Game Changer

Game Changers Series, Book 1

By: Rachel Reid

Narrated by: Tor Thom

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pregame rituals very seriously. In this case, it's not just a lucky smoothie he's craving - it's the man who made it.

Pro hockey star Scott Hunter knows a good thing when he sees it. So, when a smoothie made by juice bar barista Kip Grady precedes Scott breaking his on-ice slump, he's desperate to recreate the magic...and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.

Kip knew there was more to Scott's frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott's penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon, never mind touched everywhere all at once. When it happens, it's red-hot, incredible, and frequent, but also only on Scott's terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.

Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can't afford to do anything that might derail his career...like introducing the world to his boyfriend. Kip is ready to go all-in with Scott - but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?

©2018 Rachelle Goguen (P)2019 Tantor

Worst accent

I enjoyed the story but I almost didn’t finish the book because of the narrator’s horrible attempt at a Brooklyn accent.

Sweet story

The story is sweet and ends with a HEA, with just the right amount of angst (minimal). I think if I’d read the book instead of listening to it I might have rated it higher than three stars. I can’t tell because the narration soooo got in the way of my full enjoyment of the story.

While the narrator has a wonderfully deep, pleasant voice, the delivery of the story was stilted, every word was pronounced exactly rather than delivered as someone would naturally speak, and it was as if each character was assigned one emotion and that’s how everything was delivered. I will not even go into how atrocious the accent attempts were. Suffice it to say I was laughing so hard at some points of this story, and it wasn’t because it was a funny bit of writing.

My suggestion? Skip the audiobook and get the ebook or paperback. This story was good enough in spite of the narration that I plan to try reading the next installment.

Game Changers is life. Ilya forever.

The whole series is phenomenal. Just epic. That’s speaking about the books. The audio, however…yikes. I dealt with it but holy bejebus, there’s a lot to be desired when Tor does his Kip accent. Definitely doesn’t do Shawn or Kyle or Carter any services either. Like whoa yikes.

Tor for the Score

Aural pleasure!

Rachel Reid offers a hea hockey romance. She is a new-to-me author. Wonderful story and ... hot, hot steamy scenes. Nicely done, Rachel.

Tor is fabulous. We all love his velvety baritone. The accent and character changes are so nicely done. Bravo!

Phenomenal Audiobook!

Rachel Reid! I love the story. Few writers can write hockey well. Rachel is phenomenal.

The narration is on point. Tor's voice will make a man or woman blush. Listen and enjoy.

Great story, but the narrator....

A well-written and very enjoyable story. But the narrator's voice for Kip was awful! For a character from Brooklyn, he sounded more like someone from Boston with a concussion and a speech impediment. I'm only halfway done with the book, but it has been a struggle to get this far because of that voice.

Worst narration ever

First and last time with this narrator. No idea if the story is any good, didn't get past the second chapter.

WONDERFULL BOOK... STRANGE NARRATION

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and liked the characters. Initially the narration was slightly off-putting with the narrator's attempt at a Brooklyn accent (I think it was supposed to be Brooklyn accent), however, this minor point gave way to a sweet, engaging story with a happy ending so don't let the narration turn you away... stick with it. You will be glad you did. Loved the two main characters Scott & Kip! Definitely time well spent because sometimes we just need to read (listen to) a feel-good book.

how did I miss this?

First I want to say “How did I miss this when it first came out????”
I’m a huge hockey fan and I’ll tell you I get really annoyed when authors don’t know the sport or do a crummy job integrating the sport with the romance.

Rachel Reid does neither.

I read book 2 first, because that’s what I’d requested but I immediately turned around and read this because it was that good!

I can’t say if this one or that one is better because they are so different.

In this we have a “good boy” but closeted and another pretty “good boy” but out who meet. Kip has no real knowledge of hockey and doesn’t even recognize Scott as the star he is.

The author does a terrific job of giving us the regular NHL cities with probable NHL teams with different names. It allows her to lean on our own knowledge of the city and the fan base and the experience without having to infringe on rights or create an alternate world.

I was very impressed by this and her knowledge of the sport.

The romance is really sweet with some smokin’ hot smexy times and the sweetest HEA ever!

I really can’t say enough about this!

If you like Cinderfella stories, hockey, sports romances, coming out stories and sweet love stories – this is for you!


Audio

Tor Thom did a fantastic job with this. He has a lovely deep voice and really tries hard to give all the characters a unique voice to match their persona. He’s a relatively new narrator (to me) but I’ll definitely keep him on my radar for the future! Recommended!


5 stars

Horrible narrator accents

The story is great but the narrator could not possibly be worse.

The Brooklyn accent sounds like a speech impediment. It’s beyond atrocious.

The other main character finishes each sentence with a raised, exasperated inflection- like he’s asking a question. Every single sentence.

If stupid voices ruin an audio book, then avoid this one.