Narrators: Brandon Francis & Leanne Blade
Rating: 3.5 stars

The Setup

Fall Wherever They May is the first book in Elysia Wages’ New York Blaze Hockey series. Aspen never knew her dad growing up; her mom kept him a secret her whole life, and it turns out he was the owner of a hockey team in New York. After his death, Aspen inherits the team, which is what pushes her to leave Oklahoma behind and take on a completely new life as the owner of a popular NY hockey team. That’s where she meets Callan, the team’s superstar, and the two immediately butt heads, kicking off an enemies-to-lovers storyline.

The Narration

I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Brandon Francis and Leanne Blade. Both narrators did a good job overall, but a few inflection choices kept pulling me out of the story, enough that I found myself wanting to quit at points. Brandon’s performance handling multiple character voices was more distinctive than Leanne’s, and there were moments where it was genuinely hard to tell which female character was speaking.

The Emotional Beats

The story had some emotional moments that worked, and others that just didn’t land for me. The subplot involving Aspen’s mom and dad, who died, was meant to represent “generational trauma” for Tucker, but I’m still not entirely sure how it was supposed to land. He came across as a well-adjusted kid with pretty normal 10-year-old behavior, so that emotional thread never fully clicked for me.

The Romance

The central romance moved fast, really fast. In just six months, the main characters go from meeting to being irrevocably in love and unable to imagine life without each other. The banter between them was genuinely fun, and the spice worked well, though a few parts weren’t my personal taste. Some of the dialogue did make me cringe, and that combination of factors played into my overall rating.

Final Thoughts

Fall Wherever They May sets up the next book in the series nicely, and honestly, I’m already fairly confident I know how it ends. If you enjoy fast-burn sports romance audiobooks and don’t mind some cringeworthy dialogue in exchange for good banter and spice, this one is worth a listen.

Thanks to the High Gravity team for the ALC and the opportunity to listen to this one.