Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Waiting Game
SERIES: Relationship Goals
AUTHOR: Brigham Vaughn
NARRATOR: James Edward Jones
PUBLISHER: Two Peninsulas Press
LENGTH: 12 hours and 12 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 19, 2025
BLURB:
Note: This is the third book in this series and it does take place after events of the previous books with the same characters. As such there are major spoilers for the prior couples. It’s recommended to consume the series in order, but this can be read as a standalone. Missing will be the context of the rest of the team, events of the past that include Felix’s difficulties and his team’s reaction and support.
Jonah Brewer lost his parents when he was a small child. He moved to Toronto to live with his maternal grandparents who were immigrants from Korea. He had a good life with them and his neighborhood best friend Felix Hale. They were inseparable. Jonah had major abandonment issues due to his losses and so when they were kids, Felix promised that he would marry Jonah when they were 30 if they weren’t already settled. His promise was really to never leave Jonah because in Jonah’s world, everyone leaves him 😉
Fast forward 20+ years. They are both professional hockey players and Felix had been traded to Toronto the previous season so he and Jonah are now teammates again for the first time in years. But he went through a bad breakup with his GF Whitney and then he started drinking to numb the pain he was in – physically and psychologically and emotionally. He was arrested for driving drunk – luckily before he hurt anyone – and has now been through rehab. He’s doing well and is very much relying on his sponsor when he needs to. The team is doing ok and may even make the playoffs. They’ve lost one of their players to a non-hockey related health issue and Felix has had some aches and pains as well. He has played through pain when he probably shouldn’t have in the past and he’s also closing in rapidly on 30. He needs to get it together if the team is going to have a shot at the post season .
Jonah, his best friend is there to make sure he has what he needs. In fact he gets pretty protective of Felix, especially when players from otehr teams are pretty awful about Felix’s drinking. He’s not gonna tolerate that kind of stuff against his best friend. Even Jonah’s grandmother has been more of a mother than Felix’s own mother is there too, providing a safe place to land. Jonah is worried about Felix and all the pressure he’s under even though Felix is doing all the hard work of rehab, therapy, meetings and keeping in touch with his sponsor.
While Jonah lost his parents, Felix has never really had the support of his parents. They were never in favor of Felix pursuing Hockey as a career – but more of a hobby and not a “real job”. They want him to do something more “respectable” when he’s done with hockey. Jonah and his grandparents were always in Felix’s corner – coming to his games, cheering him on, thrilled he was back in Toronto, etc. They are spending a lot of time together which is great except for one little problem. Jonah has always been secretly in love with his straight best friend. No guy he’s every tried to date has been able to live up to that relationship. But Jonah knows how stupid it is to fall for Felix. Too bad it’s about 15 years too late on that one 😉
For his part, Felix is feeling a little unsteady. He’s been noticing Jonah a lot more lately. In ways he never did before. He comes up with the idea for them to get fake engaged to keep potential issues away during the post season. Jonah is shocked, but they figure it’ll be good publicity for the team, will keep away hangers on and also make Jonah’s grandmother happy that Jonah is settled since she tries to set him up at every turn. Ultimately, despite Jonah’s worry that he could end up with a very broken heart, he knows that he and Felix will always be friends, so he agrees.
Felix isn’t sure what he’s feeling, but he recognizes that it’s more than friendship. He’s confused though and talks to his sponsor since relationships in the first year of sobriety aren’t recommended. But this is a 20 year friendship, not a new relationship. Felix knows that he and Jonah will always been friends no matter what. Felix’s sponsor helps him see that maybe he’s been repressing his feelings for a long time because of the way he was raised. His parents weren’t outwardly homophobic, but it was clear that they would not be happy with a gay son. On the other hand, Jonah’s grandmother is thrilled which is exactly what they had hoped for.
When Jonah’s grandmother has a health crisis just at the beginning of the playoffs, things are looking more complicated than ever. And the pressure comes to a boiling point in Buffalo. Jonah lashes out and Felix attempts to be there for him, but it doesn’t go well. In fact Felix is feeling like everything is in doubt for him. Will Felix and Jonah be able to get things back on track? Is this going to be more than a broken engagement? Like broken hearts instead?
Oh my goodness! These two were so adorable. It took them a while to get out of their own way and finally recognize what was in front of them all along 🙂 I loved loved loved Jonah’s grandmother who was truly wise Felix’s sponsor was so helpful to him. Felix was doing the hard work here and it was good that everyone recognized that and did their best to support him and give him what he needed. His parents were not good. It’s too bad that some people have kids when truly they seem to want employees. It was good that both boys had Jonah’s grandparents when they were growing up or I’m not sure what would have happened to Felix. I also loved the Felix didn’t flip out about his attraction to Jonah. He was surprised more than anything, but not in a bad way. Having a lot of other out players on their team was truly helpful. It was great to see the rest of the team as well and have their support for both Felix’s recovery as well as the new relationship between him and Jonah. I love this series and I can’t wait for the next audio 🙂 I’m sure Matty’s story is going to be worth the wait.
If you haven’t picked up this series yet, I heartily recommend the audios. I didn’t read the books first, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the performance of Mr. Jones on these stories. His ability to convey so many emotional notes in this one – from Jonah’s fear and despair and Felix’s confusion and burgeoning attraction for his best friend – were all believable without being over the top. The rest of the hockey team and the front office folks were consistent with the other books. I particularly liked his accent for Jonah’s grandmother which was again true to her background and not a caricature. There are many heartfelt moments here between Jonah and Felix as they navigate this completely new dynamic between them and I though that this narrator did a super job of making the story come alive. Highly recommended.
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