Cute romance with a hockey background. I am not a fan of alternative narrators but I understand it's use when alternating POVs. I strongly disliked the male narrators Katie voice.

Story is predictable but cute! I want to learn more about side characters Garrett and Lizzy.

This was my first Stacey Lynn book and it was enjoyable. I listened to the audiobook via Netgalley and it was definitely entertaining. I loved the male and female narration as the book is told from our two main characters‘ (Katie and Jude) perspective.

This is a second chance sports romance with very little in the way of unnecessary drama or conflict which was a bit refreshing.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the opportunity to review this book.

Playing to Win by Stacey Lynn

A second chance romance. Jude and Katie were together for a short time in college. Katie thought she had found her forever. Jude found his forever of the moment and left skid marks leaving the next day to follow his dream leaving Katie before she knew what was happening. He went on to fulfill his passion of following in his father and brothers footsteps and became a professional hockey player. Katie was left behind with a broken heart. From then on she guarded her heart and decided to fulfill her own dreams of planting roots, becoming a physical therapist and creating her own version of family that she has always craved and never experienced as a child. Jude, is injured during a game and goes home to Chicago to rehab his damaged knee and hobbles in to her physical therapy clinic. The sizzle is still there, but is Katie willing to risk her her heart and career? Jude decides he is going to get it right this time and isn’t leaving her behind a second time. It’s a fun, sweet, steamy journey back together with a bunch of nosy friends, family and coworkers all chiming in with their opinions and comments all along the way. Of course there is a HEA and it was a long time coming and well deserved for both of them. The one hiccup for me in this book was a woman who Katie worked with who made it her mission to torture Katie from the day she started at the rehab clinic. If there is going to be woman on woman hate in the work place in these times it would have been nice for that woman to be called to the mat and held responsible for the way she treated her. For one person who saw it happening to stand up for Katie. That she just walked away rang false even though she was moving forward to a whole wonderful new life. Seemed out of character and again, in these times just a terribly wrong message to set forth. Other than that issue, which is small in the big picture this is a terrific listen.

This is the first book I've read/listened to by Stacey Lynn and I really enjoyed it. This is a sports romance (hockey) but the hockey itself is peripheral in that Jude, the hockey star, is injured and therefore, there aren't a lot of details about the sport. So the romance is the focus of this book. And it was a sweet second chance romance. Jude was hitting it big just when he and Katie started to get into a serious relationship. He had to leave her and there were communication issues (she thought it meant they were over, Jude didn't want it to be over.) Fast forward years and now, Jude has been injured and he returns home for PT. He sees Katie again at the office that he is getting therapy (I really liked that she wasn't his therapies) and they hit it off again. But can they survive when he goes back?

I really liked this low angst book. It was well written and interesting with great characters. NetGalley had the audiobook for early review (Thanks NetGalley!!) and the audiobook was good. I have to say, these are new to me narrators. Liam DiCosimo and Stella Hunter both did well when they were playing their primary characters but sounded quite strained and forced when they were playing the female or male characters, respectively. Overall, I enjoyed their narration.

I must be honest this is my first romance audiobook. I typically listen to nonfiction and read fiction.
I loved the male/female narrator and this book so much I ended up listening to half of it in one sitting!

This is the first book in Stacey Lynn's sports romance series Ice Kings.
If you are a fan of ice hockey romance, you'll find this audiobook is right up your street. It has all the elements I always look for in the genre. Jude is a strong, loyal, family-oriented protagonist who is dedicated to his sports career and his team, but without ever losing the sight of human relationships: family, friendship, and romance, and Katie is the one who almost got away.

Jude and Katie met at college and as we later find out, it took him some time to pluck his courage and speak to her. For Katie their very brief relationship and one night they spent together were unforgettable. But then Jude got drafted and became a professional player. He left Chicago and never graduated from the college. All Katie ever wanted was stability and normal life, something she didn't think she was going to get with Jude. So she blocked his number and continued working hard towards her goal of graduating and getting her physiotherapist licence. When she hears Jude Taylor got seriously injured , she knows how serious the consequences of this type of trauma can be for an athlete of his caliber. What she doesn't know is that his coach going to send him home to recuperate. And here he is in their office, ready for his appointment with a colleague of Katie's. Can Katie silence her heart which seems to beat a bit faster at his sight? Can Jude win her over once again?

I really listening to both narrators. Liam DiCosimo has a perfect voice for sports romance: I could easily imagine this confident, flirty, independent man. He had a great range of expression considering some parts involved talking to his mother, his coach, discussing his progress with his physiotherapist as well as hot and steamy scenes with his love interest Katie. Stella Hunter was charming and soft-spoken which was very fitting for Katie's dependable, caring, and unselfish character.

The second chance trope is one of my favourite, so I must say I really enjoyed this story. It was fun, had great characters and a happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Spectrum Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.

Playing To Win is my first Stacey Lynn novel. I’m a huge romance lover (for more years than I legally should be considering the fact I would steal my mothers Harlequin romances at 8...but I digress) and especially love when sports are involved. Hockey is a sport I’ve only gotten into within the past couple of years, but I’m quickly becoming a die hard lover. So those features combined made me immediately snatch up Playing To Win when it popped up in my NetGalley feed.

Now this review is for the audiobook version and that’s always something that gives me pause. I’ve heard amazing narrators and I’ve heard narrators that were supposed to be in their twenties sounding like 70 year old three-pack-a-day smokers. Based on that experience I go into audiobooks with a lot of hesitation.

I was initially trepidatious because Kate starts out by mimicking a commentator (which I didn’t know at first) so I was not impressed. But thankfully Kate’s normal voice was non abrasive and charming. As was Jude’s voice. Actually I could say a lot more about the scorching heat that zapped me to attention as soon as his voice tickled my ears, but we won’t go there.

Playing To Win is a fabulous second chance contemporary romance that follows Jude, a star hockey player, who returns home to Chicago to rehab from a career threatening injury. But instead of a quick recovery Jude is faced with a girl from his past (who is certain he has forgotten her) that tempts him to step one of his injured toes over the line into forbidden as he tries to rekindle the whirlwind romance he’s never been able to get out of his head.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to review.

⭐⭐⭐

This audio book was enjoyable. I really liked both the female and male narrators. The story line was fun and flirty. Thanks to Netgalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review