This is a solid MM hockey romance. It doesn't reach the stratospheric heights of my favorite series in the same genre, but had all the ingredients of an entertaining sports-world romance.

There were a few things that jostled me out of the book / made me enjoy it less: First, the set-up is great -- we see Zach's fall from glory as a young player in Montreal and I was really warming up to a slow-burn, learn to cope in Philly etc -- but right at the moment when I was anticipating this -- BOOM, we fastforward a few years -- missing out on what is often a delicious part of a romance plot -- the new guy/getting to know his new captain Nate/how he comes around to become part of this new team -- we skip over ALL of that. And I was left somewhat in disbelief that just because he was in a new place & had a bit of a wake up call, all his substance abuse and attitude problems just kinda disappear.... whaaaat?

There's also waaaay too much "dude' and "bro"-ing early on for my liking -- all this chat of 'tier one bros' ...urgh.

That said, I enjoyed the Nate - Zach relationship and their various weaknesses & strengths in their relationship and dealing with other team members. Zach's visit to Mike and both of the guys' mentoring of Gagnon were sweet spots in this story. Otherwise, it's a fairly routine, happy ending, hockey romance. Not my absolute favorite, but it kept me happily entertained, despite a few minor annoyances/plot foibles along the way.

Objectively speaking, Delay of Game was probably a 4 star read. The writing was great, the hockey seemed accurate (although I’m no expert so can’t know for sure) and the characters were fully-developed.

Personally, it was more of a 2 star rating. I just couldn’t connect with the characters.
The plot is pretty heavy on the sports side and light on the romance. The spice was sparse, and mostly fade to black. I skimmed quite a lot while reading because I’m not here for the hockey, and the romance just didn’t deliver like I was hoping.
Had I not received this as an ARC I probably would’ve DNFed.
Unfortunately it just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Delay of Game is a sweet, funny, awkward romance, and it’s the dorky awkwardness of the two main characters that sets this book apart from Game Misconduct, the previous novel in Ari Baran’s Penalty Box.

Nate and Zach are best friends and players on the same hockey team, the fictional Philadelphia Constitution. Readers of the previous book will remember Mike remarking on an energy between the two, as though there were something unacknowledged between the two forwards. This one is definitely a friends-to-lovers (or idiots-to-lovers lol) romance with “didn’t know we were dating but, whoops, we’ve been dating for, like, ever” vibes. You don’t need to have read the first book, but there are some (small) references you’ll miss.

In a lot of ways this is a very straightforward friends-to-lovers romance, but there’s so much depth to the characters and their interactions that Delay of Game sets itself apart. I absolutely adored both of these characters. Nate is Jewish, and that’s a strong part of his identity, just like being from Philly and raised by working class parents are integral to who Nate is. The author, Ari Baran, is also Jewish and from Philadelphia, and that gave authenticity to Nate. Zach, on the other hand, is Canadian, recently traded from a more prestigious team because his party boy lifestyle had been affecting his play. The friendship between Nate and Zach has gone a long way to Zach bouncing back from a low point and finding a home in Philadelphia, and Zach has helped shy, anxious Nate come into himself as team captain. A lot of the character development already happened offscreen, as the book takes place over a single season and this is a relationship that’s been developing for a couple of years now, but the arc of their new relationship, what that means to each of them, and how they’re both changed by the other, is lovely to watch.

At its heart, this is a book about a friendship. Often in friends-to-lovers romance, it’s not as obvious how necessary the friendship is to the characters, that they really would be willing to forgo the “lovers” part if it’s ultimately going to destroy the friendship. In a “show, don’t tell” way, the reader can see in the interactions between Nate and Zach and how they’re affected when they’re apart that the friendship is preeminent.

If it’s unclear, I definitely recommend this book (and Game Misconduct). In a genre that can often produce formulaic, cookie-cutter stories, Ari Baran’s novels are refreshing and multi-faceted gems.

(I received this book as an ARC for my honest opinion, but I also pre-ordered and paid for this book in June. Amazon's getting my money regardless.)

Thank you Carina Press for this eARC! I love a story of two people who are otherwise smart who are just absolute idiot about how they feel about one another. And that is exactly what this book delivered, just out of their mind stupid over one another in every kind of way. And as Philly person through and through, this really warmed my heart. Yes I do believe they would go out drinking in Fishtown and you better believe the poles need to be greased if our team wins it big! Just a really addictive fun read!

Nate and Zach got my attention in Game Misconduct because they were attached at the hip in a vaguely codependent mess. Turns out that was a 1000% accurate vibe for them. Zach gets traded to Nate's team after a series of very public shenanigans and ends up having to clean up his act.

They end up best friends who live out of each other's pocket. They're the type of friends that are a package deal as far as other people are concerned. "When are Nate-and-Zach getting here?" "Where is Zach-and-Nate with my stick tape?" "Are Nate-and-Zach macking on each other in literally every dark hallway?"

They gradually end up falling into something physical and are baffled whey they're not freaking out about it. This book cracked me up because they both figured out with dawning horror that it turns out they had been dating for YEARS. They didn't want to ruin their friendship by confessing to something like feelings so they kept these separate revelations to themselves until they couldn't anymore.

This book is a different vibe than Game Misconduct and I was thrilled to check in on Mike and Danny. They both look to be doing great. Mike is settled, less angry, and killing it.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

I didn't expect this to be as "dark" as it is. The respect this author has for mental illness is astounding and they have written it so very well. Each character was unique and I find that is something that lacks in a lot of sports romance.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. It took a bit for this to get going but when it did I immediately fell in love with both characters trying to figure out what was going to happen next. Thanks for the arc.

What stands out most to me is the genuine and relatability of living as an American Jew in Nate Singer. Baran really embraced many experiences of American Jews and I truly saw my family and life in Nate's childhood home and memories. This was a well paced book even with heavy topics we have to confront, such as Zach's substance abuse and Nate's anxiety and body dysmorphia.

I have mixed feeling about this book, and I guess the whole series since I also had mixed feeling about book 1. It’s not a bad book overall and I do actually enjoy the authors writing style. It’s just that certain things didn’t sit well with me. Singer is Jewish and at one point it’s made clear that he has a stereotypical Jewish nose. It’s not a big deal per se but for some reason it annoyed me. What I did appreciate is that Reed’s past issues, while a big part of his personality, were not what caused conflict in his and Singer’s relationship. I was worried that it would be super predictable, and in a lot of ways it was but that is to be expected in a hockey romo, but it wasn’t so predictable that I could guess everything that would happen. Also, just like in book 1, I was left really needing to know what the story is with Morin and Makela.

Unfortunately not one of my favorite hockey romances! I can suspend my disbelief a lot in sports romances, but they way things worked in this one were just too unrealistic (if you want to have a female player in the NHL, cool! But having her change in the same locker room as the guys would absolutely never happen lol.) Also I hate when there is one woman associated with the team and she is dating one of the players, because it reinforces the idea that women who are into sports are always also trying to hook up with the players. Outside of that, I did find some of the stuff around Nate's weight to be a little fatphobic because it was treated like he was disgusting. I get that that's how he felt about himself, but it still wasn't nice to read. Plus it is also outside of the realm of believability that an out of shape DnD nerd could've made the NHL - he would never have gotten drafted, even in a late round!
I could have overlooked a lot of that to at least have some fun with this, but the level of miscommunication trope drove me insane. Readers who like that trope might enjoy this book, but I found it truly torturous.