Game Changer

Rachel Reid
Completed 12/8/2025, Reviewed 12/11/2025
3 stars

There were a lot of things to like about this book: the theme, the plot, the spiciness.  There was also one problematic thing, that is, the fairy tale resolution.  Despite the worry and angst about being a closeted gay man in a hypermasculine sport with rampant homophobia, it all works out a little too nicely.  However, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.  It just made it more fluff than substance.  But hey, it’s very spicy and the whole Game Changers series has been made into a major HBO Max event.  And, well, yeah, I’ll probably continue the series.  

Kip works at the counter at a smoothie shop.  He has a history degree, lives with his parents, and is working food service to survive in New York City.  One day a stunning man walks in and orders a blueberry smoothie.  There’s some flirting and banter, but neither makes a move.  Then Kip finds out the guy was Scott Hunter, the immensely popular, most eligible bachelor and center for the NY hockey team.  Scott’s team wins that night and he returns the next morning for another smoothie.  Like many in sports, he is superstitious and begins a new ritual.  Eventually, after hinting around while flirting with Kip, they hook up.  However, Scott is very closeted, fearing the loss of his job and corporate sponsorships.  But they attempt to see each other.  Of course, they fall in love, but Scott’s fear of coming out publicly puts a heavy strain on their relationship.  Kip must deal with being an out man dating a terrified closeted man.  

I have to give props to this book for dealing with homophobia in sports.  Scott’s fear is palpable.  Being with Kip has made him happier than he’s ever been in his rags to riches life.  But he can’t fathom coming out publicly when he is worshiped by the team, the city, and the media.  This cognitive dissonance is real, not only for the rich and famous, but for many people.  Kip, on the other hand, struggles with going back in the closet for his boyfriend.  This is a tough compromise when you have tasted the freedom of being true to oneself.  I thought his dissonance was well played out as well.

My biggest issue is with the ending.  There’s some acceptance and some rejection.  This story takes place at the end of the 2000’s, so it is possible that the outcome could be very rosy.  However, given today’s atmosphere where the dictator in chief wants to make supporting LGBTQIA+ people a political crime, I can’t help to think there would be more backlash for someone in the spotlight like Scott.  

I give this book three stars out of five, mostly because of the ending.  While the book is fairly well written, it mostly suffers from being a little too sweet.  At the same time, I do enjoy a spicy, gay, happy ending book.  It just doesn’t have the depth the I’ve come to expect from the M/M supernatural romantasy genre.  I know there’s a lot of fluff out there, and this is one of them.  Side note: after watching episode one on HBO, I’m finding the actors in the streaming series give the characters more depth.  I’ll watch the series on streaming, and yes, I’ll read the rest of the books.