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Today has not been a good day for Seattle sports, but the watch party was fun. I wasn't the only one who got there early for the merch pop up. Most of the shirts and hoodies were only in the less-popular sizes, lotta XXLs. They did have a t shirt in my size, and it was 100% a return. I paid the full price of [redacted] for a t shirt that has definitely been worn and also washed by someone else before. But, they had it so I got it.

I'm also glad I went early because the patio the event was on did run out of seating. People were standing next to the TV to the left of this shot:



The pop up had a Jackson jersey and I was good and did not buy my first hockey jersey. I am not buying a Jackson jersey unless they get a start or Seattle resigns them, in which was I'll be sad that I didn't get an inaugural jersey.

(CJ Jackson is openly NB, and a 3rd goalie for Seattle. I really want a jersey of Seattle's NB goalie, but no, not unless they stay in Seattle next year)

There was a girl there who said she was 'very new to hockey', but her clothes were in all Torrent colors, her handmade jewelry was in Torrent colors, she has a Torrent itabag and she'd made 'trinkets' to hand out, glass pendants she'd made in Torrent colors.

Pendant and also event swag:


Torrent have a lot of momentum. They sell out areas nearly 3x the size of the Boston Fleet's home arena. I really hope the team do just a little better to not lose some of that support.

Like Real People Do by E L Massey - I finished the book, sort of. I knew there was a sequel, but I didn't realize that it's part of a four book series and the first two books are basically part 1 and part 2 of the same story. Like Real People Do picks a stopping point rather than having a solid ending, but that's fine with how the book is structured.

It's about a college kid who is a serious figure skater trying to navigate a seizure disorder. He winds up dating a closeted NHL hockey prodigy. I enjoyed it, but might take the rest of the series a book at a time.

It's very medium stakes. Nothing is high drama, but there are serious issues in both of the MC's lives that grounds the romantic fantasy elements. It's really well written, just not exactly my cup of tea. But, definitely the palate cleanser I needed after Goaltender Interference.

I don't typically like YA, anything involving teens, or meant for teens. One of the characters struggles to deal with his emotions in a way that feels real for his age without milking it for drama or making him feel unsafe to be around. I also liked how the characters are trying to handle a difficult situation and be mature about it, but every once in a while the far-more-mature character is just done with trying to be an adult and decides to just make out or lets himself sound a bit whiny. Basically, he goes easy on himself sometimes and gives himself permission to not try to be perfect, and that lets both Main Characters relax and keeps stress from building in the relationship. A lot of things are just really well handled.

Hockey score - I am going to give all hockey romances a hockey score from now on. It's decent! Doesn't really get much into hockey culture or crunchy things about hockey, but does get into the realism of things like minor injuries. There is no Major Injury plot point or drama, but the Hockey Player Main Character being banged up, run down and also on medication after a bad hit messing up his life a bit was a nice bit of realism. Massey definitely gets a point there. The Hockey Player Main Character being a captain at nineteen without someone wearing the 'A' to either support him or help mentor him into the role feels very unlikely, especially since he's a mess. He's not a mature young man, he's got underage DUIs. Making part of a leadership core and giving him the C symbolically would make more sense. But, it's part of the set up the author was going for so I'm not bothered. The unlikely-but-not-impossible bits are there for a reason.

Also, I really liked that the author understood the difference between hockey skating and figure skating, like that certain figure skate moves don't work in hockey skates. One reason I was very reluctant about trying this book was other authors ignoring all that, sometimes aggressively ignoring skating physics for cute moments.

The *other* hockey romance book series becoming a TV show has finally dropped a trailer



I am going to watch at least the start of it, we'll see how long I last. I do want to see sexy hockey scenes, but I don't know if I'd enjoy anything except those bits. I am glad the show got so delayed and it didn't come out right when Heated Rivalry did. There may be some people trying to compare them / pit them against each other, but it will be at least way less intense.