Destiny on Ice (Boys of Winter, Book 1)

NEW ADULT:  Largely taking place in Las Vegas, “Destiny on Ice” follows life coach Aubrey Shelburne who gets a rude awakening when the athlete she's supposed to shape up ends up being the man in whose bed she recently woke up. Sparks fly as playboy Brent Oliver, hockey's newest superstar, struggles to cast off his partying and womanizing to focus on his hockey career, especially with Aubrey monitoring his every waking moment while living in his home. As they work toward a compromise, the two will realize that it’s not their jobs that define them…it’s the people they love.

Told in the first-person from both Aubrey and Brent’s perspectives, listeners will be drawn into S.R. Grey’s world of lighthearted hockey-centric romance. While the cast of characters is quirky and energetic, readers may struggle with two main characters who are supposed to be the best-of-the-best in their respective fields and yet are constantly unprofessional and immature in their interactions with each other and others. Passages meant to be banter come across as juvenile and are often over-described, leaving little room for reader imagination. Fans of enemies-to-lovers storylines, however, may appreciate the sense of humor the author brings to bedroom scenes.

Narrator Tracy Marks, though she juggles multiple voices with consistency, left much to be desired from an audio performance. For listeners sensitive to tone and delivery, the way Ms. Marks over-enunciates and ends nearly every sentence with a breathy quality may be a deal-breaker. Readers determined to hear the characters find their happy ending may find a workaround by listening at a speed of 1.25x or higher to minimize the sound of Marks’ unique approach to voicing.

Amanda Lyn