ARC Review: Contract Season

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Contract Season was one of both of ours most anticipated reads of the year. We both loved Season’s Change, and expected to love Contract Season just as much. And guess what? We did! So, if you’re looking for a great romance to devour over the next few days, let us put forward this one. Need more convincing, though? Check out our review below.

And don’t forget, you can follow Cait on twitter.

A heartbroken hockey player and an up-and-coming country music star fake it for the cameras (or do they?) in Cait Nary’s delightfully sexy new novel.

Brody Kellerman has a plan. First, become the best defenseman in professional hockey. Second, get over his ex-boyfriend so he can focus on his game. Hooking up with the singer at his buddy’s wedding was the perfect solution, but it was never meant to be more than a one-night stand.

Seamus Murry has never planned a thing in his life, including hooking up with a smoking-hot hockey player. Being ghosted sucks, but at least one good thing came from it—the breakout hit song of the summer. Now he’s one of country music’s brightest stars, but one slipup—or in this case, video—might cost him his career.

When their video goes viral, Brody and Seamus agree to fake a relationship. But soon it’s impossible to remember what is real and what’s pretend, and although Brody has no intention of falling for freewheeling Seamus’s charm…life doesn’t always go according to plan.

Contract Season

Cait Nary

Goodreads

Rep: gay mcs
Release: 6th September 2022

Everyone always has their own checklist that needs to be all filled out for a book to be considered a good romance. That’s why it is so difficult to be at all objective when rating romance novels: everyone will find something else romantic. And well written.

For me that list goes as follows: fleshed out, likeable characters; amazing chemistry between the leads; a lot of pining (no pain, no gain, my lads!!); ridiculous set-up but in a cool, ‘might actually happen, maybe’ way. Contract Season checks all of those, and more!

I really thought Nary’s debut novel would be my favourite romance forever, and then she went and outdid herself with this one! Every single thing about this book is tailored perfectly to my taste (and I dare say a lot of other people who grew up reading fan fiction.) (Yes, I keep bringing up fics every time I review a romance, but that’s only because I’m aware that good fan fiction is actually the pinnacle of romance to which all published romances should aspire.)

Contract Season takes the premise of fake dating and brings to life all its best features. It understood the assignment. If you need one book to explain to someone what the fake dating trope is all about, you should just use Contract Season. Because despite what some readers think, it’s not enough for the two people to pretend to date. Especially when they were strangers beforehand, which seems to be a common trope recently. There needs to be tension! It needs to be completely unbearable for the characters that they can touch the other in public, but not in private. It needs to be soulcrushing for them that they can kiss their ‘partner’ while on a date somewhere, but not do anything else when no one is looking.

In this particular case it’s even better: the sexual tension manages to remain unresolved, despite the fact that the couple does sleep with each other in the first chapter. That’s the magic of fake dating, though! Whatever propelled you to have sex for real at first clearly doesn’t count anymore, because now you’re just pretending to be into them for the public. It makes sense in their minds! And it’s a testament to how talented a writer Nary is that it does.

The thing is, Nary’s writing might seem simple at first glance, but it’s that simplicity that’s brilliant. Because it allows her to pierce you right through the heart with a single line you were absolutely not expecting. It’s extremely detail oriented and focused on the smallest changes in emotions. The (gay) devil truly is in the details.

Contract Season is undoubtedly one of the best romances of recent years, and it’s fascinating to think what Nary might gift us next. Whether you know a single thing about hockey or not, this has to be on your radar. You can thank me later.