A runaway bride crashing in my guesthouse is the last thing I need. I already had perfectly good holiday plans, like glaring at walls and staring moodily into distant horizons because my hockey season is officially down the drain. And she’s as off-limits as it gets, but she has no car, no money, no job, and no place to stay. So I’ll let her crash with me for the holidays. With my teammates and her brother already over for the holidays, I'm sure we'll barely notice her. After all, how much trouble can one relentlessly cheerful little woman cause? Plenty. Usually, I'm the last guy on the team women try to warm up to, but she's not put off by my icy moods. I’ll wind up bending one rule after another because I can’t seem to say “no” to her. Taking her shopping for new underwear (don’t ask). Doting on her like a lovesick puppy when she twists her ankle. Sharing steamy glances when my teammates and her brother aren’t looking… My teammates can't know how much she tempts me. Her brother certainly can't know the things I'm imagining doing to her. We’ll both keep pretending we’re just having fun, even when she winds up sharing my bed in secret. We both agree it’s harmless. Just casual. But when her old life comes calling, will I keep pretending, or will I put it all on the line?

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Penelope Bloom returns with a laugh-out-loud hockey romance about a double-booking that leads to a second chance nobody asked for. After two years of culinary grind, I was about to land my dream job. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could dampen my spirits. Or so I thought... until fate decided to hit me with a dirty little plot twist. My cozy, one-bedroom cabin rental is double-booked. With whom, you ask? None other than my ex, the NHL star with a knack for making headlines from his off-field conquests since we called it quits. No big deal, though. Right? We’re adults. We moved on. I’ll just ace my interview and he’ll stick to his annoyingly sexy little corner. Simple. But then he shows up looking like sin dipped in honey. Sandy blonde hair, a scar cut across his full lips, and that all-too-familiar aura of attraction. And the spark? It’s more like kindling doused in lighter fluid. One wrong look and I know we’d be setting that bed ablaze. But he saves us both when he opens his mouth. He’s not the man I dated anymore. Now he’s a challenge-seeking Casanova. All I am to him is a trophy he missed his shot at. So I exile him to the couch and firmly decide I’m still focused on my future, not our past. Except the universe has one last curveball to throw. The restaurant I’ve been dreaming of working in? Nobody told me it’s his latest business venture. He’s not just my ex. He’s about to become my boss, too. Full-length second-chance romance filled with laugh-out-loud moments and electric chemistry. The last thing she expected was for her ex, now a hotshot NHL star turned restaurateur, to be her boss. Old flames reignite, and they'll have to navigate the thin ice between love and ambition.

I’ll tell you about the two very large pickles I’ve found myself in, but only if you promise not to laugh… Pickle number one: I'm unexpectedly pregnant by an NHL star, who just so happens to be my big brother's best friend—and no, we weren't exactly dating. For reasons that totally make sense (trust me for now), I never told him about the baby. Pickle number two: I'm about to lose my family's charming bed and breakfast unless I can get hitched within six months, thanks to an ancient deed and a ridiculous family feud. So I made a deal with the baby's dad, Jake Summers—the dashing captain of the Vermont Vandals hockey team. Our plan? Fake an engagement, have a showy wedding, solve our little problems, then amicably split. It’s simple: I keep my B&B, and he shows his team he’s serious about cleaning up his act. Perfect, right? But Jake doesn’t know how to do things by halves. Before I know it, I'm in Manhattan picking out lavish engagement rings and getting swept off my feet. I’m being paraded around charity galas like a princess and becoming the envy of every woman in the country. All this while he’s diving headfirst into being a dad—without knowing he actually is one. It’s practically foolproof, with hardly any room for this to spectacularly blow up in our faces. So, save the date for our big, fake wedding! What could possibly go wrong?