If you’ve already read or listened to the engaging, swoon-worthy Playmakers series by author G. K. Brady, you know who Marty and Claudia are: the perfect Colorado Blizzard coach with the wonderful wife and terrific kids, the happily married couple who can’t keep their eyes and hands off each other even if they are now almost “oldsters.” But there’s a heart-stopping, heart-breaking, heart-warming story about how they became that contented couple, and Line Change is it. (If you haven’t listened to the series yet, get going, start anywhere. The beginning is the best but all the stories will bewitch you.)

The story starts with the mother of “what-if’s.” If any teeny, tiny thing had gone differently that first night . . . but it didn’t. Marty and childhood best friend Zach are at college on hockey scholarships. Claudia is also on a scholarship to become a teacher. The boys meet Claudia and her best friend Meghan one night at a local hangout. Claudia is stunning so both he and Zach notice her, but Marty’s reaction the first time he sets his eyes on Claudia is like a Shakespeare love sonnet: her smile, her eyes, everything about her is sunshine, flowers, sunbeams. He’s enchanted, overcome with wonder. He can barely look at her or croak out a word. Which doesn’t bode well for the college-boy bet Zach talked him into about who would end up with Claudia. Meghan and Zach are too similar and don’t hit it off. Claudia misinterprets Marty’s inability to function around her as interest in Meghan, so shifts her attention to Zach. What if? What if?? What if??? Even though little what if’s will pop into Claudia’s head for a long time, Zach says Claudia is the one for him and Marty is too good a friend to Zach to let his true feelings show.

A bittersweet byproduct of Zach and Claudia together is the development of a deep, true friendship between her and Marty. She trusts him, feels comfortable and safe. They spend a lot of time together and he is just happy to be near her. She makes him feel so alive, even if she is unattainable.

Although Marty and Zach have been best friends since childhood, they are opposites. Zach is that guy everybody notices – handsome, charming, talented, bigger than life. You want to be in his circle and it’s not until you’re there that you realize there’s not much behind that façade. Not much truthfulness or sincerity or honesty. But the charm almost always allows him to talk his way out of it. Marty is also handsome, charming, and talented but he’s not bigger than life. Instead, he’s solid and steadfast. He’s the guy you don’t notice until one day you think, “Where has he been hiding all this time?” And with Marty you get an overabundance of truthfulness, sincerity and honesty.

Zach is an incredible hockey player, making it to the NHL in record time while Marty struggles. It’s soon obvious to everyone except Claudia with her he-swears-he-loves-me blinders on and Marty with his I-owe-my-best-bud-from-childhood-the-benefit-of-the-doubt denial firmly in place, that Zach is overindulging himself in every aspect of his life. Claudia’s blinders shift a tiny bit to the side and she makes Marty promise he will tell her if Zach every actually strays instead of just skating on the edge. When Zach in fact does the unthinkable on the eve of his wedding, Marty is torn: stand by his childhood best friend who insists it will never happen again, or tell his best friend, the woman he loves, and put her through needless misery if in fact Zach is sincere. So Marty makes his choice, and it’s the wrong one because most things don’t stay hidden forever. When Zach is still Zach and Claudia finds out about the past and that Marty and others knew, she shuts him completely out of her life. So not only is Claudia heartbroken and humiliated anyway, but Marty has also lost his best friend.

Years pass, life goes on. Marty is a successful coach. And one day, when he has to take one of his players to the hospital, the unbelievable miracle happens: that blond nurse turns around and it’s Claudia. There are those sonnets again. Marty is literally speechless.

At this point in the story, just go and get yourself a cup of coffee, a box of tissues, and some ice for when you need to cool down. If you haven’t already been trying to listen to Line Change straight through you definitely aren’t going to take your earbuds out now. You’re in this until the end. Not kidding. Listening to the back and forth, the regrets, the apologies, the uncertainty, the hope . . . will this second chance live up to the dreams? Are there too many scars for it to survive?

Every Playmakers Series story I read becomes my current favorite. I love all the guys – Beckett, Gage, TJ, Mac, Blake, they’re all big tough guys with gushy hearts. Marty was just the coach to respect and admire. But now - Line Change is going to be my all-time favorite and Marty is #1. His heart is so true to Claudia, his devotion so strong and complete, apparent in every word he utters and every action he takes, even when he messes up. This is second chance romance at its best. Author G. K. Brady does a fantastic job of portraying the angst, the conflict, the emotions, the tension that even though it says “hockey romance” right in the title and you’re pretty sure of where it’s going, you can’t help but worry, want to shout at the characters to get things right. A very satisfying story and a welcome addition to the series that fills in the blanks about a special couple.

Thanks to Home Cooked Books and the author for providing an advance listening copy of Line Change. The narrators are amazing and listening is the best way to savor this story. Ryan Lee Dunlap IS Marty; the warmth, the frustration, the sorrow, the love and the absolute wonder and joy when he thinks Claudia may someday be his. He always gives such a marvelous performance that I know in advance I’ll love any audiobook he narrates. Aubrey Vincent perfectly captures Claudia’s fear and disappointment and anger, horror and humiliation when she finally sees the true Zach, as well as the wonder and relief when she and Marty meet again. Wonderful book, wonderful narrators, highly recommend. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own. ( )