Shots on Goal

Stick Side, Book 3

By: Amy Aislin

Narrated by: Adam Lawrence

Recently traded to the newly formed Vermont Trailblazers, professional hockey player Roman Kinsey needs to focus on helping the team win games and filling the stands, not on the blond, bespectacled part-timer who works at the library he volunteers at. He knows all too well that outing himself equals heartache and ridicule…or worse.

Cody Evans, psych major and grad school hopeful, notices everything and thinks too much. But he doesn’t know what to think when he sees Roman reading to kids. The rugged hockey player just doesn’t look like the type. But it stirs something in him, something he’s never felt before.

When the library is threatened with closure, Cody enlists Roman’s help. As they get to know each other better...much, much better...they realize that they have more in common than books. But Roman’s keeping a big part of himself from his team, and giving in to his feelings for Cody might be more than he’s willing to risk.

©2020 Amy Aislin (P)2023 Amy Aislin

Five Stars.

Adam Lawrence did a fantastic job with Cody and Roman. I will definitely be re-listening to this one.


I just love this series. When I read it it was 5 stars and listening to it brought back all the love I had for Roman and Cody again.

These two had such an amazing chemistry together while exploring Cody being demisexual (although it didn’t take over the story). They both had to overcome abandonment and trust issues due to family issues.

I adored how their relationship developed. Nothing more I could have asked for oh and throw in Hockey five stars.

A sweet hockey romance set in small town Vermont

It's the third book in the Stick Side series and Mitch's BFF, Cody, gets his shot at love. Roman Kinsey, the anti-social grumpy player from Tampa who we met in "The Nature of the Game", has moved to Burlington, VT, and just happens to find himself in Cody's small-town library. Both men are struggling with abandonment issues and they spend a good chunk of the book coming to grips with their pasts and learning to trust again. Since Cody is planning to become a librarian, it is no surprise that their small-town library is threatened -- giving them a cause to rally around. (The threat of closing the library to save money and lower taxes rang true to a fellow New Englander.)

I appreciate that Aislin includes a character on the asexual spectrum -- Cody is demi-sexual (as is Alex Dean in "On the Ice"). It's nice to find demi-representation in MM romances.

Adam Lawrence is very consistent in his delivery, which is appreciated within a series; his narrating of the first three books of the Stick Side series is another way in which the characters feel connected to one another.

Over the course of the series, I've grown to love the guys, and in this book, it's nice to see Roman transform from a grump to a nice guy. I recommend both the book and the series.

Loved!

I love this story and the narration brought it to life. Seeing Roman grow and raise above his past is uplifting to read.