A really cute brother’s best friend/childhood crush/fake relationship romance from an author who’s becoming a new favorite of mine! This one was pretty sweet and straightforward — no third-act breakup, even, just a series of external obstacles for them to get through. The only element that was a little tough was the MMC’s dad; he was SO mean that it almost jarringly contrasted against the rest of the book’s overall tone. But I really enjoyed this one and was almost wanting for MORE steam if such a thing is possible.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this edition from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Y’all, I found this boring. It wasn’t bad per se, just really nothing going on.

This spent a lot of time with Ian’s family drama and his internal issues. While Delilah was basically just a love interest with a crush that never ended. She likes to bake and loves Ian. That’s really all I got from her.

This was childhood friends to lovers with a bit of brother's best friend. He thought of her as a kid up until he saw her again while she was pining for him in the back of her mind since she was a kid. There was insta lust on Ian’s side when they met up again, however it wasn’t really feeding me the chemistry between them.

There is no third act breakup and no miscommunication which is great and should have made it a winner for me. However, it just fell flat.

*review will posted to blog soon.

A super cute brother's best friend, sports romance! The book was super cute and spicy. Loved all the witty banter. Highly recommend!

Thanks so much, NetGalley and Berkley Romance, for the complementary book!

I love Lana’s books and hockey romance so I was so excited for this one. I loved the tropes that came together and Lila’s baking. I also loved Jack and hope we get to see more of him honestly. this romance was sweet and soft and made me swoon.

A RomCom you don't want to miss!

Such amazing and lovable characters thrown together in a crazy environment, leading to fake dating between friends, and filled with hilarious moments. I love when stories don't have a 3rd act break-up, which usually means minimal drama and my heart can enjoy every page.

** Baking Show
** Brothers Best Friend
** Cinnamon Roll Hero
** Fake Dating
** Found Family
** Sports Romance
** Witty Banter

The audiobook was pure perfection and as with The Nanny, I couldn't stop once I started and devoured the entire book in a single day. So much goodness and spice to be had, that you'll be sad once it's over and want to read it all over again soon!

I almost DNF this book at 27% because I truly didn’t care about the characters and found them a bit one-dimensional. I went into this book expecting it to love it because I LOVED the fake mate and this sounded fun but I simply wasn’t clicking with this book. I switched to audiobook and thankfully the narrators gave this book a little bit of life and I was able to finish it and not hate it. The spice was good but again I didn’t feel a big connection to the characters. Their “chemistry” was lacking something for me to be fully immersed, maybe it was the fact that they kept mentioning how long they knew each other but it didn’t feel that way or maybe it was the fact that the FMC kept mentioning her childhood fantasies about the MMC but something wasn’t doing it for me. I liked the drama at the end and I did like the FMC brother but overall this book was not for me.

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of The Game Changer. I enjoyed this hockey romance by Lana Ferguson.

I love sports romances and this was a fun read with fake dating and brother's best friend tropes. This was exactly what i wanted in a romance book with Lana's great characters and the perfect amount of steam.

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 4/5 stars

When a very public breakup becomes a PR nightmare for Ian’s hockey team, he finds the solution in Delilah Baker aka “The Darling of Baking” on her local baking show. The two collaborate to generate good PR, but find they may have feelings for one another as well.

This was super cute and fun. I was entertained and I always enjoy a hockey romance. Plus brother’s best friend is forever a top notch trope.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fun read with great writing and interesting characters, and it’s got some of my favorite tropes like fake dating and brother’s best friend. Delilah is a baker with a TV show, and she wants hockey players from her brother’s team to come on her show.
The team sends Ian, her brother’s best friend who she’s had a crush on for years. For his part, Ian realizes that Delilah is all grown up and gorgeous. They agree to fake date at the urging of their publicists. How mad is Delilah’s brother going to be when he realizes it’s no longer just fake dating?

Synopsis:
Delilah Baker is known as “the darling of baking” on her local cable show, and being in the public eye is her bread and butter. But with her numbers dwindling, Delilah offers up the idea to collaborate with her brother’s team to entice the hockey fans of Boston to tune in to her show. Delilah thinks it will be a piece of cake—until the team sends Ian Chase, her brother’s best friend and the object of a decade-long crush that she’s never quite gotten over. 

Delilah's and Ian’s teams think it’s a true win-win situation—gaining higher numbers for Delilah’s show and casting Ian in a more positive light. And viewers are eating them up like a cupcake, sparking the idea to play up their relationship for the goal of good press. With more than just their careers on thin ice, the line between what’s real and what’s for show begins to blur…

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley, I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

2.5 stars rounded up. I was really excited to read this because I’ve liked the author’s other books, but this unfortunately wasn’t for me. I had a bit of a hard time getting into it and staying engaged with the story and the couple. I am not a huge fan of unrequited love and it felt a bit like that in the beginning. I did like the baking aspect of the book though and thought the show was a fun idea!

As my first read by Lana Ferguson, "The Game Changer" fell short for me. Delilah's long-standing crush on Ian made her seem desperate, while Ian's slow realization of his feelings felt juvenile. Ian's secrecy and overly friendly relationship with his ex-wife were frustrating, and Delilah's constant self-doubt was disheartening. The story lost momentum once the main characters got together, and the conflict felt contrived. On the plus side, supporting characters Ava and Jack added humor, and the steamy scenes were well-executed. Overall, it had potential but didn't quite hit the mark.

What Didn't Work:

Character Dynamics: I prefer when the MMC falls first and is obsessed with the FMC. Here, Delilah’s long-standing crush made her seem desperate, while Ian’s slow realization of his feelings felt juvenile.
Ian’s Secrecy: Ian's reluctance to share his past with Delilah was frustrating, and Delilah’s blind trust felt unrealistic.
Ian’s Ex-Wife: Ian's overly friendly relationship with his ex-wife felt cringy and unbelievable.
Delilah’s Self-Doubt: Delilah's constant disbelief that Ian could be interested in her was disheartening.
Pacing and Plot: The story lost momentum once the main characters got together, and the conflict felt contrived and underdeveloped.
Ian’s Pessimism: Ian’s constant self-deprecation and "wounded warrior" complex were off-putting.
What Worked:

Supporting Characters: Delilah's best friend Ava and her brother Jack added much-needed humor and lightness.
Spicy Content: The book delivers on spice, with well-executed steamy scenes and Ian’s dirty talk.

• Childhood crush
• Hockey Romance
• Brother's best friend
• She always had his back
• Fake dating
• She calls him Cupcake
• He calls her Brat
• NO third act breakup

This book was such a sweet read!!! I loved both Ian and Delilah's characters so much!

Since she can remember, Delilah has always crushed on her brother's best friend. But what happens when that friend is back in your life many years later and returning those same feelings?

Ian was such a wholesome character. Always putting others before himself. Even to his own detriment.

I loved the way Delilah stood up for Ian and always had his back! She stood up for him even when they were kids.

This book was definitely a sweet read! BUT the spiceeeee! Was spicy! Ian had one heck of a dirty mouth! 🔥 And THAT LOCKER ROOM SCENE!!!!!!! MY GOSH!

I always enjoy Lana Ferguson's books, and this one was no different!

The audio to it was PERFECT!!! Zachary Webber and Samantha Summers put on one heck of a performance!! 🤌🤌

It is a brat summer... (iykyk)

Oh boy this was spicy and so much fun. This book combines the perfect elements of hot and sweet and I couldn't get enough of it.

I am a total sucker for she falls first but he falls harder and I was happily surprised to see that executed so well in this book.

I fear I may never exit my hockey romance era...

This was great! It was my first Lana Ferguson and I really enjoyed it. It felt very slow at first, it took me a long time to really get in to it. But by halfway through I had really hit my stride, and found Delilah and Ian so charming. I'll definitely be recommending this to every romance reader I know.

I really liked this one! Delilah is a local cooking show star and Ian is a professional hockey player AND Delilah's brother's best friend. When some bad press affects Ian and his team, the two's PR teams decide that Ian should make a guest appearance on Delilah's show. Their chemistry convinces the PR teams that the two should "be seen together publicly" ie semi fake date. But Delilah's childhood crush on Ian quickly blossoms into grownup feelings, which are very much returned by Ian.

Things I liked: great chemistry, great supporting characters, great examples of mcs setting boundaries
Things I didn't like: a little too much emphasis on how much Delilah has "grown up..." the woman is almost 30!

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Best friend's little sister or brother's best friend, however you want to look at it. Love it!

Ian had a pretty complicated family life and past relationships. He was just trying to protect the people he loved but ended up getting traded to a team in Canada.

Lila had the biggest crush on him growing up. He came back to finish off his career. And I absolutely love when they first see each other after years apart. He was definitely not expecting her glow up. And she realized her attraction and feelings didn't go away at all. To improve his still bad image he went on her baking show and they started a fake dating relationship. But it escalates quickly.

I just enjoyed all the parts of this set up. And the spice was so yummy. That shower scene was so hot.

His Dad was a piece of work and he really had a lot of nerve. Glad when he got what was coming to him.

Her brother who was also his best friend was hilarious, definitely the comic relief. Enjoyed the hockey bits as well. Hockey stretches are fun.

POV: Dual
Spice: 🌶️ 🌶️ 🌶️

This book is such a perfect mix of sweet and spicy! Delilah’s almost life long crush on Ian and him finally seeing her as the woman she’d become and not just his best friend’s little sister was everything I didn’t know I needed, plus mixing in Boston hockey and baking?! 100% sold.

I love both Delilah and Ian, but especially Ian. He seems a little serious but carries so much on his shoulders trying to protect everyone he loves, so when his sense of humor came out it was extra good! The banter between these two (and side characters) was A+!

Speaking of side characters, Delilah’s brother is outrageously funny and I can’t wait for him to have his own HEA. This is my first book by the author and it definitely won’t be my last!

I was told growing up that if I didn’t have anything nice to say that I shouldn’t say anything at all.

For that reason, here is my review for The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson:

This was my first book by Lana and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The characters were mature in the way everything transpired in this book and that’s always something that’ll win me over. The communication was great and I really liked how it all unraveled! Of course the 🔥 was off the charts. That locker room scene? 🔥 can’t wait to read more and I’m hoping we get a book on her brother after this ;)

Thank you, Berkley, for the free paperback in exchange for my honest review!

A hockey player and a baker? Definitely not something I expected on my romance bingo card, but I ended up loving it! This was my first Lana Ferguson read, and it won’t be my last.

Ian Chase, a hockey player in the middle of a PR disaster, finds an unexpected ally in Delilah Baker, the sister of his best friend and the star of a local baking show. Delilah, facing her own set of career struggles, proposes a collaboration to boost her show’s ratings—and Ian’s career could use a little PR magic too.

What starts as a mutually beneficial arrangement quickly turns into something more complicated. Their chemistry is undeniable, and the lines between real and staged blur in the most delightful way. The blend of steamy romance with a bit of baking charm made this a fun and engaging read. If you enjoy sports romance with a touch of sweetness, this one’s definitely worth a shot!