Save of the Game – Avon Gale

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Ethan Kennedy from Avon Gale’s book, Save of the Game. Many of you probably don’t know how much I love hockey since I’ve only included it in the backstory of a few of my characters. But hockey is one of the only sports I love. Hockey is amazing, and there are fantastic players out there who are supporting the LGBTQ community with programs like the You Can Play Project and the Pride Tape Campaign to show LGBTQ youth they are welcome on the ice.

This is a great story.And no, you don’t need to read the first book before you read this one. This easily stands on its own. I loved Riley and Ethan so much! Let’s find out a little more about Avon Gale’s book, Save of the Game.

After last season’s heartbreaking loss to his hockey team’s archrival, Jacksonville Sea Storm goalie Riley Hunter is ready to let go of the past and focus on a winning season. His new roommate, Ethan Kennedy, is a loud New Yorker with a passion for social justice that matches his role as the team’s enforcer. The quieter Riley is attracted to Ethan and has no idea what to do about it.

Ethan has no hesitations. As fearless as his position demands, he rushes into things without much thought for the consequences. Though they eventually warm to their passionate new bond, it doesn’t come without complications. While trying to financially help Ethan, Riley must hide his family’s wealth so as not to hurt Ethan’s immense pride. For their relationship to work, Ethan will need to learn when to keep the gloves on and let someone help him—and Riley will have to learn it’s okay to let someone past his defenses.

SaveoftheGameFS

Author Name: Avon Gale
Book Name: Save of the Game
Series: Scoring Chances. Can be read as a standalone.
Release Date: January 29, 2016
Pages or Words: 200 pages
Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, Fiction, Gay Fiction, Sports, Hockey
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Aaron Anderson

  • Hi Ethan, thanks for agreeing to chat with me. I’m a huge hockey fan and really love the intensity of the game, but I know not everyone knows hockey. Would you mind telling us what your job is on the ice?

I’m a hockey enforcer! That means I stand up for guys on the ice who can’t do it themselves. Like maybe they’re a skill player. Or the goalie. Technically I’m a defenseman so I skate around being defensive. That’s also pretty much me in a nutshell.

  • Would you rather be respected or feared? Why?

Respected. I never want anyone to be afraid of me. Not even as an enforcer. I know it sounds weird but hockey really does have a code and I try to follow it because I’m a gentleman. Even if I punch people. And I mean, I don’t want anyone saying I don’t punch hard because believe me, I do. And I have a shaved head and a lot of tattoos, so sometimes I look like a punk but believe me, I’m not scary at all. And I don’t want to be. Ever. Especially not to like, children or whatever.

  • What’s your favorite book?

Ugh, this is so embarrassing but it’s this kid’s book (I have two younger sisters okay, so I would read to them all the time) called “The Owl Who Loved Sunshine.” It’s about–well, it’s about this owl who wants to be out in the daytime even though he’s not supposed to. He makes friends with all these meadow creatures that, you know, owls usually eat. He saves a field mouse from a weasel, it’s ridiculous. But Leander (that was the owl) he didn’t let the other, narrow-minded owls keep him from having the life he wanted just because it wasn’t “proper” owl behavior to be out in the daytime. He just made it work. Anyway, I loved it and I loved reading it to my sisters. I wanted them to know that you can grow up and do what you want, be who you want, no matter what the world expects of you.

  • If you could go anywhere, all expenses paid, where would you go?

That’s the nice thing about your boyfriend being a billionaire. I can pretty much do this if I want. But he’s Super Serious Hockey Goalie Guy, and even when it’s not hockey season he trains and shit. But I’m hoping he’ll find a goalie camp in Hawaii this summer. I really want to go see a volcano.

  • Tell us a bit about yourself.

Uh, well, I’m a hockey player from New York. I’m bi, which I didn’t realize until Riley but even before that, I’d get mad at people for saying homophobic shit. One time I was on this team, before I made the Blackjacks (my first ECHL team in Vegas) and it was called the 1000 Island Privateers. Really. Like the salad dressing. Anyway, I hit a guy in the locker room because he wouldn’t stop with the gay slurs and he was on my own team. I also get really mad when people equate being a girl with being weak, ‘cause I grew up with my two sisters and my mom who is a badass. So it drives me crazy to hear things like, “stop acting like girls out there” or whatever. Does not happen around me. Riley says I’m a Social Justice Enforcer. I think it’s important to stand up for what’s right.

EXCERPT from Save of the Game

His phone beeped, alerting him that he had a new text message. It was from Ethan Kennedy, the defenseman the Storm had acquired before the trade deadline last spring. The rowdy Kennedy, who had a heavy New York accent and was a huge fan of the New York Rangers—a team Riley hated, by virtue of being a New Jersey Devils fan—had bunked with him for a few weeks during the finals. He’d gone back to New York after the Storm lost in the playoffs. Riley hadn’t been sure if he was coming back or not, but the text message indicated he’d just gotten back to town, and would Riley mind picking him up from the airport?

And oh, he got a cheaper rate by flying into Tampa, which was three hours away. Was that a problem? And one last thing. Riley didn’t need a roommate by any chance. Did he?

Riley looked around his apartment, which was nice and clean and quiet. Just like it always was, except for those few weeks last spring when Ethan was there. He was loud and messy and always in Riley’s space, left half-full cans of Pepsi everywhere, drank whiskeys with dubious-sounding names, and smoked like a chimney.

be there in 3 hrs, Riley texted and grabbed a few boxes of coconut water out of his fridge. The idea of coming home alone after games reminded him of those car rides in Wyoming, and he was getting tired of the silence.

Buy the book:

DreamspinnerAmazonAll Romance ebooksKobo

Meet the author:

Avon Gale was once the mayor on Foursquare of Jazzercise and Lollicup, which should tell you all you need to know about her as a person. She likes road trips, rock concerts, drinking Kentucky bourbon and yelling at hockey. She’s a displaced southerner living in a liberal midwestern college town, and when she’s not writing you can find her at the salon, making her clients look and feel fabulous. She never gets tired of people and their stories — either real or the ones she makes up in her head.

Where to find the author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avongalewrites
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/authoravongale
Twitter: @avongalewrites
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/avongalewrites/
Other: (join my mailing list) http://eepurl.com/bGLSrD
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28121630-save-of-the-game

Tour Dates & Stops:

29-Jan—Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, Two Chicks Obsessed With Books and Eye Candy, Posy Roberts, Book Lovers 4Ever, Mikky’s World of Books, Jessie G. Books, Gay Book Reviews

1-Feb—Boy Meets Boy Reviews, Kirsty Loves Books, Love Bytes, Elisa – My Reviews and Ramblings, Divine Magazine, Hearts on Fire, Open Skye Book Reviews

2-Feb—Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Inked Rainbow Reads, V’s Reads, Nautical Star Books, Foxylutely Book Reviews, Fangirl Moments and My Two Cents, BFD Book Blog

3-Feb—Bayou Book Junkie, Alpha Book Club, Molly Lolly, Happily Ever Chapter, Unquietly Me, MM Good Book Reviews, 3 Chicks After Dark

4-Feb—The Novel Approach, Boys on the Brink Reviews, Three Books Over The Rainbow, Carly’s Book Reviews, The Hat Party

Rafflecopter Prize: 2 copies of ‘Save of the Game’ by Avon Gale

Rafflecopter Code: a Rafflecopter giveaway

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1 Comment

  1. January 29, 2016 / 5:03 pm

    hockey is my favourite game…..go RANGERS!!!

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