Book Review: Connection From Chicago
Connection From Chicago is a story about two goalies that highlights the pressures of being a professional athlete, dealing with grief, and how meeting the one person who understands you can make all the difference.
Official Summary
The NHL’s All-Star Weekend is my chance to play alongside the best of the best. For the first time in my goaltending career, I’ve not only been selected to participate, I’ve also been hand chosen to play on Eric Sinclair’s team.
Larger than life, Eric is the kind of goalie I aspire to become: a stalwart defender of the crease and a legend in the league who’s beloved by his team and fans. He’s my idol, my hero, and I can’t believe he wants to get to know me.
When Eric and I return to the regular season, we keep in touch, growing closer over texting. The man behind the helmet emerges. Even though I shouldn’t, I can’t help myself from falling in love with him, but I’m completely out of my depth. I’ve never even had a boyfriend before, and more than just physical distance separates us. Our two teams are on a collision course to meet in the playoffs. More than our postseason futures are on the line.
Funny how one weekend can change everything.
Quick Information
Author: Wendy Hawthorne
Published: June 9, 2026
Genre: M/M Romance, Sports Romance, Contemporary Romance
Tropes: Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort
Review
James Harrison is the 26 year old starting goalie for the Chicago Comets a few years into his NHL career. Shortly after the passing of his mother, he is chosen to participate in the NHL All-Star games. There, James meets his long time idol, Eric Sinclair, the seasoned goaltender of the Seattle Seadogs. The two men spark up a friendship during their time at the All-Star games, a connection which deepens as they get to know one another during long-distance talks throughout the season.
A story centered around two goalies immediately drew my attention as we don’t see stories about them enough considering how vital they are to the overall sport and their respective teams. James is an overthinker who applies exceeding amounts of unreasonable pressure to himself. Since the death of his mother, he feels as though he has to keep everything bottled up inside. It’s always interesting to see how an author tackles these themes in their story and how, just like in real life, everyone handles grief differently. While at times James did frustrate me, grief makes people say and do things they would not do normally. Combining that with the pressures of James’ career, this makes for a potent mix of emotions festering inside of James throughout the story. The narrative surrounding James’ relationship with his father was especially heartbreaking.
Eric is the knight in goalie armor that James was waiting for and needing in his corner. He is immediately likeable and had several lines of dialogue that had me laughing. Eric supports James as both a goalie and a person on and off the ice, disproving the adage that you should never meet your heroes.
Slow burns are meant to be savored, and I enjoyed every second spent watching James and Eric fall in love. The pace of their romance feels believable and never rushed. From two men meeting by chance and sharing a very niche profession, their friendship feels natural as it builds to something more. I also appreciated that while instant attraction was shown, they didn’t jump into bed right away. It was nice to follow the buildup instead of being told how in love these characters were, we got to see them fall in love over time so it meant something when their sparks finally ignited. And boy did they ever ignite! Their passion towards one another made for some very steamy scenes.
Despite being a romance novel, we see the impact of James and Eric’s career, which isn’t always the case especially in the MM genre. It's clear Hawthorne is a fan of the sport and has done her research on how to effectively write hockey within her romance narrative. Even someone who has never watched the sport will be able to understand the importance of hockey in correlation to James and Eric’s life and not feel overwhelmed.
While I wanted to see more of James and Eric, I’m going to have to wait for another installment in the Heart’s in Play universe. In the meantime, I eagerly await the arrival of my paperback copy for my own bookshelf.
If you are looking for a slow burn sports romance story that is worth the wait and more, pick up a copy of Connection From Chicago.
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