Game Plan

Vancouver Orcas, Book 1

By: Amy Aislin

Narrated by: Aaron Hokanson

As the new head coach of the Vancouver Orcas, Matt Shore has got his work cut out for him. Coming off a season where the Orcas came in last in the entire AHL, Matt’s job is to whip his new hockey team into shape for the oncoming season.

He doesn’t need any distractions, especially not one in the form of a tall, dark, and gorgeous antiques dealer.

Who’s also his ex—and his best player’s father.

Pierce Langley-Brown has a lot of regrets. The biggest? Leaving Matt behind two years ago when his son needed him. Now, with his son on Matt’s hockey team, there’s no avoiding the man who once owned his heart.

Not that Pierce wants to avoid him. And that heart? It still belongs to Matt.

But will Matt choose to keep it after all this time?

©2023 Amy Aislin (P)2023 Amy Aislin

Another Great Book from Amy Aislin!

I love Amy's stories and this one continues her trend of stories that include great character development and endearing side characters. I especially liked how this story focused on a father of a young adult- I often read books with fathers with young children, but seeing the relationship with an older child adds a whole other dynamic. While I understood why Matt opened himself back up to Pierce, their quick re-connection felt in some ways rushed to me and my only quip with the story was perhaps some more development leading up to this connection. I can't wait to read more about them in the next book!

" what do you say coach? Want to marry me?"

This second chance hockey romance was so very sweet. The beginning basically ripped my heart out and almost had me hating the 2nd MMC, Pierce. Until it started to finally come together. What you don't expect in this story is the mental health breakdown that pierce goes through.

From a horrible divorce to a life altering family situation and finally, Pierce running away.

Matt's career is doing amazing. His love life after Pierce? Yeah, not too hot. It's stagnant but also Matt just isn't over Pierce.

They meet again in odd circumstances that ties them both together, Pierce's son on Matt's AHL team.

Pierce has 2 options here. Keep pretending that he just met Matt OR beg for forgiveness and try to get back what he had.

Obviously our antique dealer tries to win his man back!

There are more hoops to jump through throughout the book and all are make or break it situations.

Relationships, background characters, storyline, character history or situations are all well done.

Audio narration is very well done as well.

I personally like a bit more smexiness in my books, BUT if you tend to like more fluffy relationship stuff with "I can't keep my hands off you" then I recommend this hands down

Great MM Romance

I love the chemistry between Matt & Pierce. Amy Aislin has a way of making her characters feel real. This is the 1st book in the series which is narrated by Aaron Hokansan who has a talented voice. Can't wait for the next book.

A sweet second chance MM hockey-adjacent romance

Amy Aislin's new series, Vancouver Orcas, tells the story of Matt Shore, the somewhat mysterious NHL skills coach and audiobook narrator side character of her recent novel, "Star of the Game", now elevated to both a main character and the head coach of an AHL team. Typical of her leading men, both Matt and his love interest, Pierce, are genuinely likeable characters and I was rooting for them both from the start. The book explores some of the potential aftereffects of dealing with untreated depression in that Pierce has to face the distrust and hurt of his sister and ex-boyfriend after two years of self-imposed silence and distance. While it's clear that Pierce's mental health was the primary factor in his past withdrawal and long-distance move, Aislin treats Pierce's depression gently and respectfully, and doesn't make it a major issue in his "new" romance with Matt. Her characters can make rash and unwise decisions to drive the plot forward, but they are relatively quick to apologize and make things right, putting her novels in the low-angst category, and this one is no exception. I find her books to be comfort reads.

This was my first time listening to narrator Aaron Hokanson, and he did an admirable job with the characters. He also added a very Canadian voice to a very Canadian book. I look forward to hearing more from him.

I thoroughly enjoyed "Game Plan" and can't wait to read cousin Charlie's story in the next book in the series.

Wonderful work!

I absolutely loved everything about this book. I never really was into hockey before, but now I have a pull. Also the connection between these two men keeps growing stronger and I can’t wait to see what happens next. I received this book for my honest opinion and I loved it.

Nice second chance story

Overall this was a good story with sweet characters. I feel like some of the mental health stuff was a little over-dramatized but fairly well done. I liked that the narrator used a Canadian accent lol

Excellent Second Chance Romance ❤️

This was second chance done right, I really enjoyed it. I love this author’s hockey romances, I appreciate that the hockey feels authentic. I liked the unique premise, neither Matt or Pierce are hockey players, they are AHL coach and player’s dad. Matt and Pierce didn’t work out the first time, they had an abrupt breakup when Pierce ended things to focus on repairing his relationship with his son Jason. The narrator’s performance is really well done, I enjoyed hearing Matt and Pierce brought to life, complete with lovely Canadian accents. I especially loved how willing Matt was to embrace a second chance, forgiving Pierce for their brutal breakup could not have been easy, but made their happy ending possible.

Enjoyed!

Aaron Hokanson does an amazing job of bringing this story to life.
Game Plan is the first book in the Orca series. This is a second chance romance, which I am a huge fan of.
The main characters are Matt an AHL head coach and Pierce an antique dealer. They haven't seen each other in two years. Pierce ghosted Matt when he was going through some personal stuff. Matt is wary about reconnecting, understandably.
This was a nice love story, no angst, of two former loves finding their way back to each other as getting over some mental hurdles and personal hurdles with Pierce son involved.
I loved seeing them get their well earned HEA.
I'm looking forward to more in the Vancouver Orcas series.

Baker and Hockey

Blaire is in his 10th year of the AHL and if he doesn't make it into the NHL this year, he will be finished with hockey. He hires a PA so he can work on his drills more.
Charlie is the baker for the NHL team in Vancouver but it's not enough hours to keep him going financially. He takes the position as Blaire's PA. The two fit together perfectly. Low angst book with a sweet story.

Love some Hockey

Enjoyed this second chance romance, hockey book. I really enjoyed the dynamic between Matt and Pierce's dynamic and the challenges they had to face to get to their HEA. I always enjoy a good hockey story as well. This is my first Aaron Hokanson story. I loved the Canadian accents he brought to life. Also, Matt was described as being more gravely sounding and I thought he did a great job of portraying that. Looking forward to the next one!