Game Changer By Amy Aislin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, GLBTQ, MM, Sports, Hockey
Tropes: Boss/employee
Released: July 18, 2023
Publisher: Self-Published
Series: Vancouver Orcas, Book 2
Length: 70,000 words / 294 pages
Cover Design: Cate Ashwood Designs
It’s Blair Brawsiski’s ride or die year. After a decade in the AHL, if he doesn’t get called up to the NHL this season, it’s time to hang up his skates and focus on other things. But between a second job and family priorities, his attention isn’t where it should be, and his dreams of making it to the big leagues are dwindling by the day.
Hiring a personal assistant to help out with day-to-day stuff? Probably the smartest move Blair’s made in a while.
But when that PA turns out to be an assertive baker who’s exactly Blair’s type? Blair can’t help but wish those dexterous hands would knead something other than pastry dough. Namely, him.
Charlie Shore needs extra income. Desperately. With his expenses about to go up, it’s find a second job or get evicted. Getting hired as Blair’s PA is perfect: flexible hours, decent wages, and a scorching hot professional hockey player who’s willing to let him use his gorgeous kitchen for his baked goods.
Too bad that hockey player is exactly Charlie’s type. Too bad Charlie knows better than to date his new boss…
Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003
Such a sweet and romantic story!
OMG – Amy Aislin has written another wonderful hockey story. It’s always difficult for me to pick a favorite character – and I’m not saying that Charlie or Blair are my overall favorites, but they are certainly my current favorite characters. 🥰 Both of these guys are so sweet!
I can always count on Amy Aislin’s books to provide me with a wonderful, emotional reading experience and Game Changer certainly did that. She writes a lot of books about hockey but they never, ever feel like the same story with only a few changes. I hope that makes sense. What I’m trying to say is that each of her books is a unique and wonderful reading experience. I was an early fan of her writing; the first book I read was in 2017 and I think I’ve read everything she’s published since then.
The blub is wonderful but one thing it didn’t touch on is that Charlie has some pretty deep-seated feelings about people leaving him and feeling rejected. These feelings come into play as his relationship with Blair becomes closer. His mom and dad divorced when he was 12 and she moved away and started a new family quite a distance away from Vancouver. He started a new business with a friend and before it even got off the ground – but after a lot of expenses were incurred – the friend left for a job in Europe.
I absolutely devoured this story and I’m looking forward to reading Game On which is about Charlie’s cousin, Dorian, who was a fairly prominent character in Game Changer. Game On is currently scheduled to release next January.
♥♥♥♥♥
O Factor: Spicy
“Charlie?”
The man on his porch turned and . . . oh. Okay. Charlie being Coach Shore’s cousin, Blair had expected him to look like Coach: big, burly, and bearded. But Charlie was short, slim, and clean-shaven. He wore a wool coat in a colour that was somewhere between ivory and tan, a dark green scarf, and a matching toque with a grey pompom. Dark blond hair peaked out the bottom of the hat.
He looked like an ethereal fairy from another realm.
Of course he was exactly Blair’s type, all cute and rosy-cheeked and elfin.
Blair let out a rueful laugh under his breath. As if he had time for dating with everything else going on in his life. Jen and Jerry would be married before Blair found a minute of free time.
“Charlie?” he asked again, holding out a hand as he crested the porch’s top step. “I’m so sorry I’m late.”
“No biggie.” Charlie’s smile was wide and genuine despite Blair’s tardiness, and it triggered something loose in Blair’s brain.
Hand still in Charlie’s, he said, “Have we met before? You look familiar.”
“No,” Charlie said with a conviction that had Blair questioning himself. “But we’ve probably been to several of the same functions, most recently the pre-season barbecue at Coach Epps’ place. I work for the organization.”
“No kidding. Doing what?”
“I’m the baker for our NHL team. I make pastries for team breakfast, breads for sandwiches for lunch, and whatever else the head chef might need. Dinner rolls, desserts, that sort of thing.”
Now Blair recognized him. There were only a few times a year when the entire organization got together: the pre-season barbecue, the holiday party, and the end-of-season barbecue. But when you put the entire AHL and NHL teams in a room, along with coaches, management, and office and support staff as well as significant others and children, it made for close to two hundred people. And with Blair missing half of those due to other commitments in the ten years he’d been with the Orcas, it was no wonder he hadn’t officially met Charlie. Plus, not being a social creature meant that introducing himself to a crowd of strangers one by one was basically his version of a living nightmare.
He did remember once seeing Charlie from across the yard at one of the barbecues and wondering who the cutie with the smile that radiated warmth was. By the time Blair had set his plate down and turned back to make his way toward the man, Charlie had vanished.
And now here he was, on Blair’s doorstep.
What was he doing here if he already had a job, though? “Are you . . . seeking a new career direction?”
“No,” Charlie said with a quiet laugh. “Just a second job.” He cocked his head, and he might’ve looked guileless if there hadn’t been a hint of humour in his brown eyes. “Can I have my hand back?”
“Right.” Blair snatched his hand away, embarrassment tingling across the back of his neck. “Sorry. Uh. Come on in.”
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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 to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram, or sign up for her infrequent newsletter.
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