Breakaway Goals

De: Beth Bolden

Narrado por: Darcy Stark

Tampa Sentinels Captain Hayes Montgomery has hero-worshipped Morgan Reynolds his entire career, watching as the larger-than-life hockey star has racked up stats that always seemed unreal. Unattainable. Unreachable.

Until Hayes himself is labeled “the next one” and to his surprise, he and Morgan end up on the same team together, playing for Team USA in a nation versus nation tournament.

Now Hayes’ hero isn’t just his teammate, but his linemate. They’re hot on the ice, and despite Morgan’s straight reputation, off it too.

It’s only ten days, but it’s the best ten days of his life. That shouldn’t be long enough for a hockey crush to morph into a real crush, but Hayes falls head over heels, fling-himself-off-a-cliff, wildly in love with Morgan, anyway.

They don’t play on the same team or even on the same coast. Normally, they’re never in the same zip code, but that doesn’t change Hayes’ feelings—or his regret when the fling ends.

Fast forward six years. Morgan’s retired, Hayes is writing his own name in the record books, and he’s sure he’s over it. Over him.

But then Morgan arrives in Tampa to watch his rookie son play for the Sentinels.

He doesn’t want to be hung up on his teammate’s dad, but it doesn’t matter how long it’s been or what he’s tried. Morgan still makes Hayes’ knees weak.

And when it turns out Morgan has his own Hayes’ shaped regret?

Maybe they can finally find their way back to each other again.

Breakaway Goals is a MM hockey standalone romance, but spins off from Beth's Portland Evergreens series.

©2025 Earl Gray Publishing LLC (P)2025 Earl Gray Publishing LLC

Perfect!

This book was just IT! Amazing work Beth Bolden! I absolutely love Morgan and Monty!

Amazing Hockey Romance

Darcy Stark is an amazing narrator! He brought every character to life with personality and emotion, and gave Montgomery Hayes and Morgan Reynolds their verbal HEA. Hearing this love story after reading it was so heartwarming, and it’s all due to the great book by Beth and how well Darcy understood and portrayed each person. This was the best audible book I have had the pleasure to listen to and review.

it's a great followup to the Portland Evergreens series but great as a standalone listen.

I read the book when it came out and could not wait to listen. The narrator is excellent and has distinct voices and inflection for the different characters.
We know Morgan and Hayes from the Portland Evergreens series - Morgan's son Finn plays goaltender, and Hayes is the assistant coach's (Zach) best friend.
But meeting at Portland U was not their first encounter. They had an extraordinary romantic connection while representing the US in an international hockey tournament. Hayes was ready to go all in, but Morgan imploded and for years they didn't even speak... until Morgan retired and his son was drafted by Hayes' team. Coming face-to-face requires them to confront their difficult past and tell the truth about their feelings for each other. This book gutted me. I shed actual tears.
It's not required that you read the Portland Evergreen series, but reading books 3 and 4 will provide the total backstory, and you definitely won't be sorry. Beth writes great sports novels, and they are very sweet and spicy, too... a winning combination. And narrator Darcy Stark is the cherry on top.

Slow burn second chance

I'm not usually a huge fan of time jumps, but it was necessary for this book. The only other ways this could have been accomplished would be if it had flashbacks, or if it was over 900 pages.

My heart hurt for both of these guys. They have a hard-won HEA, but it is so satisfying. I absolutely loved them together initially, and then their slow burn second chance. I loved it and I'll reread/re-listen to it sometime soon.

The narration was also extremely well done. Darcy is a new narrator for me, and I thought overall they did a great job.

Emotional. Realistic Must Read Sports Romance!

New Review! Breakaway Goals by @bethboldenauthor as part of the Portland Evergreens Universe as narrated by Darcy Stark

Now READING this book was devastating enough, but having Darcy put all the emotion into every word and then feed it into my earballs. WOW. That was a lot of emotional trauma lol. 😂 but once you emotionally process the “six weeks later” and get to “you deserve to be wined and dined, Angel” wow, just… were you always this romantic Morgan???? And listening to it is just BLISS!!!!

Also, we’re all in agreement that Hayes having a menty b over watching Morgan work out in the team gym in a ratty old tee is totally valid and relatable amirite???

Okay so to catch you up if you haven’t been properly sucked into this emotional entry in the Portland Evergreens series,

It kicks off with Morgan and Hayes at the four nations cup, two insane superstars on the same line, totally rubbing each other the wrong way. The great one, Morgan, and the next one, Hayes, who idolizes the other(and totally has a crush on him)

Things get dicey and Hayes needs a pep talk and privately they hash things out and Hayes accidentally outs himself. It should be nothing except then Morgan can’t stop thinking about Hayes… then things escalate at the tourney, Morgan is protective and intimate.. and he might just have a crush on his Liney Hayes. at the Tourney all bets are off they get whatever “it” is out of their systems. Even if “it” is this forbidden perfection that neither can let go of. so of course Morgan ruins it.

FFWD. Six years and Morgan has to face his demon. The one who got away. His son’s captain. The love of his life. He has to grovel and find his way back to him because there has never been anyone else.

Thankfully for Hayes, there has been anyone but Morgan for him. Now, he’d rather step on hot coals barefoot than admit that. But the truth is the truth, and no one loves that idiot more than Hayes.

Their reconciliation is iconic, and a delight to read. 10/10 pure kicky feet and warm fuzzies. 🥰

Audio is perfection.

5 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Morgan & Hayes Forever!

Darcy absolutely knocked this performance out of the park. To say I was excited for this is an understatement! Ever since we met Morgan in On Thin Ice and Hayes in Breaking the Ice I’ve been so excited for this HEA and this audiobook DID NOT DISAPPOINT!

This story truly shines with the fantastic character development of Hayes and Morgan. If you've read the above books, you'll be thrilled with Morgan's growth and transformation – he goes from being barely tolerable (😂) to absolutely adorable! Hayes's journey from hero-worship to seasoned star is equally compelling.

The chemistry between Hayes and Morgan is seriously off the charts and undeniable. This story is the perfect blend of second chance and age-gap tropes, alongside Morgan's beautiful bi-awakening. I particularly appreciated how everything unfolds in chronological order, which allows you to fully immerse yourself in their connection. The pining, angst, and their incredibly well-earned HEA are just everything. And the groveling…OH MY!!

If you've been waiting for Hayes and Morgan's story, you will not be disappointed!

beyond fantastic listen

Absolutely breathtakingly, heart melting, sports romance masterpiece!

Morgan and Hayes are a classic right person, wrong time love story. what I love about this second chance is that there really was no way for them to make it work the first time around. They needed the time apart to grow as characters- Morgan to be ready to let hockey go, and Hayes to learn his worth.

This is a true epic love story embedded in a thoroughly developed hockey world. Beth always brings a depth of sports knowledge rarely found in this genre and an absolutely mastery of emotional story telling.

The acting in this is just phenomenal. I cried and laughed along. Darcy Stark has always been one of my favorite narrators but he seriously leveled up in this one! if there's an audiobook awards, this should win him one!

do yourself a favor and shove this book in your ear holes. you won't regret it!

Enjoyable - experienced listeners recommend

MM
Dual-ish POV
Third Person
Hockey romance
Age gap
Bi-awakening
"Baby"
Mutual pining
Son's captain

Rating: 3.5/5 - this isn't a book I will reread but I really enjoyed
🌶️: 4/5 - there were a heaping handful of explicit intimate scenes
🏒: 3/5 - there were a handful of hockey scenes in this book

TLDR: A little melodramatic but the tension is amazing and I had a good time

I love the tension in this book. There's immediate attraction that they both are like "no we couldn't" and then they do. They really do. I love the scandal of him being interested in his son's captain and the captain in his rookie's dad. So funny! There are great side characters in this book, especially Danny. The nickname switches towards the end of the book. This is a warning in case you loved the first nickname the way I did. This book is a little melodramatic but the tension is great and I had a good time.

The audiobook performance was good but this book may not have translated to audio well. I had moments of confusion about who was speaking/thinking at certain times. This may have been a product of how the book was written (third person with POV switching at random) or the narrator's limited distinction between character voices.

Ultimately, I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys hockey romance with a touch of age gap and the lightest sprinkling of scandal. I would only recommend the audiobook to experienced audiobook listeners.

Exceptional listen

Finally!! I have been waiting for Morgan and Hayes story forever it seems!! This exceeded my expectations and they were already high. I especially like the fact that it goes back to the beginning when these two played the Four Nations tournament. I highly recommend this read! The audiobook is fantastic also, along with awesome narration.

Years in the making

Teased with bits of Hayes past, this book was so worth wait.
Hayes has always looked up to Morgan as a player and when the opportunity to play together becomes something more, the both of them have a few days that they will never forget.
But, hockey takes precedence and life pulls them apart only to bring them back together again a few years later.
When they reconnect, it’s with Hayes who has to take a leadership role and they both learn to navigate a relationship that will not impact the game or their personal lives.
This was for me the best in series so far. Mr Stark makes this an absolutely captivating story to listen to with his narration as we get to see these two characters and their second chance at a relationship.