Hard Fall by Brenda Rothert

The St. Louis Mavericks are having the best season in team history. On pace for a pro hockey record, the unexpected death of their captain and star player knocks them off course in ways they never expected.

Weston: My world was turned upside down the day Ben Whitmer died. Best friends since junior hockey, Ben was like a brother to me. My voice of reason and a grounding force on and off the ice. But as heartbroken as I am, I don’t have the luxury of grieving his loss.

Not only do I have to hold our team together, I was named guardian of the two young children Ben and his wife left behind. Well, not just me—me and his wife’s best friend, Hadley. We’ve been left with the impossible task of deciding which of us will raise the kids, but there’s no way I’m letting that uptight ball buster have them. Lines are drawn, but they begin to blur as I find out there’s more to Hadley than I thought. A lot more.

Hadley: I can’t take the place of my beautiful best friend in her children’s lives. But I love them so fiercely that I’ll do whatever it takes to raise them the way their parents wanted.

Wes Kirby is an obnoxious womanizer, and I won’t let him take Ben and Lauren’s children from me. Deciding to temporarily live together in our friends’ home, we attempt to provide the kids stability while we figure out which of us is better suited to raising them. As we learn parenthood together, my enemy Wes slowly becomes something different. Something more. And I’m left wondering not only if I’m enough for the kids, but if Wes and I are enough to last.