Randomness 2.0

In 2023 I made this visual intro to the Game Changers series, and the blog I hosted it on is dormant now but it seemed like a good time to re-up since there are many new folks curious about the books!

My recommended reading order to get hooked: 2, 5, 6 then 1, 3, 4 in any order. I love all the books but if you're wondering "what is all the fuss about" the fuss is about Shane and Ilya and their story starts in book 2 (Heated Rivalry). If a reader is new to the genre, I start them there so that they are sure to want more. For more experienced romance readers, there are elements of book 1 that set up some beautiful moments in book 2 and I think there's a nice payoff to go in 1-6 order.

Available as books, e-books and audiobooks. The audiobooks are great with the exception of book 1 which I had to listen to at 1.3x because one of the accents is a little….tough. I think books 4-6 are especially exceptional listens. Just watch your bluetooth connection if anyone else is going to be around you.

Note on book 1, since rumors abound: I see a lot of people dismiss this book because they've heard that once upon a time it had a previous life as Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes fanfic and then made the (heavily revised!) jump to published work. I think those people are missing out on a lovely and unique couple in Scott and Kip! Even if you're just here for Shane and Ilya, this book makes the rest of the series sing.

Why I love these:

a high octane background for romance even for non-hockey fans

five completely (impressively) distinct couples

an OTP (Shane/Ilya, books 2, 6) that hit me like a lightning bolt

conflicts rooted consistently and believably in character

absolutely searing smut and satisfying happy endings

diverse representation of queer and coming out experiences

Shane is Japanese Canadian, Fabian is Lebanese Canadian, and books 2, 3, 5, and 6 are set in Canada which is fun and different

a lot of great fan fic waiting at the end :) and some incredibly talented artists

Now that the quality of Duolingo has fallen (even more) due to AI and people are more willing to make the jump here are just some alternative apps and what languages they have:

"I just want an identical experience to DL"

Busuu (Languages: Spanish, Japanese, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, Arabic, Korean)

"I want a good audio-based app"

Language Transfer (Languages: French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, Spanish, English for Spanish Speakers)

"I want a good audio-based app and money's no object"

Pimsleur (Literally so many languages)

Glossika (Also a lot of languages, but minority languages are free)

*anecdote: I borrowed my brother's Japanese Pimsleur CD as a kid and I still remember how to say the weather is nice over a decade later. You can find the CDs at libraries and "other" places I'm sure.

"I have a pretty neat library card"

Mango (Languages: So many and the endangered/Indigenous courses are free even if you don't have a library that has a partnership with Mango)

Transparent Language: (Languages: THE MOST! Also the one that has the widest variety of African languages! Perhaps the most diverse in ESL and learning a foreign language not in English)

"I want SRS flashcards and have an android"

AnkiDroid: (Theoretically all languages, pre-made decks can be found easily)

"I want SRS flashcards and I have an iphone"

AnkiApp: It's almost as good as AnkiDroid and free compared to the official Anki app for iphone

"I don't mind ads and just want to learn Korean"

lingory

"I want an app made for Mandarin that's BETTER than DL and has multiple languages to learn Mandarin in"

ChineseSkill (You can use their older version of the course for free)

"I don't like any of these apps you mentioned already, give me one more"