Delay of Game Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: A second-chance romance between Canada’s widowed head coach and an ageing US star at the Winter Olympics, with real chemistry and an author who knows her hockey — held back by a sabotage subplot many readers found far-fetched and less on-ice action than the setting promises.

Best for: Readers who like mature leads, second chances and an Olympic backdrop, and who don’t mind drama crowding out the sport.

Heat level: 3/5 (romance.io: open door, 5 ratings)

Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.7/5 — a 3.95 Goodreads average across 692 ratings and 3.64 on StoryGraph from 164 reviews)

Tropes: Second chance, rivals to lovers, single mother, widow, Olympic athletes, coach and player, forced proximity, standalone.

Delay of Game is Tracey Richardson’s 2017 contemporary lesbian romance from Bella Books. Twelve years after an Olympic love affair that the USA–Canada hockey rivalry pulled apart, Niki Hartling is back at the Games as Canada’s head coach — now a widow raising a young daughter — and Eva Caruso is back as a US player stretching out one last run.

It holds a 3.95 average across 692 Goodreads ratings, with 69% of them four or five stars, 3.64 on StoryGraph from 164 reviews, and 4.5 stars across 299 Amazon ratings.

What Is Delay of Game About?

Niki and Eva were two of the best women’s hockey players in the world when they first faced each other at the Olympics. The pressure of playing for rival countries ended their affair, and both moved on: Niki to coaching and to marriage, Eva to a playing career her battered body can barely sustain.

Now the Games are here again. Eva wants one last shot at beating Canada for gold. Niki, three years a widow and raising her daughter Rory, is trying to coach her country to the top while obstacles pile up — and with the locker room leaking, there are few people either woman can trust.

What Makes This Hockey Romance Work

Chemistry: Readers who liked it single out the spark between Niki and Eva.
Hockey knowledge: Several reviewers note that Richardson clearly knows the game.
Grown-up leads: A coach and a veteran player with history, loss and responsibilities, rather than twenty-somethings.
The Olympic stage: A USA–Canada rivalry at the Winter Games gives the romance high stakes.
Second chances: Readers who love the trope say it is handled well here.

Book Synopsis

It has been a dozen years since Niki Hartling and Eva Caruso first competed against each other at the Olympic Games. The intense USA–Canada rivalry forced an end to their love affair, and both women moved on — Niki to coach and to marry, Eva to prolong a playing career her body can barely sustain.

With the Games upon them once more, Eva wants one last chance to win hockey’s biggest prize, and Niki, now a widow and single mother, strives to coach her country to gold as the obstacles mount. Rivals and former lovers on hockey’s biggest stage, will they feel the same spark — and can they win on and off the ice with the whole world watching?

My Review

The romance is the strongest part. Niki and Eva have history, and Richardson gives them the weight of adults who have lost things: Niki a wife, Eva the body she built a career on. Readers who rate it highly talk about their chemistry and about how convincingly the author writes the sport and the people around it. At 240 pages it moves quickly, and StoryGraph readers split evenly between calling the pace fast and medium.

The complaints are consistent. Many readers wanted more hockey and felt the drama overshadowed the games. The sabotage subplot is the most divisive element: one 2-star reviewer called the plot preposterous, and another felt the villains simply disappeared once they had served their purpose. Others found the story predictable, the writing flat, or the leads not fully rounded, and one found Eva too pushy.

My honest note: Read it for Niki and Eva, not for the mystery. If you can let the subplot wash over you, the second-chance romance is worth the time.

Element	In Delay of Game
Central relationship	Niki Hartling (Canada’s head coach) & Eva Caruso (veteran US player)
Core tropes	Second chance, rivals, single mother, Olympic hockey
Setting	The Winter Olympics
Heat level	3/5 on romance.io — open door
Length	240 pages (Kindle); 8 h 46 min audiobook
Series	Standalone — HEA
Content notes	Death of a spouse and grief, cancer / terminal illness, injury, some violence

How Spicy Is Delay of Game?

Romance.io rates it 3 of 5, “open door,” but from only 5 ratings. It is a romance with sex on the page rather than an erotic one.

Content notes submitted on StoryGraph include the death of a spouse, grief, cancer and terminal illness, injury and some violence; romance.io readers also tag fatphobia. Niki’s wife died three years before the story opens.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you enjoy second chances between older leads, single-parent heroines, and an international rivalry with real stakes. It is on our sapphic hockey romance list.

You may want to skip it if: you want game-by-game hockey, or a thriller subplot that holds up to scrutiny.

In short: A heartfelt Olympic second-chance romance with a shaky mystery attached.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

On Goodreads the split is 30% five stars, 39% four, 23% three, 5% two and under 1% one. On StoryGraph, 65% of readers tag it emotional and 43% mysterious, 75% found the characters loveable, and 65% said the character development was strong. The Tantor audiobook, narrated by Anastasia Watley, runs 8 hours and 46 minutes.

Prefer audio? Listen to Delay of Game on Libro.fm — the audiobook shop that supports independent bookstores.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): Chemistry first. Second, the author’s hockey knowledge. Third, the second-chance storyline.

What readers argue about and complain about: Not enough hockey, above everything. Second, the far-fetched sabotage plot. Third, predictability. Fourth, flat writing or thin characters for some.

The comparison worth making first: If you want another Olympic romance and like more heat, A Gold Medal in Love is a much kinkier take. If you want rivals with more on-ice action, try Playmaker.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Delay of Game a second-chance romance?

Yes. Niki and Eva had a love affair when they first met at the Olympics twelve years earlier, and the pressure of the USA–Canada rivalry ended it. The book picks up when both are back at the Games, Niki as Canada’s head coach and Eva as a veteran US player.

How spicy is Delay of Game?

Moderate. Romance.io rates it 3 of 5, open door, though only from 5 ratings, so treat that as a rough guide.

Is there much hockey in Delay of Game?

Some, and readers say Richardson clearly knows the sport, but several wanted more of it. The romance and an off-ice sabotage subplot take up much of the book.

Is Delay of Game on Kindle Unlimited?

Not at the time of writing — the Kindle edition was listed for purchase at $9.99. There is an audiobook narrated by Anastasia Watley.

Does Delay of Game have a happy ending?

Yes, it ends with an HEA for Niki and Eva.

If You Loved Delay of Game, Read These Next

Try A Gold Medal in Love for a far steamier Olympic romance, Unadulterated Something for retired US and Canadian rivals, or Stick Around for another well-loved sapphic hockey romance. For more, browse our sapphic hockey romance list, the sapphic sports romance hub, our single mom lesbian romance list, or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Delay of Game sets out to be an Olympic second-chance romance, and the love story delivers: Niki and Eva have chemistry and history, and the hockey world feels authentic. What holds it back is everything around them — a sabotage plot many readers could not buy and less hockey than the setting promises. For the romance, it is worth it. Check Delay of Game on Amazon →