Books by "Ashlyn Kane" (29)

Rowan Chadha’s job as a children’s librarian might be temporary, but at least it comes with adorable, hilarious patrons. When he bumps into Jordy Shaw—NHL star and super-hot dad of one of his favorite library kids—at a charity event, he suggests they team up as a fake couple to fend off unwanted attention, never expecting the connection to last.

Jordy is in desperate need of a new nanny, and his daughter, Kaira, already adores Rowan. When Rowan’s apartment becomes uninhabitable just as his library contract ends, Jordy offers a stop gap solution: Rowan can crash in the nanny suite in his home and help with Kaira while Jordy trains for the new season—just until Rowan lands a new job and Jordy can find permanent childcare.

As the lines between fantasy and reality blur, the attraction that’s been simmering between them bubbles over, but while they’re free with their bodies, they struggle to defend their hearts, knowing their arrangement has an expiration date. After all, Rowan’s a librarian, not a nanny, and Jordy could be traded at any moment.

Their arrangement is temporary, right? Or maybe some things are worth staying for….

Read more...

Any other year, hockey player Grady Armstrong would be licking his wounds after a disappointing playoffs exit. Somehow, this year, he’s in the stands as his rival-turned-boyfriend Max Lockhart competes for the Stanley Cup… and there’s nowhere he’d rather be. Well, except maybe lifting the Cup himself. So along with preparing his body for next season, Grady prepares to ask Max to stay in his life permanently.

Max figures it can’t be easy for Grady to watch Max cash in on his dreams, but if he’s struggling, he hides it well—which is great, because they don’t get much time together during the season, and it would suck if Grady spent the summer sulking.

But while Grady may still be a competitive bastard, he doesn’t sulk. He nurses Max through hangovers. He comes home with him for the summer. He loses fishing bets. He earns so many boyfriend points Max should really level him up. The question is, how?

Read more...

When Liam Belanger gets a professional tryout with the Miami Caimans, he’s hoping to land a roster spot that’ll keep him from bussing tables. If he can make the team and score a tryout in bed with Russ Lyons, the veteran defenseman who’s appointed himself Liam’s mentor, that would be the icing on the sweet hockey cake.

Living life by a strict set of rules has worked out well for Russ. He has a great career, great friends, and a great family, even if they do keep setting him up with hometown honey traps. But he can’t stop time, and now, despite all his planning, he’s looking at his last year with the Caimans before the uncertainty of free agency. Maybe that’s why he finds sunny, free-spirited Liam so attractive. 

He’s still not going to sleep with his rookie.

Probably.

Liam starts the season in the minors, but it’s not long before he gets a shot at the Big Show. His year is shaping up to be a dream come true—even before Russ picks up on Liam’s passes and proves defensemen can score too. 

Read more...

Gabe Martin ne vit que pour le hockey, il n’a rien d’autre. Dante Baltierra, lui, cherche à s’amuser sur la route du Temple de la renommée du hockey. Ni Gabe ni Dante n’ont le temps de penser à l’amour.

Mais les plans changent.

Quand l’homosexualité de Gabe s’affiche dans la presse, son petit monde bien organisé se trouve bouleversé, ce qui perturbe son jeu et cause une série de défaites à son équipe. Gabe ne s’attendait pas au soutien de Dante, mais grâce à lui, il commence à remonter la pente.

La saison n’évolue pas comme Dante s’y attendait. Il déteste perdre ! Que Gabe soit gay ne le dérange pas, que lui le soit aussi le sidère. Dante a toujours exposé ce qu’il était, ce qu’il faisait, aussi déteste-t-il devoir mentir et se cacher. Mais son coéquipier a besoin lui, alors, il ronge son frein.

Il n’avait pas envisagé de tomber amoureux.

Une relation entre coéquipiers finit toujours mal. Dante est ouvert, drôle et brillant au hockey. Gabe ne peut y résister. Malheureusement, il a du mal à s’ouvrir après des années passées dans le placard et Dante s’irrite du secret de leur relation. Réussiront-ils à s’accorder avant que la glace ne cède sous leurs pieds ?

Read more...

People say there’s a fine line between love and hate. If you ask Grady Armstrong, the line’s as obvious as the one across the middle of a hockey rink.

So he can’t explain why he doesn’t walk away when his Grindr hookup—a guy who accused him of impersonating himself—turns out to be Max Lockhart, a rival player Grady once punched in the face. Apparently Max can goad him just as well off the ice as he can on it.

Max Lockhart showed up thinking he was going to expose a fake. Instead he hooks up with a guy who claims to hate him. And has a good time. A really good time. But that doesn’t mean players from different teams can be together.

Max has always wished Grady would relax a little. When the season starts and Grady accepts Max’s offer of help with finding someone to date for real, Max gets his wish. But he should’ve been careful what he wished for, because now that he knows Grady is a big softie under that prickly shell, he’d rather keep Grady for himself.

Grady only goes on a handful of dates before he realizes he has a lot more fun with Max. But he can’t be falling for a rival player… can he?

Read more...

Hockey’s started, holidays are looming, and NHL player Dante Baltierra’s husband is keeping secrets.

Of course, secrets aren’t unusual this time of year, but Dante is pretty sure Gabe isn’t being squirrelly about a new flat-screen or tickets for a second honeymoon. Whatever is eating Gabe is more serious than a surprise under the tree. But as much as Dante wants to help, asking about it would be fruitless. Besides, he has a theory about the problem—and the solution.

He’s just not sure Santa has the power to deliver what Gabe really wants this Christmas.

Read more...

Ryan Wright’s new hockey team is a dumpster fire. He expects to lose games—not his heart.

Ryan’s laid-back attitude should be an advantage in Indianapolis. Even if he doesn’t accomplish much on the ice, he can help his burned-out teammates off it. And no one needs a friend—or a hug—more than Nico Kirschbaum, the team’s struggling would-be superstar.

Nico doesn’t appreciate that management traded for another openly gay player and told them to make friends. Maybe he doesn’t know what his problem is, but he’ll solve it with hard work, not by bonding with the class clown.

It’s obvious to Ryan that Nico’s lonely, gifted, and cracking under pressure. No amount of physical practice will fix his mental game. But convincing Nico to let Ryan help means getting closer than is wise for Ryan’s heart—especially once he unearths Nico’s sense of humor.

Will Nico and Ryan risk making a pass, or will they keep missing 100 percent of the shots they don’t take?

Read more...

Hockey is Gabe Martin's life. Dante Baltierra just wants to have some fun on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame. Falling for a teammate isn't in either game plan.

But plans change.

When Gabe gets outed, it turns his careful life upside-down. The chaos messes with his game and sends his team headlong into a losing streak. The last person he expects to pull him through it is Dante.

This season isn’t going the way Dante thought it would. Gabe’s sexuality doesn’t faze him, but his own does. Dante’s always been a “what you see is what you get” kind of guy, and having to hide his attraction to Gabe sucks. But so does losing, and his teammate needs him, so he puts in the effort to snap Gabe out of his funk.

He doesn’t mean to fall in love with the guy.

Getting involved with a teammate is a bad idea, but Dante is shameless, funny, and brilliant at hockey. Gabe can’t resist. Unfortunately, he struggles to share part of himself that he’s hidden for years, and Dante chafes at hiding their relationship. Can they find their feet before the ice slips out from under them?

Read more...

Quand Jeff Pine loue un chalet dans sa ville natale, qu’il a évitée depuis quinze ans, il veut simplement du temps loin de son monde de rock’n’roll pour remettre sa vie à plat. À la place, il tombe sur son ancien meilleur ami – et l’inspiration pour des douzaines de chansons d’amour – dès le premier jour.

Quel idiot !

Le naturaliste du parc Carter Rhodes est une guimauve habillée comme un bûcheron. La célébrité et la fortune ne lui font pas tourner la tête, mais le petit nerd narquois qui le suivait partout étant enfant ? Le type qui le fait rire quand il est en deuil et se détendre quand il en fait trop ? Pas la rock star, mais Jeff ? Ce type a une chance.

Jeff a toujours su que Carter était tout pour lui, mais il fait face à une tournée avec les membres hostiles de son groupe, une échéance approchante pour un album, et des soupçons que leur label mijote quelque chose. Peut-il trouver le courage – et le temps – d’écrire une vraie chanson d’amour avec Carter ?

Read more...

When Jeff Pine rents a cabin in the hometown he’s been avoiding for fifteen years, he just wants some time away from his rock 'n roll world to figure out his life. Instead he runs into his former BFF—and the inspiration for dozens of love songs—on the first day.

Facepalm.

Park naturalist Carter Rhodes is a cinnamon roll dressed like a lumberjack. Fame and fortune don’t turn his head, but the snarky little nerd who followed him around as a kid? The guy who makes him laugh when he’s grieving and relax when he overextends himself? Not the rock star, but Jeff? That guy has a chance.

Jeff has always known Carter is it for him, but he’s facing a tour with increasingly hostile bandmates, a looming album deadline, and the suspicion that their label is up to no good. Can he find the courage—and the time—to write a true love song with Carter?

Read more...

One of the most anticipated books of summer 2021.
                                                             —Apple Books

For Jax Hall, all-but-dissertation in mathematics, slinging drinks and serenading patrons at a piano bar is the perfect remedy for months of pandemic anxiety. He doesn’t expect to end up improvising on stage with pop violinist Aria Darvish, but the attraction that sparks between them? That’s a mathematical certainty. If he can get Ari to act on it, even better.

Ari hasn’t written a note, and his album deadline is looming. Then he meets Jax, and suddenly he can’t stop the music. But Ari doesn’t know how to interpret Jax’s flirting—is making him a drink called Sex with the Bartender a serious overture?

Jax jumps in with both feet, the only way he knows how. Ari is wonderful, and Jax loves having a partner who’s on the same page. But Ari’s struggles with his parents’ expectations, and Jax’s with the wounds of his past, threaten to unbalance an otherwise perfect equation. Can they prove their double act has merit, or does it only work in theory?

Read more...

What does a work-life balance look like to recently retired professional athletes?

Ex-hockey player Nate Overton is trying to find out, but dipping his toes in the gay dating scene post-divorce is a daunting prospect even without the news that his show is on thin ice. Before he can tackle either issue, he skates headfirst into another problem—his new cohost. Former figure skater Aubrey Chase is the embodiment of a spoiled rich playboy. He’s also flamboyant, sharp, and hot as sin.

Aubrey knows how important it is to get off on the right foot. He’s just not very good at it outside the rink. Having spent his life desperate for attention, he’ll do anything to get it—even the wrong kind.

For Nate and Aubrey, opposites don’t so much attract as collide at center ice. But while Nate’s everything Aubrey has scrupulously avoided—until now—Aubrey falls suddenly head over heels, and Nate’s only looking for a rebound fling. Can Aubrey convince Nate to risk his heart again, or will their unexpected connection be checked at the first sign of trouble?

Read more...

A royal deception. An accidental romance.

When fast-living flight attendant Brayden Wood agrees to accompany a first-class passenger to a swanky charity ball, he discovers his date—“Call me Flip”—is actually His Royal Highness Prince Antoine-Philipe. And he wants Brayden to pretend to be his boyfriend.

Being Europe’s only prince of Indian descent—and its only openly gay one—has led Flip to select “appropriate” men first and worry about attraction later. Still, flirty, irreverent Brayden captivates him right away, and Flip needs a date to survive the ball without being match-made.

Before Flip can pursue Brayden in earnest, the paparazzi forces his hand, and the charade is extended for the remainder of Brayden’s vacation.

Posh, gorgeous, thoughtful Prince Flip is way out of Brayden’s league. If Brayden survives three weeks of platonically sharing a bed with him during the romantic holiday season, going home afterward might break his heart….

Read more...

True love’s kiss can break the curse. But then what?

Cole Alpin runs a small-town candy store. He visits his grandmother twice a week. And sometimes he breaks curses.

Leo Ericson’s curse is obvious right away, spiderwebbing across his very nice body. Though something about it worries Cole, he agrees to help—with little idea of what he’s getting into.

Leo is a serial monogamist, but his vampire ex has taken dating off the table with his nasty spell, and Leo needs Cole’s companionship as much as his help. When the hex proves to be only the beginning of his problems, Leo seeks refuge at Cole’s place. Too bad magic prevents him from finding refuge in Cole’s arms.

Cole’s never had a boyfriend, so how can he recognize true love? And there’s still the matter of the one responsible for their troubles in the first place…. 

Read more...

He wrote a comedy. Fate directed a romance. 

Drew Beaumont is bored of the same old roles: action hero, supervillain, romantic lead. He’s not going to let a fresh gay buddy comedy languish just because they can’t find him the right costar. No, Drew bats his eyelashes and convinces everyone that the movie’s writer should play Drew’s not-so-straight man.

Aspiring writer Steve Sopol has never had a screenplay optioned. Now one of Hollywood’s hottest properties wants to be in a movie Steve hasn’t finished writing—and he wants Steve as his costar. Turns out the chemistry between them is undeniable—on and offscreen.

Drew swore off dating in the biz, but Steve is the whole package: sharp, funny, humble, and cute. For Steve, though, giving in to the movie magic means the end of the privacy he cherishes. Will the credits roll before their ride into the sunset? 

Read more...

When long hours and crushing stress push Bellamy Alexander to his breaking point, he walks away from his consulting job and drives until he runs out of gas. Fortune deposits him in front of Antonio’s, a place with decent pizza and an opening for a delivery boy. Even better, he finds an apartment right across the street from his new job. And best of all, Chris McGregor, the property manager who runs the custom furniture shop below Bell’s new digs, is super hot—and super into Bell.

It seems too good to be true—and maybe it is. Things aren’t exactly going smoothly. Bell avoids telling his mother the truth about his new job because he doesn’t want to hear how he should go back to the corporate world. On the other hand, he doesn’t think he wants to deliver pizza forever either. He’d like to think about settling down, but Chris runs hot and cold. Between Bell’s uncertainty and the hang-ups Chris refuses to talk about, they have their work cut out for them. Fortune may have caused their paths to dovetail, but it will take more than wood glue to hold them together.

Read more...

Jake  Brenner muss sich erst mal die Hörner abstoßen, ehe er daran denken kann, sich zu verlieben. Abgesehen davon, ist er viel zu beschäftigt mit seiner Band, den Wayward Sons, um sich auf die Suche nach der großen Liebe zu machen. Seine Zurückhaltung hat nichts mit seiner peinlichen Schwärmerei für Chris, den Leadsänger der Band und Jakes ehemals bestem Freund, zu tun. Aber das war, bevor der geheimnisvolle Streuner Parker McAvoy sich als neuer Leadgitarrist der Band eingeschrieben hatte.

Er kann die Anziehungskraft, die der süße, schusselige Parker auf ihn ausübt, nur eine gewisse Zeit lang verleugnen, ehe er sein Verlangen, etwas deswegen zu unternehmen, nicht mehr länger ignorieren kann. Das Problem ist, dass Parker genau weiß, was Jake für ein Schürzenjäger ist – und, ach ja, er ist nicht schwul. Das denkt Jake jedenfalls, bis eine Reihe von miteinander verbundenen Ereignissen ihm vielversprechende neue Einsichten verschafft. Kann er Parker überzeugen, über seine schillernde Vergangenheit hinwegzusehen und ihm eine Chance zu geben? Oder wird dieses Liebeslied verklingen, ehe es überhaupt begonnen hat?

Read more...

Jake Brenner trouve qu’il y a bien trop d’hommes à séduire pour tomber amoureux – ou c’est en tout cas ce qu’il prétend. En plus, il est bien trop occupé avec son groupe, les Wayward Sons, pour laisser une place à la romance. Sa réticence n’a rien à voir avec le béguin gênant qu’il a pour Chris, chanteur du groupe et jadis son meilleur ami. Mais tout ça, c’est avant que le vagabond et énigmatique Parker McAvoy, soit engagé comme nouveau guitariste.

Il peut cacher son attirance envers le timide et adorable Parker un moment, mais le désir de faire quelque chose à ce sujet devient impossible à ignorer. Le problème, c’est que Parker sait tout de l’inconstance sentimentale de Jake… et, ah oui, il n’est pas gay. En tout cas, c’est ce que Jake pense, jusqu’à ce qu’un enchaînement d’événements étranges le fasse peut-être changer d’avis. Peut-il convaincre Parker d’oublier son passé difficile et de lui donner une chance, ou cette chanson d’amour va-t-elle se terminer avant même d’avoir commencé ?

Read more...