The Winning Score

The Playmakers Series Hockey Romance, Book 4

By: G.K. Brady

Narrated by: Marcio Catalano, Samantha Brentmoor

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

She can’t stand him. The feeling is mutual. Can they make it through quarantine together?

Quinn Hadley only does one thing as well as he plays hockey—wheeling the ladies. He’s the envy of his teammates. With puck bunnies on speed dial in every city, he never spends a night alone unless it’s by choice. He has a certain type—hot, blond, and easy. So when he meets Sarah Nelson, bagging her is nowhere on his radar. Not only is she a brunette, but her fiery, take-no-prisoners style is a turn-off. Plus, she’s his teammate’s sister and totally off-limits.

But his disabled mother—who’s just been foisted on him—loves Sarah. And not only is his mom methodically ruining his sweet bachelor lifestyle, but she keeps firing every caregiver Quinn hires for her. So when COVID-19 puts everyone on lockdown, Quinn offers Sarah an opportunity she can’t refuse, despite the warning bells clanging in his head.

Sarah Nelson is fleeing a devastating breakup and has nowhere to go but to her brother’s place in Denver. An engineer by training, she needs a job pronto so she can yank herself back up on her own two feet. But COVID-19 stops her dead in her tracks. So when Quinn Hadley offers her a temporary job making stupid money, she has a hard time refusing—despite the fact she has to live under the same roof with a guy who turns her stomach. She’s had too much experience with charmers like him, and Quinn Hadley is the biggest charmer of all. With a track record to prove it. But it’s the other side of Quinn she never expects, and it’s far more lethal than his public persona.

When Mr. Smooth and Ms. Prickly shelter in place together, not even his mansion is big enough to contain the fireworks. These two are sparks colliding with gas: combustible and explosive.

Someone’s bound to get burned.

©2020 G.K. Brady (P)2023 G.K. Brady

Fireworks Can Be Romantic

The fourth book in "The Playmaker Series Hockey Romance" was very entertaining. Family difficulties have caused Quinn Hadley to become his disabled mother's caregiver. Upon meeting Sarah Nelson, Quinn's mother liked her, so Quinn decided to offer Sarah a job to help with his mother's care. This story was based on two of my favorite tropes: forced proximity and enemies-to-lovers. I enjoyed the sparkle of Sarah's personality and the sizzling repartee of the characters. There were some steamy descriptions. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series. Marcio Catalano's and Samantha Brentmoor's dual narrations added to the enjoyment of the story. I was given a free copy of the audiobook, and I have voluntarily posted this review.

Great hockey romance!

The Winning Score is the fourth book in The Playmakers series and my first book by this author. Quinn is that sexy hockey player living his best life. He takes good care of his mother, who needs assistance in the home due to Parkinsons. Sarah is an engineer who is currently out of work and living with her brother after escaping a cheating liar. She is also that forbidden fruit that is the teammates sister who ends up working for him. They have an opposites attract relationship of avoidance until he hires her to care for her mother and they end up sheltering in place when the world turns upside down. They have great chemistry and their banter is excellent! Throw in a bit of a mystery with some suspense and you have a great 4-star story! I plan to go back and listen to the rest of the series.

Samantha Brentmoor is her typical fabulous self and does a wonderful job bringing Sarah to life. Marcio Catalano is a new narrator to me and I enjoyed his voice and performance. They fit well together and both did a great job with all of the secondary characters as well.

Brady scores w/assist from well-chosen narrators

I consider Brady’s landing of book 4 to be positive overall. I was initially nervous about the COVID backdrop, but Brady handled it well and its impact on the various stages of Sarah and Quinn’s relationship fit seamlessly. There’s an age gap here, with 5 years between the h and her younger H, and while overcoming immaturity being the driver for character development was a bit on the nose for that trope, the fact that both MCs could be childish was a plus. So while their initial moments of that behavior frustrated me, I did appreciate that such behavior was not all one-sided. And do love that it was Sarah who was older! Overall, they are a great as a couple and are interesting characters. How they both interacted with Quinn’s mother, Liz, and Archer, Sarah’s failed service dog was fantastic. Brady created such fun and often lovely interactions between them, which were a pleasure to read.

Compared to previous installments, there was less interweaving of past characters, which given the quarantine setting, is not surprising. However, Brady did still manage to weave some in via virtual girls nights and phone calls. And while I enjoyed the main storyline of their relationship, there were a lot of subplots that seemed half-baked or too similar to add external conflicts that were not needed. Dealing with quarantine and caring for a chronically ill parent, along with their respective family dynamics were more than enough. But adding crazy exes for both MCs, as well as a PR hiccup for Quinn, were a bit OTT; one crazy ex per couple is more than enough. And Sarah’s fit better given that how things ended with Wolf was her catalyst for her to move to Colorado. Add the fact that each ex scenario was resolved so similarly and with relative ease (and that the case of the PR issue basically just faded away rather implausibly), it just compounded the feeling most were unnecessary. The other parts of the story were engaging enough without them added. Despite this, I still enjoyed Sarah and Quinn’s story overall.

The audiobook was very well done! Once again, I love that Brady uses two narrators for her book. Marcio Catalano returns (he narrated on Beckett’s book) and once again does a stellar job. He’s joined by Samantha Brentmoor, who is quickly climbing up my list of favorite narrators. Both their performances when a long way to smoothing out the rough edges of their characters and added to my enjoyment of the story, as every good narrator should. That makes this another audiobook in the Playmaker series that I highly recommended and I can’t wait for the next one!

I received an ALC copy of the audiobook via Home Cooked Books and read via KU. All opinions are my own.

Great Story!

This is the second audio of this series that I have listened to. So can be read or listened to as a standalone. Love hockey romance and I enjoyed the narrators telling this story. There is not much hockey in this one as it deals with the covid quarantine. Sarah and Quinn loved them from the beginning. The banter between these two was a joy to listen to. Quinn who is used to women throwing themselves at him and then there is Sarah who is always throwing quibs at him that make this story enjoyable. They get isolated together when Quinn's mom wants Sarah to be her helper. The narrators did a good job giving the characters a voice with emotions behind them. I need to read or listen to the first two books in this series. I must say I find myself listening to this story again I really enjoy the banter between these two.

Great Read

Quinn and Sarah are perfect together. I loved the mystery in the book of who was stalking them, not what I expected. Quinn’s mom is intriguing, she knew right from the beginning how perfect they would be together. Archer, Sarah’s dog, helped everyone in his own way. Sarah bothered me at times, but I truly enjoyed how her character developed and her decisions in the end. Quinn grew as well, but I loved how much he cared for his mom. I highly recommend you meet these characters and see how they found love during the pandemic.
The narrators were very good. The narrators really helped you connect with the characters. It was very entertaining.

I received a copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Fun characters and great story

This was a fun story that handled Covid in a really good way. The characters were great, their bantering had me laughing and the story flowed so well. The narrators were excellent and I look forward to more books in this world.

Great Audiobook!

The narrators did a great job on this book. Really brought Quinn and Sarah's characters to life. I really enjoyed listening to this book. This is based around the start of the pandemic so it is relatable. Quinn is a cocky, playboy hockey player and Sarah is his teammates sister who is going through some life changes. The banter between these two is hilarious. There is a fine line between love and hate and these two walk it. All the characters are likeable. I love Quinns mom. Another great book in this series. Definitely a 4.5 star book.

I was sent a free audiobook and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

Great Close Proximity Romance

As this author was new to me, this listen was narrator-driven as I adore both Samantha Brentmoor and Marcio Catalano’s works. I thought Samantha was terrific in the role of surly, fed up with suave playboys, standoffish Sarah Nelson. Marcio gave a great performance as the grumpy, young, flirty, puck-bunny chaser Quinn. While at times I didn’t love these characters in their unstable landscape and slow-burn, acerbic dynamic, I thought Samantha and Marcio complemented each other beautifully. Navigating love in a bubble with an ailing mother and outside dangers certainly made for a scintillating romance.

The narrators are perfectly cast—the MMC a little deep and rough, the FMC a little sweet but still sassy.

Thanks to Home Cooked Books for the ALC of this beautiful story/audiobook and the chance to give my candid review.

The Winning Score
by G.K. Brady

(book 4 in the Playmakers series but totally works as standalone).

Narrated by Marcio Catalano & Samantha Brentmoor

Story Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Audiobook Rating: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.5/5

What I’m Starry-Eyed Over:
🤩 Hockey romance, teammate’s big sister (now prickly sister), workplace romance, forced proximity.
🤩 When Quinn’s mom requests Sarah to be her caregiver. Oh, my goodness, she’s adorable.
🤩 Pet/therapy dog beauty—Archer is the sweetest!
🤩 Such a clever and brave attempt at a Covid pandemic timeline.
🤩 Enemies-to-lovers banter.
🤩 Quinn’s mom’s reaction to Sarah calling Quinn Sparky: “Oh, that’s priceless.” Quinn’s mom is the best side character, adding such fun.
🤩 Smutty romance book read-aloud time—love it!
🤩 “I’m not sweetheart. I’m sunshine.” Great nicknames. Quinn also calls her Toots sometimes.
🤩 When Quinn takes care of Sarah and starts calling her babe.
🤩 Slow burn that is so worth it—some jealousy fireworks and protective love.
🤩 “Because I can’t take my eyes off you.”
🤩 The detailed closet of mirrors—so stinkin’ hot and might be my favorite scene.
🤩 The suspense part made for an interesting plot and actually made me nervous more than once, all while knowing there would be an HEA.
🤩 I love when the MCs become the best versions of themselves with and because of each other.
🤩 The narrators are perfectly cast—the MMC a little deep and rough, the FMC a little sweet but still sassy.

What I’m Wishing/Dizzy About:
💫 The ending is super cute and wonderfully entertaining. I wish there was more physical closeness (steam) after the time apart

Good story !

“The Winning score” is the fourth book in this series. The story takes place during covid and is well written! I like main characters : Sanah and Quinn (and Sanah’s dog too) This audiobook brought to life two really good narrators ( I like their narration and voices)! If you like sport and romance this audiobook is for you 😀