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

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

The best kind of slow burn romance

Audiobook Review:
Narrated by Darcy Stark

Morgan & Hayes
Having not submitted a written review when I read the e-book last month, re-reading the story via audiobook was a fantastic way to relive the characters and their story and identify what really stood out for me.
We originally meet both Morgan and Hayes in the Portland Evergreens series as side characters to different MCs. We're given the highlights of their past in book 4, as Hayes & Zach are best friends. The way we're initially expected to depict Morgan in his son Finn's story is far more negative than this book shows him to be. Morgan is a very underrated character, and it was great to see him really overcome his own biases and issues to be with Hayes. There was never any doubt that Hayes deserved to be treated better than he was, and their HEA was worth the wait.

Their story is a very slow burn that runs over 6 years of their lives. There were plenty of moments where I really hurt for both Hayes and Morgan in different ways. I think they know a lack of communication made them fail early on, as that kind of thing does to so many couples, both real and fictional. But when they finally do communicate their feelings and concerns, it's like their time apart disappears and they can't wait to spend their lives together.
I hadn't expected to go through such a detailed accounting of the ups and downs of their relationship from the beginning to the end, but the details really were necessary to understand how the guys were able to get back together and look toward their future.

This is a LONG (but incredibly enjoyable!) audiobook--longer than each of the Portland Evergreens audiobooks, but it's such a wonderful story that it deserves its due with a narrator who knows what they're doing.

I received an authorized copy of this audiobook and am volunteering my honest review.

Love curtailed by avoidance and time

Hayes and Morgan meet at a hockey tournament, where Morgan is “The One” and Hayes “The Next One”. They both hate these names, but at first Hayes is awed by Morgan, which affects his playing, until Morgan challenges him and his ire makes him focus.

They end up having a fling and fall in love, but neither talks about their feelings or the future, and Morgan runs out on their last day together.

What follows is Morgan trying to apologize, badly, then looking through each other on the ice, until Morgan retires. Even then, he wants to try again, but Hayes comes out with a boyfriend and he stops himself.

Finally, with some cajoling from others, Morgan sincerely says he’s sorry and they both admit their feelings and decide to be together. Morgan has changed, treating Hayes as he deserves from a partner, and Hayes has learned to express himself and see things from Morgan’s view as he’s older now too.

This is a love story that’s spread over years, it’s interesting to hear how they initially get together and then how things fall apart. Both men are lacking in skills to communicate their feelings and don’t work on it until years later.

I love Jacob and Danny, who both support and push Morgan, and Zach, a good listener for Hayes. Morgan deserved to grovel and admit to his bad behaviour, but let go of some, not all, of his ego.

I received this ARC for free and am pleased to give it my honest review with thanks.