Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Scoreless Game
SERIES: On the Board
AUTHOR: L.A. Witt & Anna Zabo
NARRATORS: Michael Ferraiuolo
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 19 hours and 11 minutes
RELEASE DATE: August 31, 2023
BLURB:
At nearly 31-years-old, Pittsburgh Griffins captain Elias Karlsson’s hockey years are numbered. Everything is changing around him, including his 11-year friendship with Nikolai Sidorov. Elias would give anything for Nisha to be a permanent part of his life, but their once bedrock-strong bond has broken into a million pieces, and Elias doesn’t know why. More than anything, Elias wants his friend back, but if that isn’t an option, maybe it’s time for him to look outside of hockey for someone to be there with him when hockey isn’t an option anymore.
Nisha’s world is splintering apart. He’s been in love with his two best friends for years, but now one of them has someone. The other, Elias, is searching for everything Nisha wishes he could give him, but he’s looking for it in anyone but Nisha. The farther his friends slip away, the deeper the loneliness sinks in, and the bleaker his empty future looks. What can he do but numb the pain in the only ways he knows how?
On the eve of the season opener, Nisha’s unexplained absence threatens the cohesion of the team, putting him and Elias on a collision course of strong wills, broken hearts, and shattered trust. In the end, they may lose the very thing that matters most to them both: each other.
Scoreless Game, the asexual-pansexual romance, is book two in the On the Board series.
CW: Struggles with alcoholism and binge-drinking, suicidal ideation, toxic family dynamics, and acephobia.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the second book in this series and contains major spoilers for the first book. Recommendation is to read in order in my opinion.
These authors love to put us through the wringer!
Nikolai and Elias have been best friends, teammates, neighbors for years. Nikolai is struggling though. In fact, Nisha is a right mess and he’s not dealing well with his situation. During the off season after winning the Stanley Cup, he’s descended into hookups and heavy drinking. As with the first book, there are real deep-seated reasons for many of the self-destructive ways he feels and acts. Add onto that the unrequited love he’s been nursing for not one, but two men and it’s a recipe for disaster.
His drinking is certainly out of control and after years of “managing” his life, he is no longer able to control his drinking enough to do his job. His judgment is also wavering and he does something that he recognizes will end up hurting his best friend and that combined with other changes in his life lead him down an out of control spiral. Elias is trying to be understanding. He’s trying to help Nisha get back to a place that he can do his job. When he gets to the point that he can no longer do that, Elias has no choice but to carry out the team’s decisions, despite want the best for his friend. Things come to a head and luckily Nisha’s friends do have his back and step in before the worst can happen.
Once Nisha faces his problems – after being forced to by the league and doctors and his friends – things begin to change. Nisha has to address all the things that have been driving his drinking. Despite the issues that he has with his friends because of his behaviors, he finds out that he has more support than he thought. From his perspective it’s certainly more than he deserves.
Meanwhile Elias is dealing with his own issues. He’s hurt in more than once way by Nisha and it’s going to take some time to get over that. But they’ve been best friends for a long long time and Elias can’t imagine life without his Nisha. Seems like these guys have loved each other for so long – and everyone else could see it but them. When they finally get to a point that they can be honest with each other, there are some unexpected revelations. They begin to work their way back and then it’s just forward.
Whew! This is a long book. As with the previous book, the authors do a good job in getting the reader into the headspaces of both men. It’s told from alternating POVs so we really understand where they are coming from. Their insecurities, their fears, their misunderstandings and miscues are all there for the viewing. My only niggle was that I would have though best friends would have been more honest with each other in all the years that they had prior to this crisis. But some people really do hide what has happened to them for fear of being thought of as a “victim” or being scared of the “stigma” that can be associates with abuse and mental health and addiction struggles. So I’m giving them a pass. This is really an emotional journey and there is a lot of forgiveness – both of each other and themselves – and communication and growth both individually and as a couple. There’s is not an easy journey!
All that being said, I loved that there was still a lot of banter and teasing with the team! The trip to Las Vegas was hilarious and fun and heartwarming and just fabulous 🙂 Elias and Nisha are committed to moving forward and having the team behind them makes their lives so much better. The support from teammates and from management and the whole organization gives Nisha the strength to finally stand up for himself and work through the heavy burdens that Nisha has been carrying. Family support is important as well and certainly found family steps up here as well.
Michael Ferraiuolo is an absolute workhorse on this audio! With all the accents, the heavy dialogue the emotional anguish – he really has to call upon all of his talents and experience here. 100% consistency in all of the many characters is hallmark of this performer and this book is no exception. The familiar cast is all present and accounted for! I absolutely loved the audio and highly recommend setting aside time to listen on this story. The emotions are all over the place here and this narrator is up to the task! Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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