The Player's Lounge

The Player's Lounge Series, Book 1

De: Dan Calley

Narrado por: Dan Calley

A reincarnated soul who remembers his previous life’s happiness and heartache...

Quint is a Player. Unlike most of society who restart with a blank slate after they die, Players make the choice to reincarnate with their memories fully intact. He’s using his past-life knowledge to make his way in a new world, and he’s taking full advantage of it to help him find someone he’s lost.

In their past lives, Quint and Leo were in love. In the afterlife, they made a pact that when they were reborn into the next life, they would find each other again. Except Leo doesn’t seem to be keeping his promise. Running out of leads, Quint turns to his last option, an exclusive, mysterious app where lost souls like him can reconnect with their past lives: The Player’s Lounge.

But what he finds is not what he expects...

'The Player’s Lounge' is the debut novel from prolific M/M audiobook narrator Dan Calley.

©2023 Dan Calley (P)2024 Dan Calley

Intriguing start to new series

Maybe he’s picked up a few things from all the books he’s narrated, or maybe he’s just that talented, but Dan Calley sure knows how to craft a vividly descriptive story with interesting characters and a unique, intriguing plot. The Player’s Lounge draws the reader in right off and makes the book hard to put down, or hit pause if you’re listening to Calley’s excellent-as-always narration of his varied cast of characters. A fascinating start to a series I look forward to continuing.

See you in the future...

3rd person, past tense, multi PoV (though mostly Quint and Leo)
Quint Steele (30), Senior Talent Producer at Wrap'd Records
Leo (31), musician/one half of the viral TikTok duo, Konshus


Audiobook Narration (5h39m) - Dan Calley - 4 stars
I'm a fan of Dan's narration from my exposure to his work with Charlie Novak, which I absolutely love. Hearing him narrate his own words made this book feel extra special. I loved how easily the book flowed and how natural the banter and conversations between characters felt. I did struggle with a few unfamiliar references/terms/phrases as a Canadian listener unaccustomed to the accents of the characters (story is set primarily in London), but nothing that impeded my enjoyment of the story.


Story - 3.5 stars
I've not read a lot of speculative fiction/sci-fi so I thought the premise of this book was quite clever. Player's go through life with their memories of previous lives intact, while Reboots do not, and they are given the choice between the two paths as they embark on each journey.

While the synopsis talks about Quint and Leo, there is a secondary couple who are also trying to find their was back to one another; Cory and Tim. The tandem exploration of these relationships and extraneous friendships made for a compelling read. It was a little more solemn than I was expecting, but I did love this little take on the fated mates trope, where there was a deep spiritual soul-deep connection between the characters and I appreciated that it was not only romantic partners that could form connections. Given that, I was expecting to feel more emotion from the characters.

This story meandered a bit with flowery, descriptive writing that I found quite soothing in a meditative, lyrical way, but was also distracting to listen to at times for people whose minds tend to wander when not given a plot focused narrative to concentrate on, causing me to have to occasionally re-listen to passages. At times it felt like more effort was being given to describing the details concerning the character's surroundings - navigating London, consuming food/drink, ruminating about the differences to the existences of Players vs Reboots, rather than character/plot development.

While technically we get an HEA, it feels much more like an HFN and there are a considerable number of plot threads left dangling as more questions are asked than are answered.

Still, I'm eager to dive deeper into this world and these characters.

Fated Love…Yes please & Thanks!

Narration was superb as always from Dan Calley who is one of my absolute faves. I actually enjoyed the story more than I thought I would. I would suggest not starting it like other audio books where ya pop in the earbuds and do something else while you listen. I did that and missed the setup for the actual story and after a couple of head scratches I stilled myself and actually listened. I like it. It’s a beautiful story where it had me guessing who belonged to whom and of course I was wrong (nice twist there). The only reason for 4 stars was because it ended at an odd place for me. I’m sure there’s more to come but just seemed odd…maybe rushed to end the first book I’m not sure but all in all I liked it. Hope it’s successful. Keep them coming please!!!!!!!

just yes

what can i say, Dan Calley narrating a Dan Calley book but pure perfection! Dan made his words even more beautiful, hard-hitting, and transporting to his world. just pure magic to listen to. Every emotion just hits that much better when done well with good narrators. I can't wait to see what he has in store next for this ensemble of characters.

Player's Are Going to Play

The Player's Lounge is a well written story that is so mind twisting that it's hard to tell the difference between what is reality and what is fantasy, and I love it. The plot is good and easy to follow. The steam is a low boil, but the story more than makes up for that. I can't wait to see what the author has planned for Quint and Leo because i know it's going to be juicy. I received this book for free upon my request. This review is honest and unbiased, and I am leaving this here voluntarily.

Great narration and fantastic story concept

Dan did a job as always narrating this story. I loved the concept of the story and did not see the ending twists coming. Looking forward to book 2 to see where this story goes.

Great Storytelling

I love this story and the narration was fab!!! I can't wait for the rest of the series.

Quint and Leo

"𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙤. 𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚."

The choice is yours, become a Player or a Reboot. Quint and Leo both choose Player and are now tasked with the journey of attempting to find each other again in their new lives.

I am not even sure where to start. This book was so different from anything I’ve ever read. I was captivated and lost all at the same time, lol. The book starts heartbreakingly strong and then just kind of coasts from there. The book is low angst with very low steam and bends your mind between what is fantasy and reality.

I am intrigued to see where this series is going to go from here after the cliffhanger that we are left with.

Dan Calley does an amazing job of giving the words of his debut novel life.

Get ready for...

❤️‍🔥 MM
❤️‍🔥 Soulmates
❤️‍🔥 Reincarnation
🗣️ Third-Person

Tʜᴇ Pʟᴀʏᴇʀ’s Lᴏᴜɴɢᴇ gets 4 Maple Leafs and 1 Flame.

A great debut of the author.

The Player's Lounge is the first book in the series of the same name.
It is a book that I think is speculative science fiction, the truth is that it has been a long time since I read something of this genre. In my opinion, I think it is an original story, worth reading. The narrator´s work is fantastic.

What we find in this book is the trope of soul mates with that of reincarnation. When you die, you can start over, being a player (keeping all your memories) or reboot (forgetting everything). This is interesting when you meet your soul mate and you both face imminent death.


Quint is a music producer, who meets Leo, a musician with a video that has gone viral on Tik Tok, whom his music company hires. Quint recognizes in him his soul mate, but Leo doesn't remember anything.


I will say no more. It is the first book in the series, so expect more lore development. And that the boys get their HEA.