Road Rules

Rules of the Game, Book 1

By: Brigham Vaughn

Narrated by: James Edward Jones

Rule one: Hockey comes first.

As NHL team captain, Zane Murphy’s goal for the upcoming season is simple: take the Evanston River Otters all the way to the Stanley Cup.

Rule two: Only On the road.

But an unexpectedly hot night with his best friend and teammate Ryan Hartinger throws Zane’s carefully laid plans and his sexuality into disarray.

Rule three: Don’t fall in love with your best friend.

When feelings begin to creep in, Zane will have to decide if he’s willing to throw out the rules and risk his career and his friendship for a chance at winning it all.

Note: Road Rules was previously published as a 45k word novella on Prolific Works, and has since been expanded into a full length 87k word novel.

Trigger warnings: Homophobic and gendered slurs. Mentions of cheating (not between MCs).

©2023 Brigham Vaughn (P)2023 Brigham Vaughn

Cute

Reading the series and loving it so far. MCs are adorable. Maybe I’m a hockey fan now 🤷🏽‍♀️

So enjoyable!

James Edward Jones does an outstanding job of narrating Road Rules.
Road Rules is a friends to lovers, bi-awakening, sports romance.
These two have been best of friends for years. The only ones who didn't think they were an actual couple is them!
Zane and Ryan have such an amazing connection together and when they realize that their feelings are changing their chemistry is off the charts HOT!
This is a sweet, low angst romance that I devoured.

More Than Friends

Zane and Ryan have been teammates since college days. They both play hockey are roommates and have each others back. Both get drafted to the Evanston River Otters an NHL team, and play well together. Zane is team captain and Ryan his second. This is a lovely story about friendship, discovery and love.

a sweet friends to lovers story

Road Rules is Book 1 in the Rules of the Game series. I loved this beautifully written story about Zane, captain of the Evanston River Otters hockey team, and Ryan, Zane's hockey teammate, roommate, and best friend. This is a low angst friends to lovers story that is just the sweetest. Zane and Ryan are so perfect together. I just couldn't get enough of them. I also loved their families, shocked they weren't already an item. This is just a lovely story that I will enjoy reading/listening to again and again. I definitely recommend this book and series.
Narrator James Edward Jones does a marvelous job. He is such a joy to listen to.

Truly amazing story about love and friendship!

Ryan and Zane are the OG couple of this series and I was so excited to get even more of their story! I read the novella version when it first came out and while I loved that story, I immediately wanted more of these sweet but clueless men! Ryan is the quintessential golden retriever human, running into every situation headfirst and with a huge smile on his face, while Zane is way more cautious and careful, always thinking of others before himself. I loved getting to see their friendship grow into something so much bigger than either of them could have imagined when they first met in college. The additional material in this full length book provided even more sweetness and laughter! James Edward Jones did an amazing job narrating this story and bringing these two men to life! I love how James Edward Jones is able to create so many different characters with his voice and inflection but it doesn't sound forced or is distracting. I can't wait to listen to all the books in this series!

a low angst best friends/teammates to lovers story

I love a good hockey romance and hadn’t yet gotten a chance to read the shorter Prolificworks version that was released last year. I am glad that I waited and got to enjoy this substantially longer version that was recently released. I enjoyed the prologue really taking us back to truly understand and appreciate the depth of their friendship of more than a decade. It also allowed us to see the relationship which had shaped Zane so much that he wanted nothing to do with them while he was still actively playing hockey.

This is an endearing story of a double biawakening between 2 best friends whose coming out shocked absolutely no one. Zane and Ryan balance each other nicely and Zane is super serious and Ryan kinda wild. They help keep each other from going on the deep end on either side of the spectrum which translates as beautifully off the ice as it does on. Their crossing from friends to lovers actually seemed really natural and with a small period of being unsure of what it might do to not only their friendship but concerns for their team. I have enjoyed the first 3 books of this series and eagerly await the release of the rest of it. (I also have my fingers crossed that a certain teammate meets some karmic justice as my distaste for him grows with each book!)

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

Best Friends to Lovers Teammates Romance

Ryan and Zane! *le sigh*

This friends-to-lovers hockey romance is just full of everything I love and then some! Ryan is the big affectionate puppy dog of a hockey player who follows Zane because that’s his person and he’s never let him down, while Zane is the practical captain of the team who thinks everything through thoroughly before making a decision! Together their chemistry is off the charts and their friendship is rock solid. I was never a fan of hockey, but Brigham Vaughn’s hockey series has changed my feelings, at least for reading about it! I am all in on the sexy hockey players and I absolutely loved the added content to this story! I’ve read both versions multiple times and have zero regrets! The team is mostly full of lovable men who are super supportive and a lot of them get their own stories! I was ecstatic for more Ryan and Zane and want so many more books of them raising kids and animals their shenanigans growing old together!!

James Edward Jones does a great job narrating this book and I could feel the passion these boys have for each other better while listening to it!! Can’t wait for Bending the Rules on audio!

Even The Family and Friends Knew!

This was a fun and upbeat friends to lovers listen. I really enjoyed that all the friends and family already knew these two were so much more to each other! Zane and Ryan have such a strong connection, but I loved that they were both discovering being with a man for the first time together. Sexy hot chemistry while still being familiar with each other. James Edward Jones did a good job with bringing all the characters to life!

Great Series

This is a fantastic story and the narration is top notch!!! Definitely recommend listening to this one.

Best kept "secret" that everyone knew..

Except our heroes Zane and Ryan...lol. This was a joy to listen to; both the author Brigham Vaughn and the performer James Edward Jones are new to me. I enjoyed this low angst, friends-to-lovers title so much I know I will continue to delve into the world of "Rules of the Game". It also doesn't hurt that there was an appropriate amount of sensuous heat 😉.

5 stars - I would listen again