Be My Player

by Catherine Gagnon, Michael Joss (Narrator), Deborah Peach - editor

At 17, figure skating prodigy Abigail Lecky vanished from her small-town life, leaving behind a promising career, a loving family, and countless unanswered questions. Now, five years later, she’s back, with secrets she’s not ready to share and a plan to reclaim control of her life.

When Aby enlists Ethan Shanahan, her brother’s best friend and a hockey star, to help her navigate the world of flirting and intimacy, he agrees, but only if she gets back on the ice. As Ethan reignites her passion for skating, Aby finds herself drawn to him in ways she never expected.

But the past has a way of catching up, and the truth about why Aby left threatens to unravel everything she’s worked to rebuild. Can she face her demons and open her heart to love, or will her fears keep her frozen in place?

Be My Player is a heartfelt hockey romance about healing, redemption, and the unexpected power of second chances.

Genres: Sports

Audible Audio

Published September 10, 2025

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abigail Lecky was a championship skater but she disappeared five years ago without a word to her family or friends. Now she's decided that it's time to come home, but she's worried that she won't be welcome when her family finds out how she's broken. Ethan Shanahan is a hockey star, her brother's best friend, and she's always had a crush on him. Because of the trauma she experienced causing her to leave town, she's afraid of intimacy and can't trust a man. Because she has always trusted Ethan and she still feels that original spark, she asks him if he'll teach her to flirt, to date and more. Ethan has always adored her, but he still looks at her as his best friend's "little" sister, until he doesn't. This was a touching and bittersweet story that kept me guessing as to Abby's secret and it took me by surprise!
The narration was perfectly done by Michael Joss and Catherine Gagnon. It's special to hear the story read by the author who created it!

[PelicanFreak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in alternating, first-person POV.
Past tense.

I liked this, it has a smidge of mystery to it and a broken / healing FMC who is surrounded with lots of support. Good character development, juicy controversy, secrets, a dark past … kept me entertained and went quickly.

⛸️ Figure skater FMC.
🏒 Hockey player MMC.
⛸️ Brother’s best friend / best friend’s sister.
🏒 Small town vibes.
⛸️ Coming home.
🏒 Tit for tat.
⛸️ Old friends to lovers.
🏒 Lots of banter, and trash-talk.
⛸️ A major comeback.
🏒 Sportsmance,
⛸️ CSA (not shown, but it’s in someone’s past).
🏒 Seret baby.
⛸️ Fresh starts.
🏒 Sports coach / power abuse.
⛸️

Overall:
The more I heard of this, the more I liked it. Would totally read more by this author.
4 stars.

🎧 Audio:
The narrators both did a good job with voice-acting and have a smooth voices. Her parts did have some static though, so not a completely crisp/clean production, but mostly! 4 stars.

[Deborah Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abigail and Ethan prove that you can never judge a hockey player by his jersey or his skates. This tale of redemption, friends-to-lovers, brother's best friend, and second chances was heartwarming and made me believe in love all over again. Life is never easy. From the highest accolades in her figure skating world to the lowest dumps in one night, life handed Abby a raw deal. Her story just broke my heart, yet she had the strength to get up off the ice, dust herself off, and forge ahead into the fires of dating. But she needs a little help with how to entice a man, and that is where Nathan, her brother's best friend, comes in. He's the perfect specimen to practice her wiles on. But is he willing to let her practice on him? Join Abby and Nathan in Be My Player and find out how easy it is to fall for the one you shouldn't love but can't resist.

[Catrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Be My Player by Catherine Gagnon. The story was engaging and well-paced, with characters that felt authentic and relatable. However, I found myself wishing for a bit more closure regarding the central conflict that drove the narrative—it felt like a few threads were left unresolved.

The dual narration by the author and Michael Joss was well done and added depth to the characters. There were a few minor editing issues, such as repeated phrases and slight hesitations, but they didn’t detract significantly from the overall listening experience.

Overall, a solid and enjoyable listen that could have been even stronger with a more satisfying resolution. I’d definitely be interested in hearing more from this author in the future!

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aby and Ethan get their second chance. Aby just up and left town 5 years ago. No explanation. Now is back.

This is a nice, spicy story. But there is alot of events that just wouldn't happen like they do in real life. Lots of what I call author's prerogative. Example: Ethan teaches Aby how to skate. But she was a champion figure skater just 5 years ago.

I was gifted an Audible version of this book from the author through Story Origin. Michael Joss was an excellent choice for the voice of Ethan. So deep and sexy, kind and caring. The author narrated for Aby; not the best choice. They just didn't match up for me. Ms. Gannon knows her story and presented it with good feels and expression, but her lisp didn't fit in and was a little distracting for me. 3 stars for the narration as well.

[Sophie Curotte-Derouchie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book! I don’t want to give anything thing away but the subject matter does happen unfortunately, and there are people out there that have lived through similar situations. It was an eye opener for sure. I couldn’t put the book down, I was invested in the main character, I wanted to see how she would overcome what she had went through. Great book !!! I hoping for a sequel 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻
Anxious to read more ❤️

[Natalie Jardin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received an e-book version of this book as a giveaway on Goodreads. Sadly, I am DNFing this book. I'm not sure if it was because it was an e-book, but the writing seems very disorganized. The storyline wasn't clear, and it lacked a lot of details like setting, Character descriptions, and acknowledgment of POV switches and possible time skips. I made 50% through the story before DNFing it.

[Jen Grajczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brothers best friend

Story of a figure skater and hockey player, little sister/big brothers best friend, finally getting together as adults, after FMC over came trama/abuse.

There were some grammatical errors, frequently repeated phrases and inconsistencies in story but overall a decent read.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Laura Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. A older brother’s best friend hockey romance with a dark reveal. Check the trigger warnings!

[skyler hinz]

this could’ve been a really great read for me, and i’m not usually one to judge typos or storyline errors. but, i was struggling to enjoy this book due to all the errors 😭 maybe i’ll come back to it