Release Blitz: JULIAN: Sawyer Bennett and Bill Keenan
JULIAN
Sawyer Bennett and Bill Keenan
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September 1, 2026
Julian Langley has everything a man could ever want—a sprawling Manhattan townhouse, a multi-billion-dollar portfolio, and ownership of the New York Vipers, one of the most coveted franchises in professional hockey. What he doesn't have, and will never allow himself, is anyone who matters too much. Carrying a devastating loss that completely reshaped him, Julian has since built his life around the certainty that nothing will ever cost him that dearly again.
Harper Hawthorne isn't looking for a billionaire. She's looking for a way to keep the lights on. Single-handedly holding her world together since she was a teenager, Harper works two jobs, lives in a rent-controlled apartment on the Lower East Side, and sacrifices everything for her younger brother. When an unexpected phone call lands her a chauffeur job behind the wheel of Julian’s car, she takes it for exactly what it is: a paycheck.
Julian notices everything about her. Harper tries not to notice anything about him. What begins as a professional arrangement starts to crack at the edges when Harper proves, repeatedly and effortlessly, that she’s unlike anyone Julian has ever encountered before. She’s too sharp to ignore, too genuine to keep at arm's length, and entirely unimpressed by his world in a way that makes it impossible for him to stop thinking about her.
Julian doesn't do commitment. Harper doesn't believe in fairy tales. But some collisions are inevitable and some people are worth every risk you swore you'd never take again.
Julian Langley is the uber-successful billionaire owner of the Portland Wildfire hockey team. He has everything that he thinks he needs, and one thing that he does not think he needs is a real relationship. He may have companions, but he never lets anyone in. He’s intelligent, charismatic, and handsome, but can also be inquisitive and down to earth.
Harper Hawthorne is barely holding it together. She did piecemeal jobs to support her teenage brother, but one drive with Julian had unexpected consequences. Next thing she knows, she’s being hired as his personal driver. She’s smart, opinionated, and hardworking. She’s worked in customer service for years, so she understands people in business.
And Julian just can’t help but keep asking her opinion when her advice proves successful. She needs this job, but he’s also starting to realize that maybe he needs somebody like her in his life. As their dynamics change and they begin a fling/relationship, there are things making it more complicated. And Julian has some past issues that caused him to be wary of real relationships in the first place.
They are opposites but also have some things in common and are both intelligent and good together. But they are both strong and stubborn at times as well. And there are just enough challenges and issues to be a bit messy.
It's a story about trust, vulnerability, hope, healing, and learning to get the most out of life. They both are catalyst for change for the other and have growth opportunities. it brings back Grizz from the first book and I liked how some things came back around.
Harper Hawthorne is barely holding it together. She did piecemeal jobs to support her teenage brother, but one drive with Julian had unexpected consequences. Next thing she knows, she’s being hired as his personal driver. She’s smart, opinionated, and hardworking. She’s worked in customer service for years, so she understands people in business.
And Julian just can’t help but keep asking her opinion when her advice proves successful. She needs this job, but he’s also starting to realize that maybe he needs somebody like her in his life. As their dynamics change and they begin a fling/relationship, there are things making it more complicated. And Julian has some past issues that caused him to be wary of real relationships in the first place.
They are opposites but also have some things in common and are both intelligent and good together. But they are both strong and stubborn at times as well. And there are just enough challenges and issues to be a bit messy.
It's a story about trust, vulnerability, hope, healing, and learning to get the most out of life. They both are catalyst for change for the other and have growth opportunities. it brings back Grizz from the first book and I liked how some things came back around.
Julian owns the New York Vipers and keeps himself busy managing his businesses. He is closed off, aloof, not allowing anyone in after suffering a tragedy. His billionaire lifestyle has him at the top of the world, but his past has him keeping everyone at arms length, until he is surprised by the customer service tip he gets from a driver one day on the way into work. He is intrigued by the driver who solved a problem his marketing team had been struggling with for days in a matter of minutes while driving him in.
Harper is struggling to make ends meet, working two jobs, while also raising her teenage brother while her parents do their own thing. She is determined to do everything she can to give her brother a stable upbringing, but when she is fired from her main job and left with only her side gig, she worries she will not be able to continue to provide for him.
I enjoyed the way their relationship developed. They started out as a business relationship and as their trust grew so did the chemistry between them. I enjoyed watching as Harper experienced hockey for the first time and the way Julian opened up little by little to her. I also enjoyed watching the way Julian's relationship with Harper's brother developed and this aspect proved to be an additional bright spot in the story.
This was a quick read with a slow build of tension as these two people from opposite worlds collide and get to know each other. Despite the focus on Julian’s grief, most of the book focuses on the relationship building between them. There are several short scenes where Julian processes his past, and remembers his pain, but it is in flashback moments rather than large sections of text, making this an easy read overall. The ending resolution happened very quickly. (I had to reread the last few chapters because I couldn’t believe it was really at the end already.) I would have liked a little bit beyond the final but overall the story kept me entertained and was a lot of fun.
I listened to an audio copy and found the narration to be good. I love Samantha Brentmoor's work, and though this is the first time I have listened to Lee Samuels, I enjoyed his contribution as well. They were a good pairing, and good voice choices for the characters.
Our reviews
Grizz McAvoy is the most electrifying player in professional hockey…and the most volatile. He’s got a wicked shot, a hair-trigger temper, and spent his childhood surviving his father's cruelty. Off the ice, he's a PR catastrophe, racking up fines, burning through handlers, and daring the New York Vipers organization to do something about it. He’s built his entire identity around one principle: winning solves everything.
But winning can’t silence the past trauma that haunts him when the arena lights go dark.
Daisy Turner was fired from a top style magazine for asking questions powerful men didn't want to answer and exposing hypocrisy in the world of high-fashion. She's looking to salvage her career as a journalist by scraping together a second chance as Grizz's new media handler. Fearless in her own right, she carries scars from a betrayal that taught her trust is a currency she can't afford to spend freely.
From their first combustible meeting, Grizz and Daisy collide in a battle of wills neither is prepared to lose. She challenges him, and he can't look away. What begins as mutual provocation becomes far more dangerous when the walls between professional and personal start to crumble, and the wreckage of Grizz's past threatens to destroy the one person brave enough to see through his rock-solid armor.
Grizz is a scorching, emotionally charged hockey romance about two people who were never supposed to fall for each other, and the bruising, tender, inevitable collision that happens when they do.
Sawyer Bennett:
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.
If you’d like to receive a notification when Sawyer releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter (sawyerbennett.com/signup).
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Bill Keenan:
Bill Keenan played hockey at Harvard University from 2005 to 2008 and professionally in Europe from 2009 to 2012. After completing his MBA at Columbia Business School, he worked for two years in Deutsche Bank's investment banking division. He currently serves as COO of Graydon Carter's Air Mail.
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