Sports

The 1960 baseball season is shaping up to be the worst year of Eddie O’Leary’s life. He can’t manage to hit the ball, his new teammates hate him, he’s living out of a suitcase, and he’s homesick. When the team’s owner orders him to give a bunch of interviews to some snobby reporter, he’s ready to call it quits. He can barely manage to behave himself for the length of a game, let alone an entire season. But he’s already on thin ice, so he has no choice but to agree.

Mac has one more year of baseball eligibility left. One more year to show the major league scouts that he’s worth it. That he’s good enough to play professional baseball for them. He’s not sure that he is. So far, not a single scout has approached him. There are no agents banging down his door, hoping to represent him; no emails, no phone calls, no messages through Coach Jackson. No, nothing.

Johnny Bishop crashed into my life like a hurricane. Not once, but twice. The first time, we were teenagers. He was the star quarterback destined to save our small town's high school team. I was the music nerd desperate to shine, but always falling short. Until him.

Poppy Anderson was nailing her sophomore year at Brighton University. She liked her classes, had the greatest best friend, and was finally ready to start dating again. Or she was… until her ex, Mike, transferred to Brighton and started exchanging long stares and inside jokes that Poppy thought he'd forgotten.

When my parents took me to a hockey camp as a kid, they never dreamed it would take me off the path of becoming a doctor, like everyone else in the family. Unfortunately for them, the moment I stepped into that arena and onto that ice, there was no going back.

I'm naturally gifted on the field and between the sheets. With flashy cars and enough media attention to put the Royal Family to shame, I’m the definition of Most Eligible Bachelor. Every man wants to be me and every woman wants to tame me. Until Camila. The moment I lay eyes on her, I know I have to have her. She wants to keep me at arm's length. I want her naked in my bed. She thinks our worlds are too different. All I want her to think about is screaming my name. She says I’m bad news. I have three weeks to prove her wrong.

Lark Levitt doesn't belong at Roosevelt College, at least in theory. Most students who attend the university come from wealthy families, and Lark is only a scholarship and a bus ride away from the trailer park where he lives. It's also a dream come true because dance is his life, and their program is one of the most prestigious in the country. But there are bumps in the road, like running into someone from his childhood.

If anyone had told me that coffee would change my life, I would have laughed. Right up until I set eyes on Aspen Whatley at the local coffee shop, anyway. She's everything right in this world. But she's a little spitfire, hellbent on taking on the world by herself. Knowing her brother wants me to keep an eye on her doesn't earn me any points. Until her life is on the line, and she has nowhere to turn. Now, she's looking over her shoulder, and I'm pissed about it. No one threatens what belongs to me. But I've been playing defense my entire life. I'll protect this goddess and make her mine.

They call me the Ice Queen. I take it as a compliment, because owning a pro hockey team requires a certain ruthlessness. But my penchant for ball busting has made me political enemies, and one of them has the clout to get me deported back to my home country of Russia. There's only one solution: I have to get married, and fast.

Kyce Jefferson understood change. His life had been a continuous reminder that nothing lasts forever. However, his one constant had always been football. Women come and go but the Chicago Bears was his team, his home, and his life. Being traded was the last thing he expected or wanted.

I've had a crush on my best friend for as long as I can remember. He's a hockey winger who has quite a reputation with the puck bunnies, and I'm a nerdy girl trying to survive my biochemistry degree as a single mom. If science has taught me anything, it's that facts don't lie. The truth is that Ryse and I are from two completely different worlds. He's headed for the pros, and I hypothesize I'll be left behind…again.

Jack Harrison's NHL dreams were shattered in a clash with coaches, leaving him playing for an Elite League team in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta. But life throws him a power play: a chance to join the Calgary Flames during an illness outbreak. Suddenly, Jack's back in the spotlight, and after scoring on one of the leagues best goalies, Canada is rallying for him to stay put.

Minor league umpire Alice Darling loves everything about baseball. That means hunky ball players are strictly off limits—dating one would be professional suicide. With a young daughter and a brother to care for, she can’t afford to slip up. Truth is, as a young, stupid, nineteen-year-old townie, she did once date a player. That’s how she wound up with her precious, nine-year-old daughter…and a determination to never make that mistake again.

Cash Ryatt is a distraction. It's no secret the bad boy race car driver has built a reputation from two things. Winning and fu-front-page headlines. I've read he's the best at both, but I have no intention of finding out firsthand. I have my own plans, and they don't include making the gossip sites as his next one-night stand. My three older brothers, his bosses, would never stand for it anyway. So, how did I find myself daydreaming about the one man I've been forbidden from dating? His mere proximity causes my heart to beat wildly in my chest.

I met the love of my life at ten years old. At sixteen, I gave him my heart. Three years later he was drafted to the NHL and moved across the country. Five years after, he’s back. And he’s meeting his daughter for the first time. I still hate him. Even if my heart says that’s a lie.