Cross Crease by Elizabeth Hartey 💕 Book Blitz & Gift Card Giveaway 💕 (Hockey Romance)

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Heaven

I was fourteen the first time I laid eyes on the smoking hot, silver-eyed, goalie. Damon Wolfe was the most gorgeous boy I’d ever seen. All it took was one glance, one sentence and my heart was his. But I was too young and he was too broken.

Seven years later, he’s the biggest off the ice player in the NHL and I’m his virginal best friend.

Of course, I have the perfect solution to that particular problem, but Damon keeps on refusing to be the one to vanquish my chastity. He claims he doesn’t want to ruin our friendship, that he’s not good enough for me. Yet, somehow his eyes say something different whenever he looks at me.

Just one night, that’s all I’m asking.

What’s the worst that can happen?

Wolfe

I was mesmerized by Heaven Andersen the first time I looked into her sparkling turquoise eyes. She was a teenage kid with a mouth full of braces and bruised knees, but she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen—like a fairy-tale princess. With one look, she sent all my inner demons running. But she was just a kid and I was too damaged.

Seven years later, she’s my best friend. My best friend with a single-minded mission—to get laid.

She wants me to take her virginity and teach her about sex. But she’s an off-limits, flawless diamond girl, and so far out of the realm of anything my blackened heart is looking for or deserves it’s laughable.

So, how come I’m not laughing? How come my best friend is the first thing I think about in the morning and last thing I think about at night? More importantly, what am I going to do to protect her—from me?

Slamming my book closed, I heave out another huge, exasperated sigh. Ever since our first meeting four years ago, we have this unknowingly-provocative-on-Wolfe’s-part-game we play exchanging cornball pick-up lines. After Wolfe playfully teased me with one the first time I met him, I decided I wasn’t going to stand there like some star-struck little fangirl when he taunted me. So, I honed my cheese whiz pick-up line skills and gave them right back to him.

“Hey, D! Guess what I’m wearing?” I quip, standing up on the blanket as he walks toward me. His wry grin morphs to a wide-eyed, shocked expression before it’s quickly replaced by his usual indifferent smug look.

“W…what are you wearing?”

“The smile you gave me.” I hold my arms out in a ta-da position as I deliver the corny line.

“Holy shit, Pip. When did you grow tits?” He smirks while shoving his board into an upright position in the sand

“Right about the time you were away at school learning to be an even bigger ass.” I tilt my head and smirk right back at him.

“Real nice. You kiss your mother with that mouth?” He pulls the elastic from around his man bun and flops down on his back on the blanket next to me, stretching his arms over his head. His chest muscles ripple causing my heart muscle to undulate like a series of corduroy ocean swells. I clench my gaping mouth closed and swallow the gasp I refuse to let him hear.

Ugh. The present man candy dominating my panorama is too much. As I lay on my side on the blanket facing Wolfe, my hip pressing into the soft sand, my thoughts drift to him. My body temperature soars, not from the blazing sun or the warm baked sand, and not even from the steamy sex scene I was reading. It’s the red-hot images smoldering through my mind—all the things I’d like to be doing with him, which have me panting.

Tracey…

One night left my heart shattered and my reputation ruined, and now my only hope is to transfer to another university far from home. Although I’m a champion figure skater and am used to succeeding, I can’t dump the burden of distrust and intimacy I’m carrying.

But when I literally crash into the cocky captain of the hockey team, sparks fly, and the attraction is as undeniable as it is unwanted.

No way is this arrogant hottie the one to help me move past my fears. Or is he…?

Dak…

Overwhelmed with guilt and remorse, I can’t forget the tragic accident that killed my first love. To avoid ever feeling that kind of agonizing loss again, I vow to stick with one-night stands with every puck bunny who glides my way and focus on keeping my position on the hockey team.

But after I meet a feisty figure skater and am then thrown together with her as a lab partner, I find I want to melt the icy walls we’ve built around our hearts.

If we don’t strangle each other first.

Nikki

I’m not a saint. Never claimed to be. I’ve played the game and scored my fair share—both on and off the field. This is why I should have known better than to fall for a hockey player. But I did. I fell fast and hard.

Now I’m left with the painful consequences, reminded every day of how reckless I had been by giving him my heart so easily—so willingly. Dalt broke me in the cruelest of ways, and because of him, I’ll never be able to love again.

Dalt

Nikki changed me. She made me want to be a better man. My days playing off the ice were over because she owned every little piece of my heart…until she left, leaving behind a gnawing ache where my heart used to be.

Now she’s back, and it’s painfully clear she hates me, ignoring me, pretending like I’m nobody to her. But that’s just too damn bad. I want answers. I want a goddamn explanation.

And most of all…I want her.

A new kind of sports romance!

This book was heavy on the sports, heavy on the drama and heavy on the steam.

I honestly didn't think I would like it at first. The beginning was all "look how awesome My girl Nikki is, she's perfect, can do no wrong, etc."

But THEN, boom! She's not his girl anymore! Why? You'll have to wait to find out. I sure did!

Relationship-suspense aside, I was so sucked in by the story. Though initially the characters seemed a bit shallow, they turned out to be anything but.

I would absolutely read more books by Elizabeth!

(I received a copy of this book in consideration of my honest thoughts)

As a lover of the northeast US, my husband and I moved to the Poconos several years ago to open a Chiropractic Clinic. Four children and a menagerie of animals later, I have finally found time to fulfill my lifelong dream of writing novels. A dreamer at heart, romance is---of course---the genre I spend most of my time writing and reading into the wee hours of the morning. However, if it's a good book, any genre can keep me immersed in the story for hours.

When I'm not juggling work responsibilities and writing, I enjoy baking, knitting, traveling, hiking the beautiful hills and woods around my home and spending time with my family.