Hold Me Like a Grudge

Ong debuts with a riveting queer sports romance that deserves a place in the subgenre’s canon. World champion wrestler Caleb Knight, aka the Ice Prince, known for being cold and ruthless, is pitted against cheerful, hardworking newcomer Asher Ross, aka the Dragon, who hopes to claim Caleb’s title and holds a personal grudge against him due to a snub when he was a starry-eyed fanboy. The men face off—but all the close physical contact and staring-into-each-others’-eyes that professional wrestling entails soon leads them away from rivalry and toward romance. There’s plenty of juicy drama along the way, and Ong paints a vivid portrait of the wrestling world, from exciting, move-by-move descriptions of matchups to explorations of the behind-the-scenes relationships between the athletes and their management. The romance takes a little while to heat up, but once it does, the chemistry between Caleb and Asher is fierce. Fans of Heated Rivalry will be thrilled. Agent: Brent Taylor, Triada US. (Mar.)