Morgan James – författare

When Liam Belanger gets a professional tryout with the Miami Caimans, he’s hoping to land a roster spot that’ll keep him from bussing tables. If he can make the team and score a tryout in bed with Russ Lyons, the veteran defenseman who’s appointed himself Liam’s mentor, that would be the icing on the sweet hockey cake.

Living life by a strict set of rules has worked out well for Russ. He has a great career, great friends, and a great family, even if they do keep setting him up with hometown honey traps. But he can’t stop time, and now, despite all his planning, he’s looking at his last year with the Caimans before the uncertainty of free agency. Maybe that’s why he finds sunny, free-spirited Liam so attractive. 

He’s still not going to sleep with his rookie.

Probably.

Liam starts the season in the minors, but it’s not long before he gets a shot at the Big Show. His year is shaping up to be a dream come true—even before Russ picks up on Liam’s passes and proves defensemen can score too. 

Rowan Chadha’s job as a children’s librarian might be temporary, but at least it comes with adorable, hilarious patrons. When he bumps into Jordy Shaw—NHL star and super-hot dad of one of his favorite library kids—at a charity event, he suggests they team up as a fake couple to fend off unwanted attention, never expecting the connection to last.

Jordy is in desperate need of a new nanny, and his daughter, Kaira, already adores Rowan. When Rowan’s apartment becomes uninhabitable just as his library contract ends, Jordy offers a stopgap solution: Rowan can crash in the nanny suite in his home and help with Kaira while Jordy trains for the new season—just until Rowan lands a new job and Jordy can find permanent childcare.

As the lines between fantasy and reality blur, the attraction that’s been simmering between them bubbles over. But while they’re free with their bodies, they struggle to defend their hearts, knowing their arrangement has an expiration date. After all, Rowan’s a librarian, not a nanny, and Jordy could be traded at any moment.

Their arrangement is temporary, right? Or maybe some things are worth staying for….

Textbook Defense continues the Hockey Ever After series with a fake relationship turned real and an adorable child in need of a nanny.