The Last Guy on Earth: Hockey Guys: A Series of MM Stand-Alone Novels, Book 3

Sarina Bowen’s Hockey Guys is fast becoming one of my favorite MM hockey series. You can count on dynamic, well developed characters with intense chemistry an engaging storyline, and of course, hockey! I’m just going to say it…if I’m reading a hockey romance I’m gonna need some actual hockey. You’d think this would be a given but I’ve read some “hockey romance” with barely any sports action! With Sarina’s books it’s clear that she is a true fan of the sport, and it adds a layer of authenticity to her writing transports the reader directly into to the arena and all the action. Last Guy on Earth is a friends to enemies to lovers/second chance romance between two roommates and besties who, 15 years later, end up as coach and player of a professional hockey team. Hurt feelings and miscommunication give them a rocky start, but once their walls are down the chemistry hits and these two are straight fire! As the youngest head coach in the league, not to mention coach of the first pro hockey team to have a player come out, all eyes are already on Clay, and the last thing he needs is a scandal. He can’t date one of his players, but he loves Jethro and this is their chance. What’s a guy to do? Read this one if you love hockey romance with second chance and forbidden elements. But start with Hudson’s book, The New Guy!

Sarina Bowen's newest MM Hockey Romance, The Last Guy On Earth, explores two major themes—friends to lovers and second chances. Add in a sprinkle of slow burn, forbidden love, and a satisfying happy ending, and you’ve got an engaging read. The Last Guy On Earth is a solid addition to the Hockey Guys series. However, I did find myself a bit frustrated with how often certain scenes were summarized rather than fully explored on the page. There were moments where I really wished to experience those pivotal scenes more directly, rather than reading about them afterward. That said, the book still delivers a fun, sexy, and ultimately satisfying romance. I’m looking forward to what Sarina Bowen has in store next. 3.5 stars

I've been eagerly awaiting the third--and final--book in the Hockey Guys series since the previous one was released in October of 2023, and now, it's finally here! The Last Guy on Earth is a second-chance, forbidden M/M romance with a head coach and the team's newly traded goalie as the main characters. Fifteen years ago, Clayton Powers and Jethro Hale were teammates and roommates when they played for the Busker Brutes, a minor league team in New York. During that time, they became kinda-sorta-maybe more...until they were nothing more than a memory neither one spoke of all that much to anyone. They entered the majors separately, only for Clay's playing career to end earlier than anticipated, leading to the shift in his journey, which now has him as the youngest head coaches in the league. The two have managed to avoid each other over the past decade and a half, but now, with thirty-seven-year-old Jethro headed to the Colorado Cougars, the very team that thirty-nine-year-old Clay coaches, these two former friends--and kinda-sorta-maybe more--are going to have to figure out how to work together without messing up the team dynamic. And possibly even when a championship. And who knows? They could probably become kinda-sorta-maybe-ABSOLUTELY much, much more--but at what cost to their careers? Who doesn't love a good grovel when it comes to second-chance romances? I think it's an absolute must for this particular trope. I need to believe that there's regret and remorse in order…

I love Sarina Bowen’s work and this series was no exception. Effortlessly readable, with well drawn characters that you fall in love with and the perfect amount of pining and angst. I devoured all three books in this series over the course of a weekend, but this was my favorite by far. As much as I love the meet-cute aspect of the first two books, Jethro (‘Jetty’) and Clay’s story held my heart. Their story unfolds in alternating timelines, the separation of which is further delineated by a shift from the use of 1st to 3rd person POV. It’s an effective technique, to discover how these two wonderful and successful but incredibly lonely men went from friends to lovers, then exes to enemies until their lives intersected once more fifteen years later. Bowen does a fantastic job incorporating the characters and events from the first two books into this story in a way that doesn’t seem like lip service. In fact, Newgate’s announcement from Book 1 and it’s trickle down effect is both a triumphant and painful moment for Clay and Jethro, as it highlights the differences 15 years can make in coming out as a queer professional athlete without taking away from the act’s bravery. The flashbacks are poignant (I remember those Netflix red mailers!); Clay and Jethro may not have been at the peaks of their careers, but they had a place of belonging with each other that made their early years a happy one despite the drudgery of the minor leagues. I’m sad that this series has come to an…

Amazing! Sarina had an eye for hockey romance MM! It was amazing, I was shocked to find out this was Clay's book. But this book was great!