Book Title: Game Plan (Vancouver Orcas Book 1)
Author and Publisher: Amy Aislin
Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood Designs
Release Date: April 4, 2023
Genre: contemporary M/M hockey romance
Tropes: second chance, forbidden romance, hockey
Themes: second chances, forgiveness, making amends
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Length: 72 000 words
It is the first book in a new trilogy that’s a spin-off from Star of the Game (Stick Side 6). All three books will stand on their own and feature new couples.
It does not end on a cliffhanger.
Buy Links – Audiobook also available on Audible, Amazon, and Apple
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Coaching his new AHL team? Easy
Reconnecting with his ex…who’s also his best player’s father?
Not so much.
Blurb
As the new head coach of the Vancouver Orcas, Matt Shore has got his work cut out for him. Coming off a season where the Orcas came in last in the entire AHL, Matt’s job is to whip his new hockey team into shape for the oncoming season.
He doesn’t need any distractions, especially not one in the form of a tall, dark, and gorgeous antiques dealer.
Who’s also his ex—and his best player’s father.
Pierce Langley-Brown has a lot of regrets. The biggest? Leaving Matt behind two years ago when his son needed him. Now, with his son on Matt’s hockey team, there’s no avoiding the man who once owned his heart.
Not that Pierce wants to avoid him. And that heart? It still belongs to Matt.
But will Matt choose to keep it after all this time?
Content warnings: past parental death (off-page but is discussed on-page); depression and mental health
Matt went home to change before his dinner with Pierce, donning dark jeans, a black button-up shirt with shiny white buttons he left open at the throat, and a leather jacket in chocolate brown. The Cactus Club Cafe on English Bay Beach wasn’t a high-end restaurant, but it was a place where most people dressed up to match what the chain called “casual fine dining.”
Matt did love a good oxymoron.
Pierce picked him up since he had to drive by Matt’s neighbourhood anyway to get to the Burrard Street Bridge that connected Kitsilano to downtown.
“You still have this thing?” Matt said as he put on his seatbelt in Pierce’s black BMW circa 2000.
“It’s okay, baby,” Pierce whispered, patting the dash. “He doesn’t mean it.”
“It’s twenty-two years old, LB.”
Pierce patted the dash again. “Age is just a number, baby.”
Amused, Matt snorted a laugh.
It only took ten minutes to get to the restaurant, and of course, it took another ten to find parking. By the time they walked in the door and Pierce gave the hostess his name for the reservation, they were more or less on time.
Since he was paying for dinner, Matt had let Pierce choose the location. He couldn’t fault Pierce’s choice. Every table had a view of English Bay through the wall of windows facing west. They were seated by a window, and outside, the setting sun cast shades of orange across the sky as it began to dip behind the mountains.
It was über romantic. Like, über romantic.
Pierce drank in the sight of the ocean, the mountains, the sunset, and Matt drank in the sight of Pierce while he wasn’t paying attention. He looked ethereal sitting in the glowing sunset with a half-smile on his lips that spoke of contentment. He wore a long-sleeved sweater in a shade of light brown that matched his eyes . . . And the watch Matt had gifted him for his birthday just a few months before they’d fallen apart.
There were a few more scratches on the watch’s surface than Matt remembered, and the leather band appeared well-worn, fraying in a couple of places. It wasn’t anything fancy or expensive, just something Matt had picked up on Granville Island that he’d thought Pierce would like. The watch face had been hand drawn with Roman numerals and a compass in varying shades of brown.
“Aw,” Pierce had gushed when he’d opened it. “Is this so I can always find my way back to you?”
Matt had sat on Pierce’s couch, ankle draped over one knee. “Actually, it reminded me of the compass you always bring hiking with us.”
“The one you make fun of me for?”
“The trails are clearly marked!”
“It can’t hurt to be prepared.”
That had usually been Matt’s line—plans were good. Mostly he’d teased Pierce about the compass because Pierce had been all adorably huffy about it.
The watch, though . . .
Its current state told Matt that it had seen a lot of use in the past couple of years.
That, combined with the little smile on Pierce’s face, tugged on Matt’s heartstrings. Setting aside the drinks menu, he said, “How was your day?”
“Huh?” Pierce turned his head toward him. “Oh, it was fine. Laundry and groceries and vacuuming and general cleanup. Can you please tell me how one teenage boy can be so messy? Why can’t he wipe his breadcrumbs off the damn counter?”
“He’s not a teenager anymore.”
“Great. So he’s technically an adult. All the more reason for him to pick up after himself.”
“Maybe if you don’t clean up after him, he’ll eventually do it himself.”
“Yeah, but then I have to live with the crumbs for days.” He made it sound like the end of the world.
Amy’s lived with her head in the clouds since she first picked up a book as a child, and being fluent in two languages means she’s read a lot of books! She first picked up a pen on a rainy day in fourth grade when her class had to stay inside for recess. Tales of treasure hunts with her classmates eventually morphed into love stories between men, and she’s been writing ever since. She writes evenings and weekends—or whenever she isn’t at her full-time day job saving the planet at Canada’s largest environmental non-profit.
An unapologetic introvert, Amy reads too much and socializes too little, with no regrets. She loves connecting with readers. Join her Facebook Group to stay up-to-date on upcoming releases and for access to early teasers, find her on Instagram, or sign up for her infrequent newsletter.
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