Game Changers book series

Which books have you read so far?

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Suedehead

Suedehead

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Which ones have you read thus far?

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Tough Guy arrived today.

I'm a weirdo about having to read series in the proper order so I won't get to The Long Game till the end.
 
Sardonicus said:
Tough Guy arrived today.

I'm a weirdo about having to read series in the proper order so I won't get to The Long Game till the end.
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Yeah I was for a long time but I think it's okay with this. Then again....
 
The fact these books look and sound absolutely dreadful :D

i.e. they're seemingly written by a horny straight lady (a group who've been known to fetishise the gays somewhat) and the original covers were THIS type of mummy-needs-some-alone-time scenario:

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...with the newer covers a volte-face into still-quite-hideous but now PG-rated cutesy Heartstopper territory.

And yet they've spawned a genuinely brilliant TV show. I've got the audiobook of Game Changer and am intrigued to see if my above thoughts are just terrible snobbery from the awful Finn, or if the TV version spun silk from plastic.
 
The first one pretty much IS how you've described it :D I did still like it though because I'm such a BASIC BITCH.

The 2nd one was a step up in quality, there's an emotional pay off in the slow burn of the Shane & Ilya story & it's interesting getting more of an internal monologue from them both.

When I finish the 3rd, & shake off my horrible cold, I'll do some proper reviews of them all.
 
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The pull quotes on the newer covers are quite telling

"Rachel Reid puts the biscuit in the basket" (what)

"The book that got me into Hockey Romance." (not really a separate thing of note but ok sister)
 
OHHHH. Those Canadians, what will they say next
 
Finn said:
The fact these books look and sound absolutely dreadful :D

i.e. they're seemingly written by a horny straight lady (a group who've been known to fetishise the gays somewhat) and the original covers were THIS type of mummy-needs-some-alone-time scenario:

81gv895kycL._SY522_.jpg


...with the newer covers a volte-face into still-quite-hideous but now PG-rated cutesy Heartstopper territory.

And yet they've spawned a genuinely brilliant TV show. I've got the audiobook of Game Changer and am intrigued to see if my above thoughts are just terrible snobbery from the awful Finn, or if the TV version spun silk from plastic.
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The first one is really cringe, but - as @Suedehead pointed out to me - started out as spicy Captain America fan fiction (:D). The second one is much better. The show is still on a different level though. I'm not done with The Long Game, so far it feels a lot like Heartstopper (with smut, although it's toned down compared to the first two books), so the new covers totally make sense!
 
After finishing it last night, I have a lot of feelings about the love interest guy in Tough Guy. Hateful, nasty feelings which I'll be articulating in THIS VERY THREAD soon.
 
I’ve now read a bit more about the book series and :D at it being a conveyor belt of more and more sexy gay hockey couples.

What a very horny lady. Fair play to her
 
Finn said:
What a very horny lady
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I did wonder what people would think about a straight male author writing a whole book series about say, a bunch of gay female rugby players with numerous detailed scenes of them all LEZZING OFF etc.

Still, a bit of fluffy escapism is harmless as long as the love interest isn't an insufferable attention seeking melodramatic twat. Yes Fabian from Tough Guy, you've rapidly become one of my most hated characters in ALL OF LITERATURE :disco:
 
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 1: Game Changers

Trope boxes ticked:

Meet-cute ✅
Cinderella story ✅
Break up to make up ✅
Learning to LOVE SOMEONE & ACCEPT YOURSELF ✅
Public declaration of love ✅

As discussed above, this had its roots in slash fic about Captain America before being reworked into a story set in the hockey world & it doesn't half show. Clunky dialogue galore & some rather wooden characters, although I did forgive it a lot because of the heartwarming ending, which does inform later books in the series too. It was a wise choice for the TV show to change this story to a one & a bit episode though, as the plot is quite thin & the romcom energy doesn't have the same resonance as the Shane & Ilya story - we ALL KNOW it'll work out fine in the end.

Kip also annoyed me in the book as it was even more obvious that he was pressuring Scott into coming out before he was comfortable to do so. I get that it's not great feeling like a DIRTY SECRET, but you were warned what you were getting into, love, & banging a millionaire sportsman with a killer bod is a pretty good consolation prize for not attending all the WAG parties etc. I didn't feel he really understood just how big a deal it would be for Scott to come out - the media frenzy, the homophobia, the possible backlash from teammates. Of course it's not how it should be, but that's life, Kip - maybe try looking at it from Scott's perspective a little more?

Also Scott Hunter as a blonde in the book is JUST WRONG.

Heated Rivalry GIF
 
I’m struggling with book 1 (I’m about half way through).

Maybe I’m just not into ‘romance’ and closeted yearning.
 
Sardonicus said:
I did wonder what people would think about a straight male author writing a whole book series about say, a bunch of gay female rugby players with numerous detailed scenes of them all LEZZING OFF etc.
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I'm sure there's a series of films about this exact scenario available online that was written, directed and produced by straight men :D
 
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 2: Heated Rivalry

Trope boxes ticked:

Enemies to lovers ✅
Secret/forbidden relationship ✅
Opposites attract ✅

I'm sure anyone taking the time to read this review on this forum already knows the plot of this one, & show creator Jacob Tierney really did lift a lot of the show straight from the page, with many scenes playing out the exact same as on screen. Any changes he made were generally wise choices - such as fleshing out Svetlana from a brief love interest to a fully fledged supporting character with childhood ties to Ilya. The only stupid thing he did, which annoyed me watching the show, was having Shane get injured on the ice due to turning around to smile at Ilya - nah sorry, as a generational talent & fierce competitor there's no way he'd make a rookie mistake like that. The book portrays it as a genuine accident & is all the better for it.

Rachel Reid said she realised during writing the first book that it'd make a more compelling story if Scott was having a secret relationship with another player & she was right. She'd only written the character of Ilya as a snarky antagonist at first but became intrigued by him & all of this is a major reason why this book is such a big improvement on the first - because instead of being written to a formula, the characters & situation have occurred naturally to her & it's all flowed from there. The writing itself & especially the dialogue are way better too. Sometimes an idea just clicks & the slow burn romance works very well on the page too. One other advantage it has is giving us more detailed internal monologues from both characters so this added a bit more interest to the already familiar story.

I personally never knew a thing about ice hockey or the apparent sub-genre of HOCKEY ROMANCE before this current phenomenon & now look at me - putting the BISCUIT IN THE BASKET & EVERYTHING.
 
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 3: Tough Guy

Trope boxes ticked:

The hard man with a HEART OF GOLD ✅
Opposites attract ✅
I've loved you from afar for years ✅
Learning to LOVE SOMEONE & ACCEPT YOURSELF ✅
Break up to make up ✅

There's nothing more than a quick guest appearance from Ilya in this one, who slowly appears to be taking on a sort of gay FAIRY GODFATHER role, with Shane & Scott mentioned in passing. The main character, Ryan Price, was mentioned in the book & TV series briefly as a player who gets traded each season & keeps to himself.

This is because Ryan is not only another SECRET MO, but struggles terribly with anxiety & a fear of flying, causing him to keep a distance from all his teammates. His role as a player is to protect the big talents by taking on all the fights as a bit of a hard knock enforcer, & unlike the generational talents of the prior books, he's a bloke of average talent who is reaching the end of his career, & keeps on with the sport because it pays well & he doesn't know how to do much else rather than a passion for the game. This is a good & interesting character choice & I found myself rooting for Ryan when he meets Fabian, an effeminate (Ryan's type) musician who he knew as teens when he roomed with Fab's hockey mad family.

Fab hates hockey from his years of homophobic jocks & a family who lost interest in him when he didn't share their love of the game. Unfortunately, the book blows any sympathy I had for him because he is one of the most insufferable people EVER. He's whiny, he's attention seeking, his friends are the type of people who think asking a shy person like Ryan uncomfortable questions about sex are a great way to introduce themselves to see if he'll "fit in" (with the implication that they'll stop bothering with him in an instant if he doesn't fit with their narrow minded expectations). Fab never makes the slightest attempt to support Ryan or take any interest in what's been his entire career/life, just whines about how he should quit & he doesn't like it. He never wonders how he might react if the roles were reversed & he was expected to give up music.

As Ryan suffers a serious back injury & struggles dealing with painkillers & his mental health, Fab decides to give him an ultimatum to quit or be dumped & when Ryan doesn't acquiese to this LUDICROUS DEMAND RIGHT AWAY, off he goes leaving a man he supposedly loves struggling terribly without even a quick text to see how he is. Fortunately there's a convenient death of another player that makes Ryan realise that Fab is the missing key to happiness & other blah but I was actively rooting against him getting back with this TOXIC CUNT by the end. He sacrifices so much & Fab never even compromises once. As clunky as the dialogue is, similar to Book 1, I also can't fault Rachel Reid for the character work either, as I have met lots of people just like Fab - including a former Mr S from MANY MOONS AGO - not a good thing. A good love interest this personality does not make.

Ryan, get rid of this tit & his twatty mates & come sit on MY face instead! I'm also really boring & never go anywhere these days, so I won't trigger your anxiety like Fab does by insisting we go gay clubbing etc :disco:

TLDR - I believe Fabian is evil.
 
There's nothing more than a quick guest appearance from Ilya in this one, who slowly appears to be taking on a sort of gay FAIRY GODFATHER
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He really is a manic pixie dream boy in this series, isn't he?
 
I'm nearly done with The Long Game, I'll gather my thoughts later but I think I need a break from gay hockey players and characters having earth shattering orgasms every 20 pages.
 
The Long Game

Y'all wanted plot? Well you're getting it! This is definitely more like Heartstopper S2 and 3 with elaborate sex scenes. You're getting so much plot that I don't think they'll be able to fit it all into the next season, especially if one episode will cover Role Model (which I'm listening to now, so much for needing a break).
Rachel Reid is not Nabokov, so don't expect high literature. It is what it is, and it works for me. It actually reminded me a bit of A Little Life if Yanagihara had decided to write a YA-esque smutty romance novel with a
happy ending
Instead of misery porn :D
It's not like I don't think Yanagihara is a more accomplished writer, but A Little Life sometimes felt a bit juvenile to me as well.

I don't want to give anything away for those who want to read it or want to go into S2 unspoilt, so here are some random thoughts:

- There are sooo many characters and side plots. They need to get rid of Ryan/Fabian, the Swiss twink and THE FUCKING DOG for S2.
- Ilya really is the golden boy in this book, to the detriment of Shane.
- Conflicts are introduced and then resolved by some deus ex machina event (the plane crash!) or don't really go anywhere or are glossed over in the end (Shane's eating disorder/Ilya's depression).
- Wtf was that wedding? Rihana's Diamonds? Really?
- The way they are accidentally outed in a Cameo video needs to be rewritten because it's_just_not_realistic.gif
- I need to see the confrontation with the comissioner in the next season because it's my favourite moment (and should be longer).
That's all.
 
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 4: Common Goal

Trope boxes ticked:

Opposites attract ✅
Learning to LOVE SOMEONE & ACCEPT YOURSELF ✅
Sashaying MERRILY out of the closet ✅
HURT ME DADDY ✅

This one was perfectly OK, but there's not a huge amount to say about it in comparison to the earlier books, as the main character, Eric Bennett, doesn't really have a lot to lose, unlike Scott/Shane/Ilya. He's a 41 year old goalie, he's in his last season, so there's not going to be any real fallout when he splits up with his wife & starts to explore being bisexual.

Eric is Scott Hunter's BFF so we've briefly met him in Book 1, & he's been hanging out at the bar that Kip, now a SICKENING couple with Scott, works at. He ends up hooking up with the other bartender, Kyle, also from Book 1, who has a (quickly discarded) thing for Kip, & a truckload of issues due to being taken advantage of by his older married boss aged 17 & being cast adrift by his family afterwards. I felt genuinely sorry for Kyle about this, & it's left him with unresolved trauma that really could have been explored further but gets a bit handwaved towards the end, which wraps things up in a far too quick few pages.

The main issue stopping Eric & Kyle getting it on is them both getting in their own way & not communicating with each other. Eric feels guilty about the 15 year age gap, not wanting to seem like a predator type, & isn't fully sure of himself when it comes to being a MO, & Kyle keeps telling himself he shouldn't be so attracted to Eric & so on. This is of course all easily resolved when they actually SPEAK to the other about it, & although this feels more like a nice relationship that'll eventually run its course than a romance for the ages, then there's nowt wrong with that. It's a lot preferable to the vomit worthy perfect couple Scott & Kip are in this one, with Scott turning into some saintly activist, amazing sportsman, sage advice giver type. GAY FAIRY GODMOTHER (™️) Ilya also stops by to impart some perceptive advice too, of course.

For once the best thing about the book are the sex scenes - genuinely hot as Kyle introduces Eric to things like the joys of edging. I relate much more to FILTHY ERIC than to Saint Scott, who probably still blushes at the mere sight of a cock.
 
Sardonicus said:
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 4: Common Goal

Trope boxes ticked:

Opposites attract ✅
Learning to LOVE SOMEONE & ACCEPT YOURSELF ✅
Sashaying MERRILY out of the closet ✅
HURT ME DADDY ✅

This one was perfectly OK, but there's not a huge amount to say about it in comparison to the earlier books, as the main character, Eric Bennett, doesn't really have a lot to lose, unlike Scott/Shane/Ilya. He's a 41 year old goalie, he's in his last season, so there's not going to be any real fallout when he splits up with his wife & starts to explore being bisexual.

Eric is Scott Hunter's BFF so we've briefly met him in Book 1, & he's been hanging out at the bar that Kip, now a SICKENING couple with Scott, works at. He ends up hooking up with the other bartender, Kyle, also from Book 1, who has a (quickly discarded) thing for Kip, & a truckload of issues due to being taken advantage of by his older married boss aged 17 & being cast adrift by his family afterwards. I felt genuinely sorry for Kyle about this, & it's left him with unresolved trauma that really could have been explored further but gets a bit handwaved towards the end, which wraps things up in a far too quick few pages.

The main issue stopping Eric & Kyle getting it on is them both getting in their own way & not communicating with each other. Eric feels guilty about the 15 year age gap, not wanting to seem like a predator type, & isn't fully sure of himself when it comes to being a MO, & Kyle keeps telling himself he shouldn't be so attracted to Eric & so on. This is of course all easily resolved when they actually SPEAK to the other about it, & although this feels more like a nice relationship that'll eventually run its course than a romance for the ages, then there's nowt wrong with that. It's a lot preferable to the vomit worthy perfect couple Scott & Kip are in this one, with Scott turning into some saintly activist, amazing sportsman, sage advice giver type. GAY FAIRY GODMOTHER (™️) Ilya also stops by to impart some perceptive advice too, of course.

For once the best thing about the book are the sex scenes - genuinely hot as Kyle introduces Eric to things like the joys of edging. I relate much more to FILTHY ERIC than to Saint Scott, who probably still blushes at the mere sight of a cock.
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I'll start this next. Role Model was very twee.
Shouldn't Ilya be a BISEXUAL FAIRY GODMOTHER?
 
Sardonicus said:
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 4: Common Goal

Trope boxes ticked:

Opposites attract ✅
Learning to LOVE SOMEONE & ACCEPT YOURSELF ✅
Sashaying MERRILY out of the closet ✅
HURT ME DADDY ✅

This one was perfectly OK, but there's not a huge amount to say about it in comparison to the earlier books, as the main character, Eric Bennett, doesn't really have a lot to lose, unlike Scott/Shane/Ilya. He's a 41 year old goalie, he's in his last season, so there's not going to be any real fallout when he splits up with his wife & starts to explore being bisexual.

Eric is Scott Hunter's BFF so we've briefly met him in Book 1, & he's been hanging out at the bar that Kip, now a SICKENING couple with Scott, works at. He ends up hooking up with the other bartender, Kyle, also from Book 1, who has a (quickly discarded) thing for Kip, & a truckload of issues due to being taken advantage of by his older married boss aged 17 & being cast adrift by his family afterwards. I felt genuinely sorry for Kyle about this, & it's left him with unresolved trauma that really could have been explored further but gets a bit handwaved towards the end, which wraps things up in a far too quick few pages.

The main issue stopping Eric & Kyle getting it on is them both getting in their own way & not communicating with each other. Eric feels guilty about the 15 year age gap, not wanting to seem like a predator type, & isn't fully sure of himself when it comes to being a MO, & Kyle keeps telling himself he shouldn't be so attracted to Eric & so on. This is of course all easily resolved when they actually SPEAK to the other about it, & although this feels more like a nice relationship that'll eventually run its course than a romance for the ages, then there's nowt wrong with that. It's a lot preferable to the vomit worthy perfect couple Scott & Kip are in this one, with Scott turning into some saintly activist, amazing sportsman, sage advice giver type. GAY FAIRY GODMOTHER (™️) Ilya also stops by to impart some perceptive advice too, of course.

For once the best thing about the book are the sex scenes - genuinely hot as Kyle introduces Eric to things like the joys of edging. I relate much more to FILTHY ERIC than to Saint Scott, who probably still blushes at the mere sight of a cock.
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Eric might be the hottest character in this series, no?
Anyway, this was not bad, not as good as TLG obviously, but decent.

I hope Maria's hockey beau won't turn out to be gay in a future book, or she might have a Joan Cusack moment.

 
I don't think I want to read Tough Guy, the sample I downloaded didn't appeal to me, so I'm trying one of her non-Game Changers novels, The Shots You Take.
 
*******SPOILERS AHEAD*******

Book 5: Role Model

Trope boxes ticked:

Opposites attract (again) ✅
Learning to LOVE SOMEONE & ACCEPT YOURSELF (again) ✅
Sashaying MERRILY out of the closet (again) ✅
HURT ME DADDY (again) ✅
LEARNING & GROWTH ✅
Antagonist to protagonist to hero ✅

I know @Debbie Jellinsky COLDLY DISMISSED this one as overly twee a few posts up, but it was probably my personal favourite of the series. This is chiefly because there's a lot of real change & some tough barriers for this book's latest CLOSETED MO, Troy Barrett, so there's a genuine payoff by the time we get to the predictably heartwarming ending (which did get me a bit misty eyed) - it's rewarding watching his character grow & change for the good, while fighting against himself, the external pressures of a homophobic hockey culture, & his asshole of a father.

Troy has shown up in earlier books as the dickhead sidekick of the series villain, Dallas Kent of Toronto. He's joined in with Dallas on his homophobic bullying of other players & making fun of Ryan in Book 3 for being afraid of flying & so on & is generally considered by any of the decent players as your typical brainless FRAT BOY MORON.

It's all an act though as Troy can't really accept himself as a gay man, & he's spent most of his life trying to be the sort of alpha male twat his dad wants him to be. This is, I imagine, a very typical experience for many a closeted athlete & Rachel Reid has done a really good job of creating a convincing character that knows he needs to change, but doesn't have any idea how to go about it.

Troy has been traded from Toronto to Ottawa after he fell out with Dallas, who has been accused of sexual assault by numerous women, with Troy losing his rag with him in practice & screaming at him that he knows it's all true. The ongoing support for Dallas from the fans & press, along with the ostracising of Troy as he speaks up for the victims, also all feels uncomfortably true.

Troy being at Ottawa means that BISEXUAL FAIRY GODMOTHER ( ™️ ) Ilya is on hand to dispense more SAGE ADVICE, & Troy slowly comes out of the shell he's been in for so long when he becomes friendly with Harris, the out & proud Ottawa social media manager. Harris is a kind, personable & outgoing man, although he does strike me as one of those types who go GOOD MORNING, HANG ON WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THAT, GOOD MORNING, which always inspires instant hatred from me. I also found it hard to picture Harris from the descriptions given - he's not as fit as the players, but it's all so vague I couldn't get an image in my head of what he actually looked like.

There's plenty of build up with the sexual assault storyline, Troy & Harris working out their feelings for each other, Troy's dad etc all cumulating in a lovely ending at the Pride Night. I'd been fully invested in Troy's journey, & if this is going to be adapted as part of the series, I think the payoff could be hugely popular & as iconic as the Scott & Kip storyline was.
 
I always look forward to reading a new @Sardonicus review!

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy these books, I just cringe a bit when I read them, it doesn't mean they're not addictive though.

I was also confused about Harris, is he just a bit stocky? Or a chub?
I guess I found it a bit hard to believe that Troy would go from his gorgeous Marvel actor ex to Pride-loving Harris.
 
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I finished The Shots You Take, I think it's her best novel from a storytelling POV. Compared to her earlier novels this feels a lot more mature.
I appreciate the fact that the characters are morally grey, with Adam cheating on his wife and Riley going along with it (it wouldn't be a RR novel without an understanding ex-wife/GF though).
There's also a lot of grief and depression, so the themes feel a bit more heavy than the usual fluff.
There's even talk of (gasp!) PrEP and Grindr hookups, two things the hockey millionaires in the GC series have seemingly never heard of.
As usual you will the protagonists to get together, even if it means that poor saintly Riley returns to jock/former FWB Adam in spite of having had his life and career ruined by him in the past.
 
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Debbie Jellinsky said:
I always look forward to reading a new @Sardonicus review!

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy these books, I just cringe a bit when I read them, it doesn't mean their not addictive though.

I was also confused about Harris, is he just a bit stocky? Or a chub?
I guess I found it a bit hard to believe that Troy would go from his gorgeous Marvel actor ex to Pride-loving Harris.
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Oh I cringe too at some of the dialogue etc but I'm not expecting great literature - they are entertaining for what they are.

I also thought Troy being unaware of Dallas being a predator was handwaved a bit but I think that might be handled better on the show.

And I'm on with the Long Game at last!
 
Sardonicus said:
I really want someone else to read Tough Guy just to see if they hate on Fabian as much as I do.
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I listened to the audio book after all 🙈
And I didn't hate Fabian! He was a bit annoying, but as someone whose partner's back is fucked I could somewhat RELATE! But if he was raking in hockey millions I'd probably put up with him being addicted to painkillers or whatever and tell him to (better) work (bitch).
I won't be wearing a black jump suit and pearls anytime soon though.
 
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