Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Game Changer by Lana Ferguson.

There once was a girl named Delilah who had a crush on her brother's best friend Chase. This girl pined for years wanting to be with him. She had many daydreams and fantasies about him. Chase eventually moves to Canada to play hockey after a scandal in his hometown. Present day...Chase moves back, and his bad reputation has followed him. Delilah's baking TV show's viewership has gone down. Her PR team decides that having a hockey player on their show will boost their ratings. Chase who needs good press is pushed into baking with Delilah.

Delilah is head over heels and in love with grownup version of Chase. This is a friends to lovers with drama thrown in. I felt like it was kinda long, lots of language, dumb and dumber type humor, and if you want spice you will get it with this book. If it had been a clean Hallmark type book I would have loved it. I'm also not a huge fan of "stupid guy humor".

Always love a good fake dating rom com! The baker and the hockey player are adorable together and a nice balance of cute and spicy. Loved that we did not have the third act breakup and can’t wait to see what Lana Ferguson does next 🤩

Delilah Baker is the host on a local cable baking show. Her numbers are dwindling, and there are rumors that the show will be canceled. Ian Chase is returning to his home team and attended his ex-wife's wedding, which has caused a media frenzy. To fix their images, Ian will star on Delilah's show.

Neither know that the other has had a crush on their other since childhood!

This is a nice, spicy read, filled with drama. Perfect for fans of hockey, fake dating, forbidden romance, and brother's best friend troupes. I appreciated that the couple did not break up, as with other romance novels. They were able to work out their problems without separating.

The nickname Cupcake was really cringey.

Cute sports, friends to lovers rom com, but kind of predictable. More information or backstory on the family relationship of the male man character would have been a great character development.

Another spicy read from Lana Ferguson. This is is so full of drama, I was not expecting it at all. It was a good read, I would definitely recommend if you love hockey playing, muscly men who are giant anxiety ridden cinnamon rolls.

Lana Ferguson does it again with this flirty, steamy and fun sports romance! Deliliah has always had a crush on Ian, her brother’s best friend and hockey teammate. Fate aligns when the two are encouraged to fake date to generate positive publicity for Ian’s team as well as Deliliah’s baking television show. They have off the charts chemistry so of course fake dating leads to very real feelings. I loved the banter, humor, and the steam! Perfect for fans of hockey romance, fake dating, and brother’s best friend tropes.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC

3.5 stars. This was my first Lana Ferguson book. A spicy hockey, brothers best friend, childhood friends romance? Sign me up. I had a great time reading this. I loved the humor. And the spice, PHEW.

Although I enjoyed this, I found myself lacking investment in the main couple. I think I needed more reasons they wanted to be together. There was A LOT of emphasis on how long they’ve been friends and that Delilah had been obsessed with Ian since she was a girl. But they haven’t been in touch for 10 years so I needed to know what they loved about each other now. It was also a little odd how much she openly referred to her teenage obsession and how she was living out her fantasy. Really enjoyed it but it needed a little more behind the tension for a better spark for me personally.

Hockey romances are just the best. This one was fun and I liked the brothers bestie plus hockey angle. The mysterious back story involving his family was intriguing too, but I felt got resolved a little quickly. All in all he was a delight and the story was hot.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lana Ferguson and Berkley Publishing for a digital galley of The Game Changer in exchange for an honest review.

Lana Ferguson has quickly become one of my favorite spicy romance authors. I LOVED The Nanny & enjoyed The Fake Mate, so I am thrilled to be providing an early review of The Game Changer!

This one mixes a couple of different tropes – fake romance and forbidden romance.

Ian’s bad publicity is from a recent breakup is putting his hockey team in a bad light and they need help ASAP to clean up their image. Delilah, the little sister of Ian’s teammate and best friend has her own baking show, but numbers are dwindling & need improvement, QUICK! So, the scheme is hatched for Ian to appear on Delilah’s wholesome baking show to paint him in a better light, but also to get Delilah more viewers because – HELLO! Hot, pro hockey player!!

As we all know, this is not where their relationship will stop. Delilah has had a secret crush on Ian for YEARS and Ian is realizing that Delilah is not just his best friend’s little sister anymore.

Packed with all that sizzle we love from Lane, along with some of our fave tropes and a hockey romance, which is super on trend right now – this one is a definite winner!

4.5-Stars (rounded to 5) – I will absolutely recommend this one to my followers.

Lana Ferguson is my new unsung hero. A review mentioned that Lanas books were like if Tessa Bailey and Ali Hazelwood had a baby- and that’s about as accurate as it gets. She is a spicy mastermind that knows how to serve you a good plot too.

MMC, Ian, is a sweetheart hockey player that knows how to dirty talk. FMC, Delilah, is a spunky baker with her own cooking show, and knows how to push Ian’s buttons in the best way. I also have to give an extra mention for Delilah’s hilarious dumb ass older brother.

Delilah is hung up on her lifelong crush, Ian, who also happens to be her big brother’s best friend. The two are reconnected when Ian returns home to play hockey after years away due to some unsightly drama. Tension builds when Ian makes a guest appearance on Delilah’s cooking show resulting in some speculating PR rumors. Ian quickly realized just how grown up his best friend’s kid sister has become, while Delilah chases her wildest teenage fantasy’s.

My only negative- the nickname cupcake makes me cringe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced copy of this book.

The Game Changer follows Delilah and Ian as they navigate a PR relationship. Delilah needs help increasing her viewers on her network baking show. Ian needs help to clear the negative press surrounding him after a breakup. What better way than pretending to be in a relationship with a childhood friend? As the two pretend to be in a relationship, old feelings resurface and new ones come to light.

Overall, The Game Changer was an okay book. It was an easy read, a bit formulaic at times, but you know what you're getting as soon as you start reading. Delilah and Ian's relationship developed well enough. However, the twist in the book was a bit predictable and it didn't feel like there was any large major conflict driving the second half of the story. I also didn't enjoy how they kept referencing how "grown up" Delilah was. However, the book was entertaining enough that I kept reading. The romance aspects of the novel were done very well, it just didn't feel like there was much character development in the main characters.

Another highly enjoyable title by Lana Ferguson. Hockey player Ian seeking to rehab a sullied reputation teams up with his friend's little sister Delilah, who is seeking to boost viewership of her local cooking show. Due to a slight age gap, Ian's never considered her a romantic partner, but Delilah's had a crush on him since her teen years. When they reconnect as adults, their relationship quickly heats up.

I would say this book is pretty spicy, but I'm not into some of the things they do in the spicy scenes. This is probably what lowered my rating of the book the most. That's just my preferences, this kind of spice could be exactly what the next reader is looking for.

The thing I like best about this book is the way the climax is handled. A lot of romances tend to break up the main couple, due to a variety of circumstances (usually quite preventable). While there is a huge emotional event, our two MCs get each other through it and do not break up to heighten the drama. It was honestly quite refreshing to see a couple go through something together instead of instantly splitting.

I would be comfortable recommending this to anyone looking for a romance novel.

5 stars!!! I am loving Lana Ferguson, and “The Game Changer” has me dying for her next book. Delilah is a baker with a show on the local Boston cable network and is sunshine personified. Ian is a grumpy cinnamon roll hockey player who is just moving back to town after leaving under mysterious circumstances. Ian is Delilah’s older brother’s best friend and both need a boost in the PR department. So what else can they do but fake date! One little catch - Delilah has always had a massive crush on Ian and it has not gone away over the years. And Ian finally stops seeing Lila as just his best friend’s kid sister. Both try to deny their attraction, but their chemistry, history, and hilarious banter get the best of them.

I was grinning this entire books - from the hilarious flirting, great secondary characters, off the charts chemistry, and from the sweet tender moments between Ian and Delilah.

The pacing of this was great, and I could not put it down. I love that this book did not have a third act breakup. This is something I am always happy to see in rom-coms. The secondary characters were hilarious and the external drama and resolution fit the story and characters.

I can’t wait to see what Lana Ferguson writes next!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC.

Lana Ferguson continues to be successful in her spicy romance endeavors. Friends-to-lovers isn't my favorite trope, but Ferguson does it well. I might have raised my eyebrows at mixing a hockey romance with a professional baker, but again, Ferguson pulled it off. The final conflict was a little silly (and you see it coming a mile away) but didn't detract from the book. I think folks will enjoy this when it comes out later this year!

I am going to preface this review by saying that I have decided to DNF this book given the surrounding claims of the author and her problematic AO3 fanfic and also the man she decided to replicate Ian after after his wife duly noted how disgusting she truly found it.

With that being said, I will give a review on what I have read, which was about 32% worth.

(And no, I felt this way before I found out the information regarding the aforementioned claims)

Thank you netgalley for this arc.

Truthfully, I didn't feel it. The connection or the drive for them to be together. It felt ICKY. That is the only word I can use to describe it. Ian kept calling Dee little, his best friends LITTLE sister, and idk, to then backtrack and be like wow she's got big tits is just weird. I did not like the way that Ferguson approached the brothers best friend/best friends sister at all. It felt beyond forced.

The writing took a plunge. It felt like it was too aware of itself for its own good. Like yes, it's a book and yes, we know it's fake, but it felt like I could see through the screen and see Ferguson writing it, and I hate that feeling. I felt entirely disconnected from their relationship and their situation. I simply couldn't care less and won't pretend like I do. I might finish reading it, just so I can KNOW and just because it's free, but right now, I'm really feeling icked out with all of the information that I have learned from the author and the person himself.

I’ve read each of Ferguson’s romances and really love each one’s build up. The intrigue, the angst, the passion — it’s all SO fun and this one did not disappoint. I’m a sucker for hockey romances these days and I love the unrequited love trope so each page felt like a little piece of candy. The only thing I would’ve loved was more steam! The Fake Mate and The Nanny both had such burning scenes and I missed more of that with this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Berkeley for this ARC!

The Game Changer was such an enjoyable read for me and had everything I’ve come to expect from Lana Ferguson: lovable characters, great banter, plenty of chemistry and just enough spice. you can expect: brother’s best friend trope, fake dating, age gap, friends to lovers and no third act break up as well !!

we follow Delilah and Ian who’ve known each other for years through Jack— (Delilah’s brother and Ian’s best friend/teammate). i can’t emphasize enough how much i appreciated that Jack wasn’t the obnoxious jerk type with the BBF trope and he was actually one of my favorite characters since he’s hilarious. Ian has that rugged exterior but is actually a teddy bear inside and i adored him. Delilah is easy to root for cause she’s sweet and supportive, while also being so witty. the connection between Ian and Delilah felt authentic and believable considering she’s been pining after him since she was a teen and he finally opened his eyes to her years later.

as much as i loved Delilah and Ian together, i have to admit that the pet names were not doing it for me. i also didn’t like how much focus was put on Delilah being “so grown up now” from the last time Ian saw her. i get that he’s older than she is but she’s almost thirty and still got coddled too much at the start for my liking. but other than that this was a really fun read and there’s a ton of great side characters as well in Delilah’s crew on her baking show and Ian’s hockey teammates.

THE GAME CHANGER is an extremely fun hockey romance between Delilah, the baking show darling, and Ian, her brother’s best friend, who also happens to be her secret childhood crush. After a divorce and media scandal, Ian transferred to play in Canada, and Delilah studied in France and snagged her own cooking show. He comes back into town right around when her ratings are dropping, and in an effort to boost them, her brother suggests she bring a hockey player on the show. As soon as they are reunited, sparks fly, and the chemistry between them is as delicious as the treats Delilah cooks up in the kitchen.

Thank you to Netgalley, Berkley Romance, and Lana Ferguson for this eARC. This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I can't believe that the book with knotting and a woman going into heat got five stars while this was my biggest letdown of the year so far.

It started off well enough. Hockey player (nepo baby, weirdly enough) with checkered romantic past returns home at great risk to his reputation, tv baker needs a hook to increase the ratings and save her show. It's a shame neither part of those stakes were utilized. I can appreciate that there was no third act break up, but the conflict was only focused on Ian's situation (Lila's was thrown aside very fast with little consequence), and his problems were very much ... well, I didn't care. And the way he behaved in the last several years, rolling over so easily and letting his life be dictated by something that didn't even involve him to the extent he believed, it made me lose some respect for an otherwise great character.

As for the romance, this needed to be a slow burn and it wasn't. They get together far too early after too many moments of "I see you" introflection and too little moments of actually building up to something with their chemistry and history. Sadly, it made the rest of the book very boring. The five year age gap is fine now that they're adults, but it often felt incredibly uncomfy to me when they kept reminiscing about their childhood (like her being 13 him 18) and then having sex while he constantly spanks her and calls her brat or kid.

I'm very much looking forward to Ferguson's Loch Ness monster romance, and comparing this with Fake Mate, it's clear only her paranormal romances are interesting to me. Do with that what you will. Thank you to Berkely for the ARC.

Good enough to finish, but not enough to truly love. A spark was missing, even though I loved the tropes (childhood friends to lovers, fake dating) and premise.

I appreciated how the third act was handled though!