I quite enjoyed this book, although I didn't like one of the heroes, Landon, and I skipped all the sex scenes. Light, fluffy, cute and relaxing, three and a half stars. ( )

Oh boy, when I saw Rachel Reid's latest book pop up at the library, I borrowed it immediately - didn't have to queue to my amazement. Then for a few days I savoured the fact that it was waiting for me. It was released this month, October 2023.

Landon Stackhouse is called up to the NHL as a goalie from his 'farm' team. One of his teammates, Casey Hicks, offers him the temporary accommodation he needs. Casey is a refreshingly, disarmingly innocent boy wonder hockey player, with a hockey Hall of Fame father.

He is also a foot-in-the-mouth goofball who hates to be alone. Something he hides, behind his willingness to be the team's default social coordinator.

With Cooper North narrating, the novel does invoke the magic of the Game Changers series, but after my first listen, I was left feeling that it didn't match up to the magic of Reid's first series. I know from experience that with a second listen, I could change my mind about this, since with multiple listens to the Game Changers books, I found they got better and better.

This still deserves 4 stars, but if I was comparing it to the previous novels, I'd log 3.5 stars. The exuberance of Casey, and to see Landon be drawn out of his solitary, grief-filled hockey focussed life, is charming and heart warming, and has flashes of wicked humour we've come to expect. ( )

This was a lovely read and everything I've expected from loving this author's works (although I'm not a fan of the cover being illustrated, but I guess that's what romance authors have to do these days...). Casey was basically a Golden Retriever and was the perfect match for Landon who had a lot going on with years of unresolved grief. The forced proximity made it work well since Landon was so closed off, and I loved how these two fell for each other and (eventually) communicated enough to make it all work out. It was good to see their families too as they were big parts of each of their lives, so them all being there for each other was great. All around wonderful read, and I was so happy to have another book by Reid after her amazing Game Changer series. ( )