Hell or High Water: Toronto Thunder, Book 3

HELL OR HIGH WATER - BETH BOLDEN This is book 3 in the Toronto Thunder series, and Ramsey’s long awaited story! Nate and Ramsey have had a love-hate relationship going through the first two books, and now we find out the reason why! After meeting in a bar, and going home with Nate, Ramsey is letting his true self be seen by this guy he can’t help being drawn to. Sparks fly as things heat up and Ramsey cannot help but let Nate in, that is until he realizes that he is one of the NFL players on his best friend Wes’s team, and he rushes out of Nate’s apartment without explaining why. Fast forward to the first team event after the Thunder win their pre-season games, and Wes suggests a new bar for the team to check out. Imagine Nate’s shock when he is introduced to nine other than the summer hook-up he can’t seem to forget! And from there things go downhill when Ramsey acts like they never met, and shows the fake personality Nate broke through when they originally met. Nate cannot believe Ramsey can be such a jerk, and every time they see each other after that, he stays as far away from him as he can. The team are all trying to get him to include Ramsey since he is stuck in Toronto on the injured reserve list from his Buffalo NHL team, but since they don’t know the two met earlier in the summer, he just keeps his distance as much as possible. Ramsey is going through a few challenges of his own since he cannot admit to his best friends Wes and Brody he slept with Nate, so he…

4/5 STARS! I freaking love Ramsey & this relationship & how it progressed was so much fun while also being relatable. Super enjoyable and entertaining audiobook.

Wanna know how to spot a sweet-talker, someone who’s been fake so long he’s perfected the craft of charming everyone? Beth Bolden’s “Hell or High Water” pairs a flirt with someone forthright. Their repartee shouldn’t be this witty, or their chemistry this wicked! Ramsey is gorgeous and so good at reading people that he’s disarmed when his pick-up, Nate, sees right through him. After a hot bout in the sack, Ramsey discovers Nate is a pro-football player on the same team as Ramsey’s bestie, Wes. Ramsey is staying with Wes while rehabbing from a concussion received in his career as a pro-hockey player. Other than Wes, Ramsey doesn’t let people see his true self, doesn’t do repeats, and doesn’t want any complications with Nate. Instead, he runs. Nate had liked Ramsey beyond his looks and skill between the sheets. He’d thought they’d had genuine moments and is furious to keep encountering the guy who ghosted him, especially watching competent Ramsey get everyone to like him, when Nate was not allowed. Nate snarks whenever Ramsey approaches. Realizing their nasty exchanges are affecting Wes and Nate’s team, Ramsey proposes they fake date, and Nate agrees, wanting to right his team’s mood. But charmers can play themselves. Both men prefer to avoid emotions. Of Ramsey, we learn, “If he kept burying (emotions) down, reinforcing his walls so nobody could see deep enough within them, then even he didn’t have to know (his feelings) either.” For Nate, “It was so much easier to be…

It is no secret that I love Beth Bolden. I have loved every series that I have read from her, and I have been *patiently* waiting for Ramsey’s story since I first met him in the Portland U series. It was definitely worth the wait. Ramsey has always been a mysterious character who was beautiful and cared deeply about his friends. “Hell or High Water” is book 3 in the “Toronto Thunder” series. Nate Bishop is part of the Thunder and knows Wes, Ramsey’s best friend. Ramsey does not realize this until he spends the night with Nate and then pushes him away. I love how these two were so determined to stay away from each other. I do have to say that it was funny how every single character was like “you two need to get along”. I mean, it’s crazy to insist that every single person be besties- lol. However, busybodies aside, I did love Nate and Ramsey together. I love how Nate was able to see through Ramsey’s walls. He was also so good about manipulating people to think or do what he wanted: except for Nate. I like that Nate was able to see behind Ramsey’s facades. He wanted to know the man underneath, and when Ramsey gave him those glimpses it was perfect. I do have to admit that based upon what happened in this book, I am dying for Wes and Marcus. Suck it up, Wes! Admit you love Marcus and grovel and apologize. That is going to be a great book. I know Beth will knock it out of the park. I also am very intrigued by Jordan, the rookie. There is definitely more to his story. I think the…

PoV: dual, 3rd person Genre: sport romance, MM Tropes / tags: fake dating, accidental hookup, found family I love that we finally got Ramsey's story! He and Nate didn't start off on the best terms, but they just couldn’t stop thinking of each other… Ramsey truly met his match in Nate, who pretty much instantly saw past his facade and games, and it was fun to see their initial banter and flirting. I liked their chemistry, and it was clear that neither of them was prepared for everything to feel so right between them. What started as a hot, anonymous hookup ended on a sour note once Ramsey realised that he'd slept with one of his best friends' teammates. It was a lot of fun seeing these two circle each other, they were adorable together, and I really liked their relationship development. It felt real, and they both had a lot to discover about themselves and each other. Ramsey in particular was struggling, feeling lost without hockey as he was on the injured reserve after a concussion that wouldn't let go. Ramsey also had a lot of walls up, which wasn't surprising considering his childhood and history, and there was a lot more to him than the friendly, almost carefree version that we've mostly seen from him as a side character. He was the definition of emotionally unavailable, which just made it so much sweeter to see him fall hard for Nate. Nate was such a great guy, even if he wasn't the biggest fan of Ramsey after what happened between them. He couldn't get Ramsey out…