When she’s fake dating the hockey star, but he was never faking it…
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes the next standalone hockey rom com in her brand new Hockey Ever After series, JUST PLAYING FOR KEEPS! This spicy, fake dating, grumpy/sunshine, only one bed in a room, opposites attract hockey romance releases June 3rd in all formats, and will be free to read in Kindle Unlimited. Want to know more about Remy and Lake? Get all the details below, and one-click your copy today!
A grumpy/sunshine fake dating hockey romance from #1 NYT Bestseller Lauren Blakely!
Ever hear the story about the dating coach who got dumped on the hockey arena’s jumbotron?
Everyone did. But I lived it. Including the moment when the team’s broody, tattooed winger, Lake Axelrod, swooped in on skates to rescue me from public humiliation.
Even more surprising? When the famously grumpy (and ridiculously sexy) hockey star insists on being my fake boyfriend for my sister’s high-profile wedding.
It’s the perfect sweet revenge plan since my ex is the best man. Bonus – I might even salvage my professional reputation.
We need rules though.
To pull this off, everyone from his teammates to my boss has to believe we’re a real couple.
That means swoony touches and knee-weakening kisses are required.
When it ends, we walk away.
But the intensity in Lake’s eyes after every post-game kiss makes me wonder if he’s pretending. With each whispered secret, the line between fake and real bends. Until it shatters one night in a hotel room.
Soon, he isn’t just playing the protective boyfriend—he’s the only one who truly sees me.
If I’m not careful, I’m going to break the most important rule of all: don’t fall for your fake date.
This is Lake and Remy’s romance. Tropes include: grumpy/sunshine hockey romance, fake dating, workplace romance, best friend’s brother, obsessed hero
A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s sexy, feel-good and witty. Her books have been featured in US Weekly and People. Lauren likes dogs, cake and show tunes and she is the vegetarian at your dinner party.
I survived a deployment because of her letters, so there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her now…
I was fully prepared to come home in a box. In the dust of Afghanistan, I’d accepted that my life was worth exactly as much as the brothers standing beside me. But then the packages started arriving. My buddy’s little sister quickly became my only tether to a world that made sense. And her letters kept me from losing my mind when the world went dark.
Somehow I managed to trade the battlefield for the Knightdale Charter, and since I’ve been home I’ve used the club’s business to drown out the echoes of war. I’ve never stopped thinking about her, but I’ve kept my distance from her world of soft edges and quiet dreams. We are opposites in every way. The only thing we have in common is her brother.
Then one phone call changes everything. She’s drowning in grief and caught in the chaos that follows every soldier home from war. The moment she whispers my name, I’m done for. Now I can’t stay away, but I can be the stoic shoulder she can cry on. Yet the moment she collapses into my arms, every instinct I have starts screaming a single truth: she’s mine. And I don’t just want to comfort her, I want to make her forget the pain.
She thinks she has to face this darkness on her own, but this woman’s love carried me through a war. I leave no man behind, so she’s not shouldering this burden alone. We’ll get through this together, no matter what it takes.
There’s an unknown male at my back. Tall, if the way his chest connects with my shoulders is any indication. My skin prickles with the feeling of being touched. His hands are large and warm. It’s been seven months since I’ve had a man’s hands on my body, and even then, it wasn’t memorable. The small human growing inside of me is the only link.
The man turns on the faucet, pulling my hand under it, and I breathe out in relief as the cool water hits my burnt hand and the sting subsides. As does any lingering fear at being manhandled by a stranger right here in my kitchen. He led me to safety; it would be odd for him to now hurt me. Though I remain wary.
“Thank you… I—” I turn to see who’s helping me, wanting to offer my thanks, but I still. At a loss for words all over again.
Brown eyes, hidden by dark eyebrows, look at me from under a deep frown. He hasn’t moved, his body, strong and hard, leaning against my back as he ensures my hand remains under the cool water. My eyes widen and heart pounds harder as I realize exactly how close we are.
He’s like Heaven answered all my questions. I’ve never seen a man like him before.
Sabbath Creed had an intensity that always enthralled me, yet I never would have fathomed his love could warp my own sanity into madness, setting ablaze everything I loved until nothing was left but ashes and agony.
I’ve always been drawn to fire, the way it consumes, transforms, and purifies. But I never expected it to devour my world, leaving nothing behind but ashes and heartbreak.
From that moment on, I chose to escape my fate, to escape him.
I could always feel his presence, lingering like smoke in the air. It was only a matter of time before he would find me. His love, twisted and charred by the flames of his obsession, burned endlessly for me. He would never let me go, not after what happened.
I thought working at Camp Redwood would hide me from his gaze, but it only pushed me into the spotlight with its own dark secrets. He was here, and I needed to make the ultimate decision: allow his love to consume me or extinguish its flames. Forever.
SABBATH
She thinks she can escape me, but she’ll never understand. I’m not just a part of her past; I’m a part of her. She might try to extinguish the flames, but I’ll never let her. I will make her mine again—no matter the cost. My little spitfire.
Wanting him could destroy me, but it could also save me.
Carson
I dreamed of being a Navy SEAL, but to achieve my goal, I had to choose. I could be gay or be a SEAL. Being a SEAL won out. You couldn’t miss what you had never experienced. I hoped being a team guy would fill the void left by denying who I was.
And it did, until terrorists took my teammate captive, and I watched two of my best friends find love. Now repressed thoughts and feelings plagued me, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to resist.
Especially not when my first and only crush showed up.
Roman
Growing up in the bible belt was hard enough, especially when my dad, the town doctor, committed suicide. I hid in the closet until I left for college. There twosomes turned into moresomes, which somehow led to a drunken hook-up with a sorority girl. When she turned up pregnant, I married her, but she disappeared as soon as the baby was born, leaving me a single dad.
Statistics professor Amelia Hawthorne never expected to find herself in a rundown Atlantic City casino. But here she was, counting cards to help pay off her brother’s debt under the watchful eye of the mysterious Judah Greear.
The last thing Jude wanted to do was kidnap the hot brainiac, but orders were orders. Especially when they came from legendary mob boss John Valentine.
Now, Jude must choose between duty and desire. Will he protect the girl who sees past the tattoos and mugshots or save himself?
I built my global security empire from nothing. Control and discipline are the only rules I live by. Some might call me ‘intense’. I prefer ‘meticulously prepared for every disaster imaginable.’
Growing up in a group home with my two brothers taught me the only lesson that mattered: never let anyone close enough to hurt you. As a CEO, I don’t improvise. I plan. I command.
When I’m hired to provide security for an engagement party, I expect an easy job.
Instead, I meet a woman who treats my rules like optional suggestions. I’m used to being obeyed. Ruby clearly doesn’t plan on doing that. Not even a little.
She tempts me like no one else ever has. Whenever we’re together, my thoughts drift in dangerous directions. Wanting her becomes an obsession. I want to give her everything. But surrendering control means breaking my own rules. And I’ve never done that before.
Ruby
I love my restaurant, my life, and finding the bright side of just about everything. Hosting my best friend’s engagement party? Easy. Fun. Right up my alley.
What I’m not prepared for is Grant Clifford—and his many, many rules.
He’s a fine specimen of a man. Unfortunately, he also comes with a massive stick lodged firmly up his gorgeous behind. Under that perfectly tailored suit is a man who desperately needs to loosen up. Preferably with me.
The closer I get, the more clearly I see the scars beneath his rigid exterior. And I want to heal them all. But how do I reach a man who refuses to let anyone in?
This is a second generation series coinciding with the Oakwood Legacy Series. One light and one dark, set in a brand new world that is a part of Serena’s beloved Five Points Mob Universe.
Catch up with Victoria, Zach, Denny, Shay, Wynter, Pecan, Sofia and so many more.
✨TEASER: JUST MY LUCK by @authorlenahendrix is releasing in a new Deluxe Limited Edition Paperback on May 26 at a store near you! Don’t miss the DELUXE LIMITED EDITION paperback featuring stenciled edges, holographic foil, designed interior covers, chapter headers, and full color special character art!!
Unexpected sparks ignite a slow burn in this grumpy/sunshine workplace romance when a single mom proposes a marriage of convenience to save her boss’s brewery.
Fans of Lucy Score, Elsie Silver, Carley Fortune, and B.K. Borrison will find their next obsession with this second standalone in bestselling author Lena Hendrix’s spicy, emotional, deeply romantic Kings Series set in small town Michigan.
You might think it’s reckless for a single mom to enter into a marriage of convenience with her boss.
You would be correct.
To make matters worse, Abel King is a grumpy local brewer with a criminal past. He also happens to be my boss and a total stick-in-the-mud. Every time I come to work with a smile and wave, I’m lucky if I can get a grunt in response.
When I accidentally-on-purpose overhear that he’s having trouble securing a business loan due to his criminal record, I hatch a plan to help the both of us.
The arrangement is perfect—a business transaction and nothing more. Like having a roommate without the hassle of other people bugging you for dates.
I will definitely not be falling in love with him—no matter how many times he says “my wife” and tingles dance in all the right places.
Trouble is, as time goes on, things stop feeling like business and start feeling a whole lot like pleasure . . . and really, that’s just my luck . . .
Why you will love this book: 💙Friends to Strangers to Lovers🏒Hockey Romance 💙Single Dad 🏒She Plays Hockey/Women in Sports 💙Forbidden Romance 🏒Next Gen Langfield, but can be read as a standalone
There are only two things I’ve ever truly wanted in my life. To be a goalie in the NHL and JJ Hanson.
In a twisted way, both dreams have come true. Rather than a spot on the roster though, I’m now the first female goalie coach in the NHL. JJ Hanson’s coach, specifically.
Not only is he one of my players—making him totally off limits—he’s also a single dad and still technically married. Oh, and thanks to my father’s meddling, he’s now my roommate, along with his cousin and her three kids, my sister and her four-year-old twins, my cousin, and JJ’s daughter, who I unfortunately adore.
Yup, I’m living with six kids under the age of five, and the only man I’ve ever loved.
There was a time when JJ was my closest friend, and for one perfect moment, he was mine. Now we don’t even talk. JJ is determined to change that, though, and when opportunity strikes and suddenly both of my dreams are within reach, I have to make a decision. Can I step out onto that ice as the first female goalie in the NHL and trust JJ with my heart?
I’ve never been one to walk away from a challenge. Maybe the only way JJ and I can move forward is to go back to the start.
Paper Rings is a friends-to-lovers, single-dad, second-chance hockey romance with dual POV and a dual timeline featuring a Brownstone like Mother Faker and many of your favorite characters from the Langfield Brothers’ family. It is the first book in the New Romantics Series and a complete standalone
The Sweet Gum Café smells like grease and coffee and something sweet that’s been sitting too long on a heated rack.
Lark slides into the booth across from me, glancing around like she’s cataloging everything at once.
“This feels very… you,” she says.
“Should I be concerned?”
“You probably should be.”
I huff a quiet laugh. And just like that, the edge of the day softens. Something I’m afraid only Lark could do.
“Tell me something about yourself. Something I can’t find out by asking any person in this room.”
Her inquiry should have been expected, but panic rushes through me at the same time.
“The me you know now wasn’t always me,” I say.
Her brows rise in that way that asks me to continue without saying a single word.
“What changed?”
I hesitate, afraid to show her that part of myself, then answer anyway.
“I was the town goofball for a long time. In my large family, it was a way to guarantee I got some attention. Funny T-shirts, silly slogans, things like that. I just wanted to make people laugh.”
Lark smirks and says, “I can see that about you.”
“Yeah, then there was a fire at my parents’ farm,” I say. “Nothing big. But I was there.”
“And?”
“And I didn’t know what to do, like I was frozen on the spot.”
Her expression doesn’t shift into pity, so I keep talking.
“I watched everyone else move like it mattered,” I say. “Like they knew exactly how to fix it.”
“And you didn’t.”
“No.”
I exhale slowly.
“It was as if suddenly I felt like the current version of me was taking up space, taking away the air they needed to breathe. I didn’t like that version of me.”
Her gaze holds mine.
“So you became someone else.”
“Yeah. Someone my family and the town could be proud of.”
She doesn’t respond right away, just watches me, like she’s seeing something new. Something she didn’t expect.
I shake my head slightly.
“What you do matters, Holt. You matter, always did.”
I’m trapped between two controlling males and I’m not sure if I’ll survive their domination games.
The Elders made their move and now the future has been thrown into chaos.
With Seifiek missing and Axel biding his time, I’ll delve into my studies for as long as I’m allowed at the Academy—or as long as I can survive. There’s a dark secret within the Collegium, one that I need to understand if Rowa, Zeke, and I are going to make it out on the other side of this mess and new enemies are fighting me every step of the way.
The worst being a third powerful male who has set his sights on me. He is delighted by the realms on the verge of war. Chaos is his home and madness is his bedmate.
He’s as ancient as time itself and he’s set the future on a course where I’ll become his queen.
Ivy Quinlan knows how to find people. But this time, she might be the one who’s truly lost.
Ten years ago, private investigator Ivy Quinlan slammed the door on her Boston life and started a new, untraceable one in Maine. Or so she thought. For years, she’s made a living slipping into other people’s lives—catching liars, exposing secrets, and getting out clean. (Or mostly clean. She tries.)
Until Frazier Morello—the guy she never got over or forgave—shatters her peace with a problem that makes no sense: a missing influencer who looks exactly like Ivy.
Not similar, identical. Same voice. Same laugh. Same everything.
Kelsey Chillingham vanished three days ago, and the internet is obsessed. The only lead the police have is Ivy, and they’re not going to let her go without a fight. Which leaves Ivy–who’s spent her life not knowing where she came from–at the center of a story she never asked to be a part of.
Now Ivy is chasing a case that’s dangerously personal, tangled up with the one man who still has the power to wreck her, and getting closer to a truth that refuses to stay buried. With time running out for Kelsey, Ivy must rush headfirst into her past no matter the cost.
Ivy has spent years running from her past, and now it’s on her doorstep—wearing her face.
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