Clara’s Verdict
I spent most of a Sunday afternoon with My Kind of Guy, which is exactly the kind of listening occasion Sarina Bowen seems to write for: long enough to sink into, warm enough to want to stay, and paced in a way that does not punish you for needing to press pause. This is the fourth entry in the Hockey Guys MM standalone series, and it demonstrates the craft that has made Bowen one of the most consistently reliable voices in contemporary romance. She knows what she is doing with character, and she knows when to get out of her own way.
Beck, the protagonist, is a genuinely winning creation: funny, transparent, awkward in ways that feel true rather than contrived, and emotionally available in a way that male leads in this genre can sometimes fail to be. Bowen gives him a warmth that earns the reader’s investment early and keeps it through the inevitable complications. Several reviewers described wanting to be his friend rather than simply his audience, which is the highest compliment you can pay to a first-person protagonist and a sign that characterisation has done its work properly.
The setting, a queer beer league hockey team in Denver, is a brilliant choice. Lower-stakes than professional sport, genuinely funny in its logistics, and a perfect container for the tentative domesticity of two people learning to trust each other. Bowen has always been good at finding the specific context that makes her romantic premises feel earned rather than generic, and she is on particularly strong form here.
About the Audiobook
Published by Tuxbury Publishing in March 2026, My Kind of Guy is the fourth book in the Hockey Guys series, with each entry designed to function as a standalone while sharing a connected world of queer hockey culture. This instalment follows Becker James, a backup goalie in the minors with a stalling career and a weekly ritual of consolation at Sports Balls, Denver’s queerest bar, and Forest (Seth Forrester), the gruff, flannel-shirted bartender he has been quietly devoted to from a safe distance.
The catalyst is a proposition that manages to be simultaneously indecent and endearing: Beck offers to help Forest’s LGBTQ beer league hockey team beat their most hated opponents, in exchange for one night together. Forest’s refusal, and the slower, messier courtship that follows, is where the book earns its runtime. His backstory, a previous hookup that went badly wrong followed by a self-imposed ban on all intimacy, gives the relationship’s development genuine weight rather than pure genre mechanics. The fear he carries shapes how he moves through every scene.
Bowen threads the professional sports subplot through the romance with a lightness of touch that keeps both tracks interesting without allowing either to crowd the other. Beck’s struggles on the ice are not merely metaphorical scaffolding for his emotional journey. They are their own story, and the book’s resolution honours both tracks rather than sacrificing one for the other, which is a structural judgement that rewards the patience of readers who invest in both dimensions.
The series is designed for standalone reading, and the book confirms that promise. No prior knowledge of the Hockey Guys world is required to follow this story. That said, returning readers will enjoy the texture of a connected world, and the presence of characters from earlier entries is handled with the right light touch rather than as fan service that excludes newcomers.
The Narration
Teddy Hamilton is having an extraordinary run in MM romance audio. His appearance here as narrator comes hot on the heels of his praised performance in Rina Kent’s God of Fury, and the consistency of his work across both very different titles is notable. He handles Beck’s particular brand of verbal excess with comic timing that lands on every attempt. Forest’s guardedness is rendered differently: quieter, more internal. Hamilton navigates the gear-shifts between Beck’s exuberant exterior and Forest’s defended interior without losing tonal continuity. For eight hours of alternating perspective, that is a meaningful achievement.
What Readers Say
Across 25 Audible ratings, the book sits at 4.6, a response that reflects genuine reader enthusiasm. One UK reviewer described devoting two entire evenings to the book and called Beck the kind of character you want to befriend rather than simply observe. Another praised the combination of low angst, meaningful spice, and a satisfying happily-ever-after. A more considered review described the proposition scene as the moment they knew they were on to something genuinely good. Consistent affection for Beck specifically runs across all the reviews, suggesting Bowen has created a character who transcends the formula of his genre function and takes on a life beyond the romance plot.
Who Should Listen?
This is a strong choice for MM romance readers who want warmth and charm without traumatic escalation: low angst, high heart, genuine emotional stakes. The Hockey Guys series can be entered here without prior reading, though the connected world rewards familiarity with earlier entries. Teddy Hamilton’s narration makes the audio version a particularly compelling format choice for this book specifically, and at eight hours the investment feels right-sized for what it delivers. Listen on Audible UK
