Home Ice Advantage - L.M. Southwick

After six years in pro hockey, Kostya Volkov has earned two reputations: elite talent and complete asshole. When he signs with the struggling Bedford Dragons, most assume management finally decided his attitude costs more than his skill.

The Dragons are a collection of castoffs and misfits with nowhere else to go, and they've built a locker room culture on loyalty, humor, and refusing to take themselves too seriously. Their relentlessly optimistic social media manager, Samantha Doyle, is determined to protect that culture-even from the broody Russian center who seems to hate everything about his new home.

Kostya has survived his career on discipline and distance. Needing people is weakness. But in Bedford, he finds something he doesn't know how to handle: teammates who actually care and a woman who sees past the scowl to the man underneath.

Falling for Sam was never part of the plan. Neither was learning that strength might mean trusting someone enough to stay.