Game Changer

This was more of a 3.5.

As someone who's never played a sport in life and doesn't know much about team sports, it's really surprising that I fell in love with sports romances this year, especially hockey romances. So when I saw this book on Netgalley, I really couldn't resist and it was a sweet love story that I very much enjoyed.

Kip is a young, handsome, extroverted history major who is unhappy in his job as a barista and is quite unsure of what he wants to do in life. He has a great supportive family and awesome friends but seems slightly low on confidence which is supplemented by his huge college debt. But that doesn't stop him from flirting with the gorgeous NY hockey team captain Scott.

Scott may have been in the closet for a long time, but he is tired of keeping his secret and is very lonely which is affecting his game too. So, when he meets Kip and feels that instant connection with him, he decides to take a chance for the first time in his life. Their chemistry is scorching hot right from the get go and it doesn't take long for the declarations of love.

Their relationship definitely feels very insta, but the author makes it very believable. They are a very cheesy couple, completely moony over each other and quite perfect. The conflict is pretty obvious and predictable, but it did need to happen because for a long time in the book, Kip gave a lot of himself for the relationship but Scott was happy to keep it limited just to the four walls of his house. When they finally did resolve their issues, it was quick and sweet and the ending was very very romantic which I enjoyed.

I don't usually mind reading romances which would probably put me in a sugar coma and I really did enjoy the love story here, but there were some things that could have been done better. There are a lot of sex scenes here and while I do like some steam in my romances, it got boring after a while. Kip and Scott's conversations were a lot of fun and I would have liked to see more of that. The coming out of Scott is also made out to be a big deal throughout and while I really admired the way he did it, it was just too easy and we never get to see the consequences. However, it was nice to see him supported by his teammates and coach and wish that was the case in real life too.

Overall, this was a very charming, sweet and sexy love story with low angst, but it did manage to make me emotional sometimes. I would recommend it when you need some cheesiness in your life.

PS: Thank you to Netgalley and Carina Press for providing me an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are unbiased and entirely mine.

This was a good MM sports romance, but it felt like something was missing.
Kip and Scott were cute, and it was very insta love. Scott is closeted which we knew from the start but then it later caused drama.

Scott is a sweetie and is trying his best while also trying to not come out. He tried so so hard to be what Kip needed and give him everything. I just wanted to give him a hug.

I think I was hoping for more thoughts and feelings from the characters. I felt there was an imbalance between the dialogue and the guys inner thoughts

That being said - it was still cute and spicy !

⚠️ for the sake of your sanity and ears, i advise readers to not listen to the audiobook ⚠️

(you can thank me later)

[2.7] the narrator's fine in a general sense but his voice for Kip, a Brooklyn boy in his mid 20s, was a travesty. i don't know how else to describe it except to say his voice was like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eeyore, Trump and the peasant character from WoW produced a child and that child was half-stoned and trying too hard to go another few notches lower in his already-deep register. not to say that he is because Kip is a good boy, but this interpretation had me thinking his character was a little....slow in the head.

for those who haven't heard the peasant's lines in og warcraft, i leave you with this link: https://youtu.be/PoMhMZZjbGg. for those who have had the misfortune of hearing Kip's voice before, please tell me you can see the connection LMAO (okay so i may or may not be slightly