The New Guy by Sarina Bowen

Narrated by Teddy Hamilton and J.F. Harding

The New Guy is the first book in The Hockey Guys, a spin-off from Sarina Bowen’s popular Brooklyn Bruisers series. The story itself is nothing you haven’t read or listened to before, but the characters have plenty of chemistry, their romance is nicely done, and while the conflict is fairly minimal, it does provide some emotional moments and works within the context of the story. Of course, for me, the main attraction was the narrators – and even though I’ve been burned more than once by picking up books written by well-known and highly-rated authors only to find that while the narration is awesome the story isn’t (see One Time Only and Crossing Borders) – I’ve enjoyed Sarina Bowen’s m/m romances in the past so was cautiously optimistic about this one.

Gavin Gillis has just moved into his new apartment in Brooklyn, a couple of days before starting his new job as an athletic trainer for the Brooklyn Bruisers hockey team. He knows his late husband Eddie would get a kick out of the new job, as he was a big hockey fan – but even so, it’s a big step, especially as Gavin has been single-handedly parenting their seven-year-old daughter, Jordyn, for the past two years. Fortunately though, he has a few months before he needs to start sussing out childcare options, as his sister Reggie is living with them until her punk band goes on tour. It’s Reggie who encourages Gavin to get out of the apartment and go do something fun – see a movie, or find a bar and a guy to have some adult fun with. Gavin isn’t fully on board with that idea, but whatever. It’s go out or face another Frozen marathon.

Hudson Newgate has spent pretty much his entire hockey career nicknamed The New Guy. He’s been traded four times in five years, and has got used to the feeling of constantly waiting for the axe to fall and never putting down any roots. His first trade came after his rookie season, just days after he came out as bisexual to team management; his father (a former top player turned manager) berating both Colorado’s manager and Hudson for making life difficult for himself. After that experience, Hudson retreated back into the closet where he’s remained ever since. His move to Brooklyn came after a hip injury in Chicago, and he’s now waiting for it to heal enough for him to get some match time with his new team. Constantly moving around, trying to prove himself to new faces, adapting his play to fit is exhausting, and knowing his career literally depends on his fitting in and not making any waves makes it even moreso. So he’s not in the best mood when he’s unable to get on the ice due to his injury, and has to stay in Brooklyn while the team plays in Boston. But watching the game with a few beers and the most attractive company he’s had in ages means that maybe this particular night isn’t going to be a total washout. He doesn’t pick up guys, ever, and certainly not in a bar where he knows his team hangs out – but this guy… his tight body, his smile, his laugh… all make Hudson want to throw caution to the wind, just this once.

Decision made, Gavin and Hudson are on their way back to Hudson’s place when Gavin starts to notice a few familiar landmarks. Casually asking Hudson what street he lives on, they’re both surprised to discover that they both live on the same one. In the same building. On the same floor. Well, shit. After insisting they’re both going to have to forget this happened, Hudson walks away, leaving Gavin stunned.

Back inside, Gavin very quickly works out who his new neighbour is and why he’d bailed. And then, that he’s probably not going to be all that pleased to see Gavin again when he shows up the next day at his new job as assistant athletic trainer for the Bruisers.

If you’ve read any romance At All, EVER, you know how this is going to go, but as always, it’s the journey rather than the destination that’s important, and the journey Sarina Bowen takes us on is an enjoyable one. Gavin and Hudson have terrific chemistry and I liked the way their relationship starts out as a friendship before progressing to something more. They’re decent, likeable guys, and most of the conflict in the story is external, coming from difficult family relationships – Gavin has been widowed for two years and still faces a lot of criticism and interference from his former mother-in-law regarding his parenting, and Hudson’s father is overbearing, micro-managing every aspect of his life and career and focusing on keeping that closet door firmly closed. On the downside though, the resolutions to these familial conflicts happen completely off the page, which is a bit anticlimactic.

Other things that didn’t quite work for me… the third-act crisis moment is telegraphed long before it arrives, but although it makes sense in context, it’s handled clumsily. Hudson behaves immaturely towards Gavin with little to no regard for his feelings, but Gavin doesn’t really put up much of a fight either, even though he’s clearly unhappy. And while Jordyn is a believable seven-year-old, I kept having to remind myself that Gavin is only twenty-five. Yes, he’s been through a lot, but he’s a little bit of a Mary Poppins; he’s a great parent, he’s great at his job and the team all love him, and although he loved his late husband he’s grounded and balanced and finished with the grieving process in two years. Plus, given athletic trainers are medical professionals, I don’t see how he could have got his qualifications (a masters?), got the work experience necessary to land a job with in top-flight sports, AND have taken time off to be with Jordyn after Eddie’s death within the given timeframe. He just doesn’t come off as a realistic twenty-five, and I don’t know why he couldn’t have been five, ten years older, which would made more sense.

Those reservations aside, I enjoyed The New Guy, although I wonder if I’d have enjoyed it as much as I did had I read it with my eyes rather than my ears, because the narration by Teddy Hamilton and J.F. Harding is fantastic and kept me glued to it, even during the slower parts of the story. Their performances are well-paced, expressive and clearly differentiated with a good variety of character voices, so there’s never any confusion during group conversations; the steamy scenes are very nicely done and the emotional connection between Hudson and Gavin comes across strongly. The only real criticism I have is this. When narrating m/m romances, a narrator will usually differentiate the lead characters at least partly by pitch – which is exactly what happens here, except that the narrators don’t appear to have worked out which character would have the higher pitched voice and which the lower. So in Mr. Hamilton’s (Gavin) chapters, Hudson’s dialogue is pitched lower than Gavin’s and in Mr. Harding’s (Hudson) chapters, it’s the other way around – and I found that a bit confusing, especially when there were no dialogue tags. I know that dual narrations are recorded separately, and that the narrators probably had no contact with each other, but that is a definite blip on what is otherwise a flawless narration.

In the end, I enjoyed The New Guy more than I expected to, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a sexy, low-angst, undemanding listen performed by two of the best romance narrators around.

Caz

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