Audiobook Review: Role Model by Rachel Reid, Performed by Cooper North

08 September of 2021 by ButtonsMom2003

Role Model By Rachel Reid

Genre: Contemporary, Sports, Romance, Hockey, GLBTQ, MM

Tropes: Coming out, redemption, grumpy/sunshine

Released: August 10, 2021

Publisher: Carina Press

Series: Game Changers, Book 5

Length: 284 pages / 10 hrs, 15 mins

Narrator: Cooper North

Synopsis

The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal… Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesn’t want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesn’t want to “work on his online presence” with the team’s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn’t happy about the trade—anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesn’t exactly hide it well—but Harris doesn’t give up on people easily. Even when he’s developing a crush he’s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy’s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, well… That’s a man Harris couldn’t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troy’s move to the new team feels like an opportunity—for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to surrender to their growing attraction. But indulging in each other behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all.

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

I loved the story and I loved the audiobook.

When I reviewed book four in this series about a year ago, I started out listening to the audiobook but had a hard time getting into it so I switched back to reading the book. It must have been my mood at the time or something because I listened to the audiobook of Role Model and I loved it. It’s not often that an audiobook will move me to tears, like what happens when I read a book, but this one died and I loved Cooper North’s performance all that much more because of it.

This story really touched me and got all of my emotions involved; just what I like in a book. Troy was not a very nice character in previous books and I’m glad he got a chance at redemption in this story. He’s been hiding his true self for a long time. He knows that his father will disown him if he ever gets the courage to come out and that is part of what keeps him from doing so.

Harris is one of my favorite characters ever! He’s out and proud and isn’t afraid to be his adorable self. He’s the sunshine to Troy’s grumpy. Rachel Reid’s writing really made me feel the connection between Harris and Troy even though Troy wanted to deny that any attraction was there. Once these two get together things really heat up!

I also loved the team dog, Chiron. Everyone on the team loves this puppy and the way he is described I can just “see” how cute he is. While you don’t need to have read the previous books to enjoy this one, fans of the series will enjoy the cameos by characters from previous books. I particularly loved Ilya in this story and was really happy to find out that the next book in the series, The Long Game, will be about him and Shane (the two MCs from Heated Rivalry).

♥♥♥♥♥

O Factor: Scorcher

Game Changers Series

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About Author

Rachel Reid

Rachel Reid is the pen name of Rachelle Goguen. She chose it because it is much easier to say, spell and remember than Rachelle Goguen! Rachel writes cute, romantic smut, mostly about hockey players. Her Game Changers m/m hockey romance series is available from Carina Press. Rachel/Rachelle lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has always lived there, and it’s looking like she probably always will. She has two boring degrees and two interesting kids.

Author Links

Review copies of the ebook and audiobook were kindly provided by their respective publishers.