Quick Take
- Narration: Scott Rose brings solid pacing to the dual-POV structure, handling the enemies-to-lovers tension with enough energy to carry the comedic supporting cast effectively.
- Themes: Enemies to lovers, workplace power imbalances, trust and betrayal in romance
- Mood: Breezy, steamy, and genuinely funny in stretches
- Verdict: An entertaining contemporary romance with strong secondary characters and a central couple whose chemistry works despite some frustrating choices by the heroine.
I picked this one up on a Friday evening when I wanted something light and fast, and Evelyn Sola’s Game Change delivered on both counts. This is contemporary romance doing what it does well: two people meet in circumstances that make perfect sense for falling in love, then circumstances conspire to make that love difficult, and then the whole thing gets sorted out with heat and humor and a bonus epilogue. The formula is reliable. What elevates Sola’s version of it is the energy of the supporting cast and a central love interest in Colin who is consistently charming without being implausibly perfect.
The setup is efficient: Brynne and Colin meet on a sun-soaked island vacation, keep their real lives deliberately vague, and fall into something that feels, in the moment, like it might be the start of something significant. When they return home and discover that Colin has been handed the promotion that was promised to Brynne, the vacation dream collides with office reality in a way that generates both genuine friction and some genuine comedy. The office politics elements are well-executed, and the secondary characters, particularly Heath and Earnestine, whose scenes prompted actual laughter from more than one reviewer, add texture that the central couple alone might not sustain.
Our Take on Game Change
The enemies-to-lovers structure works here because Sola is thoughtful about why it works: Brynne’s anger is legitimate. She was promised a promotion, that promise was broken without adequate explanation, and the person who received it is the man she just slept with on vacation and developed real feelings for. That is a situation that would make anyone difficult to be around, and the book is honest about the messiness of that position rather than smoothing it over for likability.
Where some listeners run into friction is that Brynne’s response to her legitimate grievances extends, at points, into behavior that is harder to sympathize with, not showing up for work, responding to her boss with hostility that exceeds the professional situation. One reviewer put it plainly: they understood the anger but found the character “extremely exhausting.” That’s a fair reading. The imbalance between Colin’s charm and Brynne’s volatility is the one place where the book’s internal equity doesn’t quite hold.
Why Listen to Game Change
Scott Rose handles the narration with competence. He finds the right register for a romance that wants to be both emotionally real and consistently funny, and he doesn’t oversell the dramatic moments or undersell the comedic ones. The six-hour runtime is appropriate for the material, this is a book that knows its weight and doesn’t pad it out.
Sola’s particular strength, evident both in the text and in how the narration delivers it, is dialogue. The banter between Brynne and Colin has authentic rhythm, and the exchanges between secondary characters carry a genuine comedic timing that survives the translation to audio. Multiple reviewers noted that Heath’s scenes in particular prompted real laughter, that is not a trivial achievement for a romance novel, where humor often exists as decoration rather than as an actual structural element of the story.
What to Watch For in Game Change
This is a contemporary romance, not a workplace thriller or a psychological character study. The office politics are deployed for conflict and comedy rather than as a serious examination of how workplaces handle promise and betrayal. Listeners who want their romance to engage seriously with professional ethics or power dynamics will find the book treats those elements as plot mechanics rather than as genuine dilemmas.
The bonus epilogue is included and does add something, not just as a reward for reaching the end but as a genuine extension of the story into the couple’s settled future, which Sola handles without sentimentality. The pacing is largely strong throughout, though there is a middle section where the back-and-forth between Brynne and Colin loses some momentum before the final act recovers it.
Who Should Listen to Game Change
Romance readers who enjoy the enemies-to-lovers workplace subgenre will find this a well-executed version of it. Fans of Evelyn Sola specifically will not be surprised by the quality; for newcomers, this is a solid introduction to her style. Listeners who find the heroine-in-turmoil dynamic frustrating when it tips past a certain threshold might prefer to sample the first couple of chapters before committing. Those who prioritize humor and secondary characters alongside the central romance will likely find this among the more satisfying recent entries in the genre.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to have read other Evelyn Sola books to enjoy Game Change?
No, it is a standalone novel with self-contained characters and a complete story arc. The bonus epilogue wraps up both the main and secondary storylines. Existing Sola readers will recognize her style immediately, but newcomers have everything they need from the first chapter.
How does Scott Rose handle the dual-perspective romance narration?
With solid competence. He differentiates the voices adequately and finds the comedic timing that the supporting cast requires. He is better suited to the banter and humor than to the more emotionally intense scenes, but the balance works for a book that is primarily light in tone.
Is this a comedy romance or does it take the emotional stakes seriously?
Both, which is the challenge the book navigates with reasonable success. The humor is structural, built into the plot and the secondary characters rather than just sprinkled in as one-liners, but the emotional beats between Brynne and Colin are played genuinely. The balance sometimes tips further toward comedy than drama, which will suit most romance readers.
What makes the secondary characters stand out in this book?
Several reviewers singled out Heath and Earnestine specifically for generating genuine laughter in their office scenes. Sola gives secondary characters actual functions in the story rather than using them as background. They complicate and advance the plot rather than simply reacting to the protagonists, which is the standard against which most romance supporting casts fall short.
