a new aspect to this relationship for me. All three guys have their own issues and sometimes they did not all communicate when they should, but they all genuinely fit together and somehow got what they needed in this threesome! John did a fantastic job narrating each of these very different guys and he was also fabulous with all the hot and steamy scenes!

I loved this book!

This book….I just can’t. There aren’t words for it. EM Lindsey, you have killed me dead. Your words have slain me and my heart is bleeding out on the floor. This book was GORGEOUS. Not that I am surprised. I loved the first one and was wondering how it could be topped. The representation of other types of characters in this author’s books has always been spot on and these guys were no exception. I absolutely fell in love with Luca, Marko, and Nolan. No two polyamorous relationships look the same. There is no such thing as one size fits all, no matter what kind of relationship you have. The key is communication..and these three have figured that out. Absolutely loved this one.

And can I say John Solo is absolutely on fire with these characters?! He is one of my favorite narrators.

Interesting story, engaging narration

Interesting MMM romance with an aromantic as part of the throuple.
It starts off with 2 hockey players, Luka and Marco, who started as friends with benefits but become a couple. Then they discover that they are also attracted to Nolan, a former player turned coach. what follows is a solid story about making a relationship work between 3 people. It was refreshing to see that it was not about an equal partnership, but balance so that all partners get what they need from their relationship. Really good story.
John Solo did a good job (as always)with the story, especially with the steamy scenes. I thought he did a really good job with the accents as well. Really enjoyed the narration!

Soft Hands

Soft Hands is Book 2 in The Sin Bin: West Coast series and is better enjoyed in order. I really enjoyed this book. Marko, Luka, and Nolan are an unlikely trio that come together and fight for their happy ending. I loved the moment when Marko and Luka realized who Nolan was. This book is steamy and everything I expect from an E.M. Lindsey book. Their characters are always complex and I know I won't be disappointed. This is a book I will enjoy again and again. Definitely recommend. 
Narrator John Solo does a marvelous job. I've listened to several of his narrations recently and he never gets old. It's always a joy to hear his voice and know I'm going to be drawn right into the story. He really brings the characters to life and makes the story easy to follow. 

Hockey & poly

I really enjoy how much thought Lindsey puts into creating their leads. This is a poly romance between three friends (MMM) and was no different. Two leads were teammates in the NHL (a goalie!) and the third was a former hockey player.

This is advertised as a sports romance - based on my super scientific measuring, i'd say this book is 80% sex, 15% relationship, 5% hockey. If you aren't big on sports romances, this will probably work in your favor. If you enjoy the sports plots and more teammates bonding, traveling, games played, this will be a bit of a letdown. Also something to note, in this world, everyone in the hockey world is out (if they want to be) and the homophobia/scared to be outed is not a trope.

Rather than write walls of text, i'm going to break down main thoughts into bullets of what were pros and cons for me.

Things I enjoyed:
- Each character was very complex and unique, everyone had their own distinct voice.
-Aromantic representation where there is no "fixing" or "you just need to find the right person" bs. There's a lot of reflection and discussion between all three leads on what a relationship would be like between two romantic and one aromantic lead. (I'm not an authority on being aromantic, hopefully aromantic readers will weigh in on the representation.)
-The author's note explains one lead is an undiagnosed autistic, and lots of care went into showing who he was and how he expressed his big feelings. There's no "quirky" coding, thank goodness.
-Each lead spoke additional languages, which was an awesome touch.
-No 80% breakup! Refreshing to see.
-So much clear communication and consent discussions.



Things that didn't work for me:
-The narration. Listen, not every narrator will work out. Unfortunately, I struggle with John Solo's narrations. Each chapter starts with a very dramatic enunciation of what lead's POV has started. It's distracting, and so was Solo's different voices and accents used for each lead. (This is a me problem, I know others who enjoy Solo's voice acting!)
-I wanted more exploration on what their MMM relationship would look like! This is very front heavy on the emotional turmoil and angst of "what if" they all explored a relationship together, that the ending was so quick. I would have liked to see more chapters of all three of them together.
-I was looking for some hockey, which this doesn't have much of. Or even a bit more plot outside of the relationship angst.
-There was a lot of suspension of disbelief for the cam model subplot. I couldn't wrap my head around someone falling in love with a regular viewer who half the time is misspelling words because he's busy doing something else. Is it just me??


I received an ARC copy of this audiobook from GRR in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Excellent

Loved this new one from EM Lindsey! It was compelling, well written and definitely held my interest! This is a great addition to the series! John Solo did a nice job narrating this one.