Top Shelf cover art

Top Shelf

A Love the Game Standalone

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Top Shelf

By: E. M. Lindsey
Narrated by: Keval Shah, Michael Dean
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About this listen

No one ever explained to me what to do when the man who took your virginity turns out to be the one in charge of your physical therapy.

NHL veteran Quinn Rhodes was supposed to be a one-time thing: just a hookup who kisses like a dream and screws like a god.

Then, three weeks later, a freak accident threatens to destroy my debut NHL career before it begins. And if almost losing my spot on my team wasn't bad enough, I walk into my PT's office and find him assigned to my recovery.

I can handle this, damn it. I can keep it professional.

And for a short while, it seems like Quinn's willing to do the same. But it doesn't take long for the two of us to shut our mouths and let our bodies do the talking.

If this were just physical, two guys scratching an itch, I could handle it. But deep down, I know there's more to it.

These stolen moments between us mean something. After all, Quinn doesn't smile for just anyone, and the way he holds me when our hookups are over tells me that this thing between us doesn't have to end the moment my knee is healed.

The only question is, will either one of us be brave enough to take a shot at that goal?

Top Shelf is a standalone, MM high heat, grumpy/sunshine rom-com set in the Love the Game Universe. It contains a freshly signed NHL prospect with autism, a crochet habit, and no idea what direction he wants his future to go in, a retired NHL player who just wants a calm, quiet existence, several moments of being at the right place at the right time—even when it feels wrong—dates that they don't know are dates, amigurumi as a love language, and a swoony, steamy happily ever after.

©2025 E.M. Lindsey (P)2026 Podium Audio
Contemporary Romance Sports Game

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Ferris’s autism has been a blessing and a curse. It helps him be a great ice hockey goalie but it’s also made life difficult to navigate. He’s been offered a place as goalie and he’s living in a frat house while he finishes his college degree. He meets veteran ice hockey legend Quinn Rhodes on a photo shoot and the two make plans to catch up. At Ferris’s request, Quinn introduces him to gay sex with no strings attached and the two part ways. Ferris is involved in a car accident which leads to surgery and physical therapy which brings him back into Quinn’s life. The two men know what they want, they’re just not sure if the rest of the world will accept it.

I liked this sports romance a lot. In some ways, this is more a high-heat character-driven rather than plot-driven story. Quinn has lived with permanent injury after an accident tanked his professional hockey career and he’s reinvented himself as a physical therapist who can really relate to his patients. Ferris has a lot of awareness about his autism and related emotions: he understands his strengths and limits, he’s developed strategies to master his reactions to external stimuli, and he’s patient with himself when things go wrong. This is about both men supporting each other. It also explores age-gap, disability, virgin, minority and ‘forbidden’ themes (‘forbidden’ in the context of therapist and patient). There’s mild drama and angst, but in general it’s very sweet and heartwarming. 🎧 Voice actors Keval Shah (as Ferris) and Michael Dean (as Quinn) were both excellent. I especially appreciated Keval giving Ferris’s mother an Indian accent, it was endearing and it helped anchor Ferris’s cultural background.

Lovingly accomodating each other’s differences!

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