Hell or High Water
Toronto Thunder, Book 3
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3 Months Free + £10 Audible voucher
Hell or High Water
Buy Now for £22.89
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Narrated by:
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Darcy Stark
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By:
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Beth Bolden
Come hell or high water, Nate’s gonna be Ramsey’s perfect (fake) boyfriend . . .
The night Nate Bishop met Ramsey Andresen, he didn’t know who he was.
Didn’t know he was a hockey player. Didn’t know he’d be sticking around in Toronto. Most definitely didn’t know they’d hook up and Ramsey would walk right out of his life. Leaving him aching for more and hating that he can’t forget him.
They meet again at a Thunder team party and Nate’s not only shocked by Ramsey’s presence, but the way he acts like he belongs. He’s gorgeous and perfect and unobtainable, his existence rubbing Nate’s face into everything he can’t have.
He knows his teammates aren’t happy they don’t get along. But the last thing Nate expects is for Ramsey to suggest a plan to get them off their backs.
Not a fake friendship, but a fake situationship.
As they spend more time together—at first a necessity because of the charade, and then because they can’t stay away from each other—Nate starts to learn more about Ramsey’s secrets.
And each shadowy corner that Nate shines light into makes him like Ramsey even more. Until like slides easily into love, and fake becomes something real. Something precious. When they shatter the illusion, can they face the reality that they want each other, completely and forever after playing pretend for so long?
©2026 Earl Gray Publishing LLC (P)2026 Earl Gray Publishing LLCListener received this title free
I never really fully understood why every other team member was all up in Nate’s grill about his “clear dislike” for Ramsey, when all he actually did was just not talk to him or ignore him in like one scene. But I still loved it!
As always the narration by Darcy Stark was great, and they masterfully managed such a full cast of characters!
Fake dating turned romance
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Listener received this title free
Nate and Ramsey get off to a steamy start, and the truth of their identities comes to light, and then, the rivalry is on.
Ramsey comes across as the stereotype of a professional athlete. Attitude and swagger. But he’s also covering an element of insecurity as he battles an injury. But in refusing to show it, he manages to rile up Nate endlessly.
Nate is a pretty sweet guy, and comes across as really down to earth. And I’m endlessly annoyed with his friends and teammates and the lack of care they take with him, always siding with Ramsey.
With a mix of hockey and football, you get a wild romance.
And if you’ve ever listened to a Beth Bolden audiobook, you’ll know her narrator bestie is Darcy Stark. They make a good pairing, Darcy seemingly really understanding her style and characters.
Hockey and Football together at last
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Listener received this title free
The tension is certainly there, but so are deep feelings, high walls and a lot of other complicated things that I won’t go in too deep to avoid any spoilers.
Ramsey comes off a bit as a self-assured prick, and he certainly is no wallflower, but he also has a deeper, much more insecure layer that almost no one (including his closest friends, two of the only people he doesn’t keep at arm’s length) sees; except that, somehow, Nate seems to see right through him from the very first time they meet, and he makes Ramsey want to lower his walls for him, too.
This sports romance has it all: a mix of football and hockey, ribbing between players of the two sports, spice, (not so) reluctant fake-dating and two men who get the best out of each other.
As I always do, I loved Darcy Stark’s performance.
There was a reason for all that tension between them.
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Listener received this title free
Sports romance
Football player/Hockey player
Fake relationship
Friends/teammates best friend
Canada rep
This can be read as a standalone.
The 2 MCs met at a bar. Neither knew each other. When Ramsay sees all the football jerseys at Nates house in his friends team and realizes Nate is a football player on his friends team, he gets mad at him for not warning him he's a football player and he bolts, not telling him that his friend is on his team. They later meet again at the teams party and realize they are going to be forced to hang out together alot with their mutual friends. After they constantly fight everytime they see each other, the team hounds them to get along, so they decide to pretend they are dating to get the team off their backs. Swearing it won't be real cause Nate wants a bf and Ramsay is only in Toronto temporarily due to an injury and is looking forward to being back on his team in Buffalo. Plus he doesn't date.
I didn't really like Nate at the beginning. He got better but I still didn't really love him. As for Ramsay, I felt a little bad for him with his injury and that Nate was giving him such a hard time when he didn't do anything wrong, but there was never any point where I loved his character either. Up until the 60% point I really wasn't feeling any chemistry between the 2.
This was an ok story. I found it pretty slow going for that first 60%. I didn't find the plot that interesting. I really didn't like the side character that stole the majority of the plot and ruined any enjoyment in the story for me.
I usually like the fake dating trope but that's when they actually seem to like each other. In this case the arguing went on too long for no reason. When they were together it was awkward and forced. Things did get better betweem them in the last 40%. They had some cute moments and I enjoyed the ending but it's not a story I'll read again. I mostly stuck with it just to see if Ramsay got better.
The world building and the side characters were just as great in this book as in the previous books. I'm looking forward to the demon twins in the next book and hopefully West and Marcus in the future. Those 4 characters grabbed my attention more than the 2 MCs.
I always love this narrator. They have a pleasant reading voice, he kept a good pace/flow but I did speed it up alot. He expressed all the emotions really well and made it an enjoyable listening experience. He gave all the characters, even the side characters, distinct voices that suited them each perfectly and brought the story to life and made the story easy to follow.
Just ok story (3.5 stars)
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Listener received this title free
Hell or High Water starts with a hot strangers hook up that goes bad when Ramsey discovers who Nate is! Beyond hurt, Nate is angry (read sad, jealous, heart hurt, pining) when his teammate Wes brings his bestie injured hockey star, Ramsey, to team events. The dual POV gave readers a unique insight into both characters' true feelings. It also gave a fresh perspective to events already featured in previous Toronto Thunder books.
Ramsey suggest 'Fake' dating to get their friends to leave them alone and to put the bad vibes behind them. I don't think it was ever fake for either of them. Hell or High Water was full of heart, healing, hope, heat & concludes with a HEA.
The sidestory featuring Toronto Thunders rookie Jordan gave an additional layer to Hell or High Water & also got me excited to learn more about Jordan.
🏈 MM Romance
🏒 Injured Hockey Player
🏈 Football Player
🏒 One Night
🏈 Enemies to Lovers
🏒 Bad Boy
🏈 Fake Dating
🏒 Dual POV
🏈 Epilogue
🏒 Cameos
Ramsey’s Story At Last
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