Book Review | Gametime – Jami Davenport (Moo U Hockey Series, Book Five)

Gametime
By: Jami Davenport

Series: Moo U Hockey
Book # in Series: 5 of 11
Genre: Sports Romance
Publication Date: April 24th, 2021
My Rating: ✮✮✮
My Reading Format: *Arc Received For an HONEST Review*

Synopsis:

One drunken night and one case of mistaken identity turn a friendship inside out…

You’ve seen the hockey twins around campus–they look identical, but you can tell them apart by their actions. Patrick is the one who’s busy charming women. Paxton is the one in the library.

Until one night when Paxton parties a little harder than usual. Next thing he knows, he’s waking up naked next to Naomi, the girl of his dreams. He bares his heart before an awful realization sets in. He’s not the twin she thought he was…

Naomi is the only child of a hockey legend. Partying hard is the best way she knows how to rebel against her controlling father. After a particularly crazy night, she realizes her big mistake. Her hookup isn’t the guy she’s been crushing on. It’s Paxton, her friend, the guy who gets her, who she can always count on. The guy she’d never want to hurt. And yet, the sex was good. Better than good.

Now she’s wondering if the wrong twin might be the right one after all . . .

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Gametime by Jamie Davenport is the fourth novel in the Moo U series. 

Paxton was okay living his past in his identical twin brother’s shadow. He was okay just passing the puck and watching him score time and time again; and then one night everything changed when his best friend, Naomi, came and sat next to him at a party. That one night, he held all of his dreams in his arms when he held Naomi.

One night of passion quickly died when Naomi realized the tattoo on her new beau’s hip wasn’t the jersey number that matched her long running crush’s jersey number. This number matched her best friend’s number……oops. Now Naomi can’t seem to wipe the night from her head. It’s in every thought and every longing glance. She no longer sees Patrick as the man she wants, It’s Paxton and the way his body felt against hers that haunts her dreams.

After Paxton realized Naomi’s case of mistaken identity, it lit a fire under his ass. A fire that has him realizing he no longer wants to be Patrick’s shadow. He wants his own NHL career and with the help of a very out there coach and the power of a crystal, he’s about to claim the life he never reached for. 

My Thoughts:

When I first read the blurb for Gametime I was intrigued as hell! I never read a novel where a woman hooks up with one twin and thinks it’s the other she’s with….. I like to read outside of the normal and my attention was caught.

…..Well, that happened…… pretty much sums up my entire thought process throughout this novel. I wanted to love this one, sadly though, I never crossed that line from like to love.  And it comes down to the maturity level of the characters and the cringe worthy morning after that started it all. So let’s get into all the highs and lows.

Paxton is a man with a gentle heart and hidden desires. He yearns for things he told himself long ago he can’t have. He has serious confidence issues and it all stems back to the past and how poorly his father treated both Paxton and his brother Patrick. Nobody was ever able to see Paxton true worth, because he was always pushed to the side so his brother wouldn’t be over shadowed. I liked how Paxton grew a backbone throughout this novel. I liked how he put his worries of what everyone would think to the back burner and he went for his dreams. I loved watching him slowly gain his confidence and for once put himself first. However, beneath the surface there was always a hint of vulnerability with him. This brought a high level of humanity to his character, and I appreciated and loved that trait.

On the other side of the scale we have Naomi. To be honest, I didn’t really care for her character. I felt her maturity levels were underwhelming for a college student. Her personality was a bit wishy washy. There were moments when I felt connected to her character, but then something would come in and sever that connection. It all came down to her inability to make up her damn mind about who she truly wanted. I hated the back and forth denial. Who in their right mind would want to date a manwhore when you have a genuinely good guy standing right in front of you. I needed her to grow a backbone where her father was concerned, because the root to all of her problems always came back to her dad and her fear of further disappointing him. 

And then we have the relationship between Paxton and his twin brother Patrick. The bond between the twins was unbreakable, until Paxton started to shake things up and started to live for himself. The growing pains were hard to watch, but in the end it had to be done and I think deep down they both knew they couldn’t be each other’s crutch any more. My heart broke for these two brothers and the rift between them. 

I had a hard time rating this novel.  I loved Paxton and all he went through to get to where he is today. All the struggle when it comes to putting himself first really touched my heart, but I was underwhelmed by the rest of the novel. I decided to rate this one 3 stars because of my love for Paxton’s character and the connection I felt to his character.

Overall, I liked Gametime but sadly, this one didn’t cross the line from like to love. I needed more chemistry between Naomi and Paxton. Don’t get me wrong the sexy times were scorching but I needed more from them outside of the bedroom….or fraternity laundry rooms… or in front of hotel room doors. I needed more to strengthen them emotionally as a couple. I am, however, intrigued to dive into Jami Davenport’s Seattle Sockeyes hockey series!! I am really curious to see what she brings to the table with these novels!

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