(Disclaimer, I LOVE the super-fem + rugged outdoor guy dynamic and feel like I NEVER find it, so it would have had to have been REALLY rough to not get 4 stars even with some of the other issues.)I started this ages ago and then hit a conversation between the MCs that REALLy annoyed me (it seemed to confuse top/bottom & dom/sub) and put it down. Lended it out via lendle and didn't even think about it til it showed up again on my radar with the polls for best M/M novels.So I gave it another shot and I'm glad I did. I started it completely over and, just like the first time, fell in love with it early on, enjoyed it thoroughly, hit the SAME conversation and got super annoyed but this time I pushed past it. It's a solid book and I'm glad I did. I did find the whole 'there's no point in trying to maintain this relationship in the meantime' really annoying and frustrating and those sections were definitely a star-costing-drag. And, while realistic, it was not emotionally satisfying for Matty's dreams to just not get reached and I weirdly disliked Rob's whole physical therapy thing. Because despite what what everybody claimed, he honestly DID seem happy running the ranch now that it wasn't under his father's control, and implementing his ideas and whatnot, so being told over and over by secondary characters that he wasn't truly happy was kind of annoying. And then boom, it turns out, they are right except - I still don't believe them. I don't even believe Rob when he says he's happier now, because he really didn't seem happy at the end, just - relieved to have Matty back? I didn't buy it and I'm not sure how I can see their future relationship, because we don't actually see them interact in the new paradigm. I actually see them as having less in common in the city. So I sorta found the ending meh, except for being all "YAY THEY ARE FINALLY TOGETHER"WARNING: This book has a gazillion potential triggers for people with eating/food disorders and does a pretty terrible job with it, which is ironic since part of it is the fact that Matty himeslf is annoyed that people seem to think he has one. Also, while the BDSM is hot in some places, it's totally BAD PRACTICE BDSM and yes, Matty shouldn't be being 'cured' by it because, gross. I absolutely loved this book, it made me smile and cry in equal measures. It's been on my TBR shelf for quite a while but I always put off reading it for some reason - I'm glad that I finally got around to it because it was a definite five-star read for me. Matty was a great central character, an athlete in a sport that isn't quite so prolific as some that feature in MM novels. But this wasn't the same story that a lot of sport-relate MM books cover: Matty is openly gay.He meets Rob, a sexy rancher when he gets a job housesitting whilst recovering from an injury. Rob was a fan character as well, and I really believed in their romance. It progressed naturally, and though the 'I-love-yous' came quite early on, they didn't feel forced.I cried buckets towards the end of this book! I won't say any more, but it is the first book in a long time to make me so emotional.
What do You think about Training Season (2013)?
Interesting look into the world of figure skating. Long and satisfying story.
—ColleenH19
I loved it. Through the ups and downs and everything in between.
—bre
