Review: Goal Lines & First Times by Eden Finley & Saxon James
SYNOPSIS:
COHEN
It turns out making out with my best friend in high school could be considered gay. Who knew? Apparently, everyone but me.
Now that it’s been pointed out, I can’t help reliving it in my head. Repeatedly. Goodbye Denial Town, hello Confusionville.
When my path leads me down the gay dating app route, I don’t expect to meet anyone I like, but then I meet him.
He can’t be more opposite than me. He’s smart, he hates hockey, and he identifies as demi—something I’ve never heard of.
Yet I can’t deny something’s there. Something I want to explore in person. If only I could get him to agree.
SETH
All my life, I’ve felt broken.
Sick of being asked if I could be gay by ex-girlfriends, friends, and even my parents, I join a gay dating app to prove a point.
I don’t expect to find what’s always been missing. A real connection.
The problem is, I’m too scared to meet him in person. He’s a hockey player, and I fear when he finds out my twin plays for the NHL, I’ll be overshadowed by my overachieving brother. Again.
Worse yet, what happens if we meet and that connection isn’t the same?
When I tell him I’m not ready, he’s disappointed but supportive. Fate, on the other hand, isn’t as accepting.
I had no idea the person I’ve been falling for is someone I already know.
REVIEW:
This series is just pure magic, and this installment was no different. I was so excited when I found out that Seth was getting a book, I wanted to skip Face Offs & Cheap Shots and go right to his story. But he was totally worth the wait, especially when I found out he ends up with Cohen…cue the sly smirk.
Now this story was more of a slow burn the previous installments in the series, but it was fitting and I think that’s the only way it could have worked. With Seth needing an emotional connection, these two are going to have to build a solid friendship first before anything else can happen. Yet I really enjoyed how it all played out. I liked that they were almost living two separate lives, one online and one in person, both unknown to one another.
When Seth finally pieces together who Cohen is, well I was giddy with excitement and things between these two quickly turned explosive. I also love that no matter how ‘secretive’ any of these couples think they are being, someone always finds out and then proceeds to endlessly troll. In this case it was Beck and I couldn’t help but laugh over and over at this foolish man.
There was a little blip of drama at the end that I didn’t care for. Seth kind of oversteps his boundaries but I did like how they communicated about it and worked past it. And I positively adored how it all played out. The ending left me with a cheesy grin on my face and looking forward to Asher’s book.
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