Title: Changing Lines
Series: Harrisburg Railers: Book One
Authors: RJ Scott and V.L. Locey
Narrator: Sean Crisden
Publisher: Love Lane Books
Run Time: 5 hours and 10 minutes
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: Do not miss this book. While the title suggests this is just the first in a series, I hope Crisden continues with it, adding layers and shades to the lovely foundation he has started.
Reviewed By: Mike
Blurb: Can Tennant show Jared that age is just a number and that love is all that matters?
The Rowe brothers are famous hockey hotshots, but as the youngest of the trio, Tennant has always had to play against his brothers’ reputations. To get out of their shadows, and against their advice, he accepts a trade to the Harrisburg Railers, where he runs into Jared Madsen. Mads is an old family friend and his brother’s one-time teammate. Mads is Tennant’s new coach. And Mads is the sexiest thing on which he’s ever laid eyes.
Jared Madsen’s hockey career was cut short by a fault in his heart, but coaching keeps him close to the game. When Ten is traded to the team, his carefully organized world is thrown into chaos. Nine years his junior and his best friend’s brother, he knows Ten is strictly off-limits, but as soon as he sees Ten’s moves, on and off the ice, he knows his heart could get him into trouble again.
Review: Tennant Rowe is one of three brothers, each playing in the NHL. Tennant works in the shadows of his two older and more accomplished brothers but has just been traded to an expansion team, causing his oldest brother to chide and deride him for not making it to an “original six” team.
Jared Madsen should be a player in his prime, but due to an unexpected congenital heart condition, he is now a coach on the expansion team Tennant has been traded too. The thing is, Jared is an old family friend of the Rowe’s. He is Tennant’s eldest brother’s best friend, part of their family, as it were. Jared hasn’t seen Tennant in years and when they meet again as player and coach, the attraction is immediate, troublesome, and undeniable.
This story is more than just a cute little romance; it is a love story. Jared is older and more experienced and when he makes the decision to move forward with a relationship with Tennant, they make love. This is not animals rutting for release, but two men exploring what it means to make love to a man and to fall in love while doing it. The authors take the time to establish the fits and starts of a relationship, the admission to themselves and each other that they are in love, and their slow coming out to family, teammates and, finally, the league.
A lot of stories are set in the hockey world because it is the most accepting of the professional sports, with a nearly decade-long program that is inclusive of all equalities. The NHL supports inclusiveness in the junior and college ranks as well, as in the sport’s code of conduct.
Crisden has a voice that makes every story he tells better. In this story, which is full of discovery, humor, tension and, finally, beautiful love, Sean Crisden hits every note. While some descriptions of lovemaking can feel rushed or grubby, here, making love is celebrated as it should be. There are perhaps a half dozen voice actors who can portray that accurately and with care; Crisden is one of them.
Do not miss this book. While the title suggests this is just the first in a series, I hope Crisden continues with it, adding layers and shades to the lovely foundation he has started. Buy the book for the great story, buy it if you love sports books, buy it because the narration is among the best you’ll hear, but do buy it. You will not be sorry.
You can buy Changing Lines here:
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