Role Model

“Sometimes it’s hard to stop caring about someone, no matter how much you know you should.”

Troy Barrett grew up with a toxic father, and even after making it to professional hockey, he continued to gravitate toward the same kind of men. The irony is hard to miss: Troy’s father is an A-grade homophobic asshole, while Troy himself is a closeted gay player 😅😅 When a so-called friend on his team does one of the worst things imaginable, Troy snaps and publicly calls him out—an act that gets him traded to one of the worst teams in the NHL, the Ottawa Centaurs. As you can imagine, things are not going well for him. He’s ashamed of his past self and his actions, dislikes Ottawa, and has no intention of staying there long.

But the universe has other plans. Enter Harris Drover, the social media manager for the Ottawa Centaurs 😏😏 Harris is pure sunshine to Troy’s grumpiness. He grew up in a loving family and has one of the kindest souls imaginable. From their very first meeting, he sees straight through Troy’s tough exterior. Despite the strong sexual tension between them, they become friends first—and slowly grow into something more.

After Hollanov, Troy and Harris’s story became my favorite in the entire series. Their relationship develops quietly and beautifully. They communicate well, understand each other deeply, and their love feels calm, steady, and incredibly effective 🥰🥰

Troy is a fantastic example of how to write a redemption arc 💯💯 When we first meet him in the third book of the series, “Tough Guy” he was bullying Ryan Price for being gay, My first impression of him was awful to be honest 😤😤 But Rachel Reid did an amazing job redeeming him here. Troy is gay himself, yet he once threw those insults to Ryan because he didn’t know any better 😢😢 His entire life was surrounded by homophobic, awful people—his father, his father’s friends, many players in the league, and even his former best friend, Dallas Kent. They all sucked. The only genuinely good influence in his life was his mother, and everything good in him came from her. I really loved their relationship 👍👍

What truly makes Troy redeemable is his deep shame over who he used to be and his genuine desire to change or the better 😔😔 It’s painfully clear how much he regrets his past actions. His self-esteem is in the gutter, and he desperately needs good people around him—people who will lift him up and stay when he needs them.

“Was that your first gay bar?” “Yeah, it was.” Ilya burst out laughing. “Incredible.” Troy shook his head, but the absurdity of the whole night hit him all at once, and he started laughing too.

He had Harris, of course. But I also have to mention my king—the team captain of the Ottawa Centaurs, Ilya Rozanov, my beloved 😍😍 His relationship with Troy gave me such strong older brother taking care of his little brother vibes. We all know Ilya has a superpower when it comes to seeing past people’s facades; he looked at Troy and basically decided, “Yeah, I like this one—let me take care of him.” 🤣🤣 And he never stopped. He helped Troy find his place on the Ottawa Centaurs, supported his relationship with Harris, and stood by him without hesitation. It was just Ilya Rozanov being perfect, as always—nothing new here 😎😎

“Wanna see my old bedroom?” Harris asked, waggling his eyebrows. Troy managed a half smile. “Are you allowed to have boys up there?” Harris took a step toward him. “You’d be the first one.” Oh. “Really?” “Yeah. Wanna see it?” Hell yes, Troy did.

Harris truly is a ray of sunshine ☀️☀️ He loves fiercely and is loved just as fiercely in return. He reminds me of an overactive, adorable little dog you can’t help but fall in love with. His patience, support, and unconditional love gave Troy the courage to finally be himself openly without shame. He was exactly the person Troy needed. He was perfect on his own and even better together with Troy 💕💕

This book was an amazing read and a very satisfying finale for me, especially since I read The Long Game right after Heated Rivalry 😅😅 The Game Changers series has some incredible highs and a few books that didn’t quite work for me, but overall, it’s absolutely worth reading to form your own opinions. As I always say—reading is subjective. You might love a book I didn’t. And that’s perfectly okay. See you in different reviews 👋👋