Five years ago, Michael Graham and John Rikker were best friends and high school lovers. Their relationship ended abruptly when they were caught together and attacked in a hate crime. Graham fled the scene out of fear, leaving Rikker to be brutally beaten. The Aftermath:

The Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen is the third installment in The Ivy Years series, focusing on a second-chance romance between college hockey players Michael Graham and John Rikker. The plot explores themes of forced closeness, queer identity in sports, and healing from past trauma as the characters navigate their rekindled relationship. Read the first chapter on Sarina Bowen's blog . AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more

Transfers to Harkness after being kicked off his previous team for being the only "out" player in Division One hockey. He has found self-acceptance and inner strength while living with his supportive grandmother in Vermont.

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The title itself is a masterpiece of ironic understatement. The “understatement of the year” refers to a scene where Michael, trying to downplay his past relationship and his current feelings, uses a phrase that is laughably inadequate to describe the tsunami of emotion between them.

👉 Have you read it? Who’s your fave Sarina Bowen couple?