The Short Version
- Narration: Alexander Cendese handles the dual male protagonists with warmth and enough distinction between voices to keep the perspective shifts clear in a short runtime.
- Themes: Coming out publicly versus privately, class dynamics and parental expectation, the gap between a one-night-stand and something real
- Mood: Low-angst and sweet with genuine tension in the family dynamics subplot
- Verdict: A compact, affectionate MM romance that works best within the series context, though it is accessible as a standalone for readers new to the Delay of Game world.
I came to Empty Netter on a Tuesday evening when I had about five hours and wanted something that would be complete by bedtime. Hannah Henry's fourth book in the Delay of Game series had been on my list since a reader mentioned it as one of the better entries in what she called the current wave of hockey romance, a subgenre that has expanded considerably in recent years. At just under five hours, it is more novella than novel in audio terms, and that brevity shapes everything about how it works.
The setup is efficient. Blake Brennan is the NHL goaltender who came out publicly, a detail that would be the entire premise of a different, more earnest book but which Henry treats here as existing context rather than central drama. He is struggling in net and newly single. Matthew Sawyer has moved back in with his father, who coaches Blake's team. The New Year's Eve bar meeting is handled with economy, and the one-night-stand that follows is less a climax than a starting point. Alexander Cendese narrates both voices with genuine warmth, and the short runtime means he never has time to become monotonous.
Spite Fuels Matthew Until Blake's Transfer Cools It
What distinguishes Empty Netter from the broader hockey romance landscape is the specific complication at its center: Matthew is deliberately using Blake to spite his father, without his father ever finding out. That premise carries real potential for the kind of layered family drama that elevates romance beyond its genre conventions, and Henry develops it with some skill. The father-coach dynamic, with its competing expectations and Matthew's genuine uncertainty about what he wants from his own life, gives the early sections an edge that the more straightforward romance beats cannot quite replicate.
The problem, which at least one reviewer noted directly, is that the story loses some of that edge after Blake's transfer. The complication that made the first act interesting, the proximity of the father-coach, the risk of discovery, effectively dissolves. What remains is a more conventional pathway to the engagement at the conclusion. One reviewer described the post-transfer section as a downfall relative to the book's more charged opening, which is a fair assessment. The bones of a more complex story are visible.
Cendese Keeps the Low-Angst Romance Unshowy
Within the specific conventions of low-angst MM romance, the book delivers reliably. Reviewers who came to it for that experience found it a worthwhile entry in a series they had been following, and the consensus around the sweet, gentle quality of the relationship is consistent. Henry writes warmth well. The progression from one-night-stand to something more is handled without the manufactured obstacles that weaker genre entries rely on, which is a genuine craft accomplishment even in a short form.
One reviewer flagged that this is nominally part of a series but functions independently, which is helpful information for readers encountering Delay of Game for the first time. The core romance requires no prior context, though readers familiar with the series will presumably have more texture around the team and its dynamics. Cendese's narration is pleasantly unshowy, which suits the low-angst register.
Five Hours Compresses Matthew's Whole Arc
The runtime is genuinely short. At under five hours, the character development that longer MM romance novels typically sustain is necessarily compressed. Matthew's arc from uncertain, directionless young man to someone ready for a committed relationship happens with a speed that shorter fiction requires but that some readers will find insufficient. The same reviewer who appreciated the story's sweetness noted a desire for more development of Matthew's friendships and interior life.
Readers coming to this without genre familiarity should know that the hockey elements, while present and accurate enough to satisfy casual sports readers, are backdrop rather than primary content. The sport is more setting than subject.
Complete and Undemanding in One Sitting
This is for MM romance readers who want something complete, warm, and undemanding in a single listening session. Hockey fans who are also romance readers will find the setting satisfying. Those new to the Delay of Game series can start here without confusion. Readers who prefer their romance with higher emotional stakes and more substantial character development will likely find the short runtime a constraint. Those looking for a nuanced portrayal of the experience of being publicly out in professional sports will find that element exists mainly as context rather than exploration.
How does Alexander Cendese handle two male protagonists with alternating POV?
He maintains enough distinction between the voices to keep perspective shifts clear, and his delivery is warm throughout. The short runtime means you are unlikely to lose track of whose perspective you are in.
Does the father-coach subplot get fully resolved, or does it feel dropped?
At least one reviewer felt the story's most interesting tension, centered on the father-son dynamic and the proximity to discovery, softened significantly after Blake's transfer. The plot does resolve, but readers who found the early sections compelling may feel the resolution is handled somewhat quickly.
