Guarded Love: A Hockey Romance (The Crestwood University Series)

Willow Sanchez has one rule: avoid athletes at all costs. Ever since her high school heartbreak with a popular football player turned streamer, she's steered clear of jocks. That includes hockey players like her older brother Knox's teammate and best friend, Blaise Dalton. Blaise might be blond, blue-eyed, and annoyingly charming to everyone else, but to Willow, he's the definition of annoying as hell wrapped in a nerdy, athletic package.

Blaise knows how to keep his cool on the ice, but beneath his polished exterior, routines and love of videogames, lies a secret battle with anxiety. His life is carefully planned until Willow storms into it once more. She’s fiercely independent, and impossible to ignore.

When a winter break group trip to Puerto Rico throws Willow and Blaise into closer contact than ever before, the tension between them ignites, but their connection through her brother still lingers in the background. Arguments transform into deep conversations, and Blaise discovers that the spontaneity Willow brings into his life might be exactly what he needs to help face his anxiety. But just as they begin to grow closer, a scandal linked to Willow's ex-boyfriend threatens her emotional wellbeing, forcing her to retreat from the world. Blaise is determined to show her that facing the past is the only way forward, and the connection they’ve built is worth fighting for.

Soon, they’ll both realize it’s time to embrace the chaos and press start because it’s game on.