After the All For The Game trilogy, I was definitely in need of another sports romance fix, so I picked up Coming In First Place by Taylor Fitzpatrick. I read Thrown Off The Ice last year, and really enjoyed it, and Fitzpatrick's writing style, so I already knew I'd enjoy this one, too. As good as Thrown is, it ends on a tearjerker, and First Place is thankfully a little more hopeful at the end. Supposedly there's a book 2 coming, also 👀
One of my favorite tropes is "Character A is so emotionally oblivious they have no idea Character B is a total goner for them" and this book has that in spades. Our POV protagonist, David, is pretty hopeless. Very strapped-down, withdrawn, rightfully nervous, given he's in the NHL, and emotionally constipated in general. He's an unreliable narrator in that sense, and it's at times funny and painful reading about the way he sees himself and the world.
My favorite thing about Fitzpatrick's narrative voice is its understated sense of reality. No overblown melodrama or purple prose fits of passion. There's doubt, and awkwardness, and a day-to-day sincerity about the way life unfolds that feels grounded and accessible.
A quick read, entertaining, touching, and one that kept me up past my bedtime.
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