
Scoring Position
Hockey Ever After, Book 2
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Narrated by:
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Nick J. Russo
About this listen
Ryan Wright's new hockey team is a dumpster fire. He expects to lose games—not his heart.
Ryan's laid-back attitude should be an advantage in Indianapolis. Even if he doesn't accomplish much on the ice, he can help his burned-out teammates off it. And no one needs a friend—or a hug—more than Nico Kirschbaum, the team's struggling would-be superstar.
Nico doesn't appreciate that management traded for another openly gay player and told them to make friends. Maybe he doesn't know what his problem is, but he'll solve it with hard work, not by bonding with the class clown.
It's obvious to Ryan that Nico's lonely, gifted, and cracking under pressure. No amount of physical practice will fix his mental game. But convincing Nico to let Ryan help means getting closer than is wise for Ryan's heart—especially once he unearths Nico's sense of humor.
Will Nico and Ryan risk making a pass, or will they keep missing 100 percent of the shots they don't take?
©2022 Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James (P)2024 Podium AudioWhen he finds out the reason for his move he’s… surprised, to say the least. It seems the team’s top player and potential superstar, Nico Kirschbaum, is not achieving his full potential and management wants Ryan to befriend him and take him under his wing in the hope that Ryan will be able to help Nico to fit in with the team better and improve his play.
But Nico isn’t impressed. That management would trade for one of the only other openly gay players in the league and then tell them to make friends is insulting and isn’t going to help – he’s just got to work harder.
Ryan quickly sees that Nico, while hugely talented and determined, is lonely and close to breaking point due to the pressure he’s under – from management’s expectations and the pressure he’s putting on himself as a result of his father’s constant harping at him to do better (his father is a former hockey player himself and is Nico’s agent). Nico hasn’t exactly been welcoming towards Ryan, but he’s determined to try to do what’s been asked of him – and when Nico offers to let Ryan stay with him when Ryan’s temporary accomodation doesn’t work out, the two begin forge a strong friendship and deeper feelings start to develop.
Ryan and Nico make a great couple and I enjoyed watching them fall into a comfortable domesticity when they start living together. They obviously care about each other a great deal and they’re prepared to own up to their insecurities and be vulnerable with each other – and I liked that they both had to tackle issues relating to family and career in different ways. They have fantastic chemistry and their romance is cute (Bert and Ernie FTW!) and tender and hot.
There’s a large-ish secondary cast of teammates and families and I enjoyed the closeness and camaraderie between them - and I was pleased to get an update on Gabe and Dante from book one. On the downside, there’s a bit too much hockey for my taste (especially in the last quarter when there are a lot of games that don’t really add much to the story) and a potentially interesting secondary plotline about the odd behaviour by the team’s coach is just dropped and concluded off-page, which was disappointing.
Nick J. Russo does a great job with the narration, which is well-paced, with strong vocal characterisations of the leads and secondary cast. His portrayal of Nico is especially good – he doesn’t go with a full-on German accent, opting instead to add a clipped edge to his tone which also serves to convey how uptight he is, especially at the beginning of the story. Ryan’s voice is imbued with warmth and good-humour, and the friendships and connections between the teammates come through strongly. It’s an excellent performance all round and takes the story to another level. I really enjoyed Scoring Position and plan to continue with this series.
Great friends-to-lovers romance, expertly narrated
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