Recommendations based on "Fear of Intimacy"

"There are a lot of things I learned in our time together, but the biggest lesson my husband taught me is what it feels like to be loved for the first time in my life." REAL READERS LOVE THE WINDY CITY SERIES: 'SWEET MOTHER. . . literally left a mark on my soul'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I laughed and cried and swooned'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I can't believe it's over. I want to turn back to page 1 and start all over again'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'Each and every book in this series has left an imprint on my heart' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'I lost count of the amount of times this book made me cry' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'They have quite literally stolen my heart and I am totally okay with that' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'The spice was spicin and the romance was *chef's kiss*' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 'This book took my heart, shattered it, healed it and embedded it back in my chest' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ KENNEDY I'm the only woman on staff for the Windy City Warriors baseball team, and after years of putting up with a sexist lead doctor, I'm desperate to land my dream job with a new team next year. All I have to do is maintain my professional reputation for my final season in Chicago. But a Las Vegas run-in with the team's shortstop threatens it all, leaving me with a fuzzy memory and a ring on my left hand. Now, not only am I legally bound to the most persistent man I've ever met, but thanks to Isaiah's scheme to save my job, I have to pretend the whole thing was a planned elopement and not a drunken mistake. Isaiah Rhodes is reckless, impulsive, and frustratingly charming. He's also my brand-new husband. They got the saying wrong. What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas... sometimes it follows you right back home. ISAIAH As the shortstop for Chicago's professional baseball team, I've had my fair share of fun. But that all ended the day Kennedy Kay became a single woman. I've crushed on the team's athletic trainer for years. I've flirted to no avail, so imagine my surprise when I woke up in Sin City with a ring on my finger and my favourite redhead in my bed. We agree to stay married for one baseball season, just long enough to keep her job safe, but in my mind, I'm using our time together to prove to her I'm husband material. Kennedy might be reluctant to join in on our game, but it's one I refuse to lose. So come on, wife... play along. Play Along is the fourth book in the sensational Windy City series which has gripped over a million readers across the world. But don't worry if you're new round here, you'll still love it as a standalone! TROPES: 🌶️Boy obsessed 🌶️Drunken marriage, turned marriage of convenience, turned... 🌶️ (Step) brother's rival 🌶️Perfectionist FMC + goldren retriever MMC 🌶️He falls first 🌶️Workplace romance 🌶️Family trauma 🌶️Dual POV 'Everything I want in a romance novel: simmering tension, incredible banter, and vulnerability that will make your chest ache . . . When it comes to love stories that stick with you, Liz Tomforde knows exactly what she's doing' LYLA SAGE

This limited Collector's Edition printing will include a new hardcase design, printed edges, designed endpapers, and colored character art throughout of your fave OG hockey couple, Hannah and Garrett! She's about to make a deal with the college bad boy... Hannah Wells has finally found someone who turns her on. But while she might be confident in every other area of her life, she's carting around a full set of baggage when it comes to sex and seduction. If she wants to get her crush's attention, she'll have to step out of her comfort zone and make him take notice...even if it means tutoring the annoying, childish, cocky captain of the hockey team in exchange for a pretend date. ...and it's going to be oh so good. All Garrett Graham has ever wanted is to play professional hockey after graduation, but his plummeting GPA is threatening everything he's worked so hard for. If helping a sarcastic brunette make another guy jealous will help him secure his position on the team, he's all for it. But when one unexpected kiss leads to the wildest sex of both their lives, it doesn't take long for Garrett to realize that pretend isn't going to cut it. Now he just has to convince Hannah that the man she wants looks a lot like him.

Mike Knew He Was Making A Mistake When He Let The Rookie Climb Into Bed With Him. He Just Didn't Know It'd Be A Mistake That Would Follow Him For The Rest Of His Life.

Shannon Wilkenson is smart, competitive, skilled at her job as a litigator. What she isn't so skilled at is choosing the men in her life. Thorsten seems to be everything she wants: charming, athletic, quick-witted. The smart thing to do is stay far away from him. But Thorsten has other plans. Can two people experienced at the game of seduction surrender to the possibility of love? **Look for HEART OF ICE, Book 1 in the Hearts on Fire duo.

Once bitten, twice shy …The mantra I live by so no one can hurt me in the same way my parents did.I’m Tommy Schneider, the most feared player in the NHL with a last name to match my bad boy reputation. Only, I’m the better, stronger, faster version of my estranged dad. Everything in my life I control with expert precision—from the hits I land in fights to the tattoos covering my body. Nothing and no one can get the better of me. I’m impermeable, a wall of steel that’s as cold as it is opaque.So when my trade to the New York Blades is met with controversy, it’s fair to say I’m unbothered. The recently appointed General Manager expects a brutal enforcer, and that’s exactly what he’ll get.But what I didn’t expect when I landed in Brooklyn? Jenna Miller. And the way she unceremoniously turned me down. I shouldn’t let her rejection weave it’s way under my skin, and I definitely shouldn’t have punched her brother when he tried to defend Jenna’s honor.Instead, I should heed my mantra and walk away from the girl who hates my guts and grates on me with her bratty smile and backtalking mouth. If I don’t, I know someone will eventually get hurt. But each time I back off, I wind up standing outside her apartment door again.I’m in the fight of my life, with so much more at risk than just broken bones and bruises …This time, it’s my heart on the line.

A drunken promotional after party involving unlimited vodka, several social media influencers, puck bunnies for miles, and the goalie from an opposing team, leads to a massive mistake. No, not a surprise pregnancy. I was drunk but not that drunk. No, this mistake was worse because even months later, I can't get it out of my head and it's effecting my performance. My coaches are on my case because I'm dragging ass on the ice. My friends are all worried because I holed up in my hometown for the entire off season. There's only one thing to do, and there's only one person who can help me. Juniper. My best friend and the social media manager for the IceCaps. Sure, she'll give me her disappointed face. That sighed, "Dammit, Ludo," that I've heard at least once a month since we were fourteen. But in the end she'll help me, because she's my June Bug and she wants me to be happy. I just needed her to commit to my schemes before I had to face "The Norse God" on the damn ice again and all my carefully controlled mistakes spiral out of control.

After a brief marriage to an unfaithful, gold-digging wife, Jared Roderick is looking for the perfect good girl, and he thinks he’s found her. Sweet, quiet, prim Stephanie Clarke is exactly the woman he wants and nothing like his cheating ex. Now to convince a reluctant Steph they were meant to be together. Steph has had enough of men controlling her life from her preacher father to her abusive boyfriend. She wants to regain the innocence she lost and ignore the ugliness of her recent past. She’s not the pure and sheltered virgin Jared desires and fends off his advances despite the sizzling chemistry between them. Jared is as determined to win Steph over as he is to win hockey games; but when he discovers his fantasy is tarnished, does he have the strength to skate the distance? Keywords: Hockey Romance, Sports Romance, Damaged Heroine hockey romance, hockey novel, sports romance, Seattle, hockey, workplace, urban romance, alpha male, sports hero, hockey star, professional hockey, hockey players, divorced, heroine with a secret, stripper, abused heroineHelena Hunting, Elle Kennedy, Catherine Gayle, Toni Aleo, Jami Davenport, Kelly Jamieson, Sarina Bowen, Sawyer Bennett, Carly Phillips, Kennedy Ryan, Nana Malone, Brenda Rothert, Elise Faber, Kate Meador, Victoria Denault, Mira Lyn Kelly, Odette Stone, Jennifer Lazaris, Lisa B Kamps, Cathryn Fox, Samantha Lind, Samantha Whiskey, Stacey Lynn

What happened in high school stayed in high school. Until now. Five years ago, Michael Graham betrayed the only person who ever really knew him. Since then, he's made an art of hiding his sexual orientation from everyone. Including himself. So it's a shock when his past strolls right into the Harkness College locker room, sporting a bag of hockey gear and the same slow smile that had always rendered Graham defenseless. For Graham, there is only one possible reaction: total, debilitating panic. With one loose word, the team's new left wing could destroy Graham's life as he knows it. John Rikker is stuck being the new guy. Again. And it's worse than usual, because the media has latched onto the story of the only "out" player in Division One hockey. As the satellite trucks line the sidewalk outside the rink, his new teammates are not amused. And one player in particular looks sick every time he enters the room. Rikker didn't exactly expect a warm welcome from Graham. But the guy won't even meet his eyes. From the looks of it, his former... best friend / boyfriend / whatever isn't doing so well. He drinks too much and can't focus during practice. Either the two loneliest guys on the team will self destruct from all the new pressures in their lives, or they can navigate the pain to find a way back to one another. To say that it won't be easy is the Understatement of the Year. Warning: unlike the other books in this series, this heartbreaking love story is about two guys. Contains sexual situations, dance music, snarky t-shirts and a poker-playing grandmother.

She knows the rules of the game . . . but she can't resist his movesPublicist Abby Fields's career is on the rise. And with failed romances in her past, she has no time for men. When a job opportunity opens up with a sports team in Florida, Abby eagerly packs up and heads south. Yet after a work event in Mirabelle, Florida, Abby finds herself in the arms of a hockey player whose heartstopping smile leads her to the steamiest night of her life . . . Logan James is hot on and off the ice. With his team on an epic winning streak, life couldn't get better . . . until he meets Abby, the fiery redhead assigned to protect his team's image. Now Logan's finding it difficult to concentrate on anything other than getting Abby undressed. But after a secret is leaked to the press, the taste of betrayal opens old wounds. If they can't learn to trust each other, they may risk losing more than their hearts. (50,000 words)

USA TODAY bestselling author Rachel Reid's beloved Game Changers series. Common GoalVeteran goaltender Eric Bennett has faced down some of the toughest shooters on the ice, but nothing prepared him for his latest challenge-life after hockey. It's time to make some big changes, starting with finally dating men for the first time.Graduate student Kyle Swift moved to New York nursing a broken heart. He'd sworn to find someone his own age to crush on (for once). Until he meets a gorgeous, distinguished silver fox hockey player. Despite their intense physical attraction, Kyle has no intention of getting emotionally involved. He'll teach Eric a few tricks, have some mutually consensual fun, then walk away.Eric is more than happy to learn anything Kyle brings to the table. And Kyle never expected their friends-with-benefits arrangement to leave him wanting more. Happily-ever-after might be staring them in the face, but it won't happen if they're too stubborn to come clean about their feelings.Everything they both want is within reach... They just have to be brave enough to grab it.Role ModelThe hits just keep coming for Troy Barrett. Traded to the worst team in the league would be bad enough, but coming on the heels of a messy breakup and a recent scandal... Troy just wants to play hockey and be left alone. He doesn't want to be in the news anymore, and he definitely doesn't want to "work on his online presence" with the team's peppy social media manager.Harris Drover can tell standoffish Troy isn't happy about the trade-anyone could tell, frankly, as he doesn't exactly hide it well-but Harris doesn't give up on people easily. Even when he's developing a crush he's sure is one-sided. And when he sees Troy's smile finally crack through his grumpy exterior, well... That's a man Harris couldn't turn his back on if he wanted to.Suddenly, Troy's move to the new team feels like an opportunity-for Troy to embrace his true self, and for both men to surrender to their growing attraction. But indulging in each other behind closed doors is one thing, and for Troy, being in a public relationship with Harris will mean facing off with his fears, once and for all.The Long GameShane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other for ten years and have kept it secret. From friends, from family...from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything?Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship...Ilya wants it all.It's time for them to make the call and decide what's most important - hockey or love.