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 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 whole life, I've come out on top. One of the finest players ever to grace the NHL? Check. Most prolific playboy with an enviable reputation between the sheets? Check. Award for the cockiest athlete in America? Also, check, and well deserved I'd say. So why does my life feel anything but the perfect image I project? And why won't the one woman who came crashing into my life and knocked me on my six-foot-four ass take me seriously?

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.

If I had known how irrevocably my life was about to change, I would have walked the other way after talking to my coach. I should have taken any other route out of the Toronto Terror head office. But I didn’t and now–everything is different. At first I didn’t recognize the woman doing a victory dance down the hall when she thought no one was watching. Until she turned around. And that beautiful smile was aimed at me.

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.

Theo Brooks is hard not to notice. With his coy smirk, rock-hard abs, and skilled agility on the ice, he's the cockiest of all the jocks and, unfortunately for me, my new roommate. When Admissions mixes up my first and last name, and I end up living in the male dorms, I feel my perfectly tied schedule loosening with every string Theo pulls. And he likes to pull every single one. It isn't until I find out that my long-time boyfriend is sampling other girls that things get interesting. Theo proposes a solution to my problem.

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.

It all starts with a bucket list and a romance novel…. I’ve known Ryder McAdams my entire life. We’re neighbors and our families are besties. He’s also friends and teammates with my younger brother, Maverick. But Ryder and me? We’ve never been close. In fact, I’ve always gotten the distinct impression he doesn’t like me very much. He goes out of his way to ignore me. Know what makes it worse?

She's back. We were kids the last time I saw her, but my innocent crush from childhood is full-grown now. And it's not so innocent anymore. She's a breath of fresh air from the series of one-night stands since being drafted into the NHL. I've only got one shot with her, and I'm not taking it for granted. I may give her the passion she's been craving, but she's the intimacy I've waited for my whole life.