Hockey Boy

The enjoyable first installment in the Boston Bolts Hockey series from Nicole (Playboy) finds Bolts star center Aiden Langfield half-heartedly planning a wedding to a snooty socialite primarily to get his brothers off his back about his love life. Then he learns that their wedding planner is his high school sweetheart, Lennox Kennedy, the only woman he’s ever truly loved. Lennox dumped him a decade earlier for reasons Aiden never knew, and he still hasn’t gotten over her. He immediately breaks off his engagement and sets out to win Lennox back, but to keep spending time with her, he doesn’t tell her that the wedding is off and lets her keep planning an event that won’t happen. Meanwhile, Lennox, the rebellious pink-haired only daughter of a wealthy Boston family, has just learned that if she’s not married by 30, her father will take control of her trust. The plucky heroine and endearingly vulnerable, if misguided, hero are well matched, and Nicole navigates their powerful emotions—especially Aiden’s anxiety and depression—with grace. It’s a sweet treat for fans of sports romance. (May)