Pre-Release Audio Review: Trade Deadline by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn, Performed by Kirt Graves

15 August of 2020 by ButtonsMom2003

Reviewer's Rating: 5

5.0Overall score

I loved it!

Trade Deadline By Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn, Performed by Kirt Graves

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Genre: Contemporary, Sports, Romance, GLBTQ, MM, Bi-sexual, Hockey

Releases: August 17, 2020 (audio & ebook); August 25, 2020 (print)

Length: 7 hrs, 57 mins / 304 pages (approx.)

Publisher: Carina Press

Series: Hat Trick, Book 3

Synopsis

It’s a reunion to remember…

Don’t miss this friends-to-lovers hockey romance from Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn.

Daniel “Bellzie” Bellamy should be on top of the world—a Stanley Cup is the perfect topper to his fourteen-year NHL career. But despite the post-win high, something’s missing. When the chance to play for his hometown team, the Miami Thunder, comes along, he’s open to it. And when he runs into an old friend from his past soon after he makes the move, he wonders if it might be kismet.

Micah Kelly never thought he’d see his childhood crush—and first kiss—again. Danny Bellamy moved on to bigger and better things when they were teenagers, and the idea that Micah’s relationship with the professional hockey player could be anything more than one-sided Instagram thirst seems too good to be true.

Maybe too good to be true is the new reality, though. As the season goes on, Micah teaches Daniel to surf, and Daniel introduces Micah to his lovable pack of rescue dogs and the world of being a hockey boyfriend. Life is good. But when things on the ice don’t go as planned, they’ll have to decide if their rediscovered romance is built to last.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

I loved it!

Trade Deadline is a great story about childhood friends who rediscover each other so it fits two of my most favorite romance tropes: friends-to-lovers and second chance stories.

Daniel and his wife had a very amicable divorce and they remain good friends. When he accepts a trade to the Miami NHL team, she and their two kids move as well. So, everything should be good for him but something stills feels like it’s missing.

Micah and Daniel were friends before Daniel’s family moved to give him a better chance to succeed at hockey. Micah has achieved his dream of working with dolphins and he is the head animal care specialist at a Miami aquarium. When is finds out that Daniel is moving to Miami he wonders if they will be able to reconnect.

I loved everything about this book. The audio performance by Kirt Graves was fantastic. His voice is easy to listen to and the different characters were easy to distinguish.

Daniel and Micah’s connection really came through in the writing and narration. They resumed their friendship almost like no time had passed. Things aren’t all smooth sailing, however. The trade to a new NHL team didn’t go quite the way that Daniel had hoped and he has decisions to make that will affect his budding romance with Micah.

This has been such a great series and I’m sorry to see it come to an end.

A review copy of this audiobook was kindly provided by the publisher, Harlequin Audio.

Story: ♥♥♥♥♥

Performance: ♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Reviews for Avon Gale

Reviews for Piper Vaughn

Goodreads

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Hat Trick Series

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About Author

Avon Gale

Avon Gale lives in a liberal Midwestern college town, where she spends her days getting heavily invested in everything from craft projects to video games. She likes road trips by car, rock concerts, thunderstorms, IPAs, Kentucky bourbon and tattoos. As a queer author, Avon is committed to providing happy endings for all and loves to tell stories that focus on found families, strong and open communication, and friendship. She loves writing about quirky people who might not be perfect, but always find a place where they belong.

Avon is represented by Courtney Miller-Callihan at Handspun Literary Agency.

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About Author

Piper Vaughn is a queer Latinx author and longtime romance reader. Since writing their first love story at age eleven, they’ve known writing in some form was exactly what they wanted to do. A reader to the core, Piper loves nothing more than getting lost in a great book.

Piper grew up in a diverse neighborhood in Chicago and loves putting faces and characters of every ethnicity in their stories, making their fictional worlds as colorful as the real one. Above all, Piper believes there’s no one way to have an HEA, and every person deserves to see themselves reflected on the page.

Author Links