Released: June 5, 2026

Joan Warren runs a nonprofit that gives hockey equipment, skating lessons, and practice time to underprivileged Boston kids, including organizing a small club of youth teams. Her nonprofit barely breaks even with the help of grant funding, but her ice time at a local rundown rink is precious, and the kids adore her.

All is well until the Boston Bears pro hockey team needs a rink for their late-summer training camp while their own practice facility undergoes repairs. The privileged Bears take over Joan’s rink, the kids’ locker rooms, and her own personal space — ridiculing the ice, the amenities, and what she’s made of a location for youth who wouldn’t otherwise get to play.

Daniel “Dandy” Stoller is hockey royalty. He comes from a long line of hockey greats, but he isn’t one of them. A bottom-D, he has lost his love of the game but can’t disappoint his dynasty family by following his truer passions: golfing, real-estate investing, and avoiding his high-maintenance girlfriend. As one of the most privileged of the Bears, he goes head-to-head with Joan, putting her funding in jeopardy, until she makes him learn the error of his ways, and the kids steal a special place in his heart — with a little help from a lovable bluetick coonhound. As his relationship with Joan becomes more than acquaintances, Dandy must reconcile his feelings for his own girlfriend and a massive secret investing deal with plans to level the rink and make way for new development.

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Tropes + Styles: Slow burn, sassy girl/sassy boy, enemies to lovers, pro hockey, amateur golfing, jealous girlfriend, fake relationship, forced proximity (player + trainer), adorable dog, adorable kids, dramatic with rom-com elements, sibling adversaries, secrets, known betrayal

Interests: Boston, New England, dogs, golfing, investing, real estate, class disparity, wealthy privilege, recovery, country clubs, anisocoria, fashion galas, Barbie dolls

CW: Alcoholism (mild, hopeful toward sobriety), domestic violence (mild, mostly off the page), animal abuse (mild, mostly off the page), familial and societal pressures (medium), bad parenting (medium, child abuse off the page), wealth gaps and class disparity (major), adultery (mild, mostly off the page, secondary characters only), physical defect from health problems (mild, eye)

Reading Level: Intelligent, involved

Contains: Sex ✔ Condoms ✔ HEA ✔ Language ✔ POV: 3rd Person

Primary Characters: Boston Bears (Team), Daniel “Dandy” Stoller, Joan Warren

Secondary Characters: Blueliner (Dog) Erika McClosky, Brittany Naylor, Scotty Stoller, Adam, Connor “Saint” St. James, Paula, Reese

Tertiary Characters: Carter, Aidan, Maverick Jeffries, Mr. Jeffries, Tate “Tater” Keaton, Lollipop (Dog), Gumdrop (Dog), Heidi Stoller, Cade Stoller, Quinn, Thomas, Natalie

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