Only for the Winter

A temporary arrangement. A house that starts to feel like home. And two people who never expected to find a second chance at the wrong time.

Mara Ellis is twenty-eight, a former Olympic hopeful whose athletic career ended with a devastating knee injury. Now working as a sports physical therapist in Boston, she's struggling to find the opportunity that will finally put her life back on track.

When she's offered a twelve-week live-in position as both nanny and physical therapist for professional hockey goalie Cole Ashby and his seven-year-old daughter, Lily, the decision is simple. It's only temporary. A paycheck. A place to stay. No emotional attachments.

Cole Ashby has no room in his life for complications.

As the starting goalie for the Boston Nor'easters, he's fighting through a lingering hip injury while trying to be the father his daughter deserves. After the collapse of his marriage, he's focused on one thing: hockey and Lily. Nothing else.

Then Mara walks through his front door.

The same woman he met five years earlier at a charity gala-the one who challenged his opinions about hockey, made him laugh, and disappeared before he could ask for her number.

Now she's living under his roof.

Helping him recover.

Teaching Lily how to skate.

And slowly becoming part of the family neither of them planned to build.

As the weeks pass, carefully drawn boundaries begin to blur. Shared breakfasts become inside jokes. Quiet evenings turn into something harder to ignore. And Lily seems to recognize long before either adult does that some people are meant to find their way back to each other.

But old wounds, career uncertainty, and the fear of risking another broken heart threaten everything they've built.

Sometimes the hardest part isn't falling in love.

It's believing you deserve a second chance.

Only for the Winter is a heartfelt slow-burn hockey romance featuring a protective single dad, an independent heroine, found family, emotional healing, irresistible chemistry, witty banter, and a happily ever after that's worth every page.

Perfect for readers who love sports romance with warmth, humor, unforgettable characters, and a romance that grows one quiet moment at a time.