Hello everyone!
Have you enjoyed the book? I hope you have!
See here's the thing, as far as I can understand it: it was originally published as a duology but then edited and re-published as one single book written in two parts, which actually works in its favour, come to think of it.
Ms Andrews has released an actual duology earlier this year, but the problem there was that the second book certainly suffered from the fact that it was second.
It would have maybe been better if it had also been done like this one in the past.
But I don't claim to be an expert and certainly not on publishing methods, nor writing! In any event, I enjoy Ms Andrews' writing regardless, and so here we are.
Let's head back into the world of figure skating for another week, shall we?
Cold War is up, for a second time - and has nothing whatsoever to do with real life situations right now.
Now if you remember, from last week's review, Dev and Misha are figure skaters in pairs, competing against each other basically everywhere they go. Their hate turns into full-blown attraction and they eventually end up as a couple together, with the Russians winning gold at the Winter Olympics and the Americans silver, but the two of them decide to see where the future will take them.
This is basically where we clock back in with them as the summer's over and they're now on tour with figure skating shows, and have to spend a lot of time apart. This doesn't mean they don't sneak around to have some steamy, sexy times, however, they just have to be careful not to let anyone know they're dating.
Why?
For Misha, it's about the fear that his government will retaliate, according to its anti-gay laws, and go after his friends and family.
For Dev, he doesn't want to rock the boat the moment and needs the money from the shows, and the Federation isn't exactly known for being nice if a figure skater comes out as gay.
So it's status quo for the time being, though as they part ways for different shows and then come back together again to skate in a Christmas production, both Bailey and Kisa, their skating partners, comment easily that no one will believe these two aren't doing the devil's tango, cough cough, if they keep looking at each other the way they are.
Besides, as time goes by, Misha isn't convinced he wants to hide anymore, but Dev is adamant that they keep it hidden further, especially since the season isn't over yet and he and Bailey can still skate without competing anymore.
He does, however, tell his mother he's seeing someone named Misha so she'd stop setting him up, so progress, I guess?
The thing is, being together but miles apart given they can't ACTUALLY be together is starting to fray their relationship a little bit as they can't be as open and honest as they usually would be, and it shows during a special interview that NBC conducts with all four of the competitors and Misha manages to put his foot into his mouth when he doesn't exactly express himself the best.
What he means to say is that Bailey and Dev are wonderful figure skaters, but what it comes out as is that they won because the Russians weren't there (which ... probably the truth but, let's not go into that, shall we).
This leads to a full-on blow-out fight between him and Dev - though also to some really nice make-up sex afterwards, where we explore some Dom/Sub dynamics between them, and you get to understand that Misha only feels absolutely free and himself when he's with Dev in the privacy of either their own home or a hotel room somewhere, which honestly just breaks your heart as a reader.
But then, even when you think things are all patched up, Kisa doesn't pull her elbows in tight enough during a jump and twist, and lands it into Misha's face which takes him right down, and exposes the relationship to others because Dev is by his side faster than the Flash, and both Kisa and Bailey are like OHMYGOD YOU GUYS ARE BLIND MORONS OF COURSE THEY'RE TOGETHER!
See people thought Misha and BAILEY were a thing, but nope, wrong figure skating partner!
Everything turns out to be fine, and no bones broken, so he can skate in the Christmas program - AND meet Dev's mother by complete accident when she wants to return her son's jade pendant to him, and Misha promises to do so for her.
He also presses Dev once again that they should consider coming out, not for anyone else's sake but for themselves, because living in fear is no way to live. This is sage advice from Misha's father during a scene in this book that has made me cry without fail each time I've read it thus far (and I've read it a bunch since I did it once for pleasure and then a few times more to prep for this post!): Misha's father calls to tell him things may be changing in the government, and Misha breaks down over the phone, after which his father sternly tells him he can't live his life for someone else, not even his own family.
They will all take the consequences, and so will Kisa, who loves Misha more than the money they make, if only Misha can get to live his life like they do.
Dev, in that moment, is paralyzed with fear, however, as he also explains directly after the injury Misha suffers: he's terrified of losing what they've built so far, and this bubble they've created for themselves, because as soon as the world bursts into it, it may burst and then shatter completely.
But he still takes Misha's hand when they bow at the end, and right afterwards kind of ... blurts everything out to his parents outside, with literally EVERYBODY AND THEIR MOTHER GATHERING TOGETHER TO SEE THIS HAPPEN.
I swear I was giggling so hard, imagining that group of gossiping figure skaters, crew and families all trying to make out what's what, but Dev's parents prove they're more than just the people who hated Mikhail with a passion for always beating their son in competitions: his mother invites him and Kisa over for Christmas dinner, taking control as only an Indian mother can, which also has to make you laugh as a reader.
I don't know whether this is true or not, but I know Ms Andrews always conducts a lots of research before publishing a book, so it's got to be somewhere in the realm of reality, and seeing her just literally tell everybody what's going to happen is absolutely brilliant, in my opinion.
And as Misha's family is slated to visit in the spring, they make plans for everyone to get together, which is where we then skip forward to New Year's Eve, and a special surprise Dev sets up for Misha, with a nice tree and Father Frost outfit included, after which they watch the ball drop and look mighty happily into the future.
The end!
Listen, if you don't feel SOMETHING, reading this two-part book - and I'm not talking about the sex that happens in the story, though there's lots of it and it's GOOD - then you have to be made relatively out of stone. There's a couple of instances where I was sniffling through the text, but one or two where I was flat-out ugly crying.
And the saddest part of all is that even now we don't have the casual acceptance down pat, in 2022! So these books are still very relevant and won't just go out of style any time soon. They NEED to be present, and read, and read again.
Ms Andrews writes heart-wrenching stories remarkably well and her characters always have realistic motivations grounded in beliefs and ways of thinking that actually makes you think, too, as a reader, which I highly approve of, especially about problematic conversations that shouldn't have to take place in this day and age, but somehow still do.
Oh and, there's an obligatory happily ever after, of course.
So if you want to see Misha and Dev find their own - and hear some more of Misha's thoughts, since this part is written from his perspective, not Dev's - make sure to pick this book up and immerse yourself for an afternoon or two.
You won't regret it. And remember: "In honesty, there is power."
xx
*image not mine
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