Timeless
By Declan Rhodes
In 2024, Dylan Mercer is the rising star of professional hockey, adored by fans and unmatched on the ice. Yet beneath the glitz of his burgeoning career lies a truth Dylan fears could derail everything: he's gay in a world where he fears coming out could mean the end of his career. After a tough practice session, Dylan’s discovery of a pair of vintage skates in an old locker sends him spiraling back in time to 1980, just before the US Olympic hockey team’s “Miracle on Ice.”
Thrown into an era where the stakes for being himself are even higher, Dylan finds an unexpected ally and more in Nico Santoro, a fellow player with secrets of his own. In the shadow of history, Dylan and Nico forge a bond that defies time, facing down prejudice and fear with the strength found in each other.
As Dylan grapples with his return to the present, he faces an impossible choice: a past world that ultimately learns to love openly because of his and Nico’s courage, or the present where he’s one of the brightest future hockey stars.
Universal Link
Add on Goodreads
Excerpt
"Yeah, Nico. I wouldn’t lie to you. I accidentally came here when I put on a pair of glowing skates, and now I don’t know how to get back…or when. I suspect it will happen soon, but…”
I stared at him with a dubious gaze. What he’d described was impossible. Maybe Kowalski and the guys were behind it all. They could have found a hockey guy from the city and paid him to throw me off.
It was time to challenge Dylan. “Prove it. Show me something futuristic, something undeniable.”
He hesitated for a moment. “My clothes are from 2024.”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing original about them other than sort of whacked-out styles. Jeans are jeans, and the shirt is cotton.”
“Oh,” he whispered, and he shoved his hand into his pocket. I leaned forward, hoping for a surprise. He pulled out the device he’d been holding when he first appeared in the locker room.
“This is a smartphone from 2024,” Dylan announced, puffing his chest out. It’s not just a phone; it’s a little computer that fits in your pocket, and it’s practically a window to the future.”
“Computer? That size?” I scoffed. I couldn’t hide my disbelief, but I also looked closely, thinking about the stories I could tell if I saw something nobody else in my time had seen.
He held the device out toward me. “You don’t believe me? Just watch.”
Everything was silent around us. The earth stood still. Dylan awakened his device, and the screen came to life. I took a step back. In James Bond movies, little machines like that could shoot to kill.
The thing glowed and displayed a bunch of colorful shapes, unlike anything I’d ever seen. It practically screamed modern technology.
My breath caught in my throat as I took a cautious step forward. Could what Dylan called a phone really be a gateway into a new world?
I was about to concede a slight chance that Dylan was telling the truth when the screen flickered, and then it went black. My heart sank.
“What happened? I want to see it. Turn it back on.”
Dylan frowned. “Damn…of course, the battery goes dead right at this minute, and I don’t have my charger.”
Carra's Review
The concept and blurb were enough to draw me to this story, after all it is a hockey romance that includes time travel to the era of the USA miracle Olympic hockey team. How could I pass that up? This was also a new author to me, so I was looking forward to checking them out.
Dylan is a young NHL star who is transported back in time from 2024 to 1980 thanks to a glowing pair of ice skates he comes across at the rink one day. Nico is a player on a local team in 1980 and is the first person Dylan encounters in that time, and they wind up forming a bond and eventually much more than that.
To be honest, a lot of the events throughout the story were stretching my suspension of disbelief (I mean, you do have to suspend it a bit considering the premise hangs on time travel, but with this story even more so), and some things just felt too convenient and at times unlikely. For me, some of this can be chalked up to the writing style as well as it really wasn’t my cup of tea.
The overall story of how Dylan and Nico meet, develop a relationship, and what happens from there is interesting and you are rooting for them to be able to stay with each other in the end, just for me the execution wasn’t quite to my expectations. If you’re an M/M hockey romance fan and also like time travel stories, you’ll likely want to check this one out though…and bonus points for the 1980 setting.
Enter the Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of Timeless, Declan is giving away 2 e-copies & 2 Paperbacks of the upcoming release!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
About the Author
Facebook Page - Facebook - Amazon - Instagram
No comments:
Post a Comment