Getting Skylar to give me a second chance isn't going to be easy. Good thing I play to win. But what if our past isn't the only thing standing in the way? Second Chance Player kicks off a brand new series from bestselling author R.C. Stephens. Get ready for an adorable five-year-old boy, a hockey player with a broken heart, and a strong heroine who has learned to beat the odds. There is no cheating and a guaranteed HEA because they are soul mates.

I had one thing on my mind and that was never going to change: The game. The only goal I had was beating the records set by my family. I didn’t have time for anything else. Until she walked in the room. The earth shifted, just like the stories said it would. I said it wouldn’t happen—not to me. I didn’t have the time, but now she was the only thing on my mind. I knew it was her. Now I had to convince her.

Rule number one for becoming an NHL team’s social media manager: Don’t hook up with the star center in an elevator a week before starting your new job.

I’ve always been a wild card–the first to start a fight on the ice, and the life of the party off it–but appearances can be deceiving. Being traded to the Boston Rebels could not have come at a better time. With serious family obligations to fulfill and a contract renewal with a new hockey team on the line, I have no time for anything else. I return to Boston knowing I need to buckle down and focus on what really matters.

A little white lie never hurt anyone . . . or so I thought. One fake date and we’d go our separate ways, at least that’s how hockey’s hottest golden boy—Nixon Sinclair—convinced me this would work. But it turns out, Nix had other plans. Now I’m sneaking around with my brother’s teammate, refusing to admit he’s everything I want but never knew I needed.

Aiden Slate. Pro hockey star. Captain of the Redville Saints. And the bane of my existence. All it takes is a little liquid courage to storm his castle. Or, in this case, a cushy five-star hotel suite. I'm supposed to give him a piece of my mind. To unleash a decade of pent-up anger. What I'm not supposed to do is sign an NDA meant for another woman. He thinks I'm here to relieve his stress. Well, he's in for a rude awakening.

Easton Hayes has been my knight in shining hockey skates since he saved my life. This devastatingly handsome grump may be everyone's favorite goalie, but to me, he's my strength when demons haunt my dreams. And okay—so maybe he's also the only man I've ever loved. But he doesn't need to know that. We're friends. It works for us.

After my ex crushed my dreams in the music industry, I’m done with getting my heart broken. Working as an assistant for an NHL player was supposed to be a breeze, but nothing about Jamie Streicher is easy. He’s an intimidatingly hot, grouchy jerk who can't stand me. The guy has a massive ego. Keeping things professional will be no problem, even when he demands I move in with him.

Good looks and wads of cash usually get me whatever I desire, unless I desire a box of my favorite cereal at the grocery store right before it closes. As if tonight's loss wasn't bad enough, I'm now watching said box of cereal, my literal good luck charm, disappear in some woman's cart. The brazen woman denies my cash offer along with my proposal for a more intimate payment. How much loss can a man take in one day? At this point, who cares how rude I am to her? She's public enemy number one, and chances of seeing her again are slim to none.

I met my dream girl. That’s right. She’s stunning and the worst bartender I’ve ever seen. I should have gone home and gone to sleep—dream girl or not. I had an early morning and the season was starting soon. But when she threatened me with boy band karaoke, I couldn't help myself. I went. The stars aligned. I have never felt more alive or wanted anyone more than I want her.

My teammates can't know how much she tempts me. Her brother certainly can't know the things I'm imagining doing to her. We'll both keep pretending we're just having fun, even when she winds up sharing my bed in secret. We both agree it's harmless. Just casual. But when her old life comes calling, will I keep pretending, or will I put it all on the line?

One of the cardinal rules of matchmaking I was positive I'd never break. That is until Nathan Wilder walked into Love Moore Matchmaking Agency, needing my help to find him the one. A tall order to ask since he was the most hated man in the NHL. Broody. Crude. Abrasive. The man was a six-foot-three walking red flag. Right off the bat, every fiber of my being told me he'd be trouble. He wasn't looking for love. It was all a PR stunt to clean up his image so he could keep playing for the Boston Guardians. But there was something in his sad, soulful eyes that just pulled me in.

Dancing on bar tops means the night is going great. Exiting the bar hauled over the shoulder of Heston University's infamous hockey captain? Not my idea of a good time. But my would-be knight would have to do. I needed an escape route from my brother… his biggest rival. Easton Blake is the perfect reminder of why I avoid hockey players. Cocky. Frustratingly sexy. Accustomed to every girl in his orbit falling for his charm. With his sultry smile that tells me he knows all the ways to make girls come undone with his touch, I'm almost the next score on his stats.

I made a deal with my brother a long time ago to never date his teammates. Technically, Rowan Landry, the hot as hell center for the Chicago Falcons, is no longer my brother’s teammate. Or his best friend. Their college days are long behind them, and they barely talk now. Also, I’m not dating him—we’re just sleeping together. There’s a difference.

Knox Holland is in a jam. After an incredible first year on the pro motocross circuit, he should be on top of the world. Instead, his bad reputation has landed him without a team. He's untouchable and desperate to turn it around. Which is how he ends up at my gym asking me to train him. As a college gymnast with two Olympic medals to my name, I know a thing or two about the pressure to succeed. Last season I choked and then injured myself before I could show the world that I'm not a twenty-year-old has-been.

Meet Randi Burnett—she’s brilliant, she’s beautiful, and she works for the bride. Missing groom? Intoxicated in-laws? Crying ring-bearer? You name it, she wrangles it. Too bad her personal life isn’t thriving like her side gig as a bridesmaid for hire. Recently dumped, Randi throws herself into her biggest challenge yet when she’s hired as a maid of honor and pretend best friend for an ice queen bride. There’s just one problem—the best man is infuriating, overprotective, and anti-marriage.

Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.

Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.

Beckett: If you’re reading this, well, you know the last-letter drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there was any chance you could have saved me, you would have. I need one thing from you: get out of the army and get to Telluride. My little sister Ella’s raising the twins alone. She’s too independent and won’t accept help easily, but she has lost our grandmother, our parents, and now me. It’s too much for anyone to endure. And here’s the kicker: there’s something else you don’t know that’s tearing her family apart.

I'm addicted to my stalker. He watches me at night, sneaking in through my living room window and making my blood turn to ice. I feel him all around me as chills snake down my spine. Each night he becomes bolder, getting closer and welcoming himself into my bedroom, feeding his addiction.