My Goal

Gay Footballer Romance, Book 2

By: H. J. Perry

Narrated by: Piers Ryman

Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

A story of first love. A gay friends-to-lovers romance between two closeted soccer players.

He’s cocky, he’s arrogant, he’s entitled to his big ego. He an international footballer and a multimillionaire. Carlos Garcia’s a huge success on and off the pitch, and he’s got it all. Joining a new football club, he wants his teammates to like him, especially the one man who sets his pulse racing.

As the quietest guy on the football team, Harry Carter avoids attention. He’s so scared of people finding out he’s gay that he’s made sure there are just clothes in his closet. He has nothing to hide, there’s no history, no past, no secret boyfriend, not even a one-night stand. Ever.

Things are changing. Outside of work, Harry’s best friends are a discreet gay couple, but how is Harry going to keep all the secrets when the new guy on the football team keeps hanging around?

Why exactly does Carlos sit next to Harry at every opportunity?

A stand-alone story with a happily ever-after ending and no cliffhanger.

Features:

• A secret wedding
• Workplace romance
• Millionaire sportsmen
• A bisexual man who meets his dream man
• Two hot guys in love

40,000 words

©2016 H. J. Perry (P)2019 H. J. Perry

great way to end

I really enjoyed this one. of the two books in the series, this one was my favorite. Carlos and Harry are both very likable and I liked that Carlos didn't worry so much about appearances. it was light and easy to get into.

the narration was good. loved that I could tell which characters were which, they were lively and the pacing was right on point. loved the feelings all characters gave off and I really have no complaints.

a free copy of this audio was provided to me by the author. the review is honest and unbias.

enjoyed it

Would I listen to it again: yes
Did the story keep me engaged: yes
Was I invested in the characters: yes
What did I like about the story? easy listen, sweet sports romance, good pace with likeable well developed characters. The story happens sort of parallel to the timeline of the first book and looks at the same homophobia issues in professional sport.

Harry (shy, closeted and sexually inexperienced) and Carlos (Spanish hotshot, cocky and handsome) are teammates and neighbours. Harry has been raised by his religious family to believe being gay is wrong. Carlos who mostly dates women realizes he's bisexual - because there is something about Harry that Carlos finds completely irresistible… Carlos sticks to Harry as frequently as he can and soon their relationship becomes more than friendship, but coming out as gay while playing professional football would be the end of both their careers.

I enjoyed Piers Ryman's narration and think he has done a good job narrating My Goal. His accent's suits the characters I had no problem distinguishing who was speaking or feeling the emotions of the story

< I received a complimentary copy of this book at my request - it has in no way influenced my review. >

Sweet listen.

This is such a sweet friends to lovers. Carlos and Harry are so cute. I like seeing how their relationship develops. I am just tootong for these two as I was listening. Piers Ryman did a great job with this narration. He pull me into this story.

Loved Carlos & Harry!

I listened to this immediately after Home Goal and enjoyed it even more. While a bit shorter, I think Perry’s writing here is more detailed and that helped me really connect with Carlos and Harry.

While both are footballers, they have entirely different personalities. Carlos is outgoing and the life of the party while Harry keeps his head down and his secrets to himself. Together, they were the absolute sweetest couple and it was so much fun hanging out with them. This is really low angst – though there’s several different times for each of them to “come out” to family and friends.

Perry included a fabulous epilogue many years later that solidifies the HFN for Carlos & Harry as well as Scott & Jason from book 1. I loved it.

Narration:
Piers Ryman kept the character voices consistent from the first book which made these really easy to listen to over consecutive days.

Broome's Books Review

Piers Ryman is probably one of my favorite audiobook narrators. There’s something about his voice that just gets in my bones, puts my in my zen place, and then enchants me as he weaves through the story. He utilized various accents, different regions for each of the characters, even the secondary characters, which brought them to to life.

On to the story part of the review!

I’m a sucker for the friends to lovers trope, stick that together with a sports romance? I am all about it. I don’t know much about football (soccer), but I didn’t have to. I understood what was being written about and didn’t get lost. Which is a huge plus!

Carlos Garcia, well, he’s a man who knows what he wants and he’s going to do what he can to get that. Harry, is in the closet and not all the confident in himself, doesn’t quite understand why Carlos is spending so much time with him. It takes one move by Carlos to open up all the possibilities for the potential between Carlos and Harry to be recognized.

What I absolutely loved about this, was the inclusion of religion and how Harry balances his religious beliefs with a lifestyle he had been taught was wrong. Both Harry’s mother and Carlos’s family were involved and their reactions were shown. There was something powerful in the way they were portrayed.

Harry was a character I don’t get to see often. One who isn’t sexually experienced, but wants to learn and try new things with the right partner. And Carlos was patient, kind, and caring with Harry. They were so sweet to each other. It left me feeling warm and hopeful.

Sweet friends to lovers romance.

WOW, this book was exceptionally sweet! Completely different from the first one, as are the men it is about, but a great book in its own right.
Besotted Carlos is just too cute for words, and I loved seeing how Harry, at first uncertain, grew into himself when he decided what he has with Carlos is worth exploring.

Easy Listen

This was a very nice and easy listen, however I will say I felt a little disconnected from the MC’s. I just didn’t feel the emotions I would want to. I’m not sure if it’s the narrator or if it was the actual story.

I was given this credit in exchange for an honest review.

Good story

This story was good but I am having a hard time wording this review. Carlos and Harry were acquainted with each other from when they were kids, but the thing is Harry remembers this much more clearly than Carlos and that leads to some unnecessary angst on the part of Harry. Overall, I just felt this was anticlimactic and would have liked this to have been left out or played out a different way. The parts of the story where Carlos is attracted to Harry and focuses on ways to get closer to Harry and build a relationship were fun to read about. I understood Harry's apprehension about coming out and how he was raised to believe he was going to hell for what he wanted. I am glad Carlos found him. Overall their story was a good one and I really liked the ending. It was great being able to see characters from the first book and get to revisit them in this one as well.

Likeable m/m sports romance!

This second book in HJ Perry’s football romance series follows quiet achiever, Harry, and his loud and cocky teammate, Carlos. We were introduced to Harry in book 1, but it wasn’t clear he was gay. Carlos actively pursues a reluctant Harry, slowly breaking down his reserve through genuine friendship. Once again, we see the pressures on elite footballers to stay in the closet, although this was a very pleasant, low-angst story. Book 1 had fire in the belly about homophobia in elite team sports, I didn’t feel the same passion to right a wrong here. 🎧 Piers Ryman narrated competently with his usual array of British accents.

as good as the ebook

The story is always full stars, because if I wouldn't like the story as ebook, I wouldn't listen to the audiobook. I can't listen to an audiobook without knowing the book, that's not possible for me.

The performance from the narrator is also very important for me. I can't listen to a lot, because my English as a non-native-speaker isn't so perfect to follow a whole story over hours, when the narrator speaks too fast or too sloppy. Normally I have to SEE the person, who is talking to me in English. It took me a little bit, to come into the narrator, but at the end, it worked. I only have to take a few breaks between. I'm just not yet finish with the book, I’m over the half, but I listen enough to give a review.

PLEASE READ MY RATING SYSTEM!!!

To my ratings:

5* - very very good
it's like an A+

4* - very good and will be often re-listening
it's like an A

3* - it's more then a one-time-listening.
it's like a B

Secret lovers...

Interesting view of football players, the sport and the LGBT community around it. Two grown men having a secret affair because of homophobia in sports. Their romance sweet and with a slow burn. Behind the scenes but with support from family. I liked that Carlos knew what he wanted and went for it. Harry took a little more time to convince everything would be ok. Together they are awesome.

Cute story :)

Story: a cute story with medium angst. I liked how different the characters were compared to book 1! A completely different focus and plot, so it felt fresh despite the same football backdrop.

Narration: The only issue I had was that Harry’s accent got irritating for me and grated with how I imagined him as a person. That being said, the narrator did a great job and it was easy to follow the story and all the characters.