Narrated by Darcy Stark

Although Breakaway Goals is a standalone romance, it’s closely linked to Beth Bolden’s Portland Evergreens books as the two leads have featured in secondary roles in that series and the author has been teasing their second-chance romance for quite a while. You could probably read or listen to this one without having read/listened to any of the Evergreens books, but I think you’ll get a lot more out of it if you’re familiar with either or both of On Thin Ice or Breaking the Ice.

On Thin Ice introduced us to NHL legend Morgan Reynolds, whose relationship with his son, Finn, a talented goalie, was not great owing largely to Morgan’s high expectations and the constant and suffocating pressure he was heaping on his son. Thankfully, he comes to see that what he’s doing is hurting rather than helping Finn; father and son slowly begin to reasess their opinions of each other and Morgan determines to do better. During that story, it became clear that Morgan is hung up on someone – and hints were dropped that someone is Hayes Montgomery, now the captain of the Miami Sentinels – which is the NHL team Finn will be playing for during his rookie season.

Six years earlier, we meet the twenty-five-year-old Hayes, who has already earned himself a name as ‘the next big thing’. He’s playing for Team USA in the four nations hockey tournament (the others being Canada, Sweden and Finland) alongside team captain Morgan, who, at thirty-five, has been at the top of the game for many years, but is recognising that he’s approaching the end of his playing career – and has no idea how to feel about it. Hayes can’t quite believe he’s playing on the same team as Morgan – whom he’s hero-worshipped for his entire career – let alone on the same line, and even more that they’re such a good partnership on the ice. He’s more than a bit starstruck and an even bigger bit attracted – even though Hayes is in the closet and Morgan is straight.

Morgan can’t help liking Hayes, no matter that he’s a bit awkward or that he’s the one being tipped to take Morgan’s crown as ‘the chosen one’ of hockey players, and finds himself seeking him out. Morgan has never been attracted to a man, but there’s something about Hayes that has him completely smitten, no matter that he tries hard to deny it – and their amazing chemistry on the ice quickly translates into a passionate, secret affair.

Well, that was all it was supposed to be. A few nights of hot sex and then they go their separate ways – but for both men, things progress very quickly from just sex to something more, and neither of them quite knows what to do about it. On their last night together at te end of the tournament, Morgan, terrified at the things he’s feeling and realising that saying goodbye is going to hurt like a bitch, sneaks out when Hayes is asleep and then leaves early without saying a word to him.

Six years later, Morgan, now retired, is trying hard to repair his relationship with his son and has moved to Tampa in an attempt to be a supportive dad. It hasn’t escaped him that Hayes is in Florida also, and even though he knows Hayes moved on – and probably still hates him for the way things ended between them – he can’t help hoping that perhaps he can fix things and somehow win him back.

From conversations between Hayes and his best friend Zach in Breaking the Ice, it’s clear that Hayes – who is now out as gay thanks to an ex who pushed him into coming out and then dumped him – has never really got over Morgan. He’s still furious with Morgan for sneaking out on him and then ignoring him on the couple of occasions they played against each other after that, and would like nothing more than to give him a long-deserved dressing down – but he’s a conscientious captain and doesn’t want to say or do anything that will cause problems for Finn. Hayes decides the best thing to do is to avoid Morgan – but that proves impossible, and as Morgan works hard to show Hayes that he’s changed, that he’s not that guy any more, and that he’s serious about wanting another chance, Hayes’ walls start to crumble and he finds it increasingly difficult to keep Morgan at arm’s length.

There’s some serious pining and longing going on from both sides, as Morgan and Hayes are forced to confront the regrets and what-ifs that have stuck with them for so many years. Morgan’s post-retirement perspective is particularly poignant, as he’s taken stock and realised how lonely and empty his life is – and that he needs to man up and do something about it.

I’m a sucker for a reformed bad-boy, and Ms. Bolden does a great job of showing a different side to Morgan and that the arrogant, prickly persona he always showed to the world isn’t who he really is and that he’s trying to do better. He knows ghosting Hayes was a shitty thing to do, and getting to see his take on what happened makes it easier to understand why he did what he did – although not to excuse it. He’s still a bit of a grouch and doesn’t suffer fools, but he’s also a warm, caring and complex individual with the soul of a romantic; he’s so committed to making sure Hayes knows how much he matters to him that it’s impossible for Hayes to stay angry at him, and he quickly realises that Morgan knows how badly he screwed up and is prepared to do whatever it takes to get Hayes to give him – give them – another chance.

Hayes is a total sweetheart, and I really enjoyed seeing his growth from the slightly awkward twenty-something we first meet to confident, seasoned team captain and on-ice powerhouse. It’s easy to sympathise more with him over what happened with Morgan, but he played a part in their separation, too – albeit not quite such an obvious one.

Hayes and Morgan have terrific chemistry, and I liked that they’re kindred spirits when it comes to hockey, both having a deep understanding of what it means to be an elite sportsman and team captain, of the potentially negative effects of having so much attention and pressure put on them. This helps create a bond that strengthens quickly as they both realise that, in each other, they’ve found someone who gets it and who they can be themselves with. I admit that I was initially a bit sceptical of the idea that these two could find each other and fall head-over-heels in love in ten days – but the author creates such a strong emotional connection between them that I completely bought into it.

There’s a small but strongly written secondary cast here; Morgan’s teammate and friend Danny is a hoot, and I loved seeing more of his developing friendship with Finn’s boyfriend Jacob – a former goalie who frequently clashed with Morgan both on and off the ice and who Morgan absolutely loathed. I loved the ‘odd couple’ thing they have going on – and the moment they both tear up when Finn starts for the Sentinels for the first time is priceless. The only real negative I have to offer is that the book is overlong – which I’m saying a lot about contemporary romances at the moment; it needed some tightening up to keep the momentum going in the few places where the pacing flags. One of the reasons I stick to audio for this author’s books is because I expect them to be on the long side and listening to a great narrator for a couple of extra hours helps hold my interest, where in print I might get impatient!

Speaking of which… Darcy Stark is one of my favourite narrators, and his performance here is spot on in every respect. As always, he gets to the emotional heart of the story and the characters, and displays a good range of tone and accent in his depiction of the secondary cast. His portrayal of the two leads is perfect – he expertly captures Hayes’ aura of wide-eyed innocence in the first part of the story, and I could hear the way his character has grown in a new-found maturity in his voice in the second. Morgan’s trademark growl is underpinned with a warmth and humour that Morgan himself would deny ever having – and the depth of his feelings for Hayes, the emotional connection they’ve forged, are very strongly conveyed. It’s a captivating and accomplished performance that makes a very strong case for experiencing Breakaway Goals in audio.

Breakdown of Grade: Narration – A; Story – B+

Running time: 14 hours 13 minutes