“Give me a second chance, babe . . . and I’ll blow your mind.” Monroe doesn’t know why she answers the text that’s obviously meant for someone else. Or why she keeps answering. Maybe it’s because she’s all alone in a big city and in desperate need of a lifeline. Or maybe it’s because each exchange leaves her intrigued and more than a little turned on. Still, Monroe never would’ve snarked back if she’d known she was talking to the “Golden Boy” of the Dallas Knights.

My past was filled with mistakes, and knocking on a strange man’s door for a taste of his spicy food to satiate my craving was bound to be another one. The sparks were instant, and the bond I never expected to have grew, leaving me afloat as my due date loomed overhead. I thought my pregnancy would be the issue that kept us apart, and I’d raise my child alone. I hoped I was wrong, but everything in my world was uncertain. Adding Jeremy, Devon, and Nate to the mix might not be helpful.

When I walked in on my girlfriend screwing another guy, I never would have thought I’d be sitting at their wedding less than six months later. But who am I to turn down a night of free food, booze and pretty bridesmaids? But at the back of the room, at the rejects table, I’m captivated by the woman sitting next to me. She’s gorgeous and smart, and I can’t work out how she’s single. Until I realise she’s the groom’s ex.

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.

They all insist they don't know me. But they watch me. Every day. Their silence continues until a handsome, tattooed stranger dressed in a suit saunters into the arena and starts sweet-talking me. Then they jump off the ice, ready to fight him to the death. And for some reason…he seems ready to return the favor. Now, I'm being swept into a life of glamorous darkness…and into a war between men I evidently used to love.

Sticks and stones may break our bones…Hockey is my life. After Wren Davis puts my dreams of the NHL in jeopardy, I vow to make her life hell if she ever comes near me again. But she’s my best friend’s foster sister, and even though they don’t live together anymore, their bond is still tight, which makes avoiding each other extra difficult.

I’m just so exhausted—always living on the edge of desperation, one paycheck away from ruin. But this new job… It could be the fresh start I need. It could change everything. The contract is only for three months, but if I keep my head down, work hard, and prove myself, maybe I could stay longer. Maybe I could make Black Mountain Lodge my home. As I pull down the gravel drive, surrounded by the forest and mountains and bright blue skies, I feel something I haven’t felt in a while. I feel hope.

Still married. Those words change everything. Now my should-be ex-husband, Ramsey Stockton, the former pro football star turned felon and hero who left this town—and me—behind years ago, is at my door offering me a deal with the devil. If I let him stay and play his wife again for ninety days, he’ll give me a quiet divorce and his family ranch—the one my inn is on. When I scoff at the idea, he offers a million-dollar bonus to help my business float through this rough patch, but only if I’m his.

I've always been a tough North Shore girl. Fighting is in my blood, survival in my DNA. But two years ago, Caden King broke me, and he has proof of it. Now he wants to blackmail me into doing a job for him. The kind that puts my chance of escaping the North Shore at risk. The kind that means betraying my own crew.

In a den of vipers, revenge is the deadliest venom. They shattered my world; now, I’ll bring down theirs. The problem? I have virtually no way to trace the puppet master. My only lead: The Vipers. An elite college hockey team that rules the ice—and the shadows beyond it. To infiltrate their secret society, I set my sights on their weakest link. Kane Davenport. The charismatic captain and the lone green flag in a nest of serpents. But too late, I realize I’ve enticed the most venomous snake.

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.

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.

Aiden Slate. Pro hockey star. Captain of the Redville Saints. And the bane of my existence. All it takes is a little liquid courage to storm his castle. Or, in this case, a cushy five-star hotel suite. I'm supposed to give him a piece of my mind. To unleash a decade of pent-up anger. What I'm not supposed to do is sign an NDA meant for another woman. He thinks I'm here to relieve his stress. Well, he's in for a rude awakening.

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.

Love isn't on my mind when I sign up for the yearly Sinners Retreat, but a chance meeting at the airport changes everything. We click right away, and my bond with Kindra only deepens when we discover our mutual love for the most macabre hobbies. But then she brings up her brother's unsolved murder and her real reason for being here—to find his killer. That's when my past finally catches up with me, and I'm faced with an impossible choice.

Tennessee Tigers wide receiver Jace Thatcher steps off the sidelines in The Wrong Play, a dark football romance from USA Today–bestselling author C.R. Jane.

“Give me a second chance, babe . . . and I’ll blow your mind.” Monroe doesn’t know why she answers the text that’s obviously meant for someone else. Or why she keeps answering. Maybe it’s because she’s all alone in a big city and in desperate need of a lifeline. Or maybe it’s because each exchange leaves her intrigued and more than a little turned on. Still, Monroe never would’ve snarked back if she’d known she was talking to the “Golden Boy” of the Dallas Knights.

They all insist they don't know me. But they watch me. Every day. Their silence continues until a handsome, tattooed stranger dressed in a suit saunters into the arena and starts sweet-talking me. Then they jump off the ice, ready to fight him to the death. And for some reason…he seems ready to return the favor. Now, I'm being swept into a life of glamorous darkness…and into a war between men I evidently used to love.

I don't fall for women. Women fall for me. I'm Lake Decker, best running back in the league. Former. After a debilitating injury forced me to step back from my budding career, the last thing I thought I'd be doing was drooling at the feet of my stale-looking therapist. But her saucy attitude, strict professionalism, and the occasional shiner have my curiosities piqued.

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.

Hallie knows how to lose your best friend in one easy step. Offer him your virginity, then watch him reject you. But that was four years ago, and now she knows better. Working at Hunt’s Bull Riding School, there’s no shortage of hot young cowboys to keep her entertained. There’s no need to think about Nate Mathews, especially since he’s off on the pro bull riding tour. Out of sight, out of mind. Until Nate walks back into her life, four years older, four years hotter, and with four years of regrets behind the blue eyes she once fell in love with.

My name is Grace Degas Black. Years ago, I made a splash during a charity fashion show where an agent discovered me. My work led to the glitzy world of haute couture, perfume ads, and more. I was living my best life, traveling the world, and the only thing that would have made it better was if my twin had come along for the ride. My other half. My best friend. Then one day, she disappeared.

I've always been a tough North Shore girl. Fighting is in my blood, survival in my DNA. But two years ago, Caden King broke me, and he has proof of it. Now he wants to blackmail me into doing a job for him. The kind that puts my chance of escaping the North Shore at risk. The kind that means betraying my own crew.

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t love Rhett Walker, which is complicated since he’s ten years older and my brother’s best friend. After a falling out, we didn’t speak for years—until today, when he found me sleeping in my car, threw me over his shoulder, and dragged me “to safety.”

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.

I’m a survivor. A fighter down to my blood. I need the release that comes when I step in that octagon, I crave it. I spent too long being beat down and broken in every sense of the word, and I almost didn’t make it. Fighting saved me though, and then I saved myself. When I am offered a full ride scholarship to a college in the middle of nowhere Alabama over 2000 miles away, I grab the chance with both hands and run like hell.

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.

There are only three things that get under Madeline Maddox's skin: defeat, disorder, and disruption, especially when it comes to her carefully curated life and her roller derby team. Because no one outskates Mad Maddox—that is, until a cocky little jammer blows back into her hometown wreaking havoc into all her plans. Vera Havik is mayhem; she's chaos, she's everything Madeline despises.

According to my best friends, five months is too long to nurse a broken heart. They're determined to push me out of my nest made of sweatpants and sadness. I need to date, they say. They have the perfect plan, they say. Maddox Graves is the star center of the Minnesota Rogues, and he's every woman's fantasy. Tall, dark, and broody, he's the guy you picture when you're home alone enjoying some self-care. And after my friends win a date with him at a charity auction, he's all mine for one night.

You want my advice? Never look a gift horse in the mouth. You don’t want to see the rotten teeth. In this case, the gift is a scholarship to attend the prestigious Neveah University. The rotten teeth? Well, they came in the form of my brand new stepbrother and his little cohort of entitled, arrogant best friends. Four dangerously handsome and stupidly wealthy men who made up their minds about me long before we met. Men who are used to getting everything they want no matter what the price.