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Defending the Reaper
- The Playmakers Series Hockey Romances, Book 5
- Narrated by: Tor Thom, Whitton Frank
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
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Defending the Reaper
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Summary
Take one grumpy hockey player, add one frazzled landscaper, and mix together not-so-gently in one car crash. Will they come out of this with their hearts intact?
Blizzard captain Dave Grimson’s life is as tangled as a wad of skate laces—and it’s a mess of his own making. Used to being in charge, “the Grim Reaper” has become the team leader in name only. Adding insult to injury, he finds himself dumped and single. Though he’s determined to piece his life back together, it’s time to leave his team and his city behind. What he needs is a trade and a fresh start. Dating? He’s leaving that behind too, until he collides with Ellie Hendricks. Literally.
Ellie is fighting to keep her landscaping company afloat before it gets buried under the mountain of debt her ex left behind. The last thing she needs is Dave Grimson crashing into her life. Besides, Dave is big and growly and so not her type—even if she did have time to give him a second look. Which she doesn’t.
Dave’s determined to make up for the damage his careless behavior has caused Ellie. What begins as a good intention, however, leads somewhere he never expected, and his well-guarded heart starts to show some cracks. Ellie’s unlike any woman he’s ever known. She’s unimpressed by his money, his celebrity, and him. All she wants from Dave is to have her van fixed. But he didn’t get where he is by backing away from challenges, and he’s not backing away from this one either—until he has to face-off against his demons.
As Dave lowers his defenses, Ellie catches a glimpse of something tender—and very compelling. But Dave has secrets he’s locked away, and she can’t solve them or his mixed signals. To understand Dave’s every unspoken word, she’s going to have to read between the lines.
Keeping it casual is the smart play, but Dave and Ellie’s mutual attraction won’t be denied, and it pulls them into the deep end…until those secrets come home to roost, threatening to crush the shaky trust they’ve built. Can they keep their heads above water, or will they be caught in a surge that drowns them both?
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What listeners say about Defending the Reaper
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Siobhan D
- 19-12-23
reaper
Wonderful dual narration from Tor Thom and Whitton Frank. Perfect for this book
Dave Grimson “the Grim Reaper” is the captain of The Blizzard’s Hockey team and is recovering from a hand injury. Due to his injury, he has made some bad decisions and the consequences is most of his teammates no longer speak to him. Dave meets Ellie Hendricks when he accidentally crashes into her van.
Ellie owns a landscaping company that is on the brink of financial ruin. Struggling to keep her company going and a success. Everything chase when Dave crashes into Ellie's van.
This is a wonderful emotional, romantic story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Nina B.
- 17-12-23
Book 5 standalone
I don’t know why but I was captivated by this book. I loved the relationship between the main characters and hated the ex. It hasn’t happened to me in a while but I got pretty worked up on their behalf. The narration was great. I definitely recommend this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Heather B.
- 05-01-24
If you love hockey and hockey players, you will love this series!
Each and every book in this series is a such a treat and intriguing listen. This is an adult series, and the characters have adult relationships and everything that comes with them. There is the added complications of professional sports fame, money, and assorted hangers-on, that each character has to contend with. Dave “Grim Reaper”Grimson has had to shake off an internal team scandal and a break up when his ex decided to try her luck somewhere else. When he literally crashes his car into Ellie Hendricks’ work van, the timing for both of them couldn’t be worse. Ellie is also trying to keep her landscaping business together after a divorce. The only thing she’s doing is working and surviving. Reaper is doing the the same, and his surly attitude doesn’t help. When Reaper tries to make amends, Ellie sees something in him even he doesn’t see (with a little help from their friends), both begin to envision a future together. The problem is Reaper has set the wheels in motion for a possible trade. Is redemption with his team too late? And his meddling ex-girlfriend is still lurking around too. I absolutely loved the characters, and as always, the narration was top-notch. GK Brady loves hockey and romance, and it truly shows in this book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- PATRICIA
- 06-12-23
Dave & Ellie!
Can an accident be the way to a woman's heart? Dave, the captain of his team is having some personal issues. While driving, his mind drifts and the next thing you know, he slams into Ellie's van. Now to some this is a make or break problem, but for these two, it turns out to be the start of something good. Or does it? With Ellie's company on the verge of going under and Dave's secrets he is keeping, these two have a lot of stress that just may be the end of their beginning! This is a great look into the strength of the team and their loyalty to each other, and the loyalty of family. Fantastic characters like Finn and those we love to hate like Dave's ex, we are treated to an array of emotional turmoil and joy. It's a wonderful listen, and if you love hockey, grab this series!!
Tor Thom and Whitton Frank are our storytellers, and they are both excellent! Thom nails the part of Dave. He is broody, yet sweet, and finds his way stumbling through life. Thom captures each of his emotions as he delves into his character. Frank is great as Ellie. She understands her and finds each feeling and using her inflections lets us feel it too. She does have a little difficulty reaching Dave's low tones, but makes up for it with Ellie. I enjoyed this look into the Reaper and loved the story!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Gillek2
- 15-12-23
Dave and Ellie!
Trying to recover from an injury led Dave to making a choice that has affected his career as well as his relationship with the team and his teammates. He has concluded that he needs a fresh start and is determined to play as well as he can while he tries to garner another team’s interest. When he is involved in a car accident, he wants to make amends to Ellie, the other driver, who gives him hope but the past continues to affect the present.
The decisions that Ellie’s ex made nearly cost her the landscaping business she created, and she is still trying to recover from the turmoil he left behind. The damage to the van was another setback however even though she and Dave may not have gotten off to the best start she realizes that there is so much more to him than his reputation.
This is a heartwarming story about making peace with the past and realizing that your mistakes don’t define you. I enjoyed the way the narration portrayed the feelings they weren’t ready to share as well as the struggles that Dave was facing as he tried to reclaim his life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Love this
I really enjoyed this book. With the main female character feeling that she’s not enough for this famous hockey player. It’s a very entertaining storyline. I love the chemistry between the characters and the way they both have insecurities. A great performance.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- BellaReads
- 08-12-23
Amazing & Entertaining!
Defending the Reaper is the fifth in the series, but can be read as a standalone. This series just keeps getting better and better, and I enjoyed this book as much as the previous 4!
In this book we finally get to understand Dave Grimson “the Grim Reaper” who we previously met briefly in the other books. He is the captain of The Blizzard’s Hockey team and is recovering from a hand injury. Unfortunately for him, due to his injury, he has made some bad decisions and is now faced with the consequences as most of his teammates no longer speak to him. Add in the fact that he is also not allowed to play in any games until his injury is completely healed. After dealing with all this for a while, Dave is frustrated and decides he wants a change in his circumstances. This is when he meets our heroine Ellie Hendricks when he accidentally crashes into her van.
Meanwhile, Ellie Hendricks is not doing so well. She owns a landscaping company that is on the brink of financial ruin. She spends all her time, effort, and money trying to stay afloat and making her company a success. Both her life and Dave’s changes when they crash into each other.
I really, really enjoyed this story. Both Ellie and Dave are trying to fix their past mistakes; Dave by trying to run from his; Ellie tries to fix the mistake her ex-husband made. In doing so, they both find and get to know each other. The progression of their relationship was just too emotional and sweet. I also loved how the book dove into their past in a way that made me understand them as people and why they act the way they do. Overall, Defending the Reaper was such an amazingly, emotional, and sweet story that gave me all the feels. I highly recommend it!
I listened to this on audio. It was narrated by Tor Thom and Whitton Frank who both did excellent. They were amazing at portraying the characters of Dave and Ellie respectively. They brought personality to their performances. Thom’s portrayal of Dave was broody, yet sweet and captured the essence of Dave. Frank was also excellent as Ellie, capturing her feelings so well. I really enjoyed this story and its narration!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- VoraciousBookDragoness
- 07-12-23
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Great listen! Engaging plot, well described characters & excellent narration.
I am voluntarily reviewing a complimentary copy I received.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Bette
- 05-12-23
Terrific Story & Narration🎧Riveting & Emotional!
GK Brady pens another winning novel set in her “Playmakers” series, a sports romance novel. Each book features different lead characters and their story stands on their own. This fifth book is Dave Grimson's and Ellie Hendricks’ story. Their first interaction was not the best, he t-boned her van with his sports car, not only totaling the van but ruining her day, everything inside the van and the job she was heading to. Ellie owns a landscaping business, a business is that is struggling, so during the off season she started doing outside decorations for the holidays and garden parties. Dave has a lot on his mind, and was not paying attention when he was driving. He is not happy where he is. His past mistakes have cost him the respect of his teammates and he is looking to be traded. It was his inattentiveness that caused him to crash his car and Dave tries to make things right for Ellie. It turns out that Ellie is the neighbor that his cousin, Somona, was trying to set him up with. Both these characters had their issues and their struggles, which made that real. Both had loser exes too, though Ellie’s was not in the picture, Dave’s was and she was manipulative and I knew she was nothing but trouble the moment she was introduced, high maintenance for sure. I enjoyed how everything played out in this book, the writing, plot and world building are fantastic, as are the character growth and development. The story is entertaining and captivates your attention from start to end. G.K. Brady, thank you for another fantastic story and emotional rollercoaster ride.
🎧📚🎧 And for the terrific narration, Tor Thom and Whitton Frank were the storytellers and did a great job portraying the characters, humanizing them, giving each their own voice and personality. I think it would have been even better had this been a duet performance or that Tor Thom performed Dave’s role the entire book, because he was a natural in the role and aced it. Frank was fabulous as Ellie, and while she changed it up while covering the role of Dave changing her voice to sound deeper, but it sounded too gruff almost like it was painful for her to drop into that range, and I can not imagine it being easy to do for a length of time, so kudos to her for that. They set the perfect tone for the story, captured all the characters’ emotions and had you feeling every single one. Thank you for another great listen.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jocelyne
- 07-12-23
Sweet and Heartwarming
This is the fifth book in The Playmakers series, a Hockey Romance. I liked Dave and Ellie's slow burn romance. I loved to follow them in their second chance in love. The story is sweet, and heartwarming, filled with humor, and banter. The supporting characters are amazing. Whitton Frank and Tor Thom did an excellent job bringng this story to life. I enjoyed it. Looking forward to listening to No Touch Zone, the next book in the series.
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