Beautiful Game

Stag Brothers, Book 5

De: Lainey Davis

Narrado por: Nikola Muckajev

Duración: 6 h y 21 m

Resumen del Editor

Everything comes at a cost. Is love worth the price?

Hawk Moyer has it all: fame, fortune…the only thing missing from the pro athlete’s life is family. Half his identity is a mystery, and after a transfer to Pittsburgh’s soccer team, he’s determined to solve the secret of his origins. He just needs to stay focused on his game in the mean time.

The only problem? He met a woman who’s not that into him…and he can’t get her out of his head.

Lucy Nelson has everything to lose. She finally broke free from her son’s abusive father and is working to build a future that can’t be taken away. She’s got priorities, and they don’t include a cocky soccer player, no matter how charming. As far as Lucy’s concerned, he’s only good for one thing.

But Hawk’s a mid-fielder. He’s used to playing offense and defense, and he’s not afraid of Lucy’s baggage, especially with backup from a trio of brothers he didn’t know he had. Can Hawk convince Lucy he’s a team player? Will she ever trust him to be there for her amidst her custody chaos?

Beautiful Game is the fifth book of the Stag Brothers series, a stand-alone contemporary romance with crackling tension and sizzling passion. If you love meddling side characters, secret siblings, and workplace romance, you’ll swoon for the Stag Brothers and the women they weren’t expecting to love.

©2022 Lainey Davis (P)2022 Lainey Davis

Love Hawk and Lucy

The narrators were fantastic! Really brought this story to life. This is a beautifully written story of a single mother trying to protect her child and rebuild her life after getting free from an abusive man. In the process she meets Hawk and sparks fly from first meet. Hawk helps Lucy in many ways while dealing with his own life challenges. Very realistic and easy to relate to. The Stag brothers bring them into the family fold and from there life only gets better for Hawk, Lucy and her son. A definite roller coaster of events brings out so many emotions from one minute to the next. Love this book. A must read.

Stag Brothers book 5 - stand alone

This is book 5 in Davis' Stag Brothers series and I loved this read / listen! This is the first book in the series I've gotten and it can be read / listened to as a stand alone. Narration by Nikola Muckajev was perfectly done and able to change pitch and tone for our two main characters - Hawk and Lucy beautifully. I love the push pull these two have from the very beginning. Hawk is a well known soccer player traded to a city he doesn't want to be in and has instant chemistry with Lucy - a single mom who is struggling to come to grips with her past mistakes. This book has the perfect balance of sweet, steam and humor - oh how I adore these Stag brothers now and want to know everything I can about them. I adore their dynamic! Well done all around and I can't wait for more!!!

I received a free copy of this book at my request and I voluntarily provided this review.

Good Steamy Romance

Lucy a single mother and Hawk is a pro soccer player. They meet at a soccer game and sparks fly. Hawk's dealing with finding out who his father is. Lucy's dealing with custody issues. These two are so well written for each other. I like all the characters and the narrators voice just fit so good. The steamy parts didn't even bother me. I'm so glad a found another new to me author, I love it. Since this is book five I had to go back and listen to the other four, maybe Lainey's other books too.

Great new author find, great new-to-me narrator!!

Fantastic! What a brilliant introduction to Lainey Davis, and the Stag Brothers series. Now I'll immediately be going back and reading the 4 earlier books. I have a couple of her other ebooks in my collection, and I'm not sure why I've been sitting on them so long - this was incredible writing, incredible storytelling, and even better as an audiobook!

I loved the soccer themed story, that a single mom (Lucy) found friendships and also along the way, stumbled onto a relationship that she could trust. And while exploring a relationship, her whole life started to finally fall into place. At the same time, Hawk's life took a whole new direction, as he was traded to a new team, found the woman he was immediately attracted to (love at first sight??), is living finally closer to his mother, but at the same time that means living closer to the bio-dad he doesn't know, and now suddenly that whole situation explodes. While Lucy is fighting custody issues, Hawk is fighting bio-dad and newfound family issues, and hopefully they can lean on each other instead of pushing each other away.

It's a quick read, with soccer as the uniting theme throughout, and the audio really enhances the whole thing. Nikola Muckajev is a new-to-me narrator, but I found that I was immediately drawn to his voice. I enjoyed his performance, and he did both Lucy and Hawk's parts extremely well. I will definitely be looking for more works by him!

All-in-all, I definitely recommend this book, and definitely the audio version, to everybody - for all, but really for those who like single parent romances, sports/soccer romances, love at first sight, and especially those who love stories about characters trying to figure themselves out after a biological family reveal as an adult, and the ones battling custody with deadbeats.

What a ride! Great character and wonderful story!

What a story!! This one has it all! It took me on a ride of emotions. Happy, worried, thrilled…and all the tummy flutters (not really an emotion but it counts). The story had me glued to my earbuds as I could not get enough of it or the characters. The theme of soccer was fun for me as its a different sport that isn’t written about a lot then add in the workplace romance and outstanding characters this author made a goal!

I really cherished getting to know these main characters. They each had a struggle to figure out how to overcome. Watching Lucy grow and become a version of herself she could respect is inspiring. Likewise Hawk became the man he always wanted to be. These two together are delightful.

All of the characters are wonderful(yes even the bad ones). Each has a definite purpose that either put a smile on my face or made me irritated with their actions. Of course the best ones are the secret family. I enjoyed every time they came on screen.

This is a first time author for me. I enjoyed the smooth transitional story and the characters so I will need to check out the brothers stories now. I did listen to this on audio. Nikola Muckajev is a new to me narrator. He did an excellent job on all the voices and I could easily listen to him again.

Stand alone with excellent narration

This was my first book by Lainey Davis AND my first audiobook narrated by Nikola Muskajev. I would definitely listen to both again.

Beautiful game is a stand alone as part of a series, but it wasn't a problem that I hadn't listened to the other books first. I don't know how much overlaps with previous books in the series, but I felt like Hawk and Lucy's story was separated from the rest. After this one, I am interested in listening to the others and I don't feel like they would be spoiled. Beautiful Game was part single parent, part sports, part forbidden romance, and I would give it 4.5 stars.

The narration was definitely 5 stars. I prefer dual narrators for first person alternating pov, but Nikola did amazingly well for a single narrator. He is definitely in the voice actor category and I love how his performance brings the story to life. He has distinct voices for Hawk and Lucy, and I even like his female voice for Lucy's chapters which can be tricky. You can hear his female voice in the audio sample.

I received a copy of the audiobook at my request, and the opinions here are my own.

Sweet Single Mom Romance

Pour a glass of wine, grab the Kleenex and snuggle up for this emotionally-charged sports romance! This is my first book by Lainey Davis, and it definitely won’t be my last! The Soccer star and the Single mom. Traded to a team marred by scandal, Hawk Moyer reluctantly adjusts to life and soccer in a new city. Lucy Nelson is struggling to distance herself from her abusive ex and delinquent father to her young son, Wyatt. Temps rise and sparks fly when the growly soccer star meets the sweet, shy single mom! Can “Hawk the hottie” break down her walls and show her what a kind, thoughtful, stable man is like?

From their first meeting to the epilogue, the evolution of Lucy & Hawk’s relationship was a joy to read. Their friendship and romance is beautiful on and off the field. I love that Lainey wrote a heroine in pro sports! Lucy holds her own and squashes any skepticism buzzing about her abilities in a male-dominated field. The natural and respectful way Hawk approaches a relationship with Wyatt is endearing. Lainey Davis writes big family romance wonderfully. Although this is book five in a series, i didn’t feel lost or like I was missing something for a second. Although, I am utterly intrigued by the Stag family and can’t wait to read the rest of their HEAs. Lainey’s characters are warm, genuine, and all flow in and out of the story nicely. Beautiful Game is about second chances, found family, fiercely strong women, and fighting for what you love. Lainey shows us the beauty that can come from accepting a helping hand and building a community you can rely on.

Nikola Muckajev is a new-to-me narrator and I really enjoyed his voice! He has great pacing and cadence. The way he brought the growly, seductive soccer star to life was masterful. Beautiful game has quite a few emotionally raw moments. Nikola performed them perfectly. There were a couple instances when I couldn’t tell whether he was voicing Lucy or Hawk, but overall he crushed this performance. I’ll be seeking out more books he’s narrated. If you’re in the mood for a heartwarming, steamy year-jerker romance audio, grab Beautiful Game! You’ll fall in love with Lucy & Hawk and the whole Stag family.

💗 ⚽️ Hawk & Lucy ⚽️ 💗

This is book 5 of the Stag Brothers series and I was a little worried going in that I would be confused since I haven’t read the previous books – but Davis explains just enough that I didn’t feel lost or that the previous characters took over the story.

I love single parent tropes, however Lainey Davis and narrator Nikola Muckajev are new to me so I was apprehensive going into this. I’m so glad I gave it a try. I truly enjoyed Hawk & Lucy’s story.

Hawk is a newly transferred soccer player and Lucy recently became a fitness coach on the same team. Davis brought a lot of depth to this story with Lucy’s battles with her ex, Hawk discovering his siblings, and a unique twist with Lucy not only knowing his sport well but also being in a supervisory position over Hawk. Charmingly mixed in all this was sexy romance, a cute kid, and supportive family and friends.

There was a little angst, but it wasn’t pointless or dragging and I enjoyed Lucy finally falling for a determined Hawk. Loved the epilogue and the HEA for this deserving couple.

I immediately grabbed The Stag Brothers box set so I can dive into Tim, Ty, & Thatcher’s stories.

Narration:
I enjoyed Nikola Muckajev’s performance. As the chapters alternated perspectives, I liked that he changed his affect to correspond with Hawk or Lucy’s perspective. He had a solid range of character voices that differentiated everyone well. I’m looking forward to enjoying more of his narrations.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Home Cooked Books and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Single Moms deserve all the happiness

Book 5 in the series it stands alone perfectly. If you're like me and this is your first venture into the Stag Brothers world, you will have no issues following along. You can tell there's background and more story to understand but you will never be lost, just left with the desire to explore more of the back list.

Lucy is a single mom who got herself and her son away from her excessively controlling ex. She now is very sensitive to trusting others. Enter an amazing group of women who invite her to play soccer and she builds friendships, a new network of people she can ask for help (not that she ever wants to) and who help her rebuild her life in the most amazing way.

Hawk is the son of a single mom who won't tell him anything about his father. He's a pro soccer player who has been traded to the city he never wanted to play in. It's his first hometown and around any corner could be the man who gave him half his DNA. Though his mother's story is different from Lucy's he still finds a lot of empathy for her. He wants to spend time with her, he wants to help her even though he doesn't know all the details of what is going on.

Together, Lucy and Hawk find ways to build trust with each other and with those around them, including Hawk's newly discovered bio family complete with 3 big brothers who will meddle in his life and support his plans to help gain Lucy's trust and her heart.

The audiobook for this story was performed by Nikola Muckajev. The story is told in dual POV but with only one narrator it gives it more of a cast feel since the voices are consistent through the whole book. Nikola does a great job of presenting both Hawk and Lucy's voices (dialog and internal narration) and the emotions he pulled were great. Frustration, fear, joy, reluctance, passion.... it was all there. And I have to comment him for all the kid voices. Lucy's son is 4 and makes friends early on with twin boys. Then we start to bring in all of Hawk's newfound nephews.... I'm a sucker for a well performed kid voice and I was not disappointed here.

A soccer star’s moving journey to find love and the missing pieces of his family tree

Beautiful Game is book 5 in the Stag Brothers series by Lainey Davis. Although it would have enhanced the story to have read the other books in the series first, I got enough of a background of the entire Stag family to thoroughly enjoy Beautiful Game. Book 5 focuses on soccer star Hawk Moyer. We get Hawk’s path to find love as well as the missing pieces of his own family tree.

In addition to the author being new to me, this was the first time I listened to narrator Nikola Muckajev. He is terrific here. He has such a smooth and soothing voice and does a great job giving each character a distinctive voice.

Ms. Davis gives Muckajev so much to work with in this emotional story. Hawk has been recently traded to Pittsburgh. So naturally the one woman who has caught his attention is hired by the team as their fitness coach. Their chemistry is off the charts and Hawk is determined to pursue Lucy. Lucy is a single mom who has just come out of an abusive relationship. What I loved here is how Hawk understands her hesitancy to jump into a new relationship and respects her need to take things slow. He is willing to take his time with her and adapt to her pace so that she feels safe and cherished which is beautiful to watch unfold. I also loved how quickly he took to Lucy’s son, Wyatt. Wyatt is her world and Hawk doesn’t hesitate at all in embracing him and playing the role of protector of both him and his mom.

In addition to the love story, a big part of the book is Hawk’s own need for answers to questions he has always had about his father. His mother raised him alone and has been unwilling to discuss who his father is. His journey to get the answers he needs isn’t an easy one but in the end it’s well worth it when he finally has the family he has always longed for.

All in all, Beautiful Game was a very enjoyable story and I look forward to more from both the author, Lainey Davis, as well as narrator Nikola Muckajev.