Besting the Blueliner: The Playmakers Series® Hockey Romances, Book 8 (Unabridged)

White & Blue - can they get along?

Once again in Hockey Land courtesy of author G. K. Brady, and what a pleasure it is as always. Besting the Blueliner is the 8th entry in The Playmakers series and just as full of excitement and conflict and fun and romance as the others. And I have an advance listening copy – an audiobook! – and these stories are at their best when performed by another pair of excellent narrators. Tor Thom’s voice always takes me by surprise. It’s so deep and gravelly that it’s easy to picture a big, burly hockey player, but then I realize that he can oh so convincingly be tender, sweet, scared, sexy, sexy, sexy with that voice, too. He makes Cam a tough guy with a soft, gooey center. And contrary to an opinion he voiced in an interview, he does the female voices just fine. Amanda Stribling gives you all aspects of Terra’s personality and emotions. She can sound small, meek, confused, hurt – and then roar back and be a strong, confident woman not afraid to fight for herself. I loved listening to every minute.

Cam Blue hasn’t been a Colorado Blizzard defenseman for long, and there’s no guarantee he’ll be one long-term. That’s just how hockey goes. Their cup-winning season has just ended and Cam’s gone to his cabin in the mountains to let his body recover and to find what he craves most: solitude. The company of his sweet dog Grace (named after Grace Kelly) is all he needs. And maybe that strip of land he tried to buy from his jerk neighbor. He’s not quite a mountain man yet, but he’s learning.

Terra is an interesting contrast: a grown woman treated by her father as if she is a teenager, treated by both her father and brother as if she is the housekeeper, and “thinks” she has a boyfriend although he doesn’t stay in touch often and has never done more than kiss her. On the other hand, she runs the family business very competently and she is an authentic mountain woman, capable and confident in the woods. Except when she topples her father’s new ATV and can’t free herself. She was looking forward to a week alone at the cabin but this accident could become serious in these lonely woods.

Grace hears Terra’s cries for help and Cam and Grace follow the sound. He is able to free Terra but she’s skittish, sarcastic, not too friendly. By his own admission Cam is a surly SOB so their first meeting doesn’t exactly make them BFFs. But there is something there . . . .

There is so much going on in Besting the Blueliner; it’s a joy to follow all these twists and turns and learn surprise after surprise – and watch two people who are determined they can’t, shouldn’t, won’t be together keep winding up together. Keep wanting to wind up together. Cam is recovering at a snail’s pace from a failed marriage, a horrible divorce and an ex-wife who still wants money all the time; Terra insists that yes, Roger is so her boyfriend, and maybe his lack of interest or any sparks is fault of her self-described unsexy self, and maybe Cam could teach her a thing or two? Interesting idea. That strip of land Cam wants to buy plays a key part, as do Terra’s overbearing, overprotective father and her underachieving, undermotivated brother. Terra is terrified of dogs; Cam couldn’t live without Grace. Even with his innate grumpiness Cam feels an overpowering urge to protect Terra. She feels safe with him and opens up more than she ever has to anyone else. And there is a protective streak for him in her, too. They seem to be opposites but the more they are together the more it seems they should – must – be together. But family, and relationships and hockey management may make that impossible.

Thanks to Home Cooked Books and author G. K. Brady for providing an Advance Listening Copy of Besting the Blueliner. I really, really cared about this couple and wanted to knock all the obstacles down myself to ensure they could be together. The narration was the icing on the cake to an already perfect novel. It was also heart-warming as usual to catch up with players and other characters from previous books in the series; everyone is connected to everyone somehow and it’s fun to read. I recommend this book, this series, and the rest of what G. K. Brady writes without hesitation. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.