Heart Taker

Bar Down, Book 3

By: Ava Olsen

Narrated by: Liam DiCosimo, Zachary Zaba

Silas

I'm the oldest guy on the college hockey team, and I've heard the jokes, but the truth is, I put a year of my life on hold. I've worked hard to prove that I have a future in this game, but Coach Damien Banning doesn't believe in me. Damien doesn't think I'm good enough, but he doesn't know me at all. I'm ruthless. And when the icy tension ignites, it's too late. But it's not about hockey anymore.

Damien

I played pro hockey until an injury sidelined my career, my marriage, and brought me to small-town Vermont to coach college hockey. I know every player on my team, and Silas Moss isn't cutting it. He's a skillful d-man, but something's holding him back. I push him, with good intentions, until summer training camp. I thought my heart was frozen, but no, it's beating again. And Silas, ruthless player that he is, has taken it.

Heart Taker is a college hockey MM romance. Both MCs have something to prove and everything to lose.

©2025 Ava Olsen (P)2025 Podium Audio

Infatuation passed off as love and made okay by a happily ever after.

The characters either never believed in the consequences the reader was supposed to believe in, or they did not care enough about each other to worry for the other’s well-being.

The book was entertaining enough. The characters were sufficiently developed independently with connections and dreams and responsibilities outside of each other. The two main characters had chemistry, and while I would’ve appreciated more buildup between the two, rather than summary just told from a slightly different perspective from the previous book in the early chapters, their attraction and draw to one another was believable. It was nice to see to otherwise closed off/locked up emotionally characters find each other and connect that way. But with the steaks so high and the potential consequences so monumental, these characters did not seem to care enough about each other to consider how their actions could, and likely would, hurt the other’s future enough to even try and be careful/ discreet.

Differently not worth a credit.
Possibly worth the discounted whispersync price if you’re in the mood for a “background listen” (A reasonably paced formulaic story where you don’t have to pay too close attention to what’s going on) then go for it. If you’re looking for something more I’d recommend you skip this one and keep looking.


Generic plot spoilers below. Nothing specific to this story but examples and generalizations of what I mean.

To say, “I just want to enjoy this now, I’ll worry about that when it happens” is a selfish stance take. Now, if the potential outcome “it”only affects you then it’s a fine stance to take. However, if you are saying that when your actions are threatening the livelihood /dreams of the person you claim to love then you are prioritizing your immediate enjoyment over their livelihood/ dreams. And, to me, that changes the, ‘I’m so in love with you when I’m near you everything else fades away and I forget where I am’ from being a sweet scene showcasing an intense love between two characters to being an exercise in entitlement. It turns a confession to a friend/family member of being in love from a heartwarming moment of personal growth into a cringe worthy display of disrespect and disregard for the wellbeing of the person you are professing your feelings for.