Eden Finley

Saxon James

FOSTER: "Look out for Zach and don't hit on him."My brother's request sounds easy enough. Keep an eye out for his best friend on campus and keep my hands to myself.Easy.Even if Zach is a quintessential nerd, who I've always thought was cute, I don't have the time to think with my ... stick.There's only one stick I should be focused on this year, and that's my hockey stick. My goal once I graduate is to get an NHL contract.The last thing I need is a distraction. On or off the ice.Only, keeping to the rules is harder than I thought it would be. ZACH: People confuse me.And no one more than Foster Grant.I've barely spoken two words to him in the whole time I've known him, but the second I step foot on campus, he's impossible to shake.I can never anticipate his next move. And whenever we're together, my next move is a total mystery as well.I want to give in to him, but that might mean coming clean about something I've never been bothered about before.I'm still carrying my V-card.And I think it's time to turn it in.

Power Plays & Straight A's

JACOBS: For the last three years, I've lived and breathed hockey with one goal: team captain. There's only one thing standing in my way.TJ Beckett. Beck is irresponsible and immature, and I've hated him since the moment we met freshman year. Yet, the coaches see something in him I obviously can't, and they refuse to choose between us. The captain spot is going to a team vote. And the team thinks that what we need are a bunch of challenges to prove our worth. Challenges that have nothing to do with hockey. Challenges that are throwing me and Beck together. And he's still as infuriating as ever. BECK: I have no idea why Christopher Jacobs hates me, and I can't say I care. I like pushing his buttons, but the guy needs to loosen up. I'm going to win these stupid challenges easily and spend my senior year as hockey king on this campus. Tormenting Jacobs at the same time will just be a bonus. Even if I'm getting confusing feelings toward him, I won't let it hold me back. When it comes to competing, I'm all in, and nothing will get between me and the W.

Face Offs & Cheap Shots

ASHER Hockey, studying, and school runs. That's my life now. After a tragic accident that took our parents' lives, it's up to me and my big brother to take care of our five younger siblings. In between burning their meals and keeping them from killing each other, I'm supposed to get a college degree. It's hard when I don't have time to breathe let alone study, and if I don't get my grades up, I'm in danger of losing the one thing that makes me happy: my spot on the hockey team. Which is why when the new equipment manager offers to tutor me, I really can't afford to say no. Even though I should. He's Coach's son and way too tempting. KOLE As this year's equipment manager for Dad's hockey team, I'm expected to deal with sweaty jock straps and herding hockey players to their rooms at away games. The job is easy, but babysitting Asher Dalton is not supposed to be a part of it. So why, when his brother asks me to keep an eye on him, do I agree? Why, when he's struggling in classes, do I offer to help? And why, when we're studying, do I suggest a reward system that lands us squarely in bed? Asher's trouble, I know he is. But there's something about him that makes it impossible to stay away.

CU Hockey Series, Book 4

Line Mates & Study Dates

Tripp The worst part of being in love with my straight best friend is the fact he's too oblivious to see it. Years of pining have left me exhausted, and I need a break from Dex. I need space to get over my feelings. But when his relationship falls apart and he turns to me for comfort, I cave immediately. If there's one thing I hate more than being hurt, it's seeing Dex struggle. I can't leave him in a time of need, even if my friends say it's my biggest downfall. They say Dexter Mitchale is my weakness, but if that's true, I don't want to be strong. Dex l've always been the dumb one. It's what I'm known for, and usually I don't let it get to me. I have hockey, and I have my best friend, Tripp. What more do I need? To settle down? No thank you. Marriage?
Hard pass. According to ex-girlfriends, that makes me "irresponsible." But the solution I come up with to get over my fear of commitment might be my dumbest idea yet. Not only does it have team management breathing down my neck, but it puts a strain on my friendship with Tripp. This PR nightmare could lose me the only person I've ever loved. Losing girlfriends is nothing. Losing Tripp? It's not an option. I'II do whatever it takes to keep him.

Irresponsible Puckboy

EZRAPartying, dudes, and hockey. What more could a gay NHL player want?If it weren't for Anton Hayes, my life would be perfect.Not that he affects my life in any way. At all. That would imply I care what the winger from Philly thinks of me.Which I don't.Not even a one-night stand with him can thaw his misplaced animosity toward me.He says I'm the one with the ego, but he can talk. He rivals me for most egotistical puck boy in the league.I hate him as much as he hates me. Even if I crave a repeat.ANTONWhen it comes to hockey, I'm all about the game.I've worked for years to be one of the best in the league, and I've done it without splashing my orientation all over the tabloids.My hockey image is one I've carefully cultivated, and after one night with Ezra Palaszczuk, I risk it all.He's cocky, obnoxious, and has an ego bigger than Massachusetts. And okay, maybe he's the sexiest man I've ever known.We'll never get along. Not when we sleep together. Not even when my possessive streak awakens.That doesn't stop us from falling into bed together over and over again.

Egotistical Puckboy

Roommate Arrangement

WESTLY

The fall from NHL superstar to domestic disaster was swift and painful. When I became the legal guardian of my five younger siblings, I had no idea what I was doing.

One year later, I’m still lost.

Coaching CU’s hockey team might be the only thing I’m excelling at. But when our star forward is failing math, I have to do what it takes to keep him on the team. Even if it’s going head-to-head with Jasper Eckstein.

One minute I’m confronting the notorious hockey-hating professor, and the next I’m agreeing to be his date to his twenty-year high school reunion.

I don’t know how that happened.


JASPER

My rules are simple. I don’t give extra credit. Ever. No matter how entitled jocks think they are, I refuse to give them special treatment.

It's not because I hate them. It's not because a hockey player broke my nose in high school.

It's fair.

But when Westly Dalton bursts into my office like a hurricane, all my principles fly out the window.

Suddenly I'm giving extra credit.

And I have a date to my reunion.

After one explosive night together, I want more, but his home life is a mess, and I don't want to get in the way. If all we can have is quick thrills, I’m okay with that.

It’s not like I could ever fall for a jock.

CU Hockey Series, Book 5

Puck Drills & Quick Thrills

We're basically Romeo and Juliet. But dudes. And without all the dying. ChadBeing VP of Sigma Beta Psi is wild. I get all the benefits of being in charge with hardly any of the responsibility.Parties, pranks, and frat politics-college life has never been sweeter.Until I meet Bailey Prince.He has the face of a goddamn angel. I don't know where he came from or why I'm so obsessed.But I do know he's a Kappa.And our houses have a rivalry that's written into legend.BaileyAt Rho Kappa Tau, I'm a legacy.It's a lot of pressure, but I've always been responsible, never had that rebellious need to rock the boat, and I like it that way.But after a party at Sigma-the jock frat-I meet Chad Doomsen, and for the first time in my life I want to step outside my square.Our houses have always had a rivalry, but some of the guys seem to hate Chad specifically, and I don't know why.He's surprisingly sweet and kind. At least to me.I need to stay away. A relationship with Chad would be betraying the very legacy that brought me here.But I can't help myself. And it seems, neither can he.Frat Wars is a romance between MCs from rival houses. It has friendly competitions, no hazing, and a swoony romance kept secret.

King of Thieves

Frat Wars

Roo Five years ago, I walked away from Sunbury, Oregon, and left my best friend behind. The move was supposed to get my life on track. I even had a list. Life changing epilepsy surgery. Check.See the world. Check.Get over my straight best friend ... Not exactly.No matter where I go or who I meet, I can't let Tanner go. I'm back to tell him how I feel. To get the closure I need once and for all.Only now I'm here and falling for him all over again, it's getting harder to say the words. Because once I have my closure, I'll be gone. And this time it will be for good. Tanner When my best friend, Roo, left for Australia, it was the worst day of my life. I thought we'd have each other always.But Roo needed the surgery so I let him go, thinking he'd come straight back.Five years is a long time.Now he's here, all I want is to hold on tight. I need to show him what he means to me. The problem is, I'm not exactly sure what that is. My draw to him has always been confusing and different-everyone in town says so. But I struggle to understand it. All I know is I won't survive him leaving again. And I'll do anything to make him stay. Just Friends is a best friends-to-lovers romance with an oblivious MC, only one bed, and terrible kangaroo jokes.

Just Friends

Presidential Chaos

COHEN It turns out making out with my best friend in high school could be considered gay. Who knew? Apparently, everyone but me.Now that it's been pointed out, I can't help reliving it in my head. Repeatedly. Goodbye Denial Town, hello Confusionville.When my path leads me down the gay dating app route, I don't expect to meet anyone I like, but then I meet him.He can't be more opposite than me. He's smart, he hates hockey, and he identifies as demi-something I've never heard of.Yet I can't deny something's there. Something I want to explore in person. If only I could get him to agree. SETH All my life, I've felt broken.Sick of being asked if I could be gay by ex-girlfriends, friends, and even my parents, I join a gay dating app to prove a point.I don't expect to find what's always been missing. A real connection.The problem is, I'm too scared to meet him in person. He's a hockey player, and I fear when he finds out my twin plays for the NHL, I'll be overshadowed by my overachieving brother. Again.Worse yet, what happens if we meet and that connection isn't the same?When I tell him I'm not ready, he's disappointed but supportive. Fate, on the other hand, isn't as accepting.I had no idea the person I've been falling for is someone I already know.

Goal Lines & First Times

ALEKS 
After my divorce, I'm ready to have fun, date around, and not get into anything serious. Then I meet Gabe Crosby, superhero firefighter and a disgrace to the Crosby name. He doesn't even like hockey! Yet, there's a draw to him I can't deny-something I haven't felt since my teens. But that's the problem. I have no idea what dating is like, let alone how to do it with another man. He makes me flakey and nervous, and l've never been that guy.
Gabe turns me inside out and upside down in the best possible ways. I only recently became single, but if I continue to chase after him, I might not stay that way for long. 
GABE 
When I meet Aleksander Emerson during an emergency call-out, there are three things that catch my attention: his sexy tattoos, his kind eyes, and his drunken offer to have my babies. He's new to Seattle and recently divorced, so I take him under my wing-and under my sheets. I'm showing him what the world of hookups is like, only those hookups turn into sleepovers and dates and public displays of jealousy. Aleks is in his casual era, and I'm working my way toward settling down and starting a family.
What the two of us have is fun, but not a good idea permanently. Too bad Aleks has already set my life on fire.

Foolish Puckboy

Thousands of students on this campus, and I keep being set up with the roommate I can't stand.FelixOne date.That's how long it takes for Marshall Harrows to end up on my bad side.Luckily I have no plans to see the giant teddy bear again. Except when he shows up as my new roommate, I can't escape him, and he's just as irritating as I thought he'd be.He leaves cupboards ajar and puts empty milk cartons back in the fridge. His bedroom door is always open, I find his underwear on the laundry floor, and he has this whole bashful sweetheart thing going on that I just ? can't ? stand.But the most completely, horribly irritating thing about him is that he's totally my type.And my friends won't stop setting us up on blind dates.MarshallOne date.That's how long it took for Felix Andrews to steal my heart.The sparky little spitfire is everything I'm not. Confident, adorable, and completely outspoken.He also wants nothing to do with me. Which is a real problem when I want to give him everything. Including my virginity.But the more I try to gain his attention, the more I see the real him. The one who doesn't feel worthy of being treated like anything other than a one-night stand. So I decide to take matters into my own hands.A total do-over. One night. One date. Where hopefully I can steal his heart too.

The Dating Disaster

Griff:Walking away from my marriage was my idea of a fresh start.My kid is in college, my ex-wife and I are on good terms ? but being single in my forties is a world different to being single in my teens.I'm thankful for my best friend, Heath. He's got my back like he always does and is ready to take me out and show me how the bachelor life is done.He was never supposed to show me literally.After we wake up in bed together, I can't stop looking at him differently, and one thing becomes abundantly clear.I talk a big talk about wanting to be single, but my platonic rule book has gone out the window.Heath:When my best friend comes to me for help post-divorce, I'm only too happy to impart my wisdom to him.After all, Griffin isn't my type, but even I can tell he's a complete lumbersnack. Good with his hands, kind eyes, and a killer smile. All the guys and gals are gonna eat him alive.But the more time we spend together, the less "not my type" he becomes. I'm the one who can't get enough of him.Neither of us is interested in a relationship, so what's a little fun between friends?We both know the score.

Platonic Rulebook

WESTLY The fall from NHL superstar to domestic disaster was swift and painful. When I became the legal guardian of my five younger siblings, I had no idea what I was doing. One year later, I'm still lost. Coaching CU's hockey team might be the only thing I'm excelling at. But when our star forward is failing math, I have to do what it takes to keep him on the team. Even if it's going head-to-head with Jasper Eckstein. One minute I'm confronting the notorious hockey-hating professor, and the next I'm agreeing to be his date to his twenty-year high school reunion. I don't know how that happened. JASPER My rules are simple. I don't give extra credit. Ever. No matter how entitled jocks think they are, I refuse to give them special treatment. It's not because I hate them. It's not because a hockey player broke my nose in high school. It's fair. But when Westly Dalton bursts into my office like a hurricane, all my principles fly out the window. Suddenly I'm giving extra credit. And I have a date to my reunion. After one explosive night together, I want more, but his home life is a mess, and I don't want to get in the way. If all we can have is quick thrills, I'm okay with that. It's not like I could ever fall for a jock.

Rowan Five years ago, I ruined the best thing I had in my life and ran. Now, I'm finally back to make things right. I need Circus's forgiveness, and then I can finally move on. I'll leave Sunbury for good this time and never look back. Maybe then I can finally live life as an out gay man-without my family ever finding out. But earning his forgiveness isn't as simple as I hoped it would be. He's going to make me fight for it. And I don't blame him at all. Circus I never wanted or expected to see Rowan Harvey again. When he shows up in Sunbury, begging for forgiveness, I'm tempted to give it to him just so he'll disappear. Instead, we make a deal. I need an extra model for a swimwear shoot, and none of my friends are available or fit the brief.I'll forgive him, if he helps me. Then he has to leave. For good. Because his request for anonymity during the shoot proves he's still living in his dark closet.I'm not going to make the same mistakes I did when I was a teenager. I won't let myself fall for him again. Because after how things ended between us, he doesn't deserve a second chance. Fake Friends is an ex-friends-to-lovers romance with fake boyfriends, second chances, and an all-knowing Magic 8-Ball.

Fake Friends

LEON When I'm looking for a hook up, I want three things: Big, thick, and rough. So it doesn't make sense that I can't get my new hire out of my head. He's a tiny guy with big ideas ... and he's my apprentice which means he's completely off limits. But he's already under my skin. And for the first time with any guy, I don't think I can hold my own against him. Physically, yes. Emotionally, no. Auggie makes me weak. AUGGIE Growing up, I always wanted to go into the family business and follow in Dad's footsteps. Until in my senior year of high school when he told me to find a new dream. No one would let a small, clumsy guy like me on a construction site. And after trying and failing for years, I was starting to believe him. Then LJ Constructions calls me for an interview and when I meet Leon, he becomes my new dream. He's hot as hell, self made, and instead of putting me down, he sees what I've always seen in myself. But I'm not dumb enough to throw away this one chance, not even for him. Not even if I really, really want to. Getting Friendly is a low angst friends-to-lovers romance with spa dates, a size difference, and an adorably awkward MC. All books in the Never Just Friends series are stand alones. Series number refers to recommended reading order.

Getting Friendly

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.

After all, what are teammates for?

Bromantic Puckboy

QUINN

Straining my groin is bad enough. It puts my hockey career, my future, but even worse, my dignity on the line.

Having to get massages in that area from Vance Landon, one of the team trainers, is mortifying.

It’s impossible to hide my feelings toward him. If my constant blushing and bumbling doesn’t give it away, my body does.

It’s getting to the point where I wonder if hockey is even worth the embarrassment.

Trying to avoid him only makes him seek me out more. He’s determined to rehab my injury, but all I want is for him to leave me alone.

Or fall for me.

One or the other.

VANCE

Ayri Quinn isn’t your typical jock … except for the fact he refuses to admit when he’s injured.

I’ve seen more than enough professional sportsmen lose the career they love due to injury, and I’m not having it happen again.

Especially not when the guy in question happens to be the sweetest, most awkward, innocent jock I’ve ever met.

When a night out leads to Quinn reinjuring himself, I create a care plan that keeps me hands on, literally. Unfortunately, working with him in close proximity brings all those feelings I’ve been trying to ignore to the surface.

I just need to get him better so he can be back on the ice and out of my bed.

Ah, my massage bed.

Because if this goes on any longer, I might mean my actual bed.

Ayri Quinn is impossible to resist.


Saxon James

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