zachary

As a 42-year-old single father, the last thing I expected before Christmas was for my daughter to sign me up for a community matchmaking event. The Christmas Buddies program becomes a challenge I can't wait to overcome when I realize the man that has been assigned as my buddy for the holiday season is none other than Paxton Montgomery. He's massive, grumpy, incredibly gorgeous (in a lumberjack kinda way), and also—weirdly enough—the only person in town who doesn't like me.

Mackenzie Carter has had some very bad dates lately. Model train experts, mansplainers, guys weirdly obsessed with her tail—she hasn’t had a successful date in months. Only a year out of residency, her grandmother’s obsession with Mackenzie finding the perfect mate to settle down with threatens to drive Mackenzie barking mad. Out of options, it feels like a small thing to tell her grandmother that she’s met someone. That is, until she blurts out the name of the first man she sees and the last man she would ever date: Noah Taylor, the big bad wolf of Denver General.

Finding a good roommate through a classified ad isn’t as easy as it sounds. I was starting to lose hope. Until a knock at my door came, and God answered my prayers. Except...uh...wrong prayer, God. I’d definitely requested the big guy find me a drop-dead gorgeous man on more than one occasion...just not as my roommate. Declan Tate talked me into interviewing him anyway. While he was amusing and charismatic, I wouldn’t have been comfortable living with a man, so I regretfully declined. Then, cupcakes showed up at my door.

You know what's not fun? Going on a Fiji vacation with four other couples. Especially when recently single. What's even worse is when a past hook-up arrives unannounced. Not only do we have a history, but he's 10 years younger and a famous rock star. Most importantly, he's my friend's little brother. Being trapped on an island with Jet Jackson is going to be sweet torture because all I want is another chance. I just don't think he's going to give it to me.

When Talon left to play pro ball six years ago, the hole in my chest confused me. I focused my heartache into making my own NFL dreams come true, and by the time I was drafted, the longing I had for my best friend was buried deep. Now, he wants everything to be like it was in college, but we can't have threesomes and be reckless like we once were. The media storm would be enough to break both our careers. That's not my biggest concern, though. The torch I had for him burns brighter after so long apart, and there's nothing I can do about it. Marcus Talon is straight.

Alejandra is a survivor. So far, she's lived through abduction, a near drowning, and being lost in an alien forest. She thought things were finally starting to go her way when the most intense, grumpy, and insanely tempting man she's ever seen rescues her from a monster. But sadly, that's just when everything gets even more complicated. Auzed has his orders. He is to find the missing human and deliver her to Tremanta. Getting caught trespassing in Sauven territory was not part of the plan. Neither was pretending to be the sexy beauty's fiancé.

Choosing Theo: Being kidnapped by aliens is only the start of Jade's problems. Thankfully, her rescuers, an alien race known as the Clecanians, are willing to protect her, but she has to stay on their planet for one year and respect the rules of their culture—including choosing a husband.

With a baseball scholarship to Easton University and awesome family and friends, my life is pretty golden. Except, things have never come together for me in the romance department. Until Kellan Crawford walks onto the field as the team's newest bat boy. Bells and whistles go off in my body, and just like that, I'm totally crushing on a guy for the first time in my life. Too bad he's the coach's son and officially off-limits.

Word of advice: Don't come out to random guys in public restrooms. Even if they're charming and adorably nerdy and offer to help. My family believes I can't be happy if I'm not out to the world. I have a bitter ex-boyfriend and an unstable NHL career to show for it. A fake boyfriend seems like an easy and quick solution to get my family off my back, and this guy is volunteering. I take him up on it without asking his name. I really should've asked for his name.

Want to know the fastest way to get screwed out of a football career? Get photographed in a compromising position in a gay bar. Yep, welcome to my life. My agent says he can fix my image. He wants me to become the poster boy for gay football players. Me? I just want back on the field. I'll do anything to play for the NFL again, even pretend to have a steady boyfriend. If only my fake boyfriend wasn't Noah Huntington III - the most arrogant, entitled rich guy in the world.