Book: Slap Shot by Chelsea Curto
Reviewed by Desi Disassociates
Rating: 5/5
Madeline Galloway is an executive chef at the top of her game professionally, but when her restaurant is sold and the new owners are planning to bring in their own people to run it, she's now forced to scramble to find a new job to continue to support her daughter, Lucy. When her search comes up empty, she stumbles upon a business card at the bottom of her purse that puts her in touch with a possible private chef client in DC.
Hudson Hayes is the ultimate golden retriever hockey player, struggling to keep a private chef that is able to maintain the professional boundaries he expects in his home. Ever the nice guy, the prospects attempt to take advantage and don't last longer than a week. When Piper invites him over for dinner and he tastes Madeline's food, it seems like a no brainer. But can he keep his professional boundaries and not scare Madeline away with his feelings?
I eyeball read this last year and don't know how I didn't write a review, but also only gave it 4 ⭐️!!! With the audiobook release, I decided to do a second read via audio and bumped it up to 5⭐️. This may be a hot take, but I sometimes struggle with Teddy Hamilton as a narrator because I feel a lot of his MMCs sound exactly the same, but I am very happy to say that was NOT the case in this one.
Teddy as Hudson was actually quite perfect, and the audiobook had me tearing up at the same places I cried when I eyeball read this for the first time. Hudson and Madeline's relationship was truly built on the foundation of friendship and was more companionship vs romantic, which is really so important and relatable.
Chelsea Curto truly writes the best couples and Hudson and Madeline are my favorites. Hudson's immediate acceptance of Lucy and her inability to hear was just so pure. And while Hudson was just one, the found family and the acceptance of the entire Stars crew seriously had me crying. This story was complex and beautiful and my favorite so far. While I almost eyeball read first, this audiobook was so well done you'd probably be fine to audio first if that's your jam.