Role Model

Game Changers, Book 5

By: Rachel Reid

Narrated by: Cooper North

Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

"Rachel Reid crafted a story of true heart, beauty, heat, and glorious, hard-won redemption! I loved both heroes and their journey to love was a gorgeous one to watch!" (Lauren Blakely, number one New York Times best-selling author of Scoring With Him)

The highly anticipated fifth novel in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series sees a grumpy professional hockey player meet his match in an out-and-proud social media manager....

The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal…Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesn’t want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesn’t want to “work on his online presence” with the team’s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn’t happy about the trade - anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesn’t exactly hide it well - but Harris doesn’t give up on people easily. Even when he’s developing a crush he’s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy’s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, well…that’s a man Harris couldn’t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troy’s move to the new team feels like an opportunity - for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to surrender to their growing attraction. But indulging in each other behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all.

Game Changers
Book 1: Game Changer
Book 2: Heated Rivalry
Book 3: Tough Guy
Book 4: Common Goal
Book 5: Role Model
Book 6: The Long Game

©2021 Rachel Reid (P)2021 Harlequin Enterprises, Limited

Good story. Great narration.

This was a good read that covered some serious topics. I had a bit of trouble connecting Troy's character in this book with how he was portrayed earlier in the series. His friendship with Dallas was hard to disconnect, but the author did a good job of showing Troy's vulnerabilities which might have been the reason he befriended Dallas originally.

I enjoyed seeing glimpses of characters from previous series, and I am looking forward to the next book and hopefully another audiobook narrated by Cooper North whose performance made me believe Troy was really a good guy.

Excellent book

This book was very entertaining. The story was engrossing along with great writing. The narration was wonderful. I would definitely listen to Cooper North again. I would recommend this book.

Fantastic narration of a great story.

Let me start with the narration. Fantastic job by Cooper. He easily flips between French Canadian, Russian and American accents. He reads the whole book as it’s 3rd person POV and manages to show us just how different Troy and Harris are.


This is a book that tackles some big subjects. Coming out and being a gay sportsman in a predominantly heterosexual profession. The issue of bigotry and minimizing of sexual assault against women by celebrities. It was all tackled with care and sensitivity and an authenticity that I really respected. Troy is made to feel like speaking out on behalf of others was a bad thing by the higher ups but is transferred to a team who are just good people and he sees that being himself won’t be an issue with these guys. Harris is patient with Troy and I love how he lets Troy set the pace for coming out. The heat is delicious too, it definitely didn’t disappoint on that front.


A great MM sports romance. Good writing, fantastic narration and a story that kept me engaged from start to finish. 

Cuddly hockey romance & apple pie

After being traded to a less toxic pro hockey team, Todd starts crushing on the social media manager. It takes a while for this to manifest and I didn’t pick up on as much tension from suppressed longing as I think I was supposed to. This is my first foray into the series so I don’t know if Todd’s toxic past had been seen on page, but he makes an honest effort to stop being a jerk & apologize here. Harris is a cheerful guy who should probably get a raise.

Aside from the slower than slow simmer (not quire a slow burn for me), the season & relationships progressed nicely, the toxicity was stomped sown to a large degree, and this coming out in pro sports had one of the kindest, well supported rollouts, so I’d recommend Role Model to people wanting a low trauma coming out. There’s even a nice bit on consent when visiting kids in the hospital. It’s a pleasant group of people to spend time with, even if it took me a while to connect emotionally with the main characters. Todd grows a lot. Harris just hits a jackpot, but kinda didn’t need moral growth as much.

Steam: Medium. late start, but M/M details make the grade and make it on page. Genuine caring during cuddling also included.

Narration: Pretty well done. Varied regional accents were attempted. I sometimes mixed up whose POV we were in when the MCs shared a scene, but it would up not being critical. (Harris’s coworker,Jen, is voices similarly to Luc’s mom in Boyfriend Material, I spent half the book trying to figure that out 😜)

Love story with plot twists

This story was excellent. There were major plot turns I wasn’t expecting. I loved the two characters Troy and Harris. The love story was sweet. The author did a great job of allowing Troy to turn into a better person and watching him grow through his eyes. She also tied up loose ends to make a happier ending than it could have been. Great narration.

Great Series of Stories!

I love hockey and this series of books does not disappoint! I can’t get enough!!

loved it

Cooper North did a great job, he brought all the characters to life.
I enjoyed this story from start to finish. I was happy that Rozanov, Ryan, Fabian, Scott Hunter & Kip made an appearance even though it was brief.
It would be nice if Rachel Reid did a book on all the couples 5 yrs later, give each story at least 6 hrs.
It's sad when a good story ends.
I RECOMEND THIS BOOK.

Tear jerker

The pain Troy felt on the book caused literal tears! So far this has been my favorite of the series with only one book left!

this book was amazing and I love this narrator

I love the nearest different voices for each character and it was beautiful and unique

Just delightful!

This book is a great addition to the series. The main characters are multi-dimensional and interesting and as usual, the hockey feels like the author actually knows what she’s talking about, and we see (and enjoy!) characters from past books. I can hardly wait for the next book.