Book Review: ‘Right Man, Right Time’ by Meghan Quinn (more spicy sports romance?)

Who’s on a KU romance binge? This gal. Right here. My latest conquest being ‘Right Man, Right Time’ by Meghan Quinn.

My Goodreads looks like a very bizarre mismatch of books right now. I’m swinging wildly between Dark Academia potenials, read for the podcast, and spicy booktok reads. There’s nothing quite like a bit of dependable romance though, like a palette cleanser, something to give your brain a rest after getting all think and cerebral and studious over ‘Brideshead Revisited’ by Evelyn Waugh or ‘The Ruins’ by Phoebe Wynne.

Reading Romance, in whatever form that takes, is always such a joyful reading time. I look forward to picking up my Kindle when I find those titles that hit just right.

Here’s the summary:

“Running into your ex is never ideal.

Running into your ex who is now dating your nemesis is a literal nightmare.

That’s how I found myself in a sheer panic, reaching for the closest guy at the bar and kissing him. And to my delight he was easily the most attractive man I’ve ever seen.

The only problem is, when I tried to walk away after thanking him for his help, he stopped me with three life-changing words . . .“You owe me.”

That’s how I found myself, a college girl, in a fake relationship with a professional hockey player ten years older than me.

At first it was easy.

He helped me with my internship.

I helped keep his ex away from him.

We were becoming fast friends.

It wasn’t until he started staying the night at my dorm did the rules of our arrangement become complicated.

Now my feelings are involved and even though I kissed the right man at the right time, I’m worried he’s just waiting for the clock to run out.”

That’s not to say that you don’t have to weed through a lot of questionable crap to find those books that you click with. I’m always a little anxious when I’m trying out a new author, or a new series. I didn’t realise that ‘Right Man, Right Time’ is actually #3 in ‘The Vancouver Agitators’ series. However, it is a standalone, and although yo do get snippets and cameos from other couple who I assume feature in book #1 and #2, it doesn’t distract or confuse you as you’re reading about Ollie and Silas.

Here’s the biggest content warning for ‘Right Man, Right Time’ according to The StoryGraph: Sexual content, Infidelity, Toxic relationship.

But as ever, please check the content warnings and guidance yourself before reading if you know something may cause your harm.

The biggest issue for me is I’m never sure how I feel about age gap relationships, and ‘Right Man, Right Time’ features this front and centre. Silas is an even ten years Ollie’s senior, and while this is confronted and talked about, I still find it a little bit icky?

That said, I think they have great chemistry on page, and I really enjoyed watching their relationship unfold. The old fave trope of “fake dating” is utilised expertly, and I was actually really pleased to see it move into the “real” phase a lot faster than is often depicted. Cos there’s nothing more boring than the “but we’re only fake dating” thing gets dragged out ‘til the last few pages.

Do these characters make dumb choices? Oh, absolutely. Do they resolve the dumb? For the most part.

Like, it’s Romance. As a genre you know you’re just here to have a good time, so I am usually happy to give the content more leeway. It’s pure fantasy, wish fulfillment. Sports? Did you say sports? Hockey?! Then I’m all in.

The spicy scenes were varied and interesting (because how many different ways can you read about it), and I appreciated the freshness of that. Some books in this genre end up a bit stale by reusing the same steamy scenarios and formats.

I whizzed through it fairly quickly, and I was finding myself itching to get back to the read when I was busy doing other things. (Ugh, other things like you know, work, and life, and stuff. Ugh). It’s a fun read, and I think anyone who is new to Meghan Quinn like me, shouldn’t be worried. You’re in good hands.

A solid, spicy read with equal amounts of drama and levity. It’s silly, but still serious enough that it doesn’t become a total farce. I’ll be checking out other books in this series now!

I gave ‘Right Man, Right Time’ by Meghan Quinn a solid 3 stars on Goodreads.

Written by Sarah