The Sweetest Game

I’ll admit, I groaned when I saw the "best friend’s brother" premise—again? But *The Sweetest Game* won me over by the second chapter, and it’s all thanks to June Dorsey. She’s the kind of heroine who’d rather rebuild an engine than bat her lashes, and Kathryn Lynhurst’s narration sells every ounce of her wit and wounded pride. Her June is equal parts warm and waspish, with a laugh that sounds like it’s been bottled up for years. David Lane’s Finn, meanwhile, is a revelation: he doesn’t just *sound* like a jock; he *feels* like one, with a voice that’s all easy confidence until it cracks under pressure. Their back-and-forth in the garage scenes? Electric. You can *hear* the years of history between them—the teasing, the resentment, the way their voices soften when they think the other isn’t listening. That said, this isn’t a flawless audiobook. The middle act drags a bit—too many training montages and angsty silences that could’ve been tightened—but the payoff is worth it. O’Gorman nails the sports romance stakes: Finn’s career isn’t just a plot device, and the tension between his ambition and June’s fear of being left behind feels brutally real. My only real critique? The side characters sometimes blur together (how many nameless teammates does one man need?), and a subplot about June’s mom fizzles out. But the production is crisp, the chemistry is *chef’s kiss*, and that epilogue? I replayed it twice. If you love enemies-to-lovers with teeth, heroines who don’t apologize for their edges, and narrators who make silence speak volumes, this one’s a home run. Just maybe skip the 30% mark if you’re not in the mood for emotional windmills.