Common Goal: A Gay Sports Romance

Rachel Reid

Sep 2020 · Game Changers Book 4 · Sold by Carina Press

About this ebook

“Rachel Reid’s hockey heroes are sexy, hot, and passionate! I’ve devoured this entire series and I love the flirting, the exploration and the delicious discovery in Common Goal!” —Lauren Blakely, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Guy Walks into My Bar

New York Admirals goalie Eric never thought his friends-with-benefits arrangement with much-younger Kyle would leave them both wanting more…

Veteran goaltender Eric Bennett has faced down some of the toughest shooters on the ice, but nothing prepared him for his latest challenge—life after hockey. It’s time to make some big changes, starting with finally dating men for the first time.

Graduate student Kyle Swift moved to New York nursing a broken heart. He’d sworn to find someone his own age to crush on (for once). Until he meets a gorgeous, distinguished silver fox hockey player. Despite their intense physical attraction, Kyle has no intention of getting emotionally involved. He’ll teach Eric a few tricks, have some mutually consensual fun, then walk away.

Eric is more than happy to learn anything Kyle brings to the table. And Kyle never expected their friends-with-benefits arrangement to leave him wanting more. Happily-ever-after might be staring them in the face, but it won’t happen if they’re too stubborn to come clean about their feelings.

Everything they both want is within reach… They just have to be brave enough to grab it.

USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Reid

Game Changers
Book 1: Game Changer
Book 2: Heated Rivalry
Book 3: Tough Guy
Book 4: Common Goal
Book 5: Role Model
Book 6: The Long Game

Ratings and reviews

COMMON GOAL is the fourth instalment in Rachel Reid’s contemporary, adult, GAME CHANGERS erotic, LGBTQ, (MM) hockey romance series. This is New York Admirals goalie, forty-one year old, Eric Bennett, and twenty-five year old, bartender/ graduate student Kyle Swift’s story line. COMMON GOAL can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalments is revealed where necessary. Kyle and Eric first appeared in book one Game Changer. NOTE: COMMON GOAL is an age-gap, LGBTQ romance with graphic scenes of same sex scenarios that may not be suitable for all readers. Told from dual third person perspectives (Kyle and Eric) COMMON GOAL follows the building romance and relationship between is New York Admirals goalie, forty-one year old, Eric Bennett, and twenty-five year old, bartender/ graduate student Kyle Swift. Eric Bennett is a bisexual man but has only ever had sexual relationships with women. Recently divorced, Eric has thought about his attraction to men but especially his attraction to bartender Kyle Swift, a young man whose obsession with Eric’s teammate Scott is slowly dying since Scott’s engagement to Kyle’s co-worker Kip. Coming out to Kyle, Eric found himself in a friends with benefits arrangement when Eric claimed he had no experience with the same $ex. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Kyle and Eric, and the potential fall-out as Eric struggles with their age-difference. Eric Bennett is a man close to the end of his professional career, and falling for Kyle Swift left Eric feeling old and tired but with no experience with gay $ex, Eric jumped at Kyle’s offer to teach Eric about $ex with a younger man. Kyle Swift didn’t care about their age difference but in an effort to get to know Eric better, Kyle offered to find Eric a partner but found himself falling in love with our story line hero. There is a definite lack of communication between both men that exacerbated the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’ especially as it pertained to Eric’s issues with their age difference (ad nauseam), and his need to keep Kyle in the friend zone. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic and passionate. There is a large ensemble cast of colorful secondary and supporting characters including Scott and Kip (Game Changer #1), Ilya Rozanov (Heated Rivalry #2), teammates Matti Jalo, Carter Vaughan, Kyle’s roommate Maria, and Eric’s friend and gallery owner Jeanette. COMMON GOAL is a story of secrets, friendships and relationships. The character driven premise inviting and imaginative; the characters are spirited and inspiring; the romance is edgy and spicy. COMMON GOAL looks at the psychological side of coming out but stays clear of the social and professional repercussions that many professional athletes experience following such pronouncement.

Another fantastic, hot and sexy book in this series. I love this series so much. Every single book has been a 5-star read for me and Common Goal is no exception – and boy is it hot! It's a fantastic age-gap and bi-awakening story. Eric is an aging goalie who is reaching the end of his career. He had an amicable divorce from his wife of 20-years but has yet to remove his wedding ring. This causes a bit of a dilemma for his soon-to-be love interest, Kyle, because while Kyle is attracted when they first meet, he absolutely will not get involved with a married man. The thing that makes this story so hot is Kyle's offer to teach Eric everything he wants to know about sexy-time with a man – and boy does Kyle know a lot!! But beyond this, there is a tender love story developing between the two of them. The problem is that Eric just can't seem to get past the age difference and just about ends up destroying everything between them. I started out listening to the audiobook version of this, read by Cooper North, but soon switched back to reading the ebook. I believe this is the first audiobook I've listened to from Cooper North. I didn't think his narration was really bad or anything, I just wasn't feeling the same emotion listening to the story as I've always gotten when reading the previous books (I haven't listened to any of them). While Common Goal can easily be read as a standalone, fans of the series will enjoy visiting with previous characters from other books in the series. In particular, I enjoyed the cameo appearances by Ilya Rosanov and Shane Hollander from book two, Heated Rivalry. I'm not certain how the timeline for Common Goal intersects with Heated Rivalry, but nothing about that book is revealed in Common Goal. However, if you've read Heated Rivalry, you'll be reading between the lines in a few of the scenes. 😊 As far as I'm concerned, this series can continue on forever. I'm a huge fan and I love Rachel Reid's writing. A review copy of the ebook was provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and Harlequin Audio provided a review copy of the audiobook, but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book. ***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

Yay! Game Changers is fast becoming one of my favourite series (interconnected standalones). I just love these hockey hotties and their stories, and book 4 Common Goal, focuses on veteran goalie Eric Bennett, divorced from his childhood sweetheart and just coming to terms with his bisexuality when he realises he’s attracted to student and bartender, Kyle Swift, 16 years his junior. Both stubborn in their own ways. Eric thinks Kyle is too young. Kyle isn’t looking for a relationship. Kyle’s been burnt by an older man before, and is only interested in hookups, and of course Eric doesn’t do hookups. I absolutely loved these characters (and it’s great that we see all the previous book hotties) I can’t get enough of them. The story is sweet, fun, super sexy and completely addictive. I’m obsessing about it still, I could not put it down. I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest review.

About the author

Rachel Reid has always lived in Nova Scotia, Canada, and will likely continue to do so. She has two boring degrees and two interesting sons. She has been a hockey fan since childhood, but sadly never made it to the NHL herself. She enjoys books about hot men doing hot things, and cool ladies being awesome. You can follow Rachel on Instagram at rachelreidwrites and Twitter @akaRachelReid, and on Goodreads. Her website and blog, where she writes more things, is www.rachelreidwrites.com.