I thought my invitation was a birthday present from my best friend. The dress, the limousine, the red carpet...I thought they were meant for me. That was mistake number one. Then my date arrives, all gleaming cufflinks and tousled hair, steely blue eyes, and a body honed to masculine precision. Arrogant. Charming. Panty-melting. And melt, they do. Hanky-panky with a rich hottie in the back room of the event I'm crashing? Don't mind if I do.

What happens when the only person you ever trusted betrays you? Hope Daniels was my friend. My confidant. Right up until the day she stabbed me in the back and cost me everything. My family. My fortune. My legacy. Now my father’s been murdered and his will might be the death of me. It wasn’t enough to banish me 15 years ago. Even dead, he cant resist twisting the knife. He’ll give me back everything I lost, everything he stole...if I marry Hope. To make matters worse, the fate of the town rests in my hands.

There's nothing wrong with playing the game--except when you know you're about to lose. As a little girl, I dreamed of becoming many things. A twenty-five-year-old photographer struggling to make ends meet with a mountain of legal fees wasn't one of them. Making questionable decisions wasn't either. After hanging up my camera, I start a job I loathe that has me questioning my morals on a daily basis. Until I run into Chicago's newest bad-boy goalie whose reputation is a trainwreck--Emory Olson.

When it comes to hockey, I'm all about the game. I've worked for years to be one of the best in the league, and l've done it without splashing my orientation all over the tabloids. My hockey image is one I've carefully cultivated, and after one night with Ezra Palaszczuk, I risk it all. He's cocky, obnoxious, and has an ego bigger than Massachusetts. And okay, maybe he's the sexiest man I've ever known. We'll never get along. Not when we sleep together. Not even when my possessive streak awakens. That doesn't stop us from falling into bed together over and over again.

After nearly losing his friend in a logging accident, Gage Barringer is convinced now more than ever that he needs to find a different job. But his side business of breaking colts at the small Montana ranch he inherited from his grandfather doesn't earn him enough money. He has his mind set on running The Raven's Nest, a popular bar and restaurant near his ranch. The original owner has died and Gage is waiting for it to be put up for sale. But there is a five-foot-four, brown-eyed obstacle in his way, an obstacle with lips made for sin and a voice made for breaking hearts.