Thursday, January 18, 2018

Story Spotlight - The Hockey Player's Heart by Jeff Adams & Will Knauss







Many thanks to V.L. for letting me talk about The Hockey Player’s Heart, which is a Dreamspun Desires category romance that I co-wrote with my husband, Will Knauss. The book is a feel-good, second chance romance between New York Rangers captain Caleb Carter and third-grade school teacher Aaron Price. When Caleb and Aaron were in high school, Aaron tutored Caleb in geometry. The boys had crushes on each other that they didn’t admit.

Since this is a tropey, category romance there’s not a lot of angst. Even in terms of the second chance, Caleb and Aaron don’t have baggage to sort through in their shared history. Aaron is best friend to Caleb’s older sister and Caleb is a year younger so they ran in slightly different circles as teens. They were more than acquaintances, but they weren’t friends. As they reconnect, both out adults, there’s an immediate desire to catch up with each other and those old crushes can now be fully explored

Here’s the strange thing about writing this book for me--the lead character is a member of the Rangers. V.L. knows I root for (in pretty equal measure) Detroit and Pittsburgh. I grew up in Flint, so the Red Wings are in my blood. My Penguins allegiance goes back to the Lemieux/Jagr days because those two played some beautiful hockey. I’ve stayed a fan ever since. However, I do love Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist. There’s nothing quite like watching him tend a net.

Anyway, we made Caleb a Ranger because we wanted the bulk of the book set in upstate New York and Caleb needed to be able to get back to the team pretty easily. I couldn’t allow him to be on either of the other New York teams (with apologies to Islanders and Sabres fans). So, he’s a Ranger.

I hope you’ll pick up a copy of The Hockey Player’s Heart and enjoy the romance between Caleb and Aaron--as well as the hockey that gets played along the way!

Blurb:
Hometown hero. Hockey superstar. Perfect boyfriend?

When hockey star Caleb Carter returns to his hometown to recover from an injury, the only thing he’s interested in is a little R & R. He never expects to run into his onetime crush at a grade school fund-raiser . Seeing Aaron Price hits him hard, like being checked into the boards. The attraction is still there, even after all these years, and Caleb decides to make a play for the schoolteacher. You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take, right?

Aaron has been burned by love before and can’t imagine what a celebrity like Caleb could possibly see in a guy like him. Their differences are just too great. But as Aaron spends more time with Caleb, he begins to wonder if he might have what it takes to win the hockey player’s heart.

Buy Links:

Bio:
Jeff Adams and Will Knauss are husbands, authors, and podcasters based in Northern California. They write gay romances, sometimes together and other times separately. Jeff also writes young adult LGBT fiction. Together they host Jeff & Will's Big Gay Fiction Podcast, a weekly show devoted to gay romance literature and the pop culture they love.





Websites:
Jeff: JeffAdamsWrites.com
Will: WillKnauss.com
Podcast: BigGayFictionPodcast.com




2 comments:

LeeAnn said...

Sounds like a great story!

Amy Casey said...

Loved the book!!! Congrats!! Aaron and Caleb...they were just perfect for each other!