A Great Sports Romance
5 out of 5 stars
I’m going to dive right into this one… Delay of Game had two of the most likable main characters I’ve read in a romance in a long time. I’m not even sure why. I think partially because they both are around my age but also they just both had the right thing in mind. I love the enemies, in this case, isn’t even the typical way (it’s more of a team enemy vs a real enemy). But I love the competitiveness mixed with the full love and passion (both on and off the ice).
Niki’s story was really interesting and I won’t go too much into it, but the complex emotions that she was feeling were very real and I think that Richardson absolutely crushes it. She was able to write Niki into this character that was so realistic and broken without realizing she was broken that it was hard not to root for her. Throw in her daughter and the way she cares about her and deals with her is enough to make any heart melt a bit. Then add in the complexity and the similarly broken but in different ways, Eva and you have an interesting story that involves a lot of orbiting around each other and coming close to either crashing and burning or falling into perfect orbit going on. It makes for such a fun and awesome story.
Throw in the great amount of hockey information that Richardson was able to add to the story without making it unreachable for a non-hockey fan and you have a book that blew my socks off. I promise I won’t forget Delay of Game for some time and that’s a testament to how well it was written but honestly to how real Niki and Eva felt to me.
As I’ve said in other reviews, Anastasia Watley is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators. She’s definitely in my top three female narrators at the moment and moving her way into the top two very quickly. This narration was no different. She shoots and scores with ease and is able to take Richardson’s enjoyable story and somehow make it even more enjoyable by adding that little bit of emotion to the main character’s voices when needed.
Book Description:
Passion and patriotism sizzle on the ice at the Winter Olympics.
It’s been a dozen years since two of the world’s best women hockey players, Niki Hartling and Eva Caruso, first competed against each other in the Olympic Games.
The pressure of the intense USA-Canada rivalry forced an end to their love affair, and both women moved on – Niki to coach and to marry, Eva to stretch out a playing career that her ravaged body can barely sustain anymore.
The Games are upon them once again. Eva wants one last chance to beat the Canadians and win hockey’s biggest prize. Niki, now a widow and single mother, strives to coach her country to gold, even as the obstacles against her mount. The locker room seems to have ears, and there are few people Niki and Eva can trust.
Rivals and former lovers on hockey’s biggest stage, will Niki and Eva feel the same spark that first brought them together? And can they win on – and off – the ice with the whole world watching?
Delay of Game by Tracey Richardson
Narrator: Anastasia Watley
Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
Published by Tantor Audio on August 24th 2021
Genres: Sports Romance
Format: Audiobook
Buy from Audible
Also by this author: The Campaign, Blind Bet
