Title: Poetry in Motion
Author: Samantha Wayland
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 287 Pages
Category: Contemporary Romance
At a Glance: There were tons of things that made Poetry in Motion fabulous. It was fun, and sexy, and incredibly touching.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Travis Campbell has been at this hockey thing for a while. He knows his days on the ice are numbered, but he’s happy with the Moncton Ice Cats and he’s still got some time to figure out what comes next. He’s been taking college classes online and thought he knew what he was doing, but then he made the ultimate rookie mistake. It turns out the poetry class is not the easier way to get his required English credits.
Barnaby Birtwistle has exiled himself to the wilds of New Brunswick, leaving London, his so-called friends, and his cheating ex behind. His life is finally getting back on track, and he’s going to keep it that way, even if it means living like a monk.
Travis is expecting a bookish nerd to help him pass his staggeringly boring class; Barnaby is expecting a meathead hockey player who struggles to string two words together, let alone appreciate poetry. Turns out that they both have something to learn.
Review: I am so incredibly glad that I stumbled upon Home and Away four years ago and was introduced to the Moncton Ice Cats and Samantha Wayland’s fabulous storytelling. I love hockey romances, but Wayland’s passion for the game, not to mention her obviously extensive knowledge, make reading her books even more engaging and fantastic. She has created this amazing team, in middle-of-nowhere New Brunswick, that has stolen her readers’ hearts. I adoooore Rupert and Callum (Home and Away), I also love Mike and Alexei (Crashing series), and now, with Poetry in Motion, Wayland’s newest release, I have fallen in love with Barnaby and Travis.
Barnaby Birtwistle—how ridiculously fun is that name?!—is a transplant from England who is broke and living with his cousin (Rupert!) and his family in Moncton while he pays off his debts and tries to finally complete his doctorate. Barnaby’s previous romantic relationship ended badly, with his asshole of an ex cheating on him with multiple people, even after Barnaby went into debt and gave up pursuing his own dreams to support him in his ballet career; so, Barnaby is not planning on dating anyone for the foreseeable future. At least until he’s finished school. That plan gets thrown out the window, however, when he meets Travis. In his defense, Barnaby does initially fool himself into thinking that a friends-with-benefits arrangement is going to work out for them. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t.
Travis Campbell also has no plans for the foreseeable future for anything beyond casual hookups. He has made up his mind that he’s a “bad bet”, expecting any given moment to get traded and sent someplace else, so he basically lives with one foot out the door, not allowing anyone to get too close. He does feel like he has found a home with the Ice Cats—he truly feels valued by the GM and the whole organization—but, he also feels he isn’t honestly fulfilling his contract, given that a big part of the reason the Ice Cats signed him was to be an enforcer and he’s actively doing everything he can to avoid getting in any fights. He’s pretty sure that once the team learns his secret—the reason he can’t afford to get into any fights—he’ll be out of there.
I loved what Wayland did with Travis’s storyline, from his struggles with getting through his poetry class and the reason why, to his injuries and not wanting to give up playing the sport he loves—the only thing he thinks he’s good at. It was all so touching and told with so much emotion. Barnaby’s fear when Travis was playing after he found out the extent of his injuries was so real. I literally felt sick to my stomach right along with him in a couple of scenes.
Another thing I loved, that I know the author has probably already heard a lot about, was all the buildup for Jack and Grady’s story. I need that book like yesterday! Theirs was a very strong secondary storyline. Not overpowering…but, smartly played up. I’m certainly chomping at the bit for that book to get written. But, in this book, I absolutely adored Jack and Barnaby’s friendship, and how Barnaby and Grady got close as well. All of the friendships were fantastic and added so much to the story.
In fact, there were tons of things that made Poetry in Motion fabulous. It was fun, and sexy, and incredibly touching. I loved Travis and Barnaby’s relationship from beginning to end, and their chemistry was absolute fire. AND, I loved seeing so much of Rupert and Callum! Hearty eyes forever for those two, man. *sigh* Poetry was another wonderfully entertaining hockey story from an author who never disappoints. Samantha Wayland has built such a special universe with these books. I can’t recommend them enough!
You can buy Poetry in Motion here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B07VWXPZ75?d” style=”black” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]