Role Model

, #5

eBook, 336 pages

English language

Published 2024 by Carina Oress.

View on OpenLibrary

The hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal… Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesn’t want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesn’t want to “work on his online presence” with the team’s peppy social media manager.

Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn’t happy about the trade—anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesn’t exactly hide it well—but Harris doesn’t give up on people easily. Even when he’s developing a crush he’s sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy’s smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, well… That’s a man Harris couldn’t turn his back on if he wanted to.

Suddenly, Troy’s move to the new team feels like an opportunity—for Troy to embrace …

6 editions

reviewed Role Model by Rachel Reid (Game Changers, #5)

Worth reading for contextualizing The Long Game, not really worth it as a standalone

I'm finding that the books in this series are most interesting to me when both love interests grow as characters. Ilya & Shane both grow as characters HR & TLG. Ryan & Fabian both grow in Tough Guy.

In Role Model, Troy grows a lot, and was an interesting character to follow. Whereas his love interest Harris remains a manic pixie dream boy for the whole book.

I thought it was a solid choice to have one of the romances in the series be between a player and somebody who works for their team but isn't another player. But Harris was just so... uninteresting. There was potential there but instead he felt like an NPC rather than a main character.

I appreciated the detailed content warning at the start of the book! Made a big difference for me to know what to expect going in.

I …

Subjects

  • Fiction
  • Romance
  • LGBTQ
  • Sports