Gametime

Books, Coffee & Passion

3.5 stars

This book starts with the mistaken identity situation right away and it was a very awkward beginning. Don't get me wrong, it did get much better as the story progressed but I think it would've been smoother if it started before. If I had read about Pax and Naomi's friendship first, I might've been more invested in the characters when they had their drunken night together. I think that was the reason it took me a while to like Naomi.

Anyway, Paxton was a great character. I was rooting for him from the start, especially because it was so easy to see how in love he was with Naomi. He was sweet, hot, smart, selfless and so talented! He was dealing with a lot of stuff and my favorite part of the story was his character development. As a hockey fan, I was invested on his hockey journey and his growth as a player. The emotional part in it, the struggle between being a team player and revealing his own talent, was beautifully done. I think that at times the drama between him and Patrick, his twin brother, was too much but I still loved how Paxton was finally fighting for what he wanted in his career.

Naomi was a different story. I struggled to like her and, for the most part of the story, I didn't think she deserved Paxton at all. Actually, there was a point where I thought that she and Patrick deserved each other, that's how mad I was with her. Fortunately, I did end up understanding her motivations, her reasons and her insecurities. Her dad's pressure combined with her conflicted feelings made a lot of her actions made sense. I liked how she progressed, how she slowly started to care less about what others expected of her and how she focused on being herself.
The mutual pining after their drunken night together was really well done! Also, Paxton and Naomi's chemistry was amazing too and I loved how they struggled to resist each other after one night together. The ending felt a little too fast after a certain event, I wish we had a little more time with these two.

Gametime was an entertaining, enjoyable, steamy, angsty read. Even though I was mad with Patrick through most of this book, I'm very curious about his book coming next.