One of the cardinal rules of matchmaking I was positive I'd never break. That is until Nathan Wilder walked into Love Moore Matchmaking Agency, needing my help to find him the one. A tall order to ask since he was the most hated man in the NHL. Broody. Crude. Abrasive. The man was a six-foot-three walking red flag. Right off the bat, every fiber of my being told me he'd be trouble. He wasn't looking for love. It was all a PR stunt to clean up his image so he could keep playing for the Boston Guardians. But there was something in his sad, soulful eyes that just pulled me in.

A little white lie never hurt anyone . . . or so I thought. One fake date and we’d go our separate ways, at least that’s how hockey’s hottest golden boy—Nixon Sinclair—convinced me this would work. But it turns out, Nix had other plans. Now I’m sneaking around with my brother’s teammate, refusing to admit he’s everything I want but never knew I needed.

There's nothing wrong with playing the game--except when you know you're about to lose. As a little girl, I dreamed of becoming many things. A twenty-five-year-old photographer struggling to make ends meet with a mountain of legal fees wasn't one of them. Making questionable decisions wasn't either. After hanging up my camera, I start a job I loathe that has me questioning my morals on a daily basis. Until I run into Chicago's newest bad-boy goalie whose reputation is a trainwreck--Emory Olson.

I'm the face of the NHL. The golden boy with quick hands and a million-dollar smile the fans adore. My contract is up at the end of the season, and with playoffs starting, I have to be on my best behavior. Keep my head down and respect the press when they shove their microphones beneath my nose. This isn't my first rodeo, so it should be easy. Right?

I let her slip through my fingers—No, that's a lie. I was reckless and pushed her away. I was never supposed to fall for her . . . my tutor, my best friend. My fantasy. I tried to stay away. I failed. Then we graduated and everything changed. All I needed was a step back, a moment to breathe. But by the time I came up for air, she was in the arms of another man. Four years later, everything is different. And when I see her again, I remember why I should have never let her go in the first place.

When Grayson Nash walks into the bar, he has no idea I'm little Ava Maxwell, the one he promised to look after when he moved to Vegas. After a sizzling, sheet-clutching first experience of my dreams, we exchange numbers and a plan to extend our undeniable connection into something more. I promise myself I'll tell him the truth about who I am… eventually. He finds out before I tell him, and he wants nothing to do with me. But when my ex won't take the hint, Grayson swoops in pretending to be my new boyfriend.

I made a deal with my brother a long time ago to never date his teammates. Technically, Rowan Landry, the hot as hell center for the Chicago Falcons, is no longer my brother’s teammate. Or his best friend. Their college days are long behind them, and they barely talk now. Also, I’m not dating him—we’re just sleeping together. There’s a difference.

Logan Murphy should come with a warning. He’s as hot as a Carolina Reaper on black asphalt in the middle of July. With perfectly messy dark hair and smoldering blue eyes—and don’t even get me started on the way that black tee stretches across his toned chest… He’s my brother’s best friend. He’s also a football star on track to win the first wide-receiver MVP in league history. Good thing I only date golfers… or I did.

I should have known everything was going to change when she walked into my tattoo shop... Timid as hell and gorgeous to the extreme. I knew better than even thinking about touching a woman like that. My life is dangerous. My calling wicked. Willing to cross any line to protect the innocent. I thought I’d never see her again until my little boy tumbled and busted his lip, and I found her working at the doctor’s office. The woman who’d taken possession of my thoughts. When it becomes clear she’s in trouble, I offer up a deal.

I've always heard there's a fine line between love and hate. No one told me that line could destroy me. Noah Fontaine. King of the school. My living nightmare. The object of my fantasies. My new stepbrother. I did whatever it took to survive him. Every day he took more of me. I just didn't expect him to take my heart. Because of the boy I once hated, I'd never be the same girl again.

A forbidden romance with my brother’s hockey teammate wasn’t on my to-do list when I moved across the country… Neither was getting locked out of a friend’s place wearing next to nothing. Or spending the night with the sexy stranger who rescues me. But I’m trying to get out of my comfort zone so getting out of the rest of my clothes with him seems like a good way to start. In the morning, I learn the filthy-mouthed man with the talented hands is not only the hotshot new hockey player on my brother’s team: he’s also–wait for it–my brand new roommate.

From a young age, the only thing in life I've ever taken seriously is hockey. I'm not the guy anyone—besides family and teammates—can count on. This is all true. At least, until a certain curly-haired, blue-eyed goddess comes to me looking for an easy hookup. And hook her up I do. But what's supposed to be a one-night stand doesn't stop at one night. What's meant to be easy sure as hell gets complicated fast. It becomes clear that Addison LaConte is just as much my savior as she is my demise.

Two years ago an accident shattered Casey's world. Now, college promises a new beginning, a chance to truly breathe again and leave her past behind—with the exception of Gray Andrews. Through it all, Gray has been her lifeline, her hope for a happy future, the only guy she's ever wanted. Until she sees him.

What's that saying? When life hands you lemons... What if I don't want to make lemonade? What if I want to pummel them into non-existence? Anything is better than admitting how desperately I want a taste of that sweet lemonade. That's exactly how I felt when my college assignment threw me in the direction of Miller Cain. My body screams for him while my brain warns me to run for the hills. He's the captain of the ice hockey team with a cocky reputation. He's a sweet talker and the bad boy promising me the ride of my life.

I’ve always been a wild card–the first to start a fight on the ice, and the life of the party off it–but appearances can be deceiving. Being traded to the Boston Rebels could not have come at a better time. With serious family obligations to fulfill and a contract renewal with a new hockey team on the line, I have no time for anything else. I return to Boston knowing I need to buckle down and focus on what really matters.

One of the cardinal rules of matchmaking I was positive I'd never break. That is until Nathan Wilder walked into Love Moore Matchmaking Agency, needing my help to find him the one. A tall order to ask since he was the most hated man in the NHL. Broody. Crude. Abrasive. The man was a six-foot-three walking red flag. Right off the bat, every fiber of my being told me he'd be trouble. He wasn't looking for love. It was all a PR stunt to clean up his image so he could keep playing for the Boston Guardians. But there was something in his sad, soulful eyes that just pulled me in.

They saw me for the girl I am and the person I yearn to become one day - a woman who thrives in her freedom and dances away in her rightfully earned independence. The love we shared for each other was probably the only miracle I would be granted in this life, and I knew they felt the same. Or so I thought. Everything I held dear has been robbed from me, and I’ve been a victim of theft too many times to mention. I will not have them steal my pride. They can keep my heart, for all I care. The day they became my stepbrothers, it stopped working anyway.

I've always heard there's a fine line between love and hate. No one told me that line could destroy me. Noah Fontaine. King of the school. My living nightmare. The object of my fantasies. My new stepbrother. I did whatever it took to survive him. Every day he took more of me. I just didn't expect him to take my heart. Because of the boy I once hated, I'd never be the same girl again.

You would think that being forced into a loveless marriage to ensure an alliance would be unheard of in this day and age. And in most cases, you would be correct in that assumption. But not for me. A cartel princess has no vote on who she can or cannot marry—much less love. Any decision in my life was forfeited just by being born into the most powerful Mexican cartel there is.

The scowl should’ve been my first clue to stay far away from Anson Hunt. The sexy smirk and the fact that he’s my brother’s best friend? Reasons two and three. Not to mention, he’s the new contractor working on my house. He’s everything I’m not: grumpy, rude, and more than a little attached to his solitude. It doesn’t matter how many times I try to kill him with kindness; the man simply won’t crack. Until he sees me shatter. Because when my world comes crashing down around me, Anson is the one catching me as I fall.