Love Song

My dad and I have been estranged for years, but as his only living relative, it's no surprise I inherit his massive cattle ranch when he dies. But the stipulation in his will that requires me to live on the ranch and actively manage it for a year before I can access my inheritance money. I haven't stepped foot in Hartsville, Texas, population one thousand, since my parents split when I was six. Now a city girl through and through, I never imagined having to move back to cowboy country. But I need the money to invest in my company, and a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Six weeks. That's how long my editor gave me to change my book from a baseball romance to one about hockey. A complete rewrite. Which is how I find myself in Montana, a thousand miles from home, researching hockey, and preparing to meet a local expert. There's one small problem. Or rather a big one. A big, grumpy problem. My expert is none other than Nick Galaxy—the single dad and hockey captain I ran into minutes after landing in Montana and made a… well, let's just say I didn't make the best first impression. Neither did he, for that matter.

Sarah is a preacher's daughter and a people pleaser. She's also on the verge of graduating high school and following her dream of singing in Nashville. The only thing standing in her way is that the entire town of Devil's Head, Missouri thinks she will marry Matt, the son of the town's richest rancher. But Sarah's not sure he's her future husband, especially when his older brother, Isaac, returns home after serving six years in the Army. He has tattoos on his arms and bad habits that are not "father-approved."

Lennox Kennedy is beautiful, loud, and the love of my life. She's also my ex-girlfriend. The first time I saw her after ten years apart, I slammed into the plexiglass minutes before our game was set to begin. The second time I threw up. The third time's a charm apparently because as my fiancée and I walked into an appointment to meet the woman hired to plan our nuptials—there she was again. Obviously, I did what any smart man would do—I called off the wedding. I don't have a plan per se, other than winning back the only girl I've ever loved.

Love. Sucks. I don’t know where I went wrong. Whether it was letting a man convince me that suddenly, the things I’ve never wanted are right for me, or if simply believing the best in the person who I wasted three years of my life on was what lead me here.

Elena Ramos had always set a clear path for her future. She knew exactly what she wanted out of life, and was determined to find the kind of happily ever after she loved to write about. Until the most devastating of tragedies turned her entire world on its axis. Plagued with irreparable pain and guilt, the finality of this heartbreak feels impossible to recover from, sending Elena into a dark spiral she doesn't know how to escape.

Blaire Monroe is the only woman I've ever loved, and the only one I've let break my heart. It's been ten years since she ran from this town, chasing a life that didn't include the cowboy next door who blurred the line between best friend and something more. Now she's back. Fresh off a busted engagement and hiding out on her grandmother's crumbling strawberry farm like the past never happened. Like she doesn't still linger in every part of me I've spent years trying to erase. But Blaire isn't the kind of girl you forget.

Tristan Stiles is the bane of my existence. He never wears a shirt. We can’t seem to stop fighting. He’s an arrogant playboy with a filthy reputation. Sure, I had a crush on him when I was fourteen but that was a long time ago. I know better than to trust him. I just need to survive long enough to find a new job and get a new place. And not accidentally let Tristan show me exactly how well-deserved his reputation is.

Raising my cousin’s three kids wasn’t in my five-year plan. Actually, it wasn’t in any plan. One minute I’m a single labor and delivery nurse living a quiet life and the next, I’m navigating guardianship hearings, meltdowns, and homework I’m pretty sure requires a math degree. Enter Hayes Carlisle. My best friend’s older brother. Chicago Colts newest catcher. And the man I once kissed and immediately pretended I didn’t. So, when the custody battle I’ve been dreading becomes a reality, I shouldn’t be surprised that Hayes swoops in with a wild idea—a fake relationship.

Dancer and self-proclaimed perfectionist, Merit Lawson, has spent her whole life appeasing others, including walking away from a promising dance career. After she collapses following a heart-related incident at her old college, her helicopter parents relocate her back home to snowy Minnesota—where hockey is a religion, and the players are gods. Merit wants one last night of freedom before she's thrown into a maelstrom of inflated egos and bad decisions, even if that means becoming a hookup culture statistic.

Gigi Graham has exactly three goals: qualify for the women's national hockey team, win Olympic gold, and step out of her famous father's shadow. So far, so good, except for two little things. Fine—a little thing and a big, grumpy thing. She needs to improve her game behind the net, and she needs help from Luke Ryder. Ryder is six-foot five, built, opinionated, rude . . . and sexy as hell. But he's still the enemy.

Zanders: Chicago hockey isn't complete without me—everyone's favorite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night. What I don't like is the new flight attendant on our team's private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I'll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she'll be begging to quit her job.

Winter break wasn't supposed to turn into a whirlwind romance for Charlotte Hodges. She finds her dream pack landing in her lap, just a year before she's due to graduate. But life is never that easy, especially when the men she falls in love with are all getting drafted to different hockey teams. Long distance is hard. It's even harder when the people you trusted the most aren't there for you in your worst moment. Charlotte thought she could move on. They would never put her over hockey and Charlotte knows her worth. Unfortunately, she can't seem to forget about the men she fell in love with.

Everyone knows the golden rule of business—don’t bang your business partner. Especially if he’s your brother’s hot-as-sin, hockey-star best friend. But when the sexy single dad athlete saves me from a cake contest catastrophe—and shows me how good he is with his hands—I blurt out the world’s worst business pitch: Want to invest in my bakery?

The first book in the Emerald Lake series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Elsie Silver.