A Cajuns Hockey Romance Series by Jessica McBrayer

A second chance romance.New Orleans just got a new trade who is as hot on the ice as he is in real life, but he's an expert at hiding his damaged heart.Breaking up with the love of your life the same day you sign your first NHL contract would mess with anyone's head. Turning all that hurt and anger into magic on the ice is what the Irish immigrant, Dillon, does best... moreA second chance romance.New Orleans just got a new trade who is as hot on the ice as he is in real life, but he's an expert at hiding his damaged heart.Breaking up with the love of your life the same day you sign your first NHL contract would mess with anyone's head. Turning all that hurt and anger into magic on the ice is what the Irish immigrant, Dillon, does best. He's played well for New York so is surprised to find out he was a last-minute trade to the new expansion team in New Orleans, the Cajuns. The hot humid South, he can't imagine anything worse. He grew up in Chicago and is comfortable with snow and cold. What is he supposed to do in Louisiana? At least the team made the playoffs their first year out.But a possible career-ending injury has him sidelined after only two months into the season. The Cajuns find him the best sports physical therapist in the South. Imagine his surprise when he walks in and finds out the therapist is the girl who broke his heart. Not just broke it, but stomped on it and threw it away. She's got a lot to make up for, including the fact that he's a dad. The anger and hurt flare-up to almost unbearable levels. How can he forgive her? How does he stop loving her? Will his anger keep them from kindling the love they had and becoming a family? Can she ever overcome the guilt she feels? less

What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.Chemistry has never been a problem between Reese Stone, the owner of the New Orleans Cajuns, and Sophie Taggart, the big sister of the Cajuns' starting goalie. The two have danced around each other for four long years until one bachelor-bachelorette party in Vegas changes everything... moreWhat happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.Chemistry has never been a problem between Reese Stone, the owner of the New Orleans Cajuns, and Sophie Taggart, the big sister of the Cajuns' starting goalie. The two have danced around each other for four long years until one bachelor-bachelorette party in Vegas changes everything.After a wild night, where shots of tequila may or may not have been involved, Sophie and Reese wake up with matching wedding rings, an official marriage certificate, and hazy memories of the night before. The newlyweds decide to get an annulment so they can take a step back and get to know each other better before making such a big commitment. That is until they find out that someone sold pictures of them leaving the chapel. The news of their marriage goes viral.With sponsors watching Reese's every move, waiting for him to mess up so they can pull out, and with the NHL waiting for him to mismanage his team, Reese must make sure his reputation stays above reproach. He's a famous billionaire and the youngest team owner there has ever been. His management style is unorthodox and it's made a lot of people nervous. What looks like a one-night stand turned quickie marriage, has the potential to damage Reese's tenuous standing. A hasty divorce would make it even worse.As if Reese's life isn't crazy enough, a stalker turned cult leader, who has been harassing him since his software development years. It's only a matter of time before Father Isaiah, the cult leader of an anti-tech 'church', figures out Sophie is Reese's weak spot and targets her.To keep her safe and to let his critics have a chance to quiet down, they agree to stay married for six months and then quietly get divorced.But Reese doesn't want to let Sophie go. And he's going to work damn hard to make all his troubles go away and find a way to convince her to stay with him after the six months end.Even with help, it's proving difficult to eliminate all the threats against them. The danger is mounting and Reese's only concern is for his wife. He could care less if his whole damn world burns to the ground as long as he and Sophie are left standing at the end.But it might already be too late for that.Fool Me Once is the third book in the New Orleans Cajuns hockey romance series. It incorporates familiar characters from the Savannah Heat and Force Security world. less

The fans weren’t sure what to make of me. I was their Captain. I was single. I was Canadian. I had a new tattoo every couple of months. And my best friend, who played professional football, had just come out of the closet.And now the world wondered if I was gay too.I didn’t give a f***. Love was love and everyone had the right to love in the way they wanted, but I was getting some serious backlash. Most professional athletes supported gay rights and gay teammates, privately... moreThe fans weren’t sure what to make of me. I was their Captain. I was single. I was Canadian. I had a new tattoo every couple of months. And my best friend, who played professional football, had just come out of the closet.And now the world wondered if I was gay too.I didn’t give a f***. Love was love and everyone had the right to love in the way they wanted, but I was getting some serious backlash. Most professional athletes supported gay rights and gay teammates, privately. Very few were brave enough to do it publicly. Especially in the world of professional hockey, where all the players were ‘tough guys’ and alpha males. Like a gay man couldn’t be those things too. F***, the world could be full of idiots.The hate mail started as soon as Jaysun came out. Everyone wanted to know if I had been his lover, or if I was secretly gay but too afraid to come out. Didn’t matter how many pictures of me with women were floating around on the internet. It was common knowledge that Jaysun and I had been best friends since college. I told them that his being gay didn’t change a thing about our relationship and that he had my full support. And that was it. I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to distract from Jaysun’s moment.It did not go over well. Not with some of the media and not with some of the fans.It got bad. Death threats started coming in and our team owner, Reese Stone, talked to me. He’d gone on record repeatedly to support Jaysun and told the world that the Cajuns stood with Jaysun and the Boston Beacons, Jaysun’s NFL team. The Beacons were a hundred percent supportive of Jaysun.Reese worried about my safety. He wanted me to work with Cynthia Dorsan, the Cajun’s PR director, to help me work on the fans’ approval of me. Everyone just wanted the threats to stop. We all knew that total tolerance was not coming anytime soon.Cynthia didn’t mingle with the players. As far as I knew, she didn’t mingle with anyone. She had a ten-foot-high security fence around her at all times and, from what I could see, very few people made it past her defenses. I called her the ice princess until one night I had seen her dance. It was an accident. The door had been left ajar. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. She was mesmerizing.From that moment on I called her Sin with an 'S' since the things I’d wanted to do with her would land me in the sin bin in a hot second. But my intentions were DOA when I tried to get past her professional persona. If it weren’t for the passion she danced with and the sleeve of ink that showed when I saw her taking off her suit jacket, I would never have believed that she wasn’t the ice princess she tried to fool the world into seeing.Suddenly, taking Reese’s suggestion seemed like the best idea I’d had in a long time. less

I am a 6’5” 210-pound NHL defenseman and a kindergartner just brought me to my knees.And I liked it.I had an angry captain and the director of public relations, his fiancée, wasn’t too happy with me either. It only took one photo of me in a compromising position with a woman in a dark hallway of a club to make everyone want to take a piece out of me. Myself included.I’ve always been the fun one, lightening up tensions before they could boil over, but still focused on playing hard and winning... moreI am a 6’5” 210-pound NHL defenseman and a kindergartner just brought me to my knees.And I liked it.I had an angry captain and the director of public relations, his fiancée, wasn’t too happy with me either. It only took one photo of me in a compromising position with a woman in a dark hallway of a club to make everyone want to take a piece out of me. Myself included.I’ve always been the fun one, lightening up tensions before they could boil over, but still focused on playing hard and winning. My nickname was A-Bomb for a reason. Then I walked in on my girlfriend. She was supposed to be getting my mail while I was traveling. Instead, she was in my bed with the hipster barista down the street. Yeah, burned the mattress.I had to believe love would still find me, but I was going to forget about relationships for a while.Stop trying to be Mr. Forever and just enjoy being Mr. Tonight.Then that damn picture went viral.So, Cynthia, the Queen of Cajuns’ PR, whom I considered a close friend, decided I needed to clean up my act with wholesome activities. Like visiting a grade school and talking about teamwork and the importance of goals. Instead, I’m being set up with a cute little kindergartener’s aunt who is a second-grade teacher at her school. The little girl is tiny compared to me and within the first five minutes of knowing her, she had me wrapped around her tiny little finger.I just wished I’d seen her coming… less