Short Side by H.A. Laine surprised me in a great way. It mixed the fun and exciting parts of a hockey romance with deeper feelings about performance, being seen, and loneliness. On the surface, the setup is classic. Carter Knox is a charming new addition to the hockey team. Wren Gallagher is the photographer hired to take pictures of him for a team media campaign. But the book gets interesting fast because Wren never falls into the role of starstruck love interest. Their initial interaction in the hallway reveals everything about their dynamic. Carter tries charm because that’s what he’s trained himself to do, and Wren immediately keeps him at arm’s length professionally. The chemistry is there from the beginning, but so is the tension between who Carter performs as publicly and who he actually is when nobody’s watching. I also liked how the fake dating story grew naturally from the #WolvesWAGs talks online instead of feeling silly because of a misunderstanding.

What made this stand out for me was how emotionally observant it was. Carter’s relationship with his father honestly hit harder than a lot of the romance scenes. The detail that his dad only texts after goals or assists tells you everything about why Carter constantly feels the need to achieve, entertain, and stay visible. Carter is at a charity event, working hard to entertain everyone. You can see he is very tired, even before others mention it. Declan, Ben, and especially Wren seeing that something is wrong made the side characters important instead of just being extras. Wren’s storyline also had more depth than I expected. Wren's mom labeled her photography as “commercial” and gave her thoughts on her gallery show. This helps explain why Wren is careful with her feelings and work. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Wren secretly saved 47 photos of Carter in a private folder, especially the one she loves the most where he’s just lounging around doing nothing. That detail perfectly captured the entire point of the book. She doesn’t love him when he’s performing. She loves him when he finally stops.

I also appreciated that the ending choices felt mature instead of overly dramatic. He finally realizes that constantly packaging himself for public approval is destroying him. That decision worked because the story spent so much time showing the emotional cost of being “on” all the time. The romance lands because Carter and Wren gradually become the only people around each other who don’t demand a performance. The writing style also fit the story really well.