Puck Wild by Declan Rhodes

Jake Riley is famous for all the wrong reasons. First came Love on Ice, the reality show where editing turned him into a national punchline in a sequined jersey. Then his self-produced hockey rap, “Puck Life,” went viral in the worst possible way. Now he’s hoping Thunder Bay, Ontario—a scrappy northern town with a fiercely loyal fanbase—might be the fresh start he needs.

The Thunder Bay Storm are holding things together with duct tape, borrowed gear, and blind optimism. And Jake? He’s suddenly rooming with Evan Carter—a defenseman so precise he alphabetizes his condiments, tracks his hits in a spreadsheet, and bakes cookies with terrifying accuracy. Evan wants peace, predictability, and definitely not a roommate who sings in the shower and leaves socks in the fridge.
What neither of them expects is the heat that starts simmering beneath their battles over bathroom schedules and fridge turf. Or the way their teammates begin to feel like family. Or the slow unraveling of the stories they’ve each told themselves to survive.

As the Storm scrape their way through a season that shouldn’t work but somehow does, Jake and Evan find themselves facing something scarier than failure: the possibility of being seen—and chosen—for who they really are.