Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  The Husband Game

SERIES:   Relationship Goals

AUTHOR:  Brigham Vaughn

NARRATOR:  James Edward Jones

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  12 hours and 39 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  March 11 2025

BLURB:

Hockey Captain Wed in Secret Vegas Ceremony – Partner’s Identity Remains a Mystery

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Or does it?

Toronto Fisher Cats ice hockey captain Dustin Fowler attended the NHL awards and came home with more than the Ted Lindsay Award.

A cryptic social media post from the hockey forward himself revealed that he was wed in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas this past weekend.

His caption stating, “Sorry, ladies, Toronto’s most eligible bachelor just went off the market. I married my kitten tonight and I’ve never been happier,” sent tongues wagging across the league.

But who is “Kitten”?

Without verification from either the team’s head office or the new groom, rumors swirl about exactly who Fowler’s partner is.

A credible source from within the organization suggests that “Kitten” is none other than retired men’s figure skating champion Charlie Monaghan.

We here at JockGossip would like to offer our warmest congratulations to the newlyweds.

TRIGGER WARNING: Contains scenes and frank discussions of eating disorders (anorexia) and past parental abuse/neglect.

REVIEW:

Dustin, a professional hockey player and captain of his Toronto team and Charlie, a retired Olympic figure skater are in Las Vegas for an awards weekend.  They end up getting drunk married after flirting outrageously at the engagement of teammate.  Oopsie!  The kicker is that they also drunk posted it on social media.  By the time they wake up hungover after a night of very enthusiastic sexual escapades, the story has gone viral.  The message is cryptic so it’s not clear exactly WHO Dustin has married, but since it’s a legal marriage and it’s public record, it’s not like they can hide it.  And being two such high profile athletes, well yeah.  They now have to spin this.

Dustin wants to stay married – he really cares for Charlie.  Their chemistry is off the charts.  Charlie on the other hand is not at ALL happy about the situation.  He wants out.  But Dustin really can’t afford any kind of scandal while he’s trying really hard to get a Code of Conduct policy passed in the league.  This would be disastrous and would give the opening for the other side to put him in the crosshairs as someone who can’t even run his own life, much less try to police others.

Dustin’s agent comes up with a plan for them to stay married for a year and then quietly divorce.  They will of course compensate Charlie for his time and effort.  Charlie has some debt he needs to pay off and a job he loves – that hopefully will allow him to transfer to Toronto to live with Charlie, thus uprooting his life.  Everybody agrees and they head off to Toronto.

Dustin has a certain lifestyle there with his teammates.  He’s the captain and there is another level of expectation for his accessibility which Charlie finds out their first morning Dustin apologizes and they know they are going to have to work out some new boundaries.  Oh, and Charlie doesn’t want to complicate things with sex.  Whomp whomp.  This is not something Dustin expects, but he knows Charlie has made a lot more compromises so he is willing to do what it takes to make Charlie comfortable.  I think you can see where this is going    Dustin and Charlie are going to have to negotiate a LOT of things during their year together.  And they are going to have to sell this marriage as real to everyone else.  A tall order!

What Charlie certainly doesn’t count on is falling in love with his husband

Oh man, I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  The story is compelling – two athletes get drunk married and share on SM so they can’t just “sweep it under the rug” and the aftermath of their decision to ride it out.  Layered into the context of this little surprise is a recent situation of a very bad actor in professional hockey who has finally been caught and stopped but not without some very bad publicity to the league.  Dustin has been instrumental in trying to get the Code of Conduct passed by the league that will help identify and hold responsible the players who have been getting away with some pretty horrific behavior without consequences.  If he’s seen to be a bad actor himself, this will not help the cause and it might also set back the progress that’s been made for all of the out players too.  Dustin and Charlie are not just being held to a higher standard, they have to do all this while negotiating their own very new relationship and Charlie’s disordered eating which he hasn’t ben honest about.

Dustin is 1 in a million.  He doesn’t push Charlie and he really cares for Charlie.  He wants a real marriage way before Charlie even considers what this relationship might really be.  This is understandable given Charlie’s life before he quit skating and his relapse.  He doesn’t trust Dustin initially and he’s not sure he trusts himself to be able to handle this new life away from his support system in Chicago.  Luckily for Charlie, he was wrong on all accounts

Dustin’s teammates are great to Charlie.  The wives, partners. girlfriends, SOs are also warm and supportive to Charlie.  They chirp some of course (I mean come on – they ARE hockey players) but it’s all in good natured fun.  Charlie doesn’t neglect himself and his therapy, but it takes him some time to show Charlie his less than perfect self.  He’s also a huge help to Dustin who gets in his own head about being perfect too.  This is one of the themes of this story that I think many will relate to – that need to be perfect and hold ourselves accountable for things that we shouldn’t have to, including the actions of others.  A lot of us have grown up with this expectation from parents and we internalize this to where it can certainly become crippling and debilitating.  Both men hold themselves at some point to an unattainable standard and they sort of each talk the other down from the proverbial ledge.

The full cast of characters in this story were really well-written – from Charlie and Dustin to all their friends, family, colleagues and even the press figures and journalists who are part of the story.  Both MCs are adults and have had lives and experiences that have shaped their personalities and outlooks on life.  I loved that Charlie was so comfortable in his own skin and that Dustin supported him 100% in being his best and beautiful self and doing what he wants to with his life.  His defense of Charlie and their marriage was so so so lovely!  If only everyone had a spouse who was their biggest cheerleader and fan and supporter.  Charlie had been through a lot before his marriage to Dustin and he has grown so much in his ability to see his triggers and communicate what he needs and also to stand up for himself.  This takes a lot to do – especially to cut toxic people out of his life.

The audio recording of this book is absolutely fabulous!  I don’t think I’ve listened to this narrator at all before this story.  Mr. Jones did a terrific job with this book.  It’s a long audiobook, but honestly I felt like it just FLEW by.  The voice choices for Dustin and Charlie were perfect.  I also loved how well he performed the various accents of Dustin’s teammates.  Anyone who follow hockey knows that players come from many countries and it was great to see that represented in this story.  There were funny as well as poignant as well as fierce and tender moments in this tale and I felt like every emotional note was spot on – whether it was Charlie choking up and not being able to eat or Dustin’s feelings of failure in not foreseeing someone else’s depression and subsequent substance abuse issues.  There are a lot of characters (both male and female) and a lot of ups and downs in this story and I really appreciated that this performance was nuanced in a way that made all of the emotional dynamics believable.  Well done!  Highly recommended!

RATING: 

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