Coach's Challenge

Audi Review - Tracy of Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter: http://bit.ly/2sPUAzo

Avon Gale’s 'Coach’s Challenge', book 5 of the Scoring Chances series, is definitely one of my top favorites. It’s right up there with books 1 and 3! Troy and Shane have some pretty amazingly hot chemistry and narrator Scott R. Smith does not disappoint in his delivery. Some reviewers say this can be read as a standalone but for me having read the previous books I felt like I was coming home to some of my favorite hockey players.

In 'Coach’s Challenge out and proud Coach Troy Callahan has taken on the task of whipping the Asheville Ravens into shape. The team is known for their aggressive and bullying behavior and Troy is not having any of that!

Shane North has had a mostly mediocre hockey career and he’s joined the Ravens to play out his last year in the sport.

Shane and Troy get off to a rocky start. Shane doesn’t make the best impression and even though Troy comes down hard on him in his no nonsense manner, he’s definitely interested in his new player. I love the fact that Troy is ten years older than Shane. There’s the whole coach/player dynamic that Ms.Gale flawlessly pulls off. Troy knows he shouldn’t cross that line and Shane knows he should resist but when these two finally give in to their attraction it’s fireworks all around.

Scott R. Smith does such an excellent job with translating the tension and humor with his voice. Troy is all growly, alpha man, barking orders and talking dirty and all of that comes through with his telling.

I think what I love most about this book, and the series as a whole, is the author’s talent at writing dialogue. These character's banter back and forth and their scenes are filled with either humor or that ever present sexual tension, making 'Coach’s Challenge' one of those books that you just can’t put down. These guys go at it hard - verbally and sexually - and it’s lots of hot fun.

Shane is such a lovable character. He’s eager to end his career on his own terms. Settling into his new surroundings with new team members gets off to a shaky start but soon the tensions in the locker room ease and the Ravens start to play like a real team. Shane’s always felt like he never lived up to his full potential in his career and it makes him seem vulnerable and I like that about him. He isn’t arrogant or a trouble-maker, he just wants to play hockey.

Having fell in love with the Scoring Chances series as each book is published I wait until the audio is released. There’s just something amazing about Scott R. Smith’s voice. I adore the way he tells the story and how he “becomes” each character. He brings Troy’s arrogance to life and the scenes that are dialogue heavy are awesome. His tone for Shane and Troy is perfect as well as the timing and pacing of the story.

'Coach’s Challenge' is more of a hot and heavy romance, as opposed to sweet, and the writing and narration truly deliver. If you’re a lover of sexy men and hockey players then the Scoring Chances series is for you!

Trio of Kimmers' Erotic Book Banter: http://bit.ly/2tNrXzd

'Coach’s Challenge' is the fifth book in the Scoring Chances series by Avon Gale. Although characters from previous books do make crossover appearances in each others’ stories, you can definitely read the stories out of order.

Coach Troy is kind of a curmudgeon, well a hot curmudgeon, and Gale uses every opportunity to make the most of his character. Troy has these adorable idiosyncrasies: his puzzle passion, his penchant for PDA, and his incredibly filthy mouth. I will say that this series is filled with some of the hottest dirty talk I’ve read, but Coach Troy outshines them all!

Shane is adorable. He’s at a crossroads in his life and just not really sure which direction he’ll go now that he’s approaching retirement age. It’s great to see him grow throughout the story and reach a self-fulfilling conclusion. As Troy tells Shane, “Maybe nothing went the way it was supposed to, but that doesn’t mean it went the wrong way.”

As I’ve found with the rest of this series, there’s just the right blend of humor, hockey plays, and hot sex in 'Coach’s Challenge'.

The chemistry between Troy and Shane is electric and I love how open they are with each other. They recognize their attraction straight away, and once they resolve their initial animosity, they go straight to the good stuff. With a bit of an age gap between these two, and the coach/player role play they get up to, it makes for some fun sexy time.

Maybe their self confidence is due to their *ahem* maturity (both men are over 30) and they know better than to waste time.

I was really pleased with the messages Avon Gale includes in this installment, especially the part about respecting and not objectifying women - well said! This may be a locker room filled with rough and tumble hockey players but they’ve got enough self-awareness to call each other out if something’s just not right.

This series has been a blast from the first and always has me laughing out loud!
The stories are clever and fun, with a great connection between the MCs, and just the right amount of sports to advance the plot. I highly recommend the particularly funny 'Coach’s Challenge'. I absolutely love the banter between these two manly men as they tease and goad in the most creative of ways.

As book series continue on, one of the worries is that the plots will begin to feel the same, the characters will start to resemble one another, and then it gets boring. Such is absolutely not the case with book five of the Scoring Chances series, Coach’s Challenge!

The protagonists are both well-versed in hockey, in life, and in disposition. Troy Callahan has built a successful career as a hockey coach, but turns down the NHL show for an ECHL team in need of an extreme makeover. Shane North wants to leave his hockey playing career on his own terms. These two men clash from their first conversation through to the end of the book, and it is absolutely riveting.

The plot is seemingly forward, but there are subplots galore that make each page turn more exciting than the last. At no point is there a lag in anything. The dialogue is clever, snarky, hilarious, and serious by turns. The chemistry is so sweltering that it is no surprise the sexy times are absolutely torrid.

My favorite aspect outside of Troy and Shane, however, are the peripheral characters. There are many, and they are varied. From a ballet dancer turned bartender and his tattooed and pierced bruiser of a boyfriend to a tiny Hawaiian surfer with enough sass to take down the biggest hockey player, each one added more pleasure and depth for the reader as part of the whole.

Tackling the Asheville Ravens was a challenge I wasn’t absolutely certain the author could do, much less do well, after so thoroughly villainizing them through the first four books. My mistake! There were so many twists and turns in the nuances of this book that I began to get seasick. It was amazing, and I can’t recommend this highly enough. Coach’s Challenge is five solid stars of hockey and heat!


**Same worded review will appear on Goodreads, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.**

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Coach's Challenge is the fifth book in Avon Gale's Scoring Chances series. This book could be read on its own even though it does kind of continue a storyline from the previous book. There are also brief interactions with characters from book 3 and 4 in this series. Personally, I recommend every book in this series, so why not just start at the beginning!

After the controversy of the previous season and the firing of their coach, the Ravens are starting over. They have a new GM, new head coach and have added a new player. Head Coach Troy had a history with the previous head coach who had blackmailed him when they were players on the same team. He gave up a coaching job in the NFL to coach the Ravens and hopes he can help the Ravens get back to playing hockey without all the drama. Which is why he's unhappy that the GM brought in Shane on their team. Shane is in his last year and is known for his aggression on ice, not something the Ravens need.

Shane is just looking to finish his career on his terms, set his own narrative instead of the one that's followed him throughout his career. Shane plans to ride out his year on the team and not get involved. Except he can't ignore what's going on around him. The Ravens are just a bunch of hockey players, not a team and Shane works with the Team Captain to come up with ways to get the guys to leave the old mindset behind and to come together as a group.

Shane and Troy butt heads and have an antagonistic working relationship but neither can deny the attraction to each other. And though they originally plan for a one-time hookup, they can't deny their attraction and need for the other. I found their interactions with each other to be both funny and a little annoying! Honestly, even when working together they sniped at each other. As with all the books in the story, hockey is a big focus but I think the author does a great job of making it so even readers uninterested in hockey can easily read this story. If you haven't read this series because of the sports' element, please don't let that stop you.

There's a point in the story where someone tries to use Troy and Shane's relationship to get what he wants. I was worried that this would be the typical breakup that happens in stories and then make the characters work through to find their HEA. Thank you to the author for not doing that!! This situation that happens was used to strengthen the relationship and bring Troy and Shane together more. This book was another great addition to the series and I really hope Xavier's story is next! He deserves some happiness in his life.

Rating: 5 stars!

Reviewed by Erin for Diverse Reader

I'm not sure how it's possible that Avon Gale's Scoring Chances series just keeps getting better but it does and we readers are the beneficiaries of her brilliant storytelling. Coaches Challenge, the fifth book in the series, was SO MUCH FUN! It has all of the clever, witty banter you expect from an Avon Gale book, humor that will make you laugh out loud, and some sexy times that will make you fan yourself. The dirty talk in Coaches Challenge is on fire hot and was so deliciously naughty in all the best ways. Shane and Troy pretty much had me from word one. I loved these guys, together and apart.



Coaches Challenge finds us in Asheville, NC and home of the hated, evil Ravens. If you'll remember this is where Dennis St. Savoy was the coach and the team that caused all the turmoil in book four, Empty Net. You definitely need that background in order to understand just how bad the situation is that new coach Troy Callahan walks willingly into. The team is a mess. The players are embarrassed and on edge, their own fans hate them, and all of the other teams in the league look on them with disgust. Troy is just the guy to turn this team around though. He walks into the locker room the first time and his no nonsense and take no bullshit attitude is exactly what the team needs to get back on track. Everyone is ready to get to work, or it would be everyone if Troy's wayward left-winger, Shane North, was at the first practice. A stellar first impression Shane does not make by showing up late to practice and to say these two butt heads from the get go is an understatement. Their instant attraction to one another is unexpected, for them at least, but boy it sure is fun to watch.



I found Troy Callahan to be wickedly sexy. He's growly and gruff and so straightforward he makes me smile. I love a guy who knows exactly who he is and his place in the world and doesn't take shit from anyone. Not from smarmy assistant coaches, not from his best friend, Gabe, and not from a mouthy hockey player who he finds ridiculously attractive. As for Shane North, he was such a perfect match for Troy. He's so laid back--despite his reputation on the ice—and he has no illusions about his time as a hockey player or who he prefers in his bed. The thing I found I loved the most about these two guys is just how unapologetically they embrace their sexuality. Shane might not be out to his teammates or family, but that doesn't mean he's ashamed of being gay. As for Troy, well, the man did get blackmailed for being gay when he was a player in the NHL so his sexuality isn't a secret to anyone. Their attraction is combustible and yeah at first it was based solely on lust but it doesn't take long for that to change. No, these guys aren't all touchy-feely and you won't find them waxing poetically into one another's eyes, but that doesn't mean there aren't real feelings going on between Troy and Shane, because there are.



There was a long moment of quiet, and Shane gripped Troy’s hand so hard it hurt. He was also staring down at his lap and breathing strangely. Too quickly, maybe.



“Shane? What the hell’s the matter with you?” Troy bumped him with his shoulder. “That piss you off? You can tell me. Jesus, wait. Why am I even saying that? You can, and you would, so…what is it?”



“Umm,” Shane said, his voice suspiciously choked, “Nothing. It’s nothing.”



Troy leaned in closer and poked at Shane’s shoulder. “Are you being emotional?”



“What the fuck do you think?” Shane still wouldn’t look up at him. “That…thanks, Troy. I’ll blow you later for that.”



“You’d do that anyway.” Troy turned Shane’s face up to his. Shane’s dark eyes were tear bright, and Troy’s own vision was a little watery. “It’s true. And I’m sorry I thought so little of you when you first got here. It wasn’t fair of me, and I was wrong.”



Shane’s eyes went wide. “You just said that so I wouldn’t cry, didn’t you?”



“It’s the truth. Also, if you’re about to cry you won’t try and make fun of me for admitting I was wrong.”



“I’ll make fun of you the next time.” Shane gave one single sniff and then disentangled his hand to wipe surreptitiously at his eyes.



“Oh, like I’m ever going to say that again.”



These. Two. I swear, they just killed me in all the best ways.



As with every Avon Gale book in this series, the hockey is on point. The locker room talk is hilarious, the trash talk on the ice brilliant, and the way Shane takes the players—especially Xavier Matthews—under his wing was so much fun to watch. Troy's friendship with team GM Gabe Bow was as endearing as it was humorous. There is a genuine friendship there that makes Troy that much more likable. Brief appearances by series favorites Misha, Max, and Drake made me smile so big and the scene with Shane and Huxs was just all kinds of fabulous.



As I said, each book keeps getting and better so it’s hard to have a favorite when every single one is special and unique but trust me when I say, Troy and Shane will make you fall in love with them. Be sure to have some cold water on hand while you read, too. You’re going to need it!