Face Off

D.C. Stars, Book 1

By: Chelsea Curto

Narrated by: Adam Gold, Laura Horowitz

Emerson (Emmy) Hartwell has waited for a spot on an NHL roster since she became a professional hockey player, and this season, she'll finally get a chance to showcase her talents with the struggling D.C. Stars.

Maverick Miller is the best player in the league, but he's never had a winning record. Team captain and desperate to turn things around, he agrees to play nice with the fiery new left-winger even though they're total opposites.

After a night where the tension between them reaches a tipping point, and they fall into bed together, Emmy and Maverick vow it was only one time. Just once to get it out of their systems so they can play better and help their team. It doesn't mean anything. She doesn't date hockey players. He's a notorious playboy who doesn't date. Period.

Except… what should've been just once happens again, then again. They tell each other their friends with benefits arrangement is only for the season, but despite facing off on the ice, behind closed doors, the pair is nothing but fire.

By USA Today bestselling author, Chelsea Curto.

Face Off is a spicy dislike to lovers sports romance with professional athletes, friends with benefits, he falls first, and a guaranteed happily ever after. Narrated in duet style.

Cover Illustration: Chloe Quinn.

©2024 Chelsea Curto (P)2026 Podium Audio

Emmy Girl and Pretty Boy <3

I’ll never forget the weekend I first downloaded and read this book. I loved every single moment and devoured it as quickly as I could. Power Play wasn’t set to come out for another month, so I dove into Chelsea’s backlog and finished the Love Through a Lens series. Before I knew it, I had signed copies of the Love Through a Lens series and Face Off ordered from Chelsea’s Etsy shop. She became an immediate buy author!

This was my 3rd re-read of Face Off, first time listening to the audiobook. First time hearing Adam Gold and Laura Horowitz narrating... OH MY!!! These two were perfect for Maverick and Emmy. Adam’s narration of Maverick was the perfect amount of cocky and charming and then in the bedroom scenes I was blushing and giggling out loud. Laura conveyed so much emotion in Emmy’s character. I have followed Laura on TikTok for a long time so it was nice to finally hear her narrate! The way these two pined for each other as they began to cross the line from FWB to dating had me tearing up. Hat Trick may be my favorite in the series, but Face Off is truly something special. Let’s be honest… Chelsea makes all of her books special in their own way.

Love the story!

Loved this book so much! Idk why but the narrators voice bugged me. The male narrator had a weirdly Southern twang and the female narrator sounded whiny.

I Ate This Up

Wow! Maverick was everything, how he fell for Emmy was just what I needed. She was amazing too. And my gosh the mouth that man has was hot 🥵 I loved how there was no third act breakup. This book was just perfect exactly what I needed.

This was good!

I enjoyed this. I thought it was a little longer than it needed to be, over all still good. Narration was good as well.

Face Off

This is pretty good. I enjoyed their questions of day game and the relationship Emmy had with all the guys on the team. I also might have grinned every time someone call him Mavvy. I don’t know why, but I loved it. The ending was unexpected but still good. I can’t wait to see more with Piper, Hudson and the rest of the team.