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Before We Came: A Brother’s Best Friend Hockey Romance (Lakes Hockey Book 1) (Lakes Hockey Series)
About the book The first book in Sloane St. James’s Lakes Hockey series follows Birdie, who discovers that the life she has known rests on a lie just as she is about to meet the family that spent twenty-two years searching for her. Sheltering from the press, she grows close to Lonan Burke, her brother’s ... <a title="Before We Came: A Brother’s Best Friend Hockey Romance (Lakes Hockey Book 1) (Lakes Hockey Series)" class="read-more" href="https://bookslabyrinth.com/books/before-we-came-a-brother-s-best-friend-hockey-romance-lakes-hockey-book-1-lakes-710efe/" aria-label="Read more about Before We Came: A Brother’s Best Friend Hockey Romance (Lakes Hockey Book 1) (Lakes Hockey Series)">Read more</a>
- Release Date
- 2024
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Our Review
About the book
The first book in Sloane St. James’s Lakes Hockey series follows Birdie, who discovers that the life she has known rests on a lie just as she is about to meet the family that spent twenty-two years searching for her. Sheltering from the press, she grows close to Lonan Burke, her brother’s best friend and a Minnesota Lakes defenseman.
Our review
A hockey romance with a heavier premise than most, mixing a found-family story with steamy brother’s-best-friend tension.
Before We Came starts somewhere unusual for sports romance. Birdie has lived a life far more confined than she understood, and the discovery of her real family drops her into a world of noisy relatives, media attention and a very attentive hockey player. St. James clearly cares about this heroine, and some of the best scenes involve small firsts: ordinary freedoms that Birdie is experiencing for the first time.
Lonan is a protective, golden-retriever hero, and the chemistry is strong, with explicit scenes that will please readers who like their romance spicy. Where the book stumbles is in balancing its dark backstory with the light, banter-heavy tone; trauma sometimes resolves too neatly, and the hockey itself is mostly set dressing. It is warm and readable, but uneven, and the supporting cast sometimes crowds out the central pair.
What we loved
- A heroine whose discoveries of everyday freedom are touching
- Lonan’s attentive, supportive brand of hero
- A lively ensemble that sets up later books
Keep in mind
- Serious trauma is handled with a lighter touch than it may warrant
- Very explicit content and dark themes; check content notes first
Read it if you like
Readers who like Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series or Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker and want a more dramatic backstory.
The verdict
A heartfelt, steamy hockey romance with an ambitious premise that it does not always carry gracefully.
