This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon and Libro.fm. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.
Verdict: A warm, low-heat hockey romance with a genuinely fresh premise — two rival head coaches in the women’s pro league with a history — held back by writing that some readers find flat and a crowded cast.
Best for: Readers who want sapphic sports romance about coaches rather than players, a single mom and a functional co-parenting set-up, and a mostly off-page romance, and who do not need polished prose.
Heat level: ★★☆☆☆ (2/5 — fade to black, per I Heart SapphFic; no romance.io rating)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.5/5 — a 3.75 Goodreads average across 323 ratings, with praise for the premise and scattered complaints about the prose)
Tropes: Rivals to lovers, second chance, sports romance, hockey coaches, single mother, opposites attract, only one bed, slow burn, butch/femme, dual POV.
Calling the Shots is the third book in Kelly Farmer’s Out on the Ice series, a 2022 contemporary lesbian romance from Harlequin’s Carina Press set in a fictional women’s pro hockey league, in which Regan Lane, a loud, beloved retired superstar who has just landed the Boston Ice head coaching job, promises a championship — and runs straight into Tierney McGovern, the reserved single-mom coach of the rival New York Lady Libertys, whom Regan ghosted after one unforgettable week years ago.
It holds a 3.75 average across 323 Goodreads ratings — right in line with the rest of the series — and most reviewers land between three and four stars. The premise is the draw and nearly everyone likes it. The disagreement is about execution, and that is where the book either works for you or does not.
What Is Calling the Shots About?
This is a sports romance and a second-chance romance at once, and its most unusual feature is that both leads are coaches. That shifts the book away from game-day heroics toward what it takes to lead a team, fight for resources in a league that is overlooked, and stay professional while a rival is on the other bench. Regan’s public advocacy for women’s hockey runs through it, and reviewers note the book shines a light on inequality in the sport.
Regan has charisma, fame and a big mouth, and what she lacks is follow-through — she is still the woman who walked away. Tierney has discipline, a daughter she adores and a career built in her famous father’s shadow, and what she lacks is any willingness to trust Regan again. The book alternates between them, and readers say it digs into both women’s insecurities rather than letting the banter carry everything.
What Makes This Sapphic Hockey Romance Work
- Rival coaches, not players: The most praised element. Reviewers repeatedly call the premise fresh, and it gives the romance a different set of stakes from the usual player-on-player rivalry.
- Hope and the co-parenting: Tierney’s daughter is a reader favourite — funny, creative and a real character — and one reviewer praised the book’s awareness of how hard dating is for a divorced parent.
- Character growth: On StoryGraph, 90% of readers say the character development is strong, and several reviewers praise how both women grow over the season.
- Women’s hockey advocacy: Regan’s campaigning for the women’s game gives her personality a purpose, and readers who follow hockey enjoy the league detail.
- Low angst: StoryGraph readers tag it lighthearted by a wide margin, and one reviewer praised that the characters avoid the usual romance mistakes.
Book Synopsis
Regan Lane was a star on the ice and has never been shy about her opinions. After a stint as an assistant coach, she lands the head coaching job with the Boston Ice in the women’s pro league and immediately promises to win the championship in her first year. Nobody who knows her is surprised — least of all Tierney McGovern.
Tierney coaches the New York Lady Libertys, one of the best in the league, and has spent her career proving she is more than her famous father’s daughter. She is also a single mom to Hope, co-parenting with her ex, and her life is carefully arranged around her team and her daughter. Years ago, she and Regan spent one incredible week together before Regan disappeared, and Tierney has no intention of letting her close again.
But the league is small, and Regan’s public challenge keeps throwing the two coaches together across the season — in arenas, hotels and at every rivalry game. The more time they spend together, the harder it becomes to pretend that the only thing heating up is the competition. The question is whether Regan can finally deliver on a promise, and whether Tierney can risk it with her heart and her daughter’s on the line.
My Review
The best thing here is the premise. Sapphic hockey romance is still thin on the ground next to its M/F and M/M equivalents, and making both leads coaches is a genuinely good idea. It gives the rivalry professional teeth, puts two adults with real responsibilities at the centre, and lets the book talk about the state of the women’s game through Regan without turning into a lecture.
The second strength is Tierney’s home life. Hope is a real child rather than a plot device, and the book’s picture of amicable co-parenting and the logistics of dating as a divorced mother is more grounded than most romances manage. Readers who went in unsure about Regan’s brash persona — one compared her to a famous TV bad girl — say the book won them over by showing the insecurity underneath.
Where it struggles is craft, and the complaints are scattered rather than unanimous. The most specific are about readability: at least one reviewer found there were too many names introduced too quickly, another felt lost and found the characters monotone, and one reader who did not finish called the writing cringeworthy and weak. A different reviewer felt the opposites-attract dynamic never quite clicked. There is also a third-act breakup, though one reviewer felt it flowed naturally from the characters. With StoryGraph at 3.65 from 144 reviews, the book sits a little below its Goodreads average.
Reset one expectation. The blurb sells rivals to lovers, and on the ice they are rivals, but readers note that the romance is sweet rather than combative, and at least one said the rivalry is more pretence than hostility. If a fierce enemies-to-lovers build is what drew you, calibrate. If explicit heat is what you are expecting, know that the scenes are mostly implied.
My honest note: A likeable, low-angst sports romance with a premise worth the price of admission and prose that will not win anyone over on its own. If rival coaches and a single mom sound like your kind of book, give it a go; if you need sharp writing or real heat, look elsewhere.
| Element | In Calling the Shots |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Regan Lane & Tierney McGovern — brash retired superstar and reserved single-mom coach, rival head coaches, second chance |
| Core tropes | Rivals to lovers, second chance, sports romance, single mother, opposites attract, only one bed |
| Setting | A fictional women’s pro hockey league — Boston, New York, arenas and road trips |
| Heat level | 2/5 — fade to black, per I Heart SapphFic |
| Series | Out on the Ice book 3 of 3 — new couple, reads as a standalone; happy resolution after a third-act breakup |
| Content notes | Divorce, past ghosting, misogyny in sport; StoryGraph has no user-submitted warnings yet |
How Spicy Is Calling the Shots?
A 2/5. romance.io has too few ratings to give it a steam level, so the best guide is I Heart SapphFic, which files it as fade to black — sex scenes are mostly implied and described in euphemistic language. That matches the reviews, which talk about chemistry, banter and the history between the leads rather than the intimate scenes. This is a romance you can recommend to readers who prefer lower heat.
Nothing on the page is flagged as a concern. For comparison among the hockey romances reviewed here, Stick Around goes much further at 4/5 explicit open door, while Home Field Advantage, a football-and-cheerleading romance, sits close to this book at 1.6/5 behind closed doors.
Who Should Read This Book?
You’ll likely love it if: you want sapphic hockey romance with a fresh angle, you like a single mom with a well-drawn kid, you enjoy a second chance with history behind it, and you prefer lower heat.
You may want to skip it if: flat prose pulls you out of a story, a big cast of names confuses you, you want a true enemies-to-lovers fight, or you want explicit scenes.
In short: A pleasant, low-heat coaches romance whose idea is better than its execution.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)
There is no viral moment for this one and no trade reviews; a web search surfaced no Reddit threads. Its readers came mostly through Carina Press’s NetGalley advance copies — a large share of the Goodreads reviews are ARC reviews — and through the series itself, which has built a small, steady audience: Out on the Ice has 796 ratings, Unexpected Goals 433 and this book 323. It picked up a thoughtful four-star review on Cannonball Read, which argued that Farmer has grown more confident with each book. Amazon runs warm at 4.5 stars from 106 ratings. The audiobook, narrated by Chelsea Stephens, runs 9 hours and 54 minutes.
Prefer audio? Listen to Calling the Shots on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.
Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The coaches premise first — “rival coaches” and “female hockey” are how most reviews open, often with relief at finding an F/F hockey romance at all. Second, Hope, who comes up again and again. Third, growth: readers say both women confront their insecurities, and on StoryGraph 89% say the characters’ flaws are a main focus. Readers who follow hockey enjoy the league detail, though at least one found some of it a little unbelievable.
What readers argue about and complain about: Execution, rather than any single flaw. The complaints are spread out: too many characters introduced too fast, a feeling of being lost, characters who read as monotone, an opposites-attract dynamic that did not click, and — from the one reader who did not finish — writing she found weak. None of these dominates, but together they explain why so many ratings sit at three stars. The genuine split is the rivalry itself: some readers love the push and pull, while others say the romance is sweet and the enmity is mostly for show.
The series question everyone should ask first: Calling the Shots is book three of three in Out on the Ice, each with its own couple, and reviewers who started here say it works on its own, with only a few early scenes relying on earlier books. It is the series’ newest entry and sits almost level with the others on Goodreads: 3.75 against 3.77 for Unexpected Goals and 3.64 for Out on the Ice. If you like it, Unexpected Goals, built on a rivalry between players, is the natural next step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you need to read Out on the Ice before Calling the Shots?
No. It is the third book in the series but follows a new couple, and several reviewers who started here say it works as a standalone. A few early scenes with returning characters make more sense if you know the earlier books.
How spicy is Calling the Shots?
Low. I Heart SapphFic files it as fade to black, meaning the sex scenes are mostly implied, and romance.io has no steam rating. Expect chemistry and tension rather than explicit scenes.
Does Calling the Shots have a third-act breakup?
Yes. Reviewers mention a third-act breakup, though at least one felt it flowed naturally from the characters rather than feeling forced.
Does Calling the Shots have a happy ending?
The reviews point to a happy resolution after the breakup, with the two coaches choosing each other. None of the reviews I found spells out whether it closes on a full HEA or a happy-for-now.
Is there an audiobook of Calling the Shots?
Yes. Chelsea Stephens narrates the unabridged audiobook, which runs 9 hours and 54 minutes.
If You Loved Calling the Shots, Read These Next
If you want hockey with more heat and a second-chance hook, Stick Around pairs a sports reporter with the star she left behind. Home Field Advantage keeps the low heat and the rivalry in a different sport. If Tierney and Hope were the heart of it for you, A Wish Upon a Star is a warm single-mother romance with an equally well-loved child. For more, browse our sapphic hockey romance list, the wider sapphic sports romance guide, our single mom romance list, or the full Book Reviews archive.
The Bottom Line
Calling the Shots sets out to make rival hockey coaches fall in love, and the idea is a good one: the coaching angle gives the rivalry real stakes, Tierney and Hope give it a warm home life, and the book cares about the state of women’s hockey. What holds it back is the writing: a crowded cast, prose some readers find flat, and a rivalry that is sweeter than advertised. It is worth it for readers who want low-heat sapphic hockey romance with a fresh angle and will forgive plain prose. Check Calling the Shots on Amazon →
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Calling the Shots ranks as a pleasant mid-tier sapphic hockey romance — fresh in its coaches premise and warm in its family life, held back by uneven prose and a crowded cast, and best approached for the idea and the single-mom story rather than for heat or style.
The Evidence Scorecard
Overall ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ 3.75 average across 323 Goodreads ratings
- ✓ Rival-coaches premise widely praised
- ✓ Level with the rest of the series
- ✓ Scattered complaints about the prose
Romance ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Second chance with real history
- ✓ Rivalry gives professional stakes
- ✓ Sweet rather than combative
- ✓ Opposites dynamic does not click for all
Characters ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ 90% of StoryGraph readers praise development
- ✓ Hope a reader favourite
- ✓ Regan’s insecurity wins sceptics over
- ✓ Some find the leads monotone
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.2/5
- ✓ Readable, low-angst prose
- ✓ League detail pleases hockey fans
- ✓ Cannonball Read sees growing confidence
- ✓ Too many names too fast
Emotional Impact ★★★★☆ 3.6/5
- ✓ Co-parenting handled with care
- ✓ Both leads confront their insecurities
- ✓ 60% of StoryGraph readers call it emotional
- ✓ Low stakes by design
Heat Level ★★☆☆☆ 2/5
- ✓ Fade to black per I Heart SapphFic
- ✓ Scenes mostly implied
- ✓ No romance.io steam rating
- ✓ Chemistry carried by banter instead
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.8/5
- ✓ Happy resolution for the couple
- ✓ Series book with no cliffhanger
- ✓ Breakup flows from character for some
- ✓ HEA versus HFN not specified
Re-read Value ★★★☆☆ 3.3/5
- ✓ Comfortable, lighthearted return
- ✓ Audiobook for a second pass
- ✓ Kid and team scenes reward a revisit
- ✓ Prose unlikely to reward rereading
Affiliate disclosure: Lesbian Romance Reads participates in the Amazon Associates Program and the Libro.fm affiliate program. If you buy through a link on this page we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
1 thought on “Calling the Shots Review — Is It Worth Reading?”