Broke my heart and put it back together again.
The Play of His Life By Amy Aislin
Genre: Contemporary, Sports Romance, GLBTQ, MM
Released: April 21, 2020 (re-release)
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 158 pages
Cover Design: Paper and Sage
The last person Christian wants to run into on a visit home to spend time with his mom over the holidays is his former best friend-turned-lover-turned-ex. But there Riley is, in all his tall, chiseled, blondness. The same guy who walked out on him six years ago, breaking his heart in the process. Who knew he’s still in love with the jerk?
Two years ago, Riley was injured out of the NHL, but he’s got his own bakery now and a quiet life selling quiches and cupcakes to his customers. Then Christian unexpectedly walks back into his life, forcing Riley to question his choices. Especially that one choice he made six years ago that walked him out of Christian’s life. Now if only he had the courage to tell a boy how he really feels about him…
[The Play of His Life was originally published in 2017. This updated version has a brand new cover, but very little changes to the content aside from updates to grammar, fixing a minor inconsistency, and the inclusion of the bonus epilogue that was originally available via Amy’s newsletter.]
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
Broke my heart and put it back together again.
I bought a copy of The Play of His Life when it was originally released but my TBR list is so long that I never got around to reading it. I’m so glad that this promo tour opportunity came up because it finally gave me the kick in the butt I needed to read.
I’m not a sports fan; I don’t watch any sports except when the Olympics are on. So, it strikes me as a bit funny that I enjoy reading romance stories that involve sports. I have loved all of Amy Aislin’s hockey romance books and The Play of His Life didn’t break that streak.
Second chance stories and friends-to-lovers are my two favorite romance tropes and The Play of His Life has both so I was in romance trope heaven. 😊
Christian and Riley were best friends as kids then lovers as they got older; they were nearly inseparable. College eventually separated them and the long-distance relationship got to Christian and hockey took Riley in another direction. A lot of hurt feelings and insecurities kept them apart for several years.
Christian has come back to visit his mother and when he sees Riley all of the love he still feels for him comes rushing back. What he doesn’t know is that Riley still feels the same about him.
Oh boy, the feelings that Christian and Riley have for each other just radiated off of the page for me. I shed many tears while reading this because my emotions got really stirred up. I don’t think they were necessarily sad or happy tears it’s just that this book really made me feel so much.
These two guys really loved each other, they just didn’t have the maturity several years ago to deal with the long-distance relationship and they didn’t communicate with each other the way they should have. I really can’t say enough good things about this story. I loved it and I’m so happy that I finally made time to read it.
♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Scorcher
Available to borrow with Kindle Unlimited.
When Riley screwed up an order because he was busy thinking about trying not to think about Christian, he pretended this day was the same as any other and that Christian was still in Vancouver and went about his business.
Christian’s gruff laughter from the back shot that plan to hell.
It was almost an hour later that the line disappeared, though a few people remained at the tables.
“Is it just me, or was that busier than normal?” his other part-timer, Henry, asked. Henry was a seventy-year-old retired army vet who only worked Tuesdays and Fridays because those were the days his wife hosted her knitting club and it was either get the hell out of the house or listen to them talk about the misadventures of their various grandkids.
“Everything’s crazier at the holidays,” Riley replied, wiping down the drinks counter.
Henry started wiping down the small counter that held the condiments. “Should’ve seen the fight that broke out over a parking spot at the Toys “R” Us yesterday. Thought I was going to have to use my army general’s voice.”
Riley had heard Henry’s army general voice. It was terrifying.
Speaking of terrifying voices, where was Christian? Not that his voice was terrifying, but his grumpiness had been known to scare a kid or two.
Riley turned and there Christian was, standing in the doorway to the kitchen, hands on his hips. He wore one of Warm Glow’s green aprons over jeans and a dark blue T-shirt. Just the sight of him made Riley’s heart flip.
Christian had always been a big guy, but Riley had forgotten just how imposing he could be when he scowled that way. And what was with his pouf hairstyle? A pompadour, was it? Riley had seen hairstyles like that on guys before and thought those men should be on the cover of cheesy romance novels. But Christian pulled it off, probably because he could scowl anybody into liking anything.
“Is it my turn to order now?” Christian asked.
It made Riley laugh and the tension drained from his shoulders. “Sure, what do you want?”
“What’s good?”
“Seriously? You’re asking me that in my own bakery? Everything’s good. The salad—”
“What guy likes salad?” Christian interrupted. He said “salad” like “peas”—which Riley knew Christian hated more than any food ever.
“I like salad,” Riley said, slightly offended. Warm Glow’s salads were good, damn it!
“Me, too,” Henry said, coming around the counter to grab a wet cloth. “Know why?”
“Because you’re turning over a new leaf?” Christian suggested.
Riley just looked at him.
“What?” Christian said. “That was funny.”
“That was as lame as ever.”
“I thought it was funny,” Henry said.
“Me, too,” piped in a customer adding milk to his coffee.
Christian raised an eyebrow at Riley like, see?
“Awww,” Riley gushed. “You have fans.”
That got Christian scowling again.
To celebrate the re-release of The Play Of His Life, Amy is giving away a $20 Amazon Voucher!
Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for your chance to win!
Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group, Amy Aislin’s Readers, to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram and Twitter, or sign up for her newsletter.
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