Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
The Rowe Brothers are famous hockey hotshots, but as the youngest of the trio, Tennant has always had to play against his brothers’ reputations. To get out of their shadows, and against their advice, he accepts a trade to the Harrisburg Railers, where he runs into Jared Madsen. Mads is an old family friend and his brother’s one-time teammate. Mads is Tennant’s new coach. And Mads is the sexiest thing he’s ever laid eyes on.Jared Madsen’s hockey career was cut short by a fault in his heart, but coaching keeps him close to the game. When Ten is traded to the team, his carefully organized world is thrown into chaos. Nine years his junior and his best friend’s brother, he knows Ten is strictly off-limits, but as soon as he sees Ten’s moves, on and off the ice, he knows that his heart could get him into trouble again.
Can Tennant show Jared that age is just a number, and that love is all that matters?
I’m a big hockey fan so I try to read all the hockey romances out there. This series is one that has been on my to be read list for awhile now so I was happy to have the chance to review the audiobook. It was kind of a mixed bag for me. There were some things I really liked about this and some that I didn’t.
I can’t believe I believe I’m going to say these words but “There was way too much hockey in this book”. There is an enormous amount of game and practice time in this book and lot’s and lot’s of plays and strategies talk. I felt like this aspect overshadowed the relationship. There is very little on page relationship development. The majority of them getting close to each other takes place off page. We see them having sex, them with their families and mostly them playing or practicing.
I’m not sure why the authors chose to have the majority of the relationship development off page. There were some other relationship dynamics that were excellent. Really well written. Ten’s coming out scene with his parents and later a scene between him and his mother were beautiful. There was also a scene between Jared and his son that was very emotional. I felt so much more between Jared and Ten and their family than I did between the two of them as lovers. There was a lot of telling and very little showing between the two of them.
Another thing that bothered me a lot was the fact that Jared was Ten’s coach and it was never really presented as an issue. Jared mentions it at the beginning but this thread is never followed up on. They talked about Ten coming out and how it would effect him being a professional sports player but no one seemed to bat an eye that he was having sex with his coach. I think it’s a huge deal and should have been presented at such.
My last issue was that it ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. The guys are together and happy but a giant part of the plot is left hanging. I felt a bit annoyed that after all the talk of Ten coming out we don’t see any of it. It seems from the set up of book two that it might be shown some there but I am not sure.
The audio was narrated by Sean Crisden and I thought it was fine. I liked his voice but he spoke very quickly and I wasn’t always sure who was talking. I had to slow the narration down from how I normally listen. Once I did that it worked better for me.
Overall I thought it was a solid start to the series. I appreciated the authors’ love of hockey that clearly comes through in this book. While I had some issues I will probably try book two at some point.
Cover by Meredith Russell: I like the cover. The models on the cover really fit the description of the main characters well.
Buy Links: Audible US | Audible UK
Audiobook Details:
Audible Audio, Unabridged, 6 pages
Published July 25th 2018 by Love Lane Books Limited (first published July 12th 2017)
Original TitleChanging Lines
ASINB07FTRYXFF
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHarrisburg Railers #1 settingHarrisburg, Pennsylvania (United States)
Pennsylvania (United States)
Published July 25th 2018 by Love Lane Books Limited (first published July 12th 2017)
Original TitleChanging Lines
ASINB07FTRYXFF
Edition LanguageEnglish
SeriesHarrisburg Railers #1 settingHarrisburg, Pennsylvania (United States)
Pennsylvania (United States)
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 