Title: The Play of His Life
Author: Amy Aislin
Publisher: MLR Press
Length: 149 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: The Play of His Life is not without faults. In fact, it has two pretty major ones, in my opinion. But, despite the story’s flaws, I still really dug these guys and this book.
Reviewed By: Jules
Blurb: Former best friends turned lovers Christian and Riley haven’t seen or spoken to each other in six years…is there a better time than the holiday season to reconnect with your favorite person?
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? (Oh yeah, he did. What? Who says denial isn’t healthy?)
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…
Review: I’ve recently become a fan of Amy Aislin and her swoony little novellas. First, As Big as the Sky, and now her release from this past spring, The Play of His Life. After reading As Big as the Sky, I went and checked out her back catalog, and immediately pounced on this sweet-sounding, friends-to-lovers story. Friends to loverssssss, y’all. My total weakness and happy place. The Play of His Life is not without faults, however. In fact, it has two pretty major ones, in my opinion. O.O But, despite the story’s flaws, I still really dug these guys and this book.
Christian and Riley grew up together. Inseparable since second grade, and finally becoming more than just friends their sophomore year of high school, theirs was as strong as any friendship, or any romance, could be. Until Riley got a hockey scholarship to the University of Denver, and Christian moved west to go to college in British Columbia—thus beginning the dreaded long-distance relationship. They went from seeing each other every day for ten years, to only on occasion, when they could swing it, until eventually, Christian couldn’t take it anymore and broke things off between them.
Now, seven years later, Christian is home visiting his mom for Christmas when he runs into Riley—thanks to some meddling from his mother—at the new bakery in town. The bakery that Riley opened after a career-ending hockey injury found him moving back to their small hometown in Ontario. It’s the first time they’ve spoken or seen each other in six years, since hooking up after Christian’s dad’s funeral, and Riley’s middle-of-the-night disappearing act. The pull and attraction is brought right back to the surface, as they both realize that neither one of them is as ‘over’ the other as he thought he was. I loved these two lines:
“The familiarity made Riley’s heart ache for the lost years between them.”
And…
“Riley had always meant home and belonging and safety.
The book is full of super swoony, romantic goodness, as well as lots of great dialogue and funny moments. But, there were also lots of ‘JUST TALK ALREADY!’ moments, as well as two fairly significant plot points which were both left unresolved that had me wanting to pull my hair out. First, in the very beginning, when Christian first arrives at the bakery, a big deal is made of a Now serving alcohol! sign in the front window. The alcohol turns out to be Shimmer—a mysterious drink that smells like strawberries but tastes like something different every time you drink it, depending on what you mix it with, and has a different effect on the drinker, depending on the mixer as well. Shimmer is made out to be extremely mysterious, almost magical, really, so much so that I thought there was perhaps going to be some paranormal element to the story. Sadly, the plotline was never fully developed and was dropped just as quickly as it appeared.
Second, and this one reeeaaaally bothered me, Riley calls Christian ‘T’ but Christian has never known why. It was the nickname Riley gave him early in their friendship, and has stuck through the years, but Christian has no idea what it stands for, and Riley isn’t talking. Throughout the book, Christian asks Riley, and throws out guesses as to what it might mean, and in the end, it seems we’re finally going to find out…and then nothing. Not gonna lie…to not get the satisfaction of finding out the meaning behind the name was a pretty major letdown.
Head-scratching and/or frustrating moments aside, though, I truly did still enjoy the book. I found myself smiling and ‘awwwww’ing my way through the thing. This is the power of second-chance, friends-to-lovers stories! They can overcome some pretty serious issues, and still make you feel good. 😊 I’m pretty happy to have discovered this author. And, now I find out she has a Christmas novella coming out? Holiday stories are another Achilles heel for me, so go ahead and sign me up for that one, too.
You can buy The Play of His Life here:
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