Genre: Contemporary Romance Standalone Trope: Frenemies to lovers, pregnancy scare, small town
Synopsis
There’s a thin line between love and hate. Good thing I have excellent balance.
If only that was enough.
Willa Hayes and I have a long history. We went from friends to enemies to frenemies…with benefits. The benefits part is our secret though.
Not how I’d prefer it, but after what I did, I’m lucky she still talks to me at all.
Our chemistry is undeniable. An addictive push and pull that has taken on a life of its own. One that fuels the long burning flame deep within me.
None of our friends have any idea that she and I have been sneaking around for the better part of a decade. Neither does anyone else in our small Georgia town. And if word were to get out, that would be the end of us.
That is, until Willa drops a bomb I never saw coming. It’s the last thing I expected – but also the perfect chance to show her who I really am. To be the man I wasn’t ten years ago. The man she deserves.
This is our chance for a happy ending. It’s now or never. As long as I don’t screw it up again.
USA Today Best Selling Claire Hastings is a walking, talking awkward moment. She loves Diet Coke, gummi bears, the beach, and books (obvs). When not reading she can usually be found hanging with friends at a soccer match or grabbing food (although she probably still has a book in her purse). She and her husband live in Atlanta.
Genre: M/M Sports Romance Standalone Trope: Double bi-awakening, idiots to lovers, eccentric hockey players, anti-wingman, PR headache, secret relationship
Synopsis
Bilson
The idea of moving away from Seattle was a joke at first.
I have too many failed relationships here. Too much baggage.
So when I find myself signing with Nashville and leaving everything behind, I’m hopeful a new start will cure me of my attachment problems.
I fall fast and hard, and I’m quickly realizing it’s not so easy to escape my emotional damage. That follows no matter where I go.
When my new teammate, rookie goalie Miles Olsen, attaches himself to my side, the media are excited to exploit our bromance. Little do they know, he’s doing me a favor by keeping me away from making mistakes with women.
That’s the deal we made at the beginning of the season, but as time goes on, and we’re both going through a dry spell, Miles suggests a different arrangement. One I’ve never contemplated. One I shouldn’t consider.
One I can’t stop thinking about.
Miles
My first day as starting goalie for Tennessee is made mildly more terrifying by coming face to face with NHL veteran Cody Bilson. Hero worship? Me? Never!
He reminds me of my old frat buddies; loyal, kind, easy to trade banter with. But my dude is lost and trying to find himself again–without getting married this time.
I want to help him, and while my suggestion might not be conventional, it sure as hell is effective. The only way to make sure he doesn’t marry a woman again? Blow off steam with a man instead.
We’re both straight, we’re both single, and we’re both down for a good time.
“Hey, babe?” Aleks says into his phone while the two of us hide in the bushes across the street from my ex-wife’s house the prenup agreement bought her. “I’m going to be home late. We have to rescue a rookie player from a cougar.” There’s a pause before he laughs. “No, not a literal cougar, but by the look of her, she does want to eat him alive.”
“Shh.” I softly backhand him. “If anyone sees us out here, we’ll get arrested.”
Dennan didn’t come on this side excursion because his new wife was at the bar with the other WAGs, but Aleks said he didn’t want to miss this mess.
Silly me thinking he was here for support.
Hadley doesn’t close the blinds as she leads Miles into the bedroom which is on the second floor. The lights are on, and my stomach churns. Is he going to hook up with her? How far is he willing to take this hairbrained idea?
I don’t want to watch that.
Hadley steps closer to Miles, but at about a foot away, Miles puts his hands on her hips and holds her steady.
“Oh fuck, they’re going to kiss, aren’t they?”
“Turn away if you don’t want to see,” Aleks says.
“I want to, but it’s like a car wreck. I can’t not look at it.”
When their lips touch, I screw up my face.
“Sorry, man,” Aleks says. “Maybe your new bestie is actually a psychopath and wants you to be seeing this.”
Just before I start to believe that, Miles breaks the kiss, says something, and then Hadley turns and walks into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Miles frantically takes out his phone and looks out into the darkness in our general vicinity. He knows we’re here. My phone vibrates a second later.
Rookie:
Where’s the dog?
CB:
She usually locks him away in the laundry when she goes out or has company.
Rookie:
On it.
He turns and tiptoes out of the room, looking ridiculous, and it makes me laugh. He’s trying to be light-footed, but we’re fucking hockey players. We wouldn’t know how to do anything lightly. But I’ll give him props, he’s quick.
My heart is in my throat, beating erratically, when my phone vibrates again.
Rookie:
I can’t find a dog, only a rat-looking thing. It doesn’t even have any fur.
CB:
That’s him! Quick get out of there.
Rookie:
Come get him from the front door.
“Fuck, we’re moving,” I say to Aleks.
We get up and run across the street, reaching the front just as Miles opens the door and hands me my baby. I have to hold in my shriek of excitement.
Killer starts licking me and going nuts. He lets out a yip, and I can’t help it. “Aww” falls from my lips.
“Leave before she gets out of the shower,” Miles says.
“You’re going to stay?” I yell.
“Teammates should share everything. Is ex-wives not on that list?”
This is one of those times where I can’t tell if he’s being his weirdo goalie self or serious.
He grins. Okay weird goalie self.
The water upstairs shuts off.
His face falls. “Shit. She’s out. Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He slams the door shut, and she for sure knows now that she’s been ditched. All three of us sprint across the street and jump into Aleks’s car. He gets it started and speeds away before there’s any sign of Hadley.
My heart is still racing, Miles is laughing his head off in the back seat, but I’m happier than I’ve been in such a long time.
I have my Killer back.
“Are you sure that’s even a dog?” Miles asks.
“He’s a Chinese Crested and so freaking adorable.” I hug the little guy who struggles excitedly in my arms.
“If you say so,” Miles mutters.
“Hey, question,” Aleks says. “How are you going to smuggle that thing on the team plane? Aren’t you guys on a week-long road trip?”
Miles and I look at each other, neither of us with an answer.
Miles runs a hand through his blond hair. “I kinda didn’t think that far ahead.”
Eden Finley is an Amazon bestselling author who writes steamy contemporary romances that are full of snark and light-hearted fluff.
She doesn’t take anything too seriously and lives to create an escape from real life for her readers. The ideas always begin with a wackadoodle premise, and she does her best to turn them into romances with heart.
With a short attention span that rivals her son’s, she writes multiple different pairings: MM, MMF, and MF.
She’s also an Australian girl and apologises for her Australianisms that sometimes don’t make sense to anyone else.
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