Sawyer Bennett
April 7, 2026
Kace Elliott is the hockey player with a genius IQ and a secret side hustle in applied physics. He’s falling for his research partner, but she doesn’t know who he is outside of the lab. Now, the closer they get, the harder it becomes for him to keep his two worlds from colliding.
On the ice, I’m Kace Elliott—starting goalie for the Pittsburgh Titans, fighting to prove myself in the playoffs. Off it, I’m William—a scientific researcher, quietly holding on to the academic world I’ll return to when hockey is over. Both versions are real, they just aren’t meant to overlap.
Until Dr. Laurel Kent.
Laurel is brilliant, principled, and deeply rooted in a world where transparency matters. She knows me online as William, her intellectual equal, the man who shares her passion for data, late-night collaboration, and easy, unexpected chemistry. William is very much her type whereas athletes are not.
I need her to like the bigger part of me—the hockey player. When she meets me in person, as Kace, I make the choice to let her see the type of man she’s sworn off from ever dating. She gets the Titans goalie and all the craziness that comes with the playoffs. But here’s where it gets complicated: I make the dangerous decision not to tell her Kace and William are the same person.
By some stroke of luck, Laurel agrees to give Kace a shot, and our time together is more than I ever hoped for. The closer together we grow, the less she talks about William, and I convince myself I’ll tell her the truth when the timing is better, once I’m able to prove I’m more than the label she’s written off. But timing has a way of unraveling even the best intentions.
As the pressure of the playoffs intensifies, the boundary I’ve relied on becomes impossible to maintain. When Laurel discovers how closely intertwined my worlds really are, I’m faced with the cost of asking someone to love only part of me.
And winning on the ice means nothing if I lose the woman who made me want to stop dividing my life in two.
Kace Elliott is a goalie for the Pittsburgh Titans, and he’s seeing a lot more ice time lately. He’s funny, charming, confident, and follows his hockey rituals. But he has a hidden side where he is brilliant, especially in physics, where he was halfway through his Master's at MIT when he left to play pro hockey. He has a secret side gig working as a part-time research assistant.
Lately, he and his researcher have been communicating and chatting more and more, and he’s developed a bit of a crush, even though they’ve never met. Laurel is also enjoying the friendly exchanges with her research assistant, and even though she’s opened the door a little bit, he’s never stepped through it. So she’s decided that she’s going to go along with her friend and go on a speed date night.
Well, Kace just can’t have new competition and decides to crash it. There’s only one little problem. He’s going as Kace the hockey player and not as William, her research assistant. So this opened the door for a whole bunch of mess. A hockey player with a hidden geek identity interested in one woman, and the same woman not realizing that there are two different men.
Lately, he and his researcher have been communicating and chatting more and more, and he’s developed a bit of a crush, even though they’ve never met. Laurel is also enjoying the friendly exchanges with her research assistant, and even though she’s opened the door a little bit, he’s never stepped through it. So she’s decided that she’s going to go along with her friend and go on a speed date night.
Well, Kace just can’t have new competition and decides to crash it. There’s only one little problem. He’s going as Kace the hockey player and not as William, her research assistant. So this opened the door for a whole bunch of mess. A hockey player with a hidden geek identity interested in one woman, and the same woman not realizing that there are two different men.
I loved Kace. His personality, his energy, the fact that he fell hard, and the fact that he has this dual personality of athlete and science geek. But I have to admit I wasn’t a big fan of the hidden personality aspect and lying to her. Even he knew it was not a good decision.
I liked Laurel too. I could relate to her about just wanting to stay in her own little cocoon and not be put in a bunch of social situations with new people or be put in the spotlight, and how she usually made safe choices. Kace definitely wasn’t the safest choice, but he wanted to be chosen. But I just didn’t like her being put in that position where she felt guilty about it.
It brings back most of the newer couples from the Pittsburgh Titans series and even some other teams from other series.
Kace Elliott leads a double life: star goalie for the Pittsburgh Titans in the public eye, and a research partner in his spare time and as his plan for after hockey using the name William. He is interested in the project leader he works with, as much her mind and the banter they have online as with her headshot he found online. But they have never met in person and when he learns she plans to attend a speed dating event, he knows this is his chance to make a move.
Dr. Laurel Kent is fully comfortable in her career and research facilities. But socially, she prefers to keep to herself and firmly established friendships. A friend challenges her to step out of her comfort zone and try speed dating, though Laurel can think of so many other things she’d rather do.
Kace crashed the speed dating and convinced Laurel to give him a chance, despite his status as an athlete and without sharing that he is also William. Giving him time to convince her that athletes don’t all fit her experience becomes his challenge and his focus, while also worrying that she will learn of his secret before he is ready.
I loved watching Kace ease Laurel out of her comfort zone in ways that felt natural and considerate for her needs. She is truly uncomfortable in crowds and among strangers, so he does his best to introduce her to his teammates in smaller, quieter settings. He is considerate and as focused on Laurel as he is on the puck when he’s on the ice.
The piece that frustrated me the most was also the pin that held much of the story’s tension high. It bothered me that he kept up the duplicity, lying about who he was for so long. I know without the lie, the story would have been completely different, but I lost some respect for him because of the way he handled that situation.
But I did love Laurel through and through. She has such a sense of self and didn’t let Kace pull her in directions she wasn’t comfortable or didn’t feel like herself. I loved the friendships she formed with the women of the Titans and the way they supported her, even when it wasn’t clear if she and Kace would make it.
Aiden Snow and Isabelle Ruther were great choices to narrate these characters. Aiden as Kace gave great inflection to the two sides of this complicated character. I loved Isabelle’s adjustments as she voiced the various characters throughout. In dual narration, these two bring the characters to life and made it even more fun to read the story (I switched between audio and ebook depending on where I was trying to read).
Pittsburgh Titans
Names are linked to author's website and Titans # directs you to book on Goodreads
Names are linked to author's website and Titans # directs you to book on Goodreads
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spin-off of the Arizona Vengeance series
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.
A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.
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