Layton wants success, Adler wants family, how can love make both these things possible?Layton Foxx works hard for what he has. The condo, the career, the chance to make his mark, is all down to the sacrifices he has made. With tragedy in his past, he doesn’t want or need love. Then he meets Adler Lockhart, the extroverted, sexy winger for the Harrisburg Railers and abruptly he can’t avoid love … abruptly he can’t avoid love even if he wanted to.
Adler Lockhart has had everything handed to him his whole life. Cars, villas, cash, college tuition at the finest Ivy League schools. The only things he doesn’t have are parents who care or the love of a good man. Then Layton walks into his privileged life and shows him what real love can be like.
Word Count: 55,700
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So many feels on so many levels in this book. A roller coaster ride to be sure. There are a few characters I want to smack- hard, and a few I want to hug tightly and tell them it’ll all be fine and that I just want to adopt. To be brave in a world where evil/ hatred lurks takes courage and friends and family that have your back.
Adler and Layton are amazing together. Two totally different backgrounds yet they both have to live with things that hurt them deeply. Adler has his best bud/ assistant Apollo that he grew up with and shared Apollo’s parents.
Layton has his big, loud, in-your-face, in-your-business-whether -you want-us -to-or -not family.
To find someone to love and share your deepest and darkest secrets with as well as your life can sometimes seem impossible to do. I cannot say enough about how much I loved this story. So I will stop. Need some secrets to be, well, secret for you all to find out for yourself…right?
Let me end with this..I too love chocolate covered raisins 😉
I’ve read the reviews and some say this book was too slow and honestly if you are looking for a super steamy book, this isn’t it. However I did feel an emotional connection to both characters and both Adler and Layton had messed pasts in their own way and had to overcome the hurdles to get to a happily for now. For being a shorter book, I thought it was well planned and laid out. I’m excited for the secondary characters to get their own stories and will surely cross over to other series to read about Apollo.
KU. I feel like the word “fluff” has a negative connotation and I don’t mean it that way. What I’m loving about this series is that there’s a lot of fun & laughs. Yes, there’s serious and background and some angst, but these are not dark depressing reads. It’s a lot of sports, a lot of new couple ups & downs, and just a generally enjoyable story.
Adler was downright adorkable. Lawton took a bit to figure him out, but when he did it was a treat to watch them interact.
I’ll be honest, a single team with the number of gay players this one will end up having stretches the boundaries of plausibility ~ but besides that I’m looking forward to reading these.
I’ve been on this murder-and-hockey kick since my daughter’s season ended. (They came in second in their league. Which isn’t bad considering their start.) Maybe I should describe it more like a murder-or-hockey kick, but I’ve found it difficult to be satisfied by a book that didn’t contain one or the other. I think it’s going to be a long off season.
Anyway, First Season made me nervous at first. Adler was emphatically not my favorite character in Changing Lines, and having a book where he was one of the main characters was going to be a challenge. Scott and Locey took this character who I was pretty much predisposed to hate and turned him into someone I love, some I want to sit down at my kitchen table and feed.
Both Layton and Adler are damaged individuals, although their trauma is different and they handle it in different ways. I’m reluctant to get too detailed about Layton’s because it’s a major plot point. Suffice it to say that it takes a lot of determination and a spine of solid steel to do the kind of work he does under the circumstances.
As for Adler, while the “poor little rich kid” stereotype is kind of stale, in his case it’s absolutely heartbreaking. He also tends to babble when he’s uncomfortable, which reminds me a lot of myself. He’s incredibly awkward, and he can be incredibly clueless in social interactions. Again, kind of like me. Did I mention I kind of wanted to “mom” him until he cried uncle? At the beginning of the story, I wanted them kept apart as far as I could. By the end, I was cheering for their happy ending.
And finally, there’s Stan. He was probably my favorite part of Changing Lines, and he’s still there capturing the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere. Or maybe it’s just me. I know this is a series, and the series has moved on, and he will eventually find love and learn English and all that. I almost don’t want him to. I love his attempts at communicating. At the same time, I want only good things for Stan, who makes me smile every time I see him on the page.
In terms of this book’s place within the series, it does stand alone. There is some lingering drama from the first book, but it’s not the main point of the book. It circles Layton and Adler, but it’s not their focus and someone new to the series would have no problem figuring out what’s going on if they picked the book up here.
So, tl;dr? Buy the book. Read it. Pretend it’s still hockey season and love is real.
Layton Foxx is called in for damage control with the whole Mads & Ten situation. His first run in with the team is with Adler, whose foot in mouth issue make for a great first impression. As he begins to learn the ins and outs of the team and figure everyone out, Adler is the one that he is a bit concerned with… that is until Adler tells him his secret. Now Layton is just worried about how impulsive Adler is, the last thing Layton needs with everything else that is seeming to pop up. When Adler starts to show Layton his interest, Layton has no clue if this is genuine or just another impulsive venture for Adler.
This truly broke my heart a few times. Both have issues and are a bit broken and watching them work through that a bit was truly beautiful. This was a good read that kept me in its grips until I was finished. My only complaint is that this was more of a HFN ending… lol I wanted more for them. I give this 4.5 stars.
4.5 stars
Getting to know Adler and Layton was so much different than I expected after briefly encountering them in book one of this series. Layton is definitely not the have everything together man and Adler is not so much the confident but a little bit jerky man that we meet in Ten and Mads’ book. It was nice to really delve into both of these characters and see their walls come down throughout this story. There is a lot of character development and growth between these two from the beginning to the end. There is a little bit of a push and pull between Adler and Layton at the beginning but then it turns into them working together and really getting to know one another. Once Layton really started giving Adler the time of day, the two of them were just sweet.
I love how impulsive and goofy Adler was. At one point they compare him to a dog and that comparison fits perfectly. He was SO sweet to Layton and I loved every second of it. Layton was so vulnerable and Adler understands him so well that it makes them being together perfect for me. It is clear that the books in this series are going to be very connected, we saw that in this book where we get a good little bit of Ten and Mads and I loved that.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn’t a requirement. **
I adored Adler in this book. He could have been an arrogant jerk, but instead he just doesn’t have a filter when he gets nervous/excited and everything comes pouring out. This turns out to be just what Layton needs if Layton can dial it back just a bit and not push Layton too hard. The authors are doing such a wonderful job with the characters in this series. We understand all of them and why they behave the way they do and really care that they get their HEA. As in book one, the hockey is there but doesn’t overpower the characters and I highly recommend this book and series even if you aren’t a hockey/sports fan.
My heart hurt for these to boys. We really get to know Adler here and see so much depth from him. The way he is with Layton was beautiful. So many emotions here. You will cry. And don’t even get me started on Adler’s so called parents. Both these boys learn so much from each other. A truly beautiful read and my favorite of the whole series.
First off I did NOT like Adler in the first story!! But after I learned his back story, I quickly changed my mind. This story was definitely better than the first. I loved Layton. I wanted to hug him. Both men are damaged in some way but come out stronger together. I really liked this story sooo much!! Loved their connection! I’m voluntarily leaving a review form an advanced copy that I received.
Well I think I like this one even more than Ten & Mads, and it is all due to Adler!! Adler, wow such a great character. I literally laughed and cried for him. He was just so Adler!! He was lighthearted, but had such a big heart and just did not know how to show others how big it was. Then, Layton comes along and completely shatters his perceptions and he was able to completely fall for the broken man an help him trust again just by being himself. It was so wonderful to read about Layton and to really feel how broken he was, but that he was also so very strong. He was a wonderful character as well. I loved his interactions with all the teammates and just thought he was the addition to the team’s admin staff that they never knew thy needed. I loved how Ten & Mads were still so present in this one, as I was sad that their story ended so quickly. This one left me feeling the same way, as I definitely wanted me some more Adler and Layton. Also, I loved how Layton’s past trauma was not just swept under the rug and there was real struggle for him to be able to get through it and be able to start to be intimate with Adler. Definitely recommend this book!!
ARC received and this is my voluntary honest review.
Layton is a crisis manager hired by the Harrisburg Railers to oversee the public coming out of hockey star Ten and his boyfriend/coach Mads (who’s story we got in book 1).
Adler is a hockey player and recent transfer to the Railers. I really liked him. He was endearing, clueless and funny without trying to be.
Layton and Adler have a pretty rocky beginning… they both quickly found places in my heart for different reasons. Layton for his bravery and his wariness, and Adler for his compassion, vulnerability and his sense of humour.
As with the first book, I again became lost with the technical side of any actual hockey games but managed to follow gist of what was going on and go with it
I smiled so much through this book. There was so much emotion throughout the whole story.
We saw the best of people and the worst of people. Layton and Ad’s story is happy, funny and sweet but also has them dealing with adversity, bigotry and hatred.
I loved this book. Highly recommend!
Layton and Adler’s story was very emotional. I really am enjoying this series.
After being hired to help media relations for the team Layton gets more than he bargained for when he catches the eye of Adler, another player on the team. What starts out as simple insults and jabs turns into passion and excitement. But can the team accept another gay player? Or will the job be more important to Layton than love? I simply adore these characters. Big tough hockey players that wear their hearts on their sleeves. Diving into the next in the series ASAP!!
Good, but not great. I listened to the audio book, and the narration was fantastic. But the story wasn’t gripping. The character actions didn’t make total sense. The characters stayed too caught up in past events. And the epilogue added nothing to the story. Is it worth reading? Yes. Will you be in love with the story? Probably not.