Cannon West is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Titans. He is rich, smart, funny, kind, and down to Earth. He is a widower and is now basically married to his job. He is not looking for love or a relationship and has some hidden scars from his past. 

Ava Cavanaugh lost everything in one day thanks to a cheating ex. So she is now making ends meet by working at a coffee shop. She is sweet, witty, and intelligent, but has lost a bit of confidence and is struggling with her new circumstances. 

Cannon likes to flirt with her and one thing leads to another and Ava's life is set in flux again. But Cannon seems determined to keep spending time with her even when he is the one that has set up very clear boundaries and low expectations. Unfortunately, he keeps blurring the lines and confusing the situation. 

This is a steamy, fun, rich man-poor-girl, small age-gap romance. I loved Cannon, even when I wanted to shake him a bit. He could be so thoughtful and generous, but was also growly and alpha when he needed to be. And Ava is a wonderful heroine who had been betrayed by a man, but is tenacious, strong-willed, and independent. I loved seeing her start to find her confidence, a new place in the world, and new friends. And she was really accepting and understanding of Cannon. But in addition to his work obligations, he also had some other issues and was not always clear about what was really going on. So basically for both of them, this is about if the risk is worth the reward and if they are willing to take a chance on getting hurt again. 

I loved getting cameos of the team and their women. This timeline coincides with Drake so some things happen from alternative points of view. I am looking forward to Hendrix and now I am hoping maybe Camden or Bain will get books too. 

Cannon West is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Titans. This is his second chance in hockey, as he left his career the first time around to care for his ailing wife. Now that he is back in the game, he wants to prove that he can move past his own grief to help rebuild the Titans.

Ava Cavanaugh is rebuilding her own life after an ex left her high and dry. Making ends meet means giving her all to her job and putting in as much effort as she can to prove her worth.

Cannon has boundaries he isn’t willing to cross because he isn’t ready for a relationship and Ava is fine with the boundaries he’s set. She isn’t really looking for anything serious either. But as they proceed, the lines start to blur and Cannon is the one breaking his own rules.

I thought this was a really smooth read and it moved in a direction that had me rooting for them. There were a few times I wanted to shake Cannon, but he has some pretty good people around him that were able to do it for me. Ava has a solid head on her shoulders, and though her plans are thrown out of whack a few times throughout the book by the men in her life, she finds a way to work through and make fall back plans on the fly. I loved her caring nature, as well as the backbone she showed when she needed to.

This was a fun return to the Pittsburgh Titans. As the team moves further from the tragedy that brought most of them to the team, they are settling and really gelling as a team. I loved Cannon’s coaching and to see the game from a different perspective was a nice change.

I was lucky enough to hear the audio of this, and the narrators did a great job bringing these characters to life.