Blue Ridge Christmas Hockey Short Reads

When the new hockey team captain crashes into the town's Christmas queen, sparks fly faster than falling snow. Ree: Running Blue Ridge's most magical Christmas pop-up shop should be enough to keep me busy, but apparently the universe has other plans. Like having Evan Callahan-six feet-plus of hockey captain perfection-literally body-check me into a pile of fake snow and candy canes during our first planning meeting. One mistletoe mishap later, and suddenly I'm co-hosting "Christmas on Ice" with the most gorgeous grump who secretly loves stop-motion Christmas movies and makes the worst gingerbread hockey players. Between stolen kisses under twinkling lights, festival emergencies, and trying not to melt every time he smiles, I'm falling faster than a rookie in their first pair of skates. But I swore off athletes after my ex-fiancé left me at the altar, and Evan's got a whole team counting on him to stay focused. Dating the town's Christmas coordinator during the biggest week of the year? That's a penalty neither of us can afford. Can a hockey team captain and a Christmas queen find their happily ever after in just a few days? Or will this holiday romance get checked into the boards?

He's the brooding goalie who falls right into her cookie display. She's the sunshine baker who melts his defenses. Maddie: I'm up to my ears in gingerbread when a six-foot-plus avalanche of flannel and Viking energy crashes into my Christmas cookie pop-up event. Turns out, the man who takes out my brioche tray is none other than Noah Becker, the Blue Ridge Buffaloes' new starting goalie and the mystery muffin tin returner who's been haunting my Thursdays all season. When we're paired for the town's peppermint bake-off, I brace for awkward silences and a plethora of over-kneaded dough. What do I get? A hot goalkeeper with secret smiles, gentle hands, and a surprising talent for melting my defenses. He's quiet, steady, and gorgeous in a way that should be illegal. One bake-off, a few kisses, and a whole lot of flour later, we're elbow-deep in peppermint and feelings I don't know what to do with. But love isn't always sugar cookies and hot cocoa. With hockey season heating up and my heart on the line, when Christmas ends, will the magic of our instant connection go with it?