ThePlayOfHisLifeRating: 4 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Christian is heading home for the holidays. He hasn’t been back for several years, and he’s not very enthused about being there. When he gets to his mother’s house, she tells him to head to the local bakery to get fresh bread for dinner. Christian is grumpy about it, but it’s his mom, so he does what she asks.

Riley is an ex hockey player who was injured and had to retire from the NHL. He returned to the town where he grew up and opened a bakery. He’s content with his life, but he does have some regrets…like choosing hockey over his best friend/boyfriend…Christian.

When the men meet up at the bakery, the chemistry between them is still present. They make plans to meet up and play some one-on-one hockey on Christmas Eve. It goes so well, they start seeing each other every day, reuniting naturally, as if they had never parted. As their everything old is new again relationship begins to blossom, the new year is approaching, and along with that, Christian’s return to the city.

This was a short, sweet, low angst story, and I enjoyed it. Christian and Riley are cute, and they made me smile. Their chemistry was obvious, and they fit well together. I particularly liked Riley. In fact, even though there wasn’t much time for too much character development, Riley was pretty well fleshed out…just a little more than Christian. The boys made me laugh more than once, and I appreciated that. Also, they were very sexy together. Since they’d been lovers before, they were able to fall back into their sexual relationship nicely, and that sexual relationship is hot! The sex scenes were full of fun and laughter (as all good sex should be), but there was no doubt, Christian and Riley were really into each other.

Throughout the story, we get glimpses of what went on to cause their break up. Riley went away for hockey camp in Colorado, and he got the opportunity to get some intensive training, so he just stayed. They tried the long distance thing, but Christian couldn’t handle it, and he didn’t want to get in the way of Riley’s career. The whole thing was sad, and I felt bad for them. Still, The Play of His Life was relatively low angst, and I felt that fit a book that takes place during the Christmas season.

I liked Christian’s mother. She knew what she was doing when she sent Christian to the bakery. She was funny, and I thought she was written well. She didn’t get in the way of the love story, and even though she meddled a little, she wasn’t intrusive. There was also a New Year’s Eve party with some of Riley’s old hockey friends. I enjoyed the whole thing, but I really had to laugh when a star struck Riley meets some of the guys. It was endearing as well as amusing, and I loved every sentence of it.

The ending was rather formulaic, but it suited the story on the whole. It was tied up neatly and happily. It was exactly what I expected, but that was fine. It needed to be that way. As I said, The Play of His Life was short and sweet. It was a great way to spend an evening sitting in front of the Christmas tree with a cat in my lap, and some hot chocolate in my hand. I’ve read other books written by Amy Aislin, and reviewed them on this blog. She’s a talented writer, and the books were very good. I look forward to reading any books she’ll write in the future. I recommend this enjoyable story.

kenna sig