Slap Shot

Hudson Hayes plays defense for the D.C. Stars, and the NHL season is about to start. He has spent months trying to hire a private chef and has run through his options, along with most of his patience.

Madeline Galloway needs a fresh start. She has lost her job as an executive chef in Las Vegas, and an offer in Washington, D.C. gives her a way out. She takes it and moves east with her young daughter, Lucy.

Madeline and Hudson agree on one house rule: no personal relationships. But the job puts them under one roof, and they spend nearly all their free time together. A kiss on New Year's Eve makes the rule much harder to keep. Hudson also sets out to learn American Sign Language so he can talk with Lucy, and that effort draws all three of them closer.

This is a hockey romance with a friends-to-lovers arc, a forced-proximity setup and a slow build. The heat level is spicy. It is the third book in Chelsea Curto's D.C. Stars series, after Face Off and Power Play. The earlier couples appear as part of the team around Hudson, and the book can be read with that in mind.