Portland Icehawks

Meet the newest expansion team--The Portland Icehawks. They're a group of guys with chips on their shoulders out to make their former teams regret letting them go. They won't stop until they win it all, but what they haven't counted on is love being part of that equation. As a thirty-five-year-old hockey player, I've learned a hard lesson in loyalty. I was supposed to be a lifer for the Chicago Tigers, but the team left me out in the cold, choosing to protect younger players in the expansion draft. The next thing I know, I'm in a strange city with a fledgling team, and my estranged wife has served me with divorce papers. Not the best way to start a new chapter in my career. As the team struggles to find its identity and win games, I struggle with my role as team captain, proving I'm not too old to play at a high level, and getting beyond my failed marriage. All this is complicated by an undeniable attraction to the owner's granddaughter. As the team racks up the losses, I seek solace with the one woman whose very presence could destroy what's left of my career. Sometimes love is comfortable and subtle. Other times it hits you with the force of a puck to the jaw. I've never experienced the latter until now, and I can't stay away regardless of the consequences.

CamdenI'm a grinder, an expendable guy who's always on the edge of losing my spot on whichever team I'm on at the time. When I'm put on waivers by my current team, I'm picked up by the Portland Icehawks, a second-year expansion team. And that's when things start to get really interesting.InezI've been promoted to assistant GM of the Icehawks hockey team. My first move was to claim Camden Hale off waivers. Now I'm facing a backlash of criticism. There's even more trouble brewing. Camden and I have explosive chemistry, the kind that blows up in our faces and destroys everything around us. Now my boss wants me to cut Camden, but I can't let him go. I believe in him even though no one else does, including Camden himself.

Much to my utter dismay, the Portland Icehawks chose me in the expansion draft, and now my estranged father is my hockey coach. No one on the team knows he's my dad. They think he's a distant relative I don't get along with. They're right about that last part. We hate each other. He blames me for the death of my sister, and I blame myself, too. He's unfairly targeted me, and his constant criticism is destroying my confidence and my game. The only thing I look forward to is my time working with the underprivileged, especially with one feisty, attractive female, but neither of us do relationships because those require trust and commitment, and we're too scarred to take the risk. Can we conquer our demons so I can rescue her from the streets, and she can rescue me from my past before we're beyond saving?

I'm the star defenseman for the Portland Icehawks and the guy everyone loves to hate. Not that I don't deserve their hatred. After all, how can you like a guy who doesn't even like himself? Michella is the one woman I can't let go, yet I can't be with her, either. We're like drugs to each other, and addictions aren't a good thing. I've messed up a relationship before and destroyed the one person I loved. I can't do the same to Michella. To make matters worse, Michella's new job with a private investigative agency puts her in the crosshairs of Portland's elusive serial killer. I have to protect her, even if staying causes more destruction than leaving.

Heidi I've never had a man be kind to me unless he wanted something, so when a gorgeous hockey star shows interest, I don't believe it's genuine. I was a throwaway child of a drug addict and I learned to survive in dark places. Now I'm determined to get my life on track, and I don't need complications, especially from a drop-dead gorgeous professional hockey player with delusions of rescuing me. I don't need to be rescued by him or anyone else. I'm doing it on my own. Trent I'm attracted to Heidi and have been from the moment I saw her. Timid Heidi brings out my protective instincts, but my interest goes beyond that. Sure, I know where she's been and what she's had to do just to stay alive, but instead of disrespecting her, I admire her ability to rise above her unfortunate circumstances. Heidi's still harboring secrets, and they're driving a wedge between us. And that's not the only wedge, my sisters have invaded my little piece of paradise and set up an animal rescue on my small farm. I don't like chaos, and my sisters don't like Heidi. Not exactly a recipe for a happily ever after, but I'm bound and determined get what I want because losing isn't an option.

Being traded from a contender to a basement dweller is bad enough, but now I'm working with the one who got away. She has an explosive secret, and I think it has something to do with me.I want to start where we left off, but she doesn't want anything to do with me. Eventually our mutual attraction steamrolls her resistance, but when her deception catches up to her and what she's been hiding is exposed, nothing will ever be the same for either of us.Will her truth be the anchor that strengthens our relationship, or the storm that obliterates it beyond repair?