Love on the Line

Suki Brennan is broke. After she co-signed several hefty loans for her ex’s business, he fled the country and left her working two jobs to pay his bills.

So when her new boss, a sulky pro hockey player who recently became the guardian of his three nieces, proposes a deal to help him secure permanent custody of the girls, she agrees.

If Suki fake marries Carter Stanton for one year, and pretends to be his doting wife, she’ll get half a million dollars and a clean divorce at the end. Not only will the money pay off all her debts, she’ll be able to help the girls she already adores settle fully into their new lives.

It’s a foolproof plan. At least, it seems like it. As Suki grows closer to Carter and his nieces, though, her feelings for them become very real. But does her brooding boss feel the same?

Sebastian Stone has a wedding to stop. His best friend’s sister is planning to make an epic mistake in six months, but no one else seems to get it.
So when Lainey Morris needs a place to stay in Cleveland for a four-month long research project, Bash offers her his house. As a pro hockey player, he’s on the road a lot, but when he’s home, he makes his case against her marrying Shane—or anyone else.
She’s stubborn and often has her head in a book, but Lainey is also beautiful, funny and sweet. Plenty of men would like to lock her down, but she needs to focus on herself. Take her time. Wait until she’s at least thirty.
Bash plans to use logic and reason to persuade Lainey to stay single, but everything falls apart when he finally figures out the truth: he’s in love with her. But is it too late to hope she might feel the same?

Leo Abbott is screwed. His new teammate won't stop trying to set him up with his twin sister—who unfortunately inherited the family unibrow. Desperate to avoid the world's most awkward dinner date, Leo lies about having a girlfriend. Too bad the name he blurts out in a panic is a woman who absolutely despises him.
Mara Torres has zero interest in doing Leo any favors, especially after he proved what a Neanderthal he is. But the chance to make the cocky hockey player squirm? That she can get behind.
Their fake relationship starts as pure revenge, but somewhere between heated arguments and sizzling tension, the line between hate and want gets dangerously blurred. Now they're facing their biggest challenge yet—what happens when enemies become lovers?

My ex didn't believe in marriage—until he cheated with my sister and put a ring on her finger three months later.
Their wedding is in seven weeks and I refuse to be the pathetic, heartbroken ex everyone pities. I need a date. Not just any date—I need someone who'll make my ex's jaw hit the floor and prove I've moved on to something better.
My perfect solution is Lucien Beaumont: pro hockey's biggest flirt, my ex's fiercest rival, and the last man I should be anywhere near. He's arrogant, infuriating, and has a smile that should be illegal. He's also got his own reasons for wanting revenge on my ex.
The plan is simple: fake a whirlwind romance. Make it look so real, no one questions it.
The problem? The heat between us isn't fake. Every touch that's supposed to be for show sets me on fire. Every whispered promise in front of the cameras makes me forget we're pretending. And when he looks at me like I'm the only woman in the room, I almost believe it myself.
But Lucien's off-limits for one very big reason: my father is his coach. One wrong move, and we both lose everything.
The closer we get to the wedding, the harder it is to remember where the act ends and the truth begins.

As a curvy style influencer with half a million followers, I'm used to commanding attention. But Noel Turner—head coach of the Cleveland Crush and the most distractingly hot man I've ever met—won't even look at me.
At forty-seven, twice-divorced, and allergic to complications, he's made it clear: I'm off-limits. When I'm hired as the team's social media coordinator, his icy stare and clipped commands tell me everything I need to know. He thinks I'm a distraction. A liability. Someone who'll disrupt his carefully controlled world.
He's not wrong.
Because every time he brushes past me in the hallway, every time his jaw tightens when I'm laughing with his players, I want him more. I've built a career on confidence and knowing what I want—and I want him to lose that iron control. Just once.
When a travel mishap forces us to share a hotel room, the truth comes out: Noel has been fighting this pull between us just as hard as I have. One bed. One night. And suddenly every wall he's built comes crashing down.
Falling for him is one thing. Being the woman who costs him everything? That's another. When our secret gets out and he's forced to choose between his team and me, I'll discover if I'm worth the risk—or if I'm just another mistake he'll regret.

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Tropes:

Age Gap
Forced Proximity
Grumpy Sunshine
Forbidden Love
Found Family
Hockey Romance

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Crushing on the Coach is the fifth book in the Love on the Line series:all books are interconnected standalones about a team of professional hockey players and the women they fall hard for. The books don’t need to be read in order, but future characters appear in each book.