Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: February 3, 2026
Published by: Books on Tape (Dutton)
Read from: January 22- February 4, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Publisher (Huge thanks to Dutton for the hardcover, stickers, pen, etc. This was a pretty cool box!)
Content Warning: Murder, Domestic Abuse, Death of a Parent, Rape, Racism, Alcoholism, Infidelity, Suicide, Infertility
For Readers Interested In: Adult, Celebrity Book Club (Good Morning America), Holy Crap, Sparkly Covers, Most Anticipated, Mystery, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Realistic Fiction, ThrillersJabari Hall has spent his entire life chasing victory on ice–but one devastating hit leaves him benched, not just from hockey, but from the future he thought he had. Now, as he struggles with deteriorating eyesight, his well-meaning teammates set him up on a date, hoping it will cheer him up–only the date they choose is none other than Val Elliott, his ex’s sister.
Val never expected to be sitting across from Jabari, especially after the way he broke her sister’s heart. But when Jabari opens up about his diagnosis, Val’s guarded heart softens, and she offers him a listening ear out of compassion. What begins as a simple friendship quickly turns into something more.
As Jabari navigates life off the ice and searches for a new purpose, he’s drawn to Val in ways he didn’t expect. With her loyalty to her family on the line and Jabari searching for faith and a new purpose, can they make it to the goal together, or will their hearts wind up in the penalty box?
Delve into award-winning author Toni Shiloh’s sports romance for fans of Emma St. Clair, Pepper Basham, and Melissa Ferguson.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Literally everyone in this book was unhinged. That’s it. That’s the review lol This was all over the place and I could not stop listening! At some points I was confused and at others I wondered what happened to that plot line, but for the most part I thought it was a solid thriller!
Ok so boom…. lol no for real I feel like I should be explaining it like this. This was MESSY AF and trying to explain what happened was like telling your friend (or husband in my case) the mess you witnessed. Anyways, this book sucked me in because of the drama and messay ass events that happened. All the twists and turns were crazy and I had to see how it ended. Which obviously this thriller was crazy, so I was only able to catch 2 of the people, but the motive was hella off for one of them lol And no I’m not telling the plot because let me tell you, this book was all over the place and there was way more than that happening lol
The people in this book were hella unhinged. From the FMC on down. At this point you’d be more pressed to find the one who wasn’t unhinged lol they had so much going on. So if you know like I know, don’t trust anyone. With that being said, the FMC did get on my nerves a bit. She was so delusional. She just kept acting so scared of her own shadow. I know now WHY she was that way, but it was still annoying lol
I will say what made me upset about this was the repetitive nature. It started off ok, but even once it got going it was a little slow. I don’t think there was really anything that would actually change or fix that tho because the plot was crazy. Actually, that might have been why. It had too much going on so it was trying to set up for too much. But then when it was finally time to start talking about all those things, everything just happened all at once. It gave it a weird type of pacing I guess.
I won’t say more because of spoilers, but just know I understand why GMA picked this as their book club pick. Besides the believable plot that is lolol
Overall, I give this
