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This fifth book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series is a fantastic read and has immediately gone onto both my keeper shelf and my list of series favourites (alongside Heated Rivalry and Common Goal). At the heart or Role Model lies a gorgeous, sweet and sexy opposites-attract romance, but the story also incorporates some serious issues as well as a coming out story and a redemption arc for a character we’ve met in previous books in the series and have come to solidly dislike.
Readers will recall Troy Barrett of the Toronto Guardians as the dickish friend/wingman/teammate of loudly opinionated sexist, racist, homophobic arsehole Dallas Kent. The pair of them were total shits to Scott Hunter (Game Changer) and then made it their mission to make Ryan Price (Tough Guy) miserable with their continual bullying, insults and all-round obnoxious bigotry. But when Role Model opens, that double-act has been broken up, because Troy has been traded to the Ottowa Centaurs – the “worst hockey team in the NHL” – following a very public bust up with Kent on the ice. At the time, Troy had just learned that a woman had accused Kent of raping her at a party – and that instead of taking the accusations seriously and investigating them, the league, team management and many of his teammates have closed ranks, determined to protect Kent and ridicule his accuser. Sickened that he’d ever called the man a friend and hating himself for not doing something to stop him, Troy calls him out in the middle of a practice session, the video goes viral… and it’s the end of his top-flight hockey career with the Guardians.
Troy’s trade/punishment comes hot on the heels of a recent-breakup (his equally closeted actor boyfriend dumped him for someone else) so he’s not exactly Mr. Happy-Clappy when he arrives in Ottowa. He’s thrown, too, by the completely different atmosphere there; the team members actually get along and even seem to like each other and the coaching style is completely different to what he’s been used to at Toronto (rather than being yelled at, the players are treated like human beings and encouraged). He doesn’t understand how his teammates can be so upbeat while losing games so often, and he really doesn’t know how to handle the positivity and camaraderie, so he keeps his distance – all he wants to do is play hockey and lick his wounds in private. But fortunately for Troy – and us – his larger-than-life team captain Ilya Rozanov isn’t about to let him stew in misery, and the pull of the team’s garrulous, sunny-natured (and total sweetheart) social media manager Harris Drover proves just too hard to resist.
I love a good redemption story and this is an extremely good one. There has been the odd glimpse before this that there might be a decent man behind the toxic, bullshit behaviour Troy indulged in, and his gradual transformation from the bigoted, stereotypically aggressive jock of the past to the Role Model of the title is completely believable and superbly done. It’s clear from the start that his outward homophobia was a way of hiding his own sexuality and that his friendship with a man who, for all his popularity, embodied all the worst qualities of professional sport, was a way of satisfying a powerful need to belong that began in childhood thanks to an arsehole dad who came from the same mould. I was completely won over by Troy’s determination to address the mistakes he’s made and become a better person, and by the journey he takes in order to get there.
Part of that journey towards self-improvement and self-acceptance is his romance with Harris, who is both his complete opposite and his true soulmate. Harris comes from a loving family and has lived in Ottowa all his life; he’s out and proud, he’s determined to make the most of what life offers and he’s an eternal optimist who is happiest when those around him are happy. To start with, Troy can’t wrap his head around the fact that his teammates have absolutely no problem with Harris being gay, and he’s completely baffled by this person who is always so cheerful – but somehow Troy finds himself craving the other man’s company, even if it’s just sitting quietly in his office while Harris gets on with whatever he’s working on. Harris realises that Troy is lonely and could really use a friend, so he sets out to be that friend and make him feel welcome, helping to draw Troy into the friendship and support the guys offer to each other and slowly enabling Troy to start to come out of his shell and realise that he’s someone worth knowing and worth loving. They have chemistry by the bucketload and their romance is sweet and sexy and swoonworthy. Best of all, these are two people who are good for one another and bring out the best in each other.
There’s a terrific ensemble cast including Troy’s new teammates and coach, cameo appearances from Eric, Kyle, Ryan and Kip – and last but certainly not least, a fabulous showing by the snarky, perceptive Ilya Rozanov, who continues to steal pretty much every scene he’s in while offering up small gems of wisdom and quite a few of the book’s biggest laughs. As fans of the series breathlessly await the conclusion of Ilya and Shane’s story next year, Ilya’s important secondary role here is a lovely and unexpected gift, and I loved the more mature, thoughtful side of him we get to see in this book.
I also loved the lack of manufactured drama in this story. There’s no Big Mis or dumb third-act break-up; instead we get more of Troy’s journey of self-discovery as he truly comes into his own, more of Troy and Harris being perfect for each other and an incredible, tear-jerking moment of triumph and acceptance that is worth All The Sighs.
Rachel Reid’s depiction of the toxic culture that continues to be deeply engrained in certain professional sports is, sadly, all too believable, with sexual assault victims openly disbelieved and ridiculed on social media, and Troy bearing the brunt of the fans’ displeasure and risking censure by the NHL for using his celebrity status to give a voice to those who are being shouted down. It’s heavy subject matter, and I applaud the author’s decision to include it, which she does very skilfully, integrating the plotline carefully into the story while not allowing it to overwhelm it.
Boasting two engaging leads, a lovely sunshine/grumpy romance, a superbly crafted redemption story, lots of warmth and humour (and a cute dog!) Role Model is another fantastic entry in the Game Changers series, and I’m happy to recommend it.
Buy it at: Amazon or Audible
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Grade: A
Book Type: Contemporary Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 10/08/21
Publication Date: 08/2021
Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.
Related Reviews
Oh, dear, in the minority on this one. This book is a C or a C+ for me.
Full disclosure: I have read the first 2 books in the Game Changer series but have not read books 3 and 4 yet. (Soon will be starting book 3.) I understand from some GR reviews, as well as from Role Model itself, that Troy was indeed a nasty dick in one or both of those unread books.
Loved Heated Rivalry! Did not love Role Model. Here’s why:
1. The story line starts off very promising. Troy is hated by many colleagues for not taking the side of his accused teammate against accusations of sexual assault. Troy has just lost his boyfriend of almost 2 years and is heartbroken. He has also just been traded from the team he loved to a team he looks down on. New town, no friends, shitty team, lots of soul searching. Great setup! But somehow, as the story goes on, it just loses steam for me! It becomes didactic (more about that in a minute) and a bit too treacly. (Mr. Neck-Neck, anyone?) I know that works for a lot of folks, but it’s not really my cup of tea.
2. I don’t need the author to instruct me on how Evil it is that professional sports athletes have been known to sexually assault women and then get away with it due to their popularity and to being protected by their franchise and by the industry itself. I mean, if that’s the subject you want to build your story around, that’s fine. Just give me a story that organically makes the point(s) for you. Reid has the ability to do that. But I felt like she kept hitting me over the head with her very spelled-out message.
3. Troy is always beating himself up for not realizing sooner what a dirt bag his best friend Dallas Kent is. He was getting on my last nerve with the constant “I should have known!” and “I’m not good enough for Harris” lament. And then we find out Troy never witnessed anything concrete. He just figured he knew “enough” about Kent to find the assault victims’ stories believable. (And his main argument is “Why would these women lie?” Which reasoning I have a tiny problem with, though I, like, 97-percent agree.)
It would have worked better for me if, say, Kent had tried to get Troy to give him an alibi–fake, obviously–for a specific event Kent was accused of. Then I could buy that Troy has this lightbulb moment about Dallas Kent and is sickened by the realization. (Was there a moment in the previous book where Kent tries to get Troy to cover for him in order to get him off the hook?)
4. Harris is close to being a “Marty Stu”. He’s too down-home for me, too nice, too sweet. You know who does “nice guy, good guy” right? Shane Hollander.
5. We are told (twice, I think) that Troy has “privilege” and finally uses this privilege to make people aware of sexual assault against women in professional hockey. “Privilege”? Really? So, he uses his whiteness? His maleness? No, the truth is he uses his popularity, his high visibility as a star athlete to get his message out. I prefer authors to use meaningful and accurate vocabulary rather than vague social justice terms that imply something generally sinister or bad about a character.
What did I like about the book? I enjoyed the parts of the story that sounded more “authentic” and less like a PSA. Like when Troy apologizes to Ryan. For Troy, it’s a big moment. He hopes Ryan will forgive him, maybe even celebrate that Troy has seen the light. But Ryan has already moved on with his life, and while he sort of appreciates Troy’s apology, its impact on him is minimal. His tepid response–not really what Ryan was hoping for–felt real to me. I also liked a lot of the person-to-person interactions; Shane, Ilya, Troy, and Harris(and even some side characters) all have distinct voices and personalities.
As with the other 2 GC books I’ve read, this one has very adult sex. But honestly, if you removed the sex (and maybe a little bit of the crude language), Role Model seems like it’s written for teens.
Hmm, on my PC, it looks like the formatting (paragraph marks, primarily) have been stripped out. If so not sure how to fix it.
If people reading click on the “more” link, it appears complete with formatting :)
Oh! Thank you for the info. Note to self: Brevity is the soul of wit.
YES, THANK YOU! Thank you for spelling out all my issues with this book in a much more precise way than I’ve been able to! Every single thing you listed was a reason that I really disliked this book. I gave it a 2 star rating.
Unlike what I’m seeing from other reviewers, the only parts I DID like were the parts with Ilya.. I just thought Troy was crushed down from a fully fleshed character into the writer’s platform.. I didn’t think he or Harris have enough of anything (together OR separately) to carry a full book or give me the connection I look for when reading. For me it didn’t come close to comparing the heart and soul she gave Ilya and Shane. (Now those 2 are such wonderfully complex characters!!)
Your 1st point – Agree! I literally cringed every time they mentioned mr neck-neck. Eck.
2- YES, people that generally will be reading this book don’t need definitions of rape culture. I felt like she was trying to convince me for an entire book that rape is a thing, when that’s just not what she needed to do here.. It started to feel insulting! I think it can be a meaningful and moving part of a story when well written, but I realllly don’t need to be whacked over the head and be told WHAT it is a million times in 1 book..
3- Yes, yes yes! Troy’s “I SHOULD HAVE KNOWNNNN” got SO repetitive (and ties into the character literally only serving as an object for the writer to use, rather than a fully fleshed out character)
4- For this exact reason, Shane will always be one of my faves!! WHY do nice people often get written so flat, like Harris in this?!
5- YES x 1million! Troy uses his platform to provide support. People throw the word privilege around and it bothers me.
6- I loved how you described Ryan’s tepid response! I hadn’t quite put that into words in my head, but you nailed it. I also agree on the tone of the book! It feel like it clashed to me. Preachy, but with a teen tone, but also so R at times!
Yes, this is definitely on my favourites of the year list too.
Funny bits, sweet bits, sexy bits, teary bits, sad bits, bits that make you think – you can’t ask for more really. I’m very pleased that Rachel Reid didn’t go as dark as she had originally intended with this book as I think she got the balance just right.
I’m really looking forward to reading the next book with the overlapping scenes from Ilya’s pers….pers….perspective:)
I started reading Role Model last night, stayed up as late as I could manage then had to wait until this evening to finish it off. Darn those pesky things like work and laundry and dinner!
I love this series. I am in the minority here in that I really liked the first book Game Changer. I think it’s because I love Kip and I loved the scene where they win the Cup and Scott kisses Kip on live TV. However, my favorite is Heated Rivalry – rich conflict, a storyline over years, and great main characters.
I really enjoyed Role Model. Troy was so lonely and in need of love and I think Harris is his perfect partner. Troy’s youth really struck me. I think there is a lot of personal growth and development that occurs in your 20s and I was impressed how hard Troy worked to become a better person. In a way, though, I think that is also one of the few negatives about the book – the book was much more about Troy’s journey than how two people grew and changed together to establish a relationship. Harris really remained the same throughout the book. He had an interesting back story but it was never really explored much beyond him being happy that Troy didn’t treat him as fragile.
I am also still debating whether there was too much Ilya or just enough. Ilya’s personality is so strong that he takes over any scene that he is in. And, of course, we fans of the series have that insider information about his secret relationship so any scenes involving Ilya are extra interesting. I felt this distracted me a little from the main storyline of Troy and Harris.
I do agree that Ms. Reid did a really good job exploring the topics of toxic masculinity and rape culture without preachiness and in a way that integrated well with the story. Kudos to her!
Ms. Reid’s blog says that the last book The Long Game is planned for spring 2022 and that a large chunk will overlap with the events of Role Model, revisiting scenes from a different point of view. I especially want to know what Ilya was texting (I bet to Shane) during the fateful plane ride. I sensed that this event changed something in Ilya and hope this will be shown in The Long Game. That book can’t come soon enough for me!
I think that yes, Harris is more of a foil for Troy in this one, but I so loved their romance, that it didn’t really bother me – after all, I suppose some people really are that well-adjusted at his age! I also wondered about Ilya’s sudden ‘disappearance’ after the plane incident…
I figured since Ms. Reid made a point of showing Ilya’s texting and mentioning his disappearance after the plane incident that we’d get his POV of the same situations in the next book. I was a little on the fence about the amount of emphasis on Ilya, as well. His personality is so forceful. Plus he seemed a bit different here than I remember him in other books, but that might just be me. I was surprised by his bursts of loud puppy enthusiasm, although it was cute as hell.
I’m not sure of the timeline but if Ilya has been happy with Shane for a few years now, I would understand that his personality might soften. I think we saw glimpses of this in the books subsequent to Heated Rivalry. And he has certainly shown himself to be a relationship savant!
Yes, I was thinking along the same lines :)
Oh, the keen observations were right on point for his character, I agree. The other was no big deal, but, just how it struck me as I read it. :-)
It’s interesting to reread HEATED RIVALRY and realize that, although GAME CHANGER was published first, a good portion of HEATED RIVALRY’s timeline takes place prior to that of GAME CHANGER. So in GAME CHANGER when Ilya tells Scott that he (Scott) did a brave thing by coming out, it’s not until HEATED RIVALRY that we discover Shane & Ilya have been secret lovers for several years. Of course, if you read HEATED RIVALRY first (as I did), then that moment in GAME CHANGER doesn’t have so much resonance in retrospect, but if you read GAME CHANGER first, you only realize after reading HEATED RIVALRY that Ilya had more than surface reasons for telling Scott he was brave.
You’re right. I read them out of order, too, so I already knew there was more behind the comment. It’s not a big deal, but I wish I’d read them in order. I read Common Goal before Tough Guy because I was influenced by some reviewers not liking it as much. But in the end I liked it maybe even more than Common Goal. It was a more emotional story. Common Goal was sweet and fun, while Tough Guy was sad at times and dealt with some difficult issues.
I completely agree. I read the books in order and the scene where Scott comes out while Shane & Ilya were watching and texting each other carried a big punch because it triggered Ilya to take a huge step in their relationship and accept Shane’s invitation to his lake house.
I was reading ROLE MODEL all day—and I just finished it and and I loved it! A sure candidate for my favorite book of the year and my favorite Game Changers book after HEATED RIVALRY. I especially loved the way Reid made Ilya such an important part of the story. (I do wonder if, when Reid was adapting her Captain America/Bucky Barnes fan-fic into GAME CHANGER, she knew she was going to make Ilya the catalyst for so much in the entire series.) Now the long countdown to LONG GAME begins.
Rachel Reid is always dependable; this is delightful.
I started this on audio this morning and I’m loving it. Ilya is so good here, and I love a well-done redemptive story.
I’m looking forward to listening to it – I’m so glad the books have a good narrator now (if only Cooper North had narrated the first three…)
I’ve got the audio but haven’t listened to any of it yet – I’m at 30% of the ebook. Has Cooper North improved his voice for Ilya? I thought it was weak in Common Goal.
I haven’t started it yet, but I’m sure I’ve seen somewhere that the answer to that is “yes”. (Honestly though, I’m just glad I can listen to these books now! I would pay good money to have Cooper North re-record Heated Rivalry!!)
I can hear all the imperfections in the audios of Heated Rivalry and Tough Guy but I still enjoy them. I love Tor Thom’s voicing of Ilya – particularly the way he says ‘Hollander’! The only one I can’t listen to is Game Changer, because of his awful voice for Kip.
I loved this too; it prompted me to read the whole series all over again! One of my favorite books of the year.
It’s so good! I love that RR addresses some important issues, but not in a way that feels preachy or overwhelms the story.
I recently did a reread of the series, too. I read Game Changer for the first time and enjoyed it, although I agree that it’s probably the weakest of the series. I know Tough Guy isn’t a favorite, but I really liked how it handled some tough issues, and that made the plot somewhat more interesting than Common Goal. Common Goal is probably more “fun” but the plot isn’t very deep.
I’ve just done a reread too – all except Game Changer, as I ran out of time and had deliberately left it until last. I agree with you about Tough Guy. I find it has more warmth than Common Goal, and Fabian is one of my favourite MCs in the series.
Just downloaded this first thing this morning. Can’t wait to get started!
I hope you enjoy it, DDD. RR just seems to go from strength to strength!
I’m already 20% in and I’m loving it!
Hey, DDD, I’ve been meaning to recommend Angels in the City by Garrett Leigh if you haven’t read it. It has a similar feel to Heated Rivalry for me, probably because it features a stoic Russian involved with a sweet guy.
Thanks for the rec. Onto the never-ending tbr it goes!