My peaceful existence gets body-checked when a brooding, grumpy hockey player moves in next door . . .

The first time I meet Niall O'Rourke, he greets me, wearing little more than a scowl and a demeanor colder than the ice he skates on. My deeply ingrained Southern manners force me to give him the benefit of the doubt, but every interaction we share convinces me he's a grade-A jerk.

I do my best to avoid him, that is, until he makes a proposition too good to refuse: I pretend to be his fiancée, and in return, he'll appear on my local television show, which could give Bigfoot's Hairy Tale the ratings bump needed for national syndication.

Despite our personalities clashing like hockey sticks, I discover beneath his brawny exterior is a man burdened by a complex past and a wounded heart.

But I'm not interested in "fixing" him. I've been down that road before, and it never ends well. If only Niall weren't so hellbent on using his lips to convince me otherwise.

It's going to take everything in me to evade the enforcer.

Contains mature themes.