Calling The Shots is a perfectly acceptable little slice of hockey romance that has decent conflict, likeable characters, and a romance worth rooting for. But Farmer’s just-okay way of telling the story makes this one a mid-level read.

Confident former bad girl of the rink Regan Lane’s coaching career is in a less-than-winning place at the moment, but she’s driven by some brash pushing from a local journalist to shoot for the moon – she’s going to win a championship during her first season with the Boston Ice, which would be a repeat victory for the team. Regan, firm devotee and booster of women’s athletics, is determined to prove that women can skate just as hard as the guys.

Tierney McGovern, neophyte coach for the New York Lady Liberties, isn’t about to let that happen. She’s a single mom battling her way through sexism and pressure of her own (her dad’s shadow is enormous), and she’s determined to get her own team to the league championship.

Tierney and Regan also have bad blood between them that has nothing to do with the game at hand. They shared a week-long assignation and Tierney is still bitter over the fact that Regan ghosted her afterwards. A rivalry quickly ensues, and the last thing Regan and Tierney expect is for their romance to reignite. But will it survive their teams going head-to-head as the season goes on?

I really liked the characters here – fiery Regan and her love of hockey and Tierney, who is becoming herself step-by-step. The romance is classic opposites-attract goodness; Regan’s ghosting of Tierney definitely starts things out on the wrong foot, but also points up the fact that they’re imperfect women who are nonetheless good people. Tierney’s holding on to childhood baggage and so is Regan, so they have some stuff to process.

What doesn’t really work is the very flat way Farmer tells the story. Her prose doesn’t have a whole lot of personality in this outing, which is a surprise, as I really liked Out on the Ice and Unexpected Goals, the first two books in this trilogy. Speaking of the trilogy, expect to catch up with the rest of the series’ characters in this volume; we get updates from everyone as the book goes on.

Calling the Shots is a perfectly decent book and the romance is quite sweet. But it’s not as exciting as its predecessors.