Heart Trick is a fake dating hockey romance novella from bestselling author Kristen Granata. This is book 1 in a series of interconnected standalone novellas. My new neighbor is a jerk. Sure, he’s the embodiment of tall, dark, and handsome, and he looks like he could crush a watermelon between his muscular thighs. But he has managed to become enemy number one within the first forty-eight hours of moving into the apartment next door. I may have retaliated and escalated the situation. I’m not above being petty, and I’m determined to make him break first. Until he sees my cheating ex-boyfriend giving me a hard time outside our building and steps in to help. If it weren’t for the pictures in the press the next morning, I would’ve assumed his act of kindness was just a fever dream. But my face is everywhere—labeled as hockey star Trenton Ward’s new girlfriend. Now, my grumpy neighbor’s agent wants to run with this story. Apparently, his image needs some sprucing. (I can’t imagine why with such a charming personality.) I agree under one I get to use him for inspiration in the new romance book I’m working on. I swear I meant it in the figurative sense when I signed the contract. But after a few fake dates and a toe-curling kiss, Trenton turns into my experimental guinea pig for all my spicy scenes. I may be fake dating one of the NHL’s best goalies, but out of all the things we do, faking it is not one of them. Only, falling in love wasn’t in the fine print.

When my best friend tells me she’s finally following her dreams and starting her own business, I couldn’t be happier. Since college, we’ve talked about creating a website where people of all types can feel free to be themselves and explore what turns them on. So when she asks me to run it with her, I’m all in. Until she asks me to sleep with her and her husband, and post it on the website. I’ve loved her my whole life, but she chose a different path to please her parents. A path that led her to her wonderful hockey pro husband. If I accept her offer, I’d be her dirty secret all over again, and I don’t know if my heart can withstand it. But when my apartment goes under construction, I’m stuck living with the two people I should be keeping my distance from. The forced proximity brings us closer in ways I never would’ve imagined, and now that we’ve started, I don’t know how we’ll be able to stop when it’s time for me to move back out. No one can know about the things the three of us are doing. There’s too much at stake. But even though we’re careful to hide our identities, nothing stays hidden on the internet for long...

I’ve never had a problem convincing a man to take me home for a night of fun. Until I meet Alexander Krum. He leaves me wanting more at the end of every encounter. Despite our insane attraction to one another, we couldn’t be more opposite. He wants to take me on a date. I want to head straight to his bedroom. He believes in romance. I know men in romance books don’t really exist. He always wants to help. I can take care of myself. But then he comes to me with a proposition: A marriage arrangement to save his family's villa. His substantial offer has me overlooking our differences and saying “I do.” There is only one problem...he's been hiding a secret from the media for the last four years. Pretending to be a wife is one thing, but this? I'm the last person he should want in this role. Yet I can't bring myself to walk away. The incentive is too great, and when it's over, I will have my dream. And it will be over. I'm not destined for happily ever after’s—no matter how real this charade is starting to feel.

I once fell in love with two people. I was lucky enough they fell in love with me too. Chance Kellerman was the broken boy whose father convinced him he was worthless, and needed to hide his shameful desires. We became friends first, then brothers when we played hockey for the same team. But it was Presley King who brought us even closer. With her we became more. She set us on fire, and we had everything we’d ever wanted. Then she left us. Four years later, Chance and I are playing on rival teams when Presley appears on the Jumbotron. Our lives look a lot different than they did in college, and the odds seem stacked against us, but I’m positive we’ve been thrown back together for a reason. Convincing them of the same won’t be easy, especially when Presley’s job finds out about our unconventional relationship. I’m prepared to fight for us, until one moment on the ice changes everything. I thought fate brought us together, but maybe we’re only destined to lose it all.