My top three priorities: my daughter playing hockey a college education Add in a few hours working a part-time job, and my days are pretty packed. But does that stop me from pursuing Tate Winchester? Nope, not even a little. Until she turns me down for a date. To her credit, she has a lot on her plate. She’s new to our small town, she works a full-time job, and she’s a single mom to my daughter’s new friend. Our relationship initially stems from playdates for the kids, but I’ll take time with her any way I can. However, the more time we spend together, the more I want that date. A plan forms in my mind, and though life never goes according to how I envision, I’m determined to make this happen. If–when–she finally agrees, I hope I don’t puck up the plans…

Dad never told me I couldn’t fall for one of his hockey players. But he never said I could, either… I’ve followed the Aspenridge College hockey team for years, even when I wasn’t a student. Now that I’ve transferred here, I have up close and personal access to the team, including their parties. Intending to shed my wallflower status, it’s only natural to attend the first party of the season. Reputed playboy Cody McGuire takes me under his wing, and when he finds out I genuinely love his favorite sport, his interest is piqued. I don’t mean to keep running into him on campus, but it happens. And when he tells me to prove I’m not like the usual women he has in his bed, what comes out of my mouth is asking him to teach me things. Sexual things. He thinks I’m kidding at first, but I’m not. What better way to learn more skills in the bedroom than from the king of the player’s club? So long as he doesn’t find out my dad is his new coach….

If you asked me how my year would play out, fake dating a member of the Aspenridge College hockey team wouldn’t have made the ingredient list for my latest cookie recipe. Yet, here I am–faux girlfriend to Gabe Kolligan, the team’s goalie. So, how did I get myself in such a position? I’ll explain. When Gabe overhears me wishing for “a hottie boyfriend” to one-up my ex, he volunteers—with the agreement that I be his date to his brother’s wedding. The catch? I’m clueless about hockey and intimidated by athletes, but Gabe quickly remedies that with a crash course, game tickets, and a jersey with his name on it. The more time we spend getting to know each other, the less “fake” everything feels. Gabe goes beyond what I expected, and I can’t help wondering if this is what he’s like as a real boyfriend. Too bad I’ll never get the chance to find out...

A devastating phone call. A chance encounter. A summer that changes everything… I planned to spend the summer searching for teaching jobs, not becoming a nanny for a hockey-playing farm boy with two grieving little sisters and too much weight on his shoulders. But something about the Hamilton girls—and their brooding big brother—pulls at my heart. Juggling sorrow, guardianship, and a struggling family farm, Ezra barely keeps it together. He doesn’t ask for help, but I stay anyway, almost challenging he let me help him. As the summer days stretch longer, laughter returns to the farmhouse. In a moment of shared vulnerability, Ezra and I cross an invisible line. We agree it’s only one night. Just to get it out of our systems. Pretending it didn’t mean anything? That’s the biggest lie of all. Healing isn’t neat or easy, and the one thing I told myself I couldn’t want is exactly what I can’t walk away from…