Skip to main content

Review: The Game She Hates - Healing Kind of Love #1

The Game She Hates book cover on blue background

Ella Marie is a new-to-me author, so I appreciated the opportunity to read The Game She Hates, which adds to my little Christian hockey romance collection. I would say this book is a great choice for the Clearly Christian Readathon!

Many thanks to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Book Synopsis

Zane has had his fair share of a tumultuous childhood, and on the ice as the center of the Glaciers, he releases pent-up anger and frustrations from the relentless blows life has dealt him.

Off the ice, he avoids his teammates and dismisses anyone who tries to show him affection, especially women who are only drawn to his fame. But everything changes when he meets Pearl. Instantly captivated, he sets aside all his reservations and pursues her relentlessly, despite her clear rejections and disdain for hockey.

Pearl desperately wants marriage, commitment, and a man who shares her faith—definitely not a handsome, charming athlete like Zane who doesn’t believe in God and has women all over town swooning over him.

She is done using dating as a mission to convert guys to Christ, only to end up hurt.

As Zane persists in trying to maintain a 'just friends' relationship with her, he begins to question whether healing and grace can be his portion too?

Source: Amazon

Book Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book because of how in-depth it got in terms of the emotional and spiritual development of Zane and Pearl. It's easy to see why this is the author's favourite couple as they are both winsome characters who are going through tough issues while trying to understand the role of God in their lives. I appreciate that both characters want to do what is right for the other person, even when their hearts might not feel like it at the time. Instead of giving in and compromising on their beliefs, I thought it was helpful to see Zane and Pearl both work on themselves instead of just jumping into a relationship together. Pearl's work as a therapist brought a level of maturity to the story, and it was endearing to see her grow over time as well.

This book is faith-filled and points to Jesus' love and redemption. Pearl's prayers are vulnerable yet striking, and I found myself relating to some of her concerns and fears. At the same time, Zane is a bold character, and seeing him heal from past wounds is most gratifying. It's wonderful to have Ella Marie's voice in the Christian fiction world as she offers both tenderness and conviction in a compelling manner. This was a gentle story that imparted some powerful truths alongside a sweet romance. Readers who enjoy hockey romances will cheer Zane and Pearl on in this heartwarming book that honours its characters who in turn strive to honour God.

Book Summary

  • Format of book: 📱
  • Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
  • Recommendation: 👍
Labels:

Comments

  1. Ella MarieJuly 13, 2024 at 6:16 AM

    Thank you so much for writing this beautiful review! I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed this book 🙏🏽♥️ Thanks for sharing and recommending too 🫶🏽

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Christian ShelvesJuly 15, 2024 at 4:53 PM

      It's my pleasure! I truly enjoyed getting to know your characters and their lovely story :)

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Christian Book Review Programs

Over time, I've been on the hunt for Christian book review programs that readers can join. As a result, I've been able to compile the following list which may be of interest if you are seeking review copies of Christian books. This list mostly applies to print and ebooks, although some publishers offer audiobooks as well. If further information is available for any of the publishers below (or any missing publishers), please let me know as I am happy to update this list—thank you! Please note that you can also search for these publishers on NetGalley and other review sites in case there are no review programs available or you don't qualify for one 😊 Christian Publishers B&H Publishing Group Previously offered the B&H/Lifeway Blogger program which has since closed Availability: Professors and instructors Link:  B&H Academic Book Requests Baker Publishing Group Availability: U.S. and Canadian residents Genre: Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction Imprints: Bet...
8 comments
Read more

Christian vs. Clean

This is a theme that isn't new if you've been following some of my musings over the past several months. You could even say this is the natural progression of taking this line of thinking to its conclusion. In evaluating which books to read, the refrain of Christian vs. clean has become so ingrained in my thinking that it's practically been on repeat for me. To be honest, I've never really held a view on Christian vs. clean books until the end of last year. Most of my reading since becoming a Christian has been all over the place, where I believed that acquiring knowledge, almost any knowledge, was worth it for the sake of becoming more learned. Being a voracious reader meant that I would consume most anything—especially if it was free as I didn't have a lot of books growing up (my parents preferred to take me to the library on a weekly basis as I would have cost them too much in books 😂). However, God has definitely been impressing upon me the conviction that I ca...
6 comments
Read more

Intentional ARCing

I realize ARCing isn't quite a real verb; however, I'm sure that fellow readers can understand the actions involved in experiencing ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) books, so please indulge my creative use of this word. I started reviewing ARCs 18 years ago, and though I certainly haven't been consistent, I'm grateful to have picked up a thing or two since that time, with many more lessons learnt since I've ramped up my volume in the last several years. Some of the biggest discoveries I've made in my reading journey have included the following: 1. Be discriminate, in the best ways. Over time, it's been easy for me to spot beloved publishers and even have an idea of an author's content and style, even if they're new to me by checking out the author's websites and platforms, along with review sites. This mostly applies to traditional publishing where it can be easier to source information, but the principles apply to indie books and authors as well. As ...
Post a Comment
Read more