Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Ultimate Goal
SERIES: Brooklyn Blades
AUTHOR: Felice Stevens
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Good Man Press
LENGTH: 7 hours and 53 minutes
RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2026
BLURB:
Rip
In the fifteen years I’ve played for the Brooklyn Blades, I’ve won all the awards except the most important one. The Stanley Cup.
But my annoying ex-boyfriend is the team’s goalie, and the paparazzi is loving it. What’s worse is, my absentee father decides to make an appearance and won’t leave me alone.
I’m ignoring it all. My ultimate goal is to win the Cup.
Then my best friend’s younger brother, Adrian, shows up to interview me for the sports segment of the evening news. He’s nervous and unsure, so I have to help him. We grew up together, but I barely noticed him then.
I’m definitely noticing him now.
Adrian
Our sports reporter is injured, so I have to cover the hockey game when my ultimate goal is to be a hard news reporter. Not only am I camera shy, but I know nothing about sports. Sure, I know Rip Tremaine—I’ve had a crush on him for years. Not that he’s ever noticed me.
Maybe I can fake it.
Nope, I can’t.
But Rip saves my interview, and now the station wants me to follow the team. With my job on the line, Rip comes up with a plan: Get my own sports show to prove I can be on camera. I’ll pretend to be his boyfriend, and no one will know, not even my brother.
I’ll have unlimited access to the team.
And Rip.
We can do this. We’re professionals. He’s teaching me all about hockey…and kissing. And I’m helping him navigate his father’s betrayal.
Except neither one of us is pretending anymore. And our ultimate goal now is to win it all: the Cup, my job, and love.
REVIEW:
Rip is the star center of the Brooklyn Blades. They are in the hunt for the cup and Rip is tired of dealing with his annoying cheating ex of a boyfriend who happens to be their star goalie. So no avoiding him 🙁 When a young guy shows up at a gam to get some quotes, he figures out it’s actually Adrian, his best friend’s younger brother. They haven’t seen each other in years. But he’s definitely grown up 😉
Rip invites Adrian to go to dinner with him and the team after the game but Adrian is sure it’s just a pity thing. But Rip insists. He meets the ex, has too much to drink and goes home with Rip. But Rip is determined to not do anything with his best friend’s younger brother, despite the attraction Adrian, for his part has had a crush on Rip since he was a kid.
Adrian’s had some career issues and is interning at a station despite being 28 and having experience. He really wants to do hard news, but his self esteem has taken some hits. The station seems to think that he should leverage his friendship – if that’s what it is – with Rip to get access to more scoops. Adrian is mortified. But Rip seems like this might actually be something he’s fine with. He wants Adrian to succeed and he’s tired of watching him be down on himself. So they agree to a fake boyfriends scenario. This should hopefully help Adrian at work and get Denis, the cheating ex, off of Rip’s back too.
Well you can see how this is going to go 😉 The station is thrilled. Adrian is confused. Neal, Adrian’s brother and Rip’s best friend, is furious (without a real reason). Rip needs to concentrate on hockey and he’s happy to help Adrian with his new work ventures. He’s got contacts and he will use them. He’s also got to deal with the man who was the father who ran out of him and his mom who died when he was a kid. Rip was taken in by Neal and Adrian’s family and it all gets a bit complicated. Except for their feelings – those get less complicated as the season goes on 😉
What an awesome start to a new series from Ms. Stevens 🙂 Hockey is certainly having a moment and I really like that this series features an out gay player – and captain – of a professional team. And yeah, I know we CLEARLY have a long way to go. But given the dumpster fire the world is right now, these kinds of stories keep giving us hope that someday, this world might actually be the world we live in. I felt sooo much for Rip. So full of abandonment issues. I wanted to throat punch Denis, the cheating a*hole of an ex boyfriend. (I’m really trying to figure out how he’s going to redeem himself in the next book 😉 ) I loved Adrian. Here he is living out his deepest desire – being with Rip – but feeling like he doesn’t deserve it. I also wanted to slap his brother Neal about 10 times in this book. Maybe because my mother’s brother married one of her sorority sisters – so clearly they were friends first – I don’t get this weird deal with Neal thinking his best friend isn’t good enough for his brother or making that crack about relationships. Neal really needed to get it together. Thankfully, he does finally listen to them. This book has just the right amount of drama, but not the angsty kind. I really liked how all the secondary characters were written. I have no idea how Television works, but I don’t think it would be my cup of tea if the manufactured drama by the GM is anything true to life 😉 Good for Adrian getting to the point where he stuck up for himself. He gains so much confidence in his abilities by being with Rip who sees more to him than the shy, inexperienced kid he once was. Conversely Adrian loving Rip unconditionally allows him to put down the burden of his fear of always being left because he was somehow lacking. They made a great team 🙂 Loved seeing Dev and Brody from the Brooklyn Kings in this one and Ezra 🙂 The series crossovers/easter eggs are *chef’s kiss* in all these books. Can’t wait for the next book. And can we just acknowledge this great cover?
Kale Williams is a consummate professional. His ability to make us feel the raw emotions of these men as they navigate their fake romance to true love – all while negotiating family and work drama – is unparalleled. His work here is another home run (sorry, wrong sport, but you know what I mean;) ). I loved his French accent, his NY dialects, his emotional pitch of every scene. Bravo to this author and Narrator pair who brings us such compelling and beautiful stories with guaranteed happily ever afters.
RATING: 
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