The Golden goal

This was my first book I have been able to read by Annah and can’t wait to read more of her books/continue with The More Than a Game series.
The Golden Goal is a cozy, cutesy closed door professional hockey romance. I listened to this story in a day and enjoyed the banter and chemistry between the two main characters Sutton and Shaw.

Read if you love:
Twin Brothers best friend
Childhood Rivals to Lovers
Dual POV
He Falls First (and did our boy SHAW FALL HARD)
Forced Proximity
Sports Romance
Workplace Romance
He takes care of her when she’s sick 🥹

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the arc!

Thank you Netgalley and dreamscape media for the free ALC.my opinions are being left voluntarily.i r3ally loved this hockey romance. It was always you childhood crush grumpy sunshine and brothers best friend somehow the top tier tropes!!!

Will be recommending this to my closed romance friends.

5/5☆

Am I... A hockey romance fan?? After this one, maybe get the hype.

This kept me grinning from ear to ear, got me all giddy, and even gave me goosebumps. The dual POV is executed perfectly. Sutton and Shaw have such great chemistry. Their banter had me blushing, laughing, and swooning at all the right moments. If you like sweet, closed door romances with steamy kisses, this one is top tier.

The only thing I did not enjoy was the male narrator's "female". Other than that, just a really fun read.

This might be a slight bit stingy, but I dropped the rating one star because of the FMC being a “physical therapist.” Overall, the book was cute and I enjoyed the narrators and plot. However, a simple Google search would’ve told you that to become a licensed and practiced physical therapist in the US you must have a doctorate degree. You’ve not been able to practice with just a bachelor’s since the 1980s, and in 2013, the US passed that all new graduates must obtain a doctoral degree. While the FMC attended Duke University which has a stellar DPT program, she still would not be able to practice and especially be hired by an NHL team with just a bachelor’s. A more appropriate title with her BA would have been an athletic trainer. Also, you cannot view a muscle tear with an Xray, you need an MRI.

As I said, that may be stingy, but having worked in the PT field for many years, that was a strong mark against the book when the information is easily available, especially for a traditionally published book.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but maybe do slightly better research for medical roles.

The Golden Goal is the sweetest hockey romcom, with many swoon worthy moments.
Enemies-to-lovers (but not too steamy in the book), brother's best friend, and rivals. A hockey player and the new team physical therapist actually have quite the history, and it's a competitive one. While he's trying to win her over, she's just trying to forget about all the times he did her wrong.

Nice easy read, with some good hockey in there as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance audio in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 30 July 2024

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for this audio.

I finished listening to the story in one sitting because I enjoyed the well-written rivals to lovers/best friend theme of the brothers. I found this book to be quite cute! Two rivals who have known one another for years.. Sutton is the new physical therapist for Shaw's hockey team. Their feelings for one another evolve throughout the story, even though at initially they are at each other's throats.

Enemies to lovers, brothers best friend, he falls first, hockey romance.

Sutton finally has the job of her dreams. The only downside, her rival plays for the team. She has hated Shaw Daniel’s most of her life.

Shaw Daniel’s has been in love with Sutton most of his life but instead of telling her that he makes everything a competition. What will happen if he starts being nice instead???

The was a cute romance. Very slow burn. I thought The author did a great job handling the enemies to lovers trope. It is most times unbelievably that two people that hate each other can change so quickly. The slow burn in this book shows that there truly is a thin line between love and hate. The banter between these two was so good.

The audiobook is narrated in dual point of view by Kim Churchill and Oliver Clarke. The pace was good and i was able to tell when there was a character change. The chapters were easily identifiable. The narrators voices fit the characters perfectly.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape media for this audio. This is my very honest review.

This was a super sweet enemies to lovers, best friend's brother hockey romance that I really enjoyed listening to. It wasn't a steamy romance but both characters had a lot of feeling and it was fantastic to listen to on audio. I'm thrilled to see that this is the start of a new series and I can't wait to read more by this author.

𝟑 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 .𐦍༘⋆

This book was cute,
I literally read the entire thing in a day

𐙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙:
I loved the character building in this book I think we got to see the characters be actual people, I felt like I could connect to both our main characters really well and I was genuinely interested in them as characters. The characters also just felt like a genuine couple and people who are genuinely into each other.

The book is really well written and it can definitely be binge read in a day, it’s really fast paced which I love because I personally cannot stand when romance books drag on for too long.

The narrators did a beautiful job of bringing this book to life, I was able to follow along with them perfectly.

𐙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚:
Not a whole lot happens in the book plot wise in my opinion especially outside of the relationship pining of our FMC and MMC, I feel like this book is just an easy going book for the vibes, if that makes sense. Like if you’re looking for a romance book with romance and plot, this probably isn’t the one.

It also didn’t feel like there was a specific moment or thing that made the, realise they liked each other, I feel like it just happened which yes can be realistic but in a book it can just seem like a loophole.

I’m like a really picky person when it comes to authors using terms like “rivals” or “enemies” outside of fantasy or sports romances, like in this book for example it was all just miscommunication that lead to the “rivalry”. I personally wouldn’t call someone I dislike or don’t get along with my rival lol.

(𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘪 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦)

The tropes on this one were everything!! Brothers best friend. He fell and fell hard and loved her for a long time. Hockey romance. So much goodness in one place. The slow burn was okay I would have loved to have seen them together sooner but it was still good. The pacing was well done. The narrators did a great job. I really enjoyed how everyone was for it except her. It was cute.

Infinite thanks for the early copy!!

*Brothers Best Friend
*He falls first
*Rivals to lovers

I will always love the trope where the main characters have known each other since they were kids.

Shaw has been into Sutton since they were young and she didn’t know. She thought he was just annoying her to get on her nerves but it was more than that. Now as adults their banter turns into more than just annoying each other. Shaw must now make her see how he truly feels. After all this time, will she feel the same?

4.5/5 ⭐️

Sutton and Shaw are childhood rivals. But now, they must learn to work together, because she's the physical therapist on his professional hockey team. The thing is, Shaw has had a crush on Sutton FOREVER, and she's never known. What happens when long time "enemies" with off-the-charts chemistry have to work together? MAGIC! 🥳

I swooned SO HARD. Shaw is the PERFECT cinnamon roll "touch her and die" hero. The caretaking! The steam! Yes, I said steam. In a sweet romance. It was perfect!! I love it when the authors can prove that a book can be spicy without the explicit scenes. I loved the ensemble cast. Such wonderful people who felt real and yet likable at the same time.

The only reason I deducted a half star was because Sutton seemed to be a smidge too hard on Shaw sometimes, but she grew as the story progressed.

I got the chance to listen to this audiobook, which was fun! The pacing was fantastic, thanks to the group effort of the great narrators and the wonderful author. I look forward to enjoying the rest of the series! This was my first Annah Conwell, but it won't be the last!!!

Trigger warnings: parents suffering from addiction (off page, mentioned but not elaborated upon)

I'd like to thank Dreamscape Media and Netgalley for the audio-ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Simple and cutesy. If you like a light rom-com that is heated-kisses-only (and those you have to wait for), this one will be right up your alley. Story itself was ok for me with plenty of swoony or “aww” moments and decent banter. The characters are lovely people, and he 1000% falls first. Is it earth shattering ? No. Would it be a good beach read? Sure !!

4/5 quick listen. Such a cute hockey romance. Brothers best friend. He is SMITTEN for her and I loved it.

The Golden Goal was a cute, fast read with happy vibes that is just the ticket for summer blues. The brothers best friend/rivals to lovers vibe was well executed and fun to read, and I ended up finishing the story in a single sitting. Sutton was likeable and relatable, but I really wish there had been a bit more of a deep dive into her personality. The buildup of chemistry between Sutton and Shaw was very well done, but it seemed to me like the plot fell flat as soon as they got together, the book only progressing to check boxes on a list. Overall, I think Annah Conwell did a good job of translating the history between the two characters, but most of their interactions toward the end came across as very surface level, almost like diary entries that glossed over the highlights. I would have loved a bit more conflict to keep me on my toes and I would have really appreciated a more satisfying show down between Sutton and her ex. I was also really hoping for Shaw to get some kind of resolution with his family situation. There were so many aspects of the story that I liked, but the book just wasn't long enough to give them all the attention they deserved. That being said, I am looking forward to checking out the other books in this series and I loved the hint of a potential Miles POV at the very end.

Cute hockey romance story of Sutton & Shaw. Friends sister/brothers friend trope is almost always a winner for me. Only 3 stars because there wasn't anything unique from other hockey romance books. Spice level 0.5🌶

The Golden Goal by Annah Conwell
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Cute and sweet with witty banter and delicious pining, this is the perfect hockey romance to read in one sitting!

Read this book if you like:
-brothers best friend
-hockey player x physical therapist
-rivals to lovers

The Golden Goal is out NOW but will be newly released on audio on July 30th. If it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
.
.
.
Special thanks to Dreamscape Media for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

Shaw & Sutton
These two grew up competing against each other, and now they’re working together. When Sutton finds herself thrown off kilter by Shaw’s thoughtful actions, will she get to know the grown up version of him, or stick with what she used to know?

I love annoyance to lovers and brothers best friend (IYKYK 🫣) and this one is done SO well!! Shaw goes all out and lets Sutton shine!

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑹𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑺:
🥅 he falls first
🥅 brother’s best friend
🥅 hockey romance
🥅 closed door

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑻𝑯𝑶𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻𝑺:
Another cutie hockey romance! This was a quick, closed door romance listen that I enjoyed. The narrators were good too!

Overall this had a lot of our MMC talking about how the FMC is his end game and always has been. It was cute to see how he was nervous about alot of their interactions because he didn’t want to mess anything up and the lengths he went to win her over.

If you’re looking for a short and sweet palette cleanser, this is for you!

This book was… fine? Was definitely not expecting a completely closed-door situation without a single move (a kiss!) being made until the last 80% of the book. Other than the lack of spice, it was cute enough.

I will say the writing wasn’t like ~amazing, but because this was a sports romance with the brother’s best friend trope, I was still entertained.

(Thank you, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)