Sticks and Stone

Penalty Box Players

De: Grace McGinty

Narrado por: Shiloh James, Grayson Owens

My name is Nova Stone and I was a ghost in my own life until a knock at the door changed my whole world.

Applying for guardianship of my infant half-brother was a no brainer, even if I hadn't known he existed. But that was before I met his uncles; two pro ice hockey players, and a CEO. They wanted to take Huey home with them and they were willing to pay me millions of dollars for the privilege.

When that didn't work, they managed to convince me that it would be better for my brother–and for me–if I moved into their Ann Arbor mansion. At first, I said hell no. I'd listened to true crime podcasts. I'd read the newspaper articles. But a week of sleepless nights and emotional breakdowns later, I relented.

They were helpful, I'd give them that. But they were also hot, and that was a problem. River with his brooding intensity, he was as huge as you'd picture an NHL enforcer to be. His foster brother Devan, who was mysterious and standoffish, and their best friend Rigby, the literal embodiment of a golden retriever in the body of a 6'2 pro athlete.

But I had to do what was right for Huey, and anyway, how could I ever choose? And I had to choose...right?

Sticks and Stone is the first book in a series of interconnected standalone stories. It is a Why Choose novel and may contain topics that are difficult for some listeners.

©2022 Madeline Young (P)2024 Madeline Young

A Why Choose Romance with Real-Life Depth

Sticks and Stone was a fantastic start to the Penalty Box Players series. As a Why Choose (RH) romance, it balanced humor, family drama, and heartfelt moments beautifully. What I really appreciated was how it gave an authentic, grounded look into the poly dynamics of Nova’s relationship with River, Devan, and Rigby—it didn’t just gloss over the realities of navigating multiple partners, it showed how life, emotions, and circumstances shape those connections.

Nova’s story pulled me in from the start, and the performances by Shiloh James and Grayson Owens elevated every scene—they nailed the emotional beats and the distinct personalities of each character. I did find myself wishing for a bit more spice and for deeper exploration into Nova’s father’s relationship background. Still, the story delivered plenty of heart and tension to keep me hooked, and I’m already eager for the next installment.

Great Narration!!

Interesting story. The narration makes all the difference and brings the story to life! I enjoyed listening to it.

Reverse harem sports romance standalone audiobook!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💜🩷💙💚❤️
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌏🌍🌎🌏🌍
Character development: ☹️😄😍😮🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: Duet Narration

The heroine: Nova Stone - she has terrible anxiety, which got even worse on the night two cops showed up at her door to tell her that her parents died in a car accident. She had inherited everything from her parents including a chiropractic office for which the partner bought her out and the home she lived in. Weeks later she finds out that she has a half brother name Huey that she knew nothing about, and his mother died of a postpartum aneurism. She had been living like a ghost in her childhood home, wallowing in her grief and anxiety, so finding out that her father had an affair, and a baby was shocking.

The Heroes: River Cooper, Rigby Engman, Devan Mason - River was an NHL defenseman for the Ann Arbor Ice Caps. He had promised his foster sister Alana that he would take care of the baby if anything happened to her. He doesn’t want to let her down again, like he did when she got pregnant by a married man and ghosted. Rigby is River’s teammate and one of his best friends. Devan is another of Rivers best friends, his former foster brother and a billionaire businessman. He was smooth and emotionless, and used his money to get what he wanted. They were all products of their upbringing.

The story: Since Nova was the only blood relation of a six-week-old baby with a congenital heart defect, she feared that he wouldn’t be adopted if she turned down custody. Nova was now an orphan and since her brother was an orphan, she figured they were made for each other. She read every baby book, bought all kinds of baby furniture and prepared to get Huey. However, a week before she was supposed to be awarded the baby by the court, she found that the mother had been a foster child and some of her foster siblings had filed for custody. She also found that they were celebrities.

The guys are determined to do whatever they have to do in order to have access to baby Huey. They had loved Alana and had seen her as a sister. They offered Nova a bargain that she didn’t feel she could turn down. They would move her in with them and raise the baby together. Nova was alone and she knew that having the guys in his life would be what was best for Huey, since they obviously loved him and though she had enough money to raise him, she didn’t have the kind of money that they did.

The only thing I didn’t like about this story was that when the press gets wind of the unconventional relationship between the main characters, the heroine uses that as an excuse to bail, even though they were all very happy with each other. I hate it in books when people do weak things and use the reasoning that they are doing it for the other person or people.

This audiobook was told in multiple points of view via duet narration and was narrated by Shiloh James and Greyson Owens. Greyson has a nice voice which is very pleasant, and he is good at doing different voices for different characters. Shiloh James has a soft feminine voice which works well for this character, and I enjoyed the narration quite a bit.

Did not expect Nova to be held at gun point.

It was a great story, loved it overall, though the first few chapters were hard to stay interested in. But once past that defdefinitely one of the best books I've listened too.

Trust me, read/listen to it

I remember loving this book when I read it. However, listening to the audio really made me love it even more. Nova gets blindsided by the sweetest little boy while still navigating some heave grief. It leads to 3 men she never saw coming. I loved watching them all learn to navigate things and how the relationship develops. The narrators did an amazing job bringing these characters to life.