Adrian Bradley's Best Mistake

by Catherine Cloud

After losing half a season to injury, Adrian Bradley can't afford any slip-ups. When it's announced that Jason Rosa – famous pop star and lifelong hockey fan – will be the anthem singer for Adrian's team in the upcoming season, Adrian isn't even a little bit excited. Jason Rosa is annoying, won't mind his own business and Adrian can't stand his music.

Adrian's masterplan to stay as far away from Jason as humanly possible is doomed to fail from the start. Jason is constantly around and since Adrian has to be on his best behavior, he doesn't have a choice but to endure Jason's company. And as they spend more time together, Adrian might have to admit that Jason isn't as annoying as he thought he was.

Genres: Hockey, Sports, Romance, M M Romance, Contemporary, Sports Romance, Queer

268 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 26, 2021

About the author

Catherine Cloud writes queer sports fiction with a lot of kissing and Golden Retrievers. Yes, there's actual hockey in the books. And, yes, all those Golden Retrievers are totally necessary.

Free stories and extras are available via Tumblr (thesameoldstreets.tumblr.com)

Impressum: https://linktr.ee/thesameoldstreets

Reviews

[Snjez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Now that I've read all the four books set in this world, I can definitely see the pattern in this author's writing style, the storyline, the types of characters she writes, the relationship development and the ending.

I've realized that I tend to like her sunshine-y characters more, no matter whose POV I'm reading. In this story it was Jason. I loved him. I have mixed feelings about Adrian. At times I really liked him and other times he annoyed me. Even though he can be sweet, I have to say that I wasn't 100% convinced in his feelings for Jason.

I felt the same way about his sister – sometimes she was great and other times she was very annoying. The other side characters were wonderful, though, which is something I've come to expect in this author's books. My favourites here were Flo and Mouse.

The ending is what it is, but I do feel that we got a bit more than in the previous books. Even if it's just a glimpse of what comes next.

[Drache.... (Angelika) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread 12/2025
Lovely even if it's not Catherine Cloud's strongest book (in my opinion).
Love the ace-rep (Alexis, Adrian's sister 8s asexual). Alexis has a prominent role in this story, and that's awesome because CC's books usually focus on the hockey players and not on family/friends outside the hockey teams).
-------------
Reread 07/2025
Every time I reread CC's books, before starting Adrian Bradley's Best Mistake, I think "ok this one, too, even if it's not as good as the others" and every time I'm surprised how much I love it in the end.
The beginning is a bit weak but the story gets stronger and stronger.
Love Adrian and Jason and their friends.
--------------------
Reread 11/2024
Still as beautiful as the last times.
My favorite is still Love & Other Inconveniences, followed by Three is the luckiest number and The Miles are just an Afterthought, but this is awesome, too.
--------------
reread 03/2024
Still beautiful, still 5 stars.
----------
read 05/2023
5 stars (again!)
Another amazing mm hockey romance told from one pov by Catherine Cloud!
Now that I'm reading her books in chronological order, I feel her books are getting lighter.
They're all romances about queer, not out hockey players, but their emotional struggles seem to get more bearable and they seem to see and find a path to happiness more easily.
I loved Three Is The Luckiest Number, and Love And Other Inconveniences, and Adrian Bradley's Best Mistake is amazing, too. They're all different (besides the two main themes: hockey, and queer hockey players finding love against all odds) but all 5 stars books for me.

I loved the first pov narration (again!).
Adrian and Jason were sweet (once Adrian got over his apathetic I don't care - attitude) and their love language (mix tapes!!! I remember fondly making them decades ago myself, hehe) was the cutest thing to read about.
I loved everything about this book!

Now I'll reread Caught Off Guard, to complete my 5-stars - Catherine Cloud - reading experience.

I can't recommend her books enough, and I would suggest to read them in chronological order. They are not a series, and tied just very loosely (the same hockey world), but the overall mood evolves organically from achingly beautiful to lighter but still awesome and touching romances.

[ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ Re-read: Adrian and Jason still give me butterflies. They are so SOFT with each other! There is so much good dialogue between them I could squeal all day. The half star is because I’m never fully satisfied with the ending.

4.5 ⭐️ Under.Rated
The popstar and the hockey player.
Super slow burn - Jason being so sure about his feelz and Adrian slowly opening to them. These boys had some of the sweetest moments, I actually got 🦋.
One of the characters makes a mixtape for the other titled
Extra Soft Tunes for A.🥺 That’s all you need to know.

Jason is quiet for a moment, then he says, “Hey, Adrian?”

“Hm?”

“I’ve been thinking about you, too.”

“Really?”

“All the time,” Jason says. “Gonna think about you a little more now, because I’m a sappy dickhead. Good night, Adrian.”

“Good night,” Adrian says, “Jay.”

[yaishin · Rating 3 out of 5]

“When you couldn’t help but look… was that when I was shirtless by any chance?”

Adrian pulls the sheets up over his head instead of answering.

That was adorable as hell.🤗

[Gillian]

There should be a rule. If you are going to write a slow-burn romance, there absolutely positively must be an HEA. Look, if I have to endure pages of relationship building, and angsty internal dialogues, then I want my happy ending dammit! This book, however, gives us an HFN and a contentious one at that.

I enjoy Catherine Cloud’s writing. Her last book was gentle and romantic, and I know it will be a comfort read in years to come. And this one could have been the same. Don’t get me wrong, the writing is excellent. So much so, I pretty much read the book in one day. But that HFN...

I don’t want to say any more due to spoilers, so I will say this. I throughly enjoyed 95% of this book and that 95% is a strong 4 star read for me. That’s all I say. But if you do read this, I’d very much love to know what you think.

[Tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

There’s something about this author’s style and characters that really appeals to me. I loved this, especially because of the slow burn!

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jason (a famous singer with a vibrant and charismatic personality) was obviously interested in Adrian since the start. Adrian who just returned from his injury was under huge pressure. He was so oblivious to Jason's flirting and his "Tsundere" side wasn't helping either. That cold but must-be-nice-to-Jason-because-its-what-public-figures-do was just funny at first but got me very frustrated in the middle but thank goodness, he finally realise his attraction to Jason because it was really killing me. The romance was pretty slow burn and the flirting was pretty subtle from Jason that I had at times, doubt whether I was wrong. Regardless, it was very cute to see how Adrian finally tries to brace himself to make the best mistakes in his life with Jason. He's getting too strict on himself, closing off to his families and friends, shutting himself off from anything other than hockey. This is recommended for people who are looking for low-steam, slow-burn sportsman/celebrity romance.

P.S I'm minusing one star because I cannot forgive this book to be a standalone because it has a HFN ending and Adrian was still being an ostrich about everything . I havent read any news that it will be serialised and I wish with my fingers crossed, that it will be.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.4 stars. So, I've now read all 3 of Catherine Cloud's books on GR and I have to say, she has a bit of a recipe for hockey fics. Take one closeted and emotionally stunted hockey player with a profound fear of being outed, add a love interest that has a very different personality from him, fold together with lots of denial of feelings and secret pining, go easy on the steamy bits, sprinkle in a dash of unexpectedly supportive jocks, and bake until you have a happy-for-now situation. I mean, it works. It makes for a very readable novel, but they could all use a bit of editing - a lot of time is spent explaining activities that have no bearing on the story, and sometimes I felt that a moment was glossed over that would have been better fleshed out. In this particular book, I liked that the love interest was not also a hockey player, the dynamic was cool and man, do I love a mixtape, but something felt like it was missing in the end.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

How could I think I wouldn’t like this book as much as the other books by this author? This book was gorgeous and angsty in just the right way. Adrian was so cluelessly cute I couldn’t help but fall in love with him. Reading the romance unfold was pure pleasure. It was sweet without being sappy, angsty without being melodramatic and the conflict revolving gay athletes felt oh so real. This book also has amazing secondary characters, from Adrian’s sister who is asexual to his hilarious teammates. Five stars all around !

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread. I wanted to see if this held up to my memory of it, and it did - very sweet, very cute, even some lines that had me laughing out loud. The style is very YA/NA which was exactly what I was in the mood for.

Tagging for spoilers purely so I can say I cracked up at the reveal that Mouse’s real name is Mickey, and also that Ryan’s friends are named Melon, Carrot, and Slaw… and Bread, of course.

[Marthea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adrian to, jak do tej pory, najmniej ulubiony przeze mnie bohater książek Catherine Cloud.
Dlatego cztery gwiazdki 😜

[Sonja · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! I LOVED this. Really hit all of my buttons; a sports romance with a grumpy hockey player and a sunshine famous musician who fall for each other; a great supporting cast (Adrian's sister and teammates were great! And one of his teammates was Austrian and it wasn't irksome to me! Small wins, hooray), and an excellent romance between the main characters that made me stay up until 5am and finish this (almost) in one sitting.

I was really irritated by the author's constant capitalization of 'subway' though when she was referring to the NYC mode of transport, not the fast food restaurant. The NYC in general could have been a little better done, it felt like this story really could have been set in any major city that wasn't New York, but that's my only caveat about this book. Other than that, it was excellent.

[clear skies · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m going to be a bit harsh but this might be the worst book I’ve read this year. It’s only April, so this could change.

Adrian is a ice hockey player and has come off from a bad injury. The guy is literally like a child with really bad self esteem issues. The guy has one season where he ends up injured and then he acts like he’s being put out to the pastures. Adrian has no friends, has a weird relationship with his parents and an even weirder relationship with his sister. He gets a long with his teammates but he’s like the ultimate wallflower at every social event.

Fine I get he’s just an extreme introvert but the author never makes him interesting in the least bit. The whole book is some weird Groundhog Day where Adrian manages to never change or grow as a character.

Jason is a singer and he’s somewhat famous. He’s a big fan of Adrian’s and the hockey team. Jason is like the mascot of the team and gets a long with a lot of the players. Adrian is incredibly standoffish with Jason, mostly because he doesn’t like his music and literally spends most of the book acting like he’s grossed out being in the same room as Jason. I’m not going to lie I have no idea what Jason saw in Adrian.

Adrian gets over himself a little and both of them start a friendship...which is just awkward to read. Then suddenly Jason admits he has a crush on Adrian and they both end up in a very secret relationship until they don’t then they do.

Ultimately in my opinion this book is incredibly stupid, harsh, but true. The main characters are so boring, the story is non existent and Alexis (Adrian’s sister) is probably one of the most annoying characters I have ever read. I had no idea why she was in the book.

If you’re looking for a sports book, this isn’t it, there was hardly anything about the sport in it and honestly you could read a newspaper backwards and that’d be more entertaining than this book.

[Rynn Yumako · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely a lot more light-hearted than the author's previous books, but I loved it just the same.

There were a few times in the beginning where I was doubting that I could really root for this pairing, mainly because Adrian was so good at convincing himself that he definitely couldn't stand Jason. But it got better fast, and after that I was having so much fun with this book, I can't even tell you.

I absolutely loved that Adrian was a closet romantic, and that ending was just absolutely adorable! The main conflict wasn't drawn-out too long (which is a trademark Catherine Cloud thing to do... I'm looking at you, Three Is the Luckiest Number, with your seven years!). Oh, and Jason was just a complete cinnamon roll. Loved the side characters as well, especially Flo.

So yeah, a fun, fast read, definitely worth checking out. The author quickly became a favorite of mine, can't wait for her next book!

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable enough going into it knowing what to expect from the author.

Like her other books, there’s no on page sex.

Lots of cute things happen, but overall I can’t help but feel like Jason deserves the world and the ending didn’t really make sense. I really just wanted more both from and for the two of them. But the good scenes, they were SO GOOD.

Adrian and Jason are both likable, especially Jason, but their love doesn’t drip off the page like the previous two couples’ did. I don’t think anything could compare to Noah and Morgan.

I still think, even with my lower ratings, that this author has something special, and will most definitely read everything else she puts out.

But I’ll miss sex scenes when I do.

[Rhode PVD · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a 3.5. It’s a sweet book. I saved it for an evening when I’d had a tough day, so that was nice. I wish the happy ending section had gone on for a bit longer. I needed a bit more to counterbalance how much internal fretting one hero went through to get there.

Also, while waiting for this to come out, I’ve been reading the author’s other work on AO3, where there are now two complete book-length works not published (yet anyway) as books and I think they had more oomph in terms of character development and interest than this does.

If I didn’t have them to compare this with, maybe I’d be more over the moon. Suffice to say, I’ll keep reading her. She’s a bit of an addiction now.

[travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly cute and sweet, I really loved Adrian and Jason and the dynamic between them

[Kaje Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author has a groove she gives us, of a closeted hockey player terrified of being out, and a love interest who helps drag them out of their isolation. And so far, it has always worked for me. In this book, the love interest is a singer, and there's some added flavor in the intersection of two different but intensive occupations for the guys. The HFN is a bit tentative, after the long build-up with Adrian's internal fears and doubts and self-sabotage, trying to convince himself he can't stand Jason. The teammates are fun, although the sister is a bit annoying (applause for an ace character, but she didn't quite work for me.)

I like the author's writing style, and will read anything she puts out (and need to check out her AO3 stories) although this was my least fav of her three published books so far. Still a solid 4 star and maybe reread.

[lozza · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5★

I enjoyed this! Adrian and Jason’s relationship developed slowly and naturally, and they had several cute moments that made me smile. I adored Adrian, but Jason was a bit forgettable. I liked the author’s writing style, particularly her ability to write natural-sounding dialogue.

[Zofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet.

[Kafui · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐️

[Renée]

From my other review of her books: "I do have to say that all of the books have the general theme of can't possibly come out of the closet, some more than others, and that casts a pall. Which is real. But in these books it's more bittersweet and sad and they are much more tinted with darkness I guess? I dunno, other books have had the same themes but came from a more optimistic POV or people do come out. There's no right answer. But these aren't explicitly happy stories."

This book is probably the most lighthearted of the trio. One half of the couple is out, but not officially until some way into the book. The other stays in the closet, but he also doesn't hate himself or anything. He just wants peace and to have his career.

So, I enjoyed this one the most of the all. I did enjoy that Adrian's a grump too. I love a good grumpy character. I also really enjoyed a normal sibling relationship where they were supportive, but not all up in each other's business either.

I also love the inclusion of a character who is asexual that just exists and isn't made a big deal out of. Like clearly it matters, but it isn't their defining personality trait.

I decided after reading this that I had to go and read the other one that I'd been avoiding.

[Ppit · Rating 5 out of 5]

i... love it? its just like a slow paced, slice of life story with, dare i say it, nothing happens. i mean, theres plot, but it so shallow and they get resolved fairly quick. we follow this introvert MC meeting an extrovert guy and slowly but surely, sparks happens. theres his friends, and his sister, and a bunch of social media comments. i kinda want to read more in the epilogue after tbh.

just, more of them please.

[Arta reads at night · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,8 ⭐️ rounded up

Ahh, this was nice. I love the way this author writes her books and I feel they are underappreciated.
Another book with an awkward MC who tries and tries not to fall in love. Loved it.

[Merel · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read this while I wait for the new one to get released and I'm so fucking hyyyyyped

[nana · Rating 2 out of 5]

**2.5**

I didn't know much what to expect from this book, it was my first by this author and I will read more by her. The characters are both adults but it all felt so much like YA, really. I usually hate YA, but it was tolerable I guess. I really liked the dinamics of Jason being a fan of Adrien, even that at first it wasn't pleasant at all how Adrien perceived him.

See, Adrien disliking Jason wasn't a problem because even that we all know artists are human beings, a hyped artist's public image can be really annoying and eventually make people dislike the artist for no deep reasons, even when the artist did nothing as a person to deserve any hate. As long as one remembers artists are still human beings who deserve respect, it's okay to dislike their public personas. That didn't make Adrien a jerk or anything. The problem is that Jason doesn't exist just as a famous singer, he is also a person who is a fan of Adrien, and he's not a particularly annoying or creepy fan, so Adrien had no reason to be that harsh with a fan of his. Being rude with respectful supportive people for no reason is really shitty.

Also about Adrien's character. It took me very long to me to start to kind of see some sense in his denial of his attraction and feelings for Jason. It would make sense if it was internalized homophobia, but it doesn't seem to be like this. Then we get to know Adrien has problems with general human relationships. Adrien's current family problem take too long to be talked about so it don't fit right as a plot thread. And we don't know why he is like this. Was it his injury? Or he was like that before? And how exactly these emotional consequences (to whatever) worked? We don't know!

Now, I appreciate the author wanted to be inclusive, but Alexis' character really... no. I found her really annoying, but there are people who liked her so I guess that it's most me, but in this book it gets heavily implied that asexual people are people who don't like and/or don't have sex. That's an absolutely untrue definition, and is indeed the idea we get from this book. No! Totally no!

Jason is the type of character I usually like, I did, and yet he felt kinda empty... and we do get a lot of characterization of him, but he still lacks the character strenght of sounding like a real person. The ending was satisfying enough for me.

[DJO · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so happy I've discovered Catherine Cloud. Her stories aren't perfect, because I always want more for her characters at story's end than what she gives us, but I adore her brand of storytelling. This wasn't a five-star read but I loved it nonetheless.

Adrian’s emotional constipation made me nuts and I would’ve loved to hear him tell Jason that he loved him but...small potatoes. The hope is there. Jason was every great thing. I adored him. Their journey was both lovely and painful and had me completely invested. They were surrounded by a crew of likable, real people as well as an adorable cat. I just didn't want their story to end. I could read another 200 pages.

There were a couple of minor niggles, things I'm realizing are inherent to CC novels. The story was too closed door for my tastes. I missed the physical intimacy details and the pillow talk. I also wish we had gotten both characters' POVs. The lack of an epilogue, another CC staple, was a complete downer. But I’ll just imagine them in their little house together, adorably ensconced in their HEA.

Gotta end on a positive note so I'll just say this will be a reread for sure, when I need something dependable and comforting and just delicious 🥰


[tess · Rating 5 out of 5]

so y’all know that i absolutely adored one of catherine cloud’s other books and i did not think i would like this one as much as i did but oH MY GOD. i am once again sitting here, my heart in my hands, absolutely giddy about this story. just. it has the all tropes i love in a hockey book: miscommunication, exploring the effects of the homophobic culture, and of course, weird hockey nicknames. what i especially liked about this one was that it explored how to be comfortable in yourself and your identity outside of what you’ve surrounded yourself with. also: the experience of queer people being so overwhelmed by love because they didn’t think that they could have a romantic relationship where they were truly comfortable in themselves and loved by their partner is just so…. wow. like it hit so close to home and i will be thinking about this book for days. also the lines “he doesn’t want hockey to be everything. he just made hockey everything. it was easier that wanting something else that he’d probably never have.” LIKE COME ON. HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO RECOVER FROM THAT?!

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly I'm enjoying this one. But we are reminded waaaay more than once that our main character isn't interested in women, is gay, isn't dating. Before halfway through, I'm rolling my eyes. On the other hand, I didn't skip the sex scene. In fact, I enjoyed it an astonishing amount, because it's so intensely them. And the last half and the resolution left me very happy. What a delightful surprise.

[maqita:3 · Rating 5 out of 5]

QUE PUTA PENA