He’s a professional hockey player trying to survive on his new team. I’m just trying to survive. I’m down to my last dollar.I live day-to-day in a world that doesn’t care.Despite my bad luck, I’m a fighter.I never give up. I never stop trying.Ryan Parker’s wealth and generosity, sets him apart from anyone I know.Yet, I don’t trust him.It’s nothing personal. I trust no one.But when my bad luck … I trust no one.
But when my bad luck takes a turn for the worse, one person shows up.
Ryan Parker.
I do not understand why he bothered because the guy has enough of his own issues to deal with.
But I don’t have a choice.
I need him. It’s a matter of survival.
His friendship changed everything.
It changed me.
I started to believe in myself.
I allowed myself to trust.
And for the first time, in a long time, I felt my heart beat again.
In the game of love, winning is harder than it looks.
I don’t know the rules.
I don’t know how to win.
But I’ll play my heart out until the whistle blows.
Home Game: Who’s got your back when the puck drops?
Read all the Guilty Series Navy SEAL romances:
1. My Fiancé’s Brother: Book 1
2. My Fiancé’s Brother: Book 2
3. My Fake Fiancé: Book 3, standalone
4. My Donut Princess: free novella
Read all the Vancouver Wolves Hockey romances:
1. Puck Me Secretly
2. Home Game
3. Hook My Heart: free novella
more
5 stars for Home Game by Odette Stone. This is book 2 in The Vancouver Wolves Series. This is a standalone even though it is part of the series. This is a sports romance that is also a friends to lovers story. Ryan is a professional hockey player who was recently traded to a new team. He isn’t really wanted on this new team at first but he has to make it work. Ryan is known for being too generous and is a nice guy. Zoey is homeless and is struggling to get through each day. When these two meet in a coffee shop Zoey helps Ryan so then Ryan decides to help her. They develop a friendship that soon turns into more. They are both different so can they survive their differences. Ryan is an amazing book boyfriend.
This was a good read. I did like The Penalty Box better, but this was ok.
I liked Ryan. He was a nice guy, very generous, and concerned about Zoey. I liked Zoey’s character too. It did seem to me that Zoey at the beginning of the book morphed into a different Zoey toward the middle of the book.
Early Zoey was defensive, street smart, and had this edginess to her. Middle of the book Zoey seemed to me like she was more innocent, angelic, and helpless. I guess her character needed to change so she could become end of the book Zoey, but it didn’t seem genuine. I thought she could have kept the edginess, street smarts, and still shown her vulnerability.
I also didn’t get her reaction to either Bianca or Jansen. I fully expected her to put each of them firmly in their place. I’m not really sure what purpose the served. I kept waiting for the lightbulb moment when Ryan and Krista decided to make Zoey the PA.
After what happened with Bianca and Zoey’s stalker, I expected a different outcome. I had to stop myself because I realized I was rewriting the book in my head. Lol.
With the exception of Bianca and the stalker, all of the characters were likable. Even Jensen became likable. I did think the book went on too long. The whole Ryan and Zoey back and forth like they were in high school was a little over the top.
I did like Krista. I hope she gets her own book.
Ahh, I really enjoyed this book. I felt like the characters in this book were so well rounded that I could picture them in front of me. To me having well rounded characters who have fault and highs are so needed in books to keep my attention. I felt like the love story part of the book were slow building and you could see the signs of them falling in love with each other. I also loved how they had conflict throughout the book. This book kept my attention with the love story and other things that went down. I loved that it was more then just a love story.
I would read more books from this author for sure.
I enjoyed Ryan and Zoey’s story. Zoey has created a stone wall to protect her heart from the hard life she was forced to livre. Despite her situation, she pushes on. A chance meeting with Ryan and an opportunity to log receipts and Zoey finds herself in a situation she never anticipated. One where someone actually cared for her just because it was kind to do. I liked Ryan’s character as well. He was such a gentleman and very swoon-worthy. I enjoyed the story plot and drama. I am enjoying this series and looking forward to more. There is language, violence, haters, and sex.
Ryan and Zoey take you through a romance that makes your place your hand on your heart and sigh, fully content. This book, though amazing, has a slow burn, which isn’t my favorite but still a book completely worth reading. Amazing job Stone.
This is a super-cute romance featuring Zoey, a homeless former fosterkid, and Ryan, an NHL star. And one thing that’s fabulous about this read is that despite the story outline, it’s actually not a cinderella story.
The story starts with a fluke meeting between Zoey and Ryan where Zoey ends up helping Ryan out. Later, when Zoey is attacked and hospitalized, it’s Ryan’s turn to help Zoey. What starts as akward and apprehensive interactions between strangers in time evolves into a tentative friendship. And it’s a good long while before any romantic feelings enter the equation. It’s refreshing and real. I think it’s annoying as all heck with characters that starts to pant after each other with only one look. In Home Game the affection between Zoey and Ryan grows slowly. Zoey is skittish and cautious after living on the streets and Ryan keeps his distance as not to spook her. The portrayal of their budding relationship is simply terrific.
And it’s not only the lovestory that’s great, but there are several side-stories and great secondary characters. There’s a former foster-dad of Zoey’s who is stalking her. There’s a bitchy personal assisstant of Ryan’s who tries everything to get rid of Zoey. There’s a rival hockey player trying to compete for Zoey’s feelings. And of course, there’s plenty of sexual tension.
I got really caught up in this book. It surprised me in the best way. Of course, very few romance books are entirely cliché free, but Home Game managed to put a new spin on the good old rich-guy-meets-poor-girl trope. Sure, there’s an immense difference between Zoey’s and Ryan’s circumstances, and sure, the fact that Ryan has boatloads of money doesn’t hurt. But in the end this isn’t a story about a rich dude saving a poor, defenseless woman. Because Zoey saves herself. In more ways than one. I won’t deny that there’s some cave-manning going on at times, but that’s sort of a pre-requisite within the genre. Also, it’s hot. But the bottom line is that Zoey is a really strong and self-sufficient woman and that’s awesome. She doesn’t need Ryan. She chooses him. And that’s lovely.
The only thing that brought down this read was the completely unnecessary and improbable innocence of Zoey when it came to sex. Really, I understand the importance of creating a character that isn’t too hardened by her up-bringing and street-life. But in a few of the scenes she bordered on Victorian virgin territory. Quite superfluous.
Anyway. This might be the first book by Odette Stone that I’ve read, but it will certainly not be the last. I’m just contemplating whether I should get the first book in the series next, or if I should go for number three that features Ryan’s buddy Mica.
https://reflectionsofaswedishgirl.blog.se/
A shadowed path that is worth the trek.
Zoey, a homeless waitress, meets and helps Ryan, a player for the Vancouver Wolves, while at a coffee shop where he is having difficulty putting in receipts for his accountant. As the story progresses trust is slowly earned, secrets and difficulties keep piling up, and hard decisions lead to harder lives. Odette Stone’s Home Game leads the reader on a shadowed path that is worth the trek. Each step you take getting further into the lives of the player and his gal, the happy ending they didn’t realize they needed, and the realistic yet turbulent journey to get there.
This story has it all. Great plot, great problems, fantastic characters, good resolutions. Just a fantastic book. There were parts that reminded me of another book I read. The girl is homeless and doesn’t make it to the shelter on time. I can’t remember the book, so I thought I had done the thing where I realize halfway through that I’ve read it before. But, I hadn’t. Read it. It’s really good. I love those hockey players like crazy.
Wow! The opening scene of Home Game by Odette Stone tugged at my heartstrings and transported me to a cafe where I witnessed the first meeting of two intriguing and vulnerable characters. I became completely immersed in Ryan and Zoey’s stumbles and starts along a road leading them from wary loneliness toward mutual fulfilling friendship and maybe even love. I highly recommend this book and I will definitely be reading more by Odette Stone!
It had potential to be such a great story. There’s a lot of build up on the relationship and characters. Then 2/3 of the way through the characters changed and not for the better. The ending was a HEA but the way it ended Veered from the way the rest of the book was written.
I love hockey romance books and this did not disappoint. I loved Ryan and Zoey’s story I love how they met, how he took care of her, and how she grew. Great storyline and I love all the characters.
Ryan is an absolute sweetheart! Not your typical sports-romance but still a very enjoyable read
This book touched my heart. A young homeless woman is beaten severely and the only identification the hospital finds on her is a business card. The hospital calls the number and she is taken in by a professional hockey player who is new to the team and having trouble fitting in with his teammates. It’s just supposed to be until she heals, but they grow close and (as friends) she stays on and helps him make some friends on the team.
Ryan and Zoey he’s hockey royalty who’s just been traded to a new team. Zoeys is a homeless woman down on her luck. They meet in a coffee shop and she helps then he comes through for her and they become fast friends. And then there are sparks lots of them. Great follow up to Puck me secretly.
I did not expect a romance story like Home Game with characters like Ryan and Zoey. But I really enjoyed it. It was such a sweet, slow-burn romance with a beautiful story reminding us that people really are good. This is the second Odette Stone book I’ve read and I’m enjoying how different they are.
In Home Game, book two in her Vancouver Wolves Hockey series, Odette Stone brings another top-notch romance to the pages.
Ms. Stone takes on some heavy subject matter in Home Game while still managing not to diminish the romantic side of her work. The hero and heroine were deftly portrayed as two genuinely good people on the opposite ends of the good fortune spectrum. How this author brought them together and built their relationship was caring and showed considerable skill in creating a scenario where these destined characters could find love with each other.
Ryan is the type of hero it is hard not to fall for with his sexy exterior housing a huge heart. Zoey screamed out for love even as she bled it with every interaction she had, making her impossible to resist to both Ryan and readers alike. With just as many charming moments as there were serious, Ms. Stone kept her story moving with well timed dramatic flair. There is an all around depth to this author’s writing that easily displays all the feelings she is trying to convey. This work was well developed with a great cast of secondary characters that stood out without taking the spotlight away from the leads.
Odette Stone brings an abundance of talent to her readers in Home Game with the added promise of more great stories to follow!
*While part of a series this book can be read as a stand alone.*
Such a great book! A well written slow burn romance between NHL player Ryan Parker and Zoey, a strong, sassy woman that is , unfortunately, homeless. Ryan and Zoey meet at a coffee shop, she helps him out and later when she gets attacked he let’s her stay with him. They start out as friends but things change as attraction grows between them. Misunderstandings and communication issues keep things confusing for both of them. The author did a fabulous job writing this story with tons of emotion, drama, action, humor and tense steamy scenes.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
~Coming home~
When hockey star Ryan Parker, the most recent NHL trade to the Vancouver Wolves, finds himself wondrously rescued on his laptop with just a few strokes while doing taxes in a cafe, he did not know just how much his life was about to change.
An outcast on his own team, Ryan’s life becomes entangled with the prickly and independent enigma and scrap of a girl named Zoey. Soon, helping her was all he wanted to do, even though his body was clamoring for much more.
Zoey’s story will sweep you along, as will the heat which grows between these two unlikely paired outcasts.
Ryan is a professional hockey player trying to make it on his own. He is trying to work on his computer and is having problems. Zoey helps him and Ryan thanks her by offering her a ride. Zoey agrees to stay with him because she has no other place to go. Ryan is trying to make a good impression with his teammates. Zoey gets hurt and Ryan offers her a place to stay while she recovers. Ryan and Zoey become friends. In order to move the relationship to the next level Zoey needs to provide for her self. Zoey is hurt when Ryan tells her she needs to move. Will Zoey forgive Ryan and allow him back in her life?
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
My heart literally broke for Zoey in the beginning of this read. This author has the capacity and ability to make you sympathize and emphasize with the characters. Ryan had so much to learn about life and living, but fortunately he had Zoey to help him. The story was great and the characters were impressive. Excellent read!
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.