Slap Shot Sweethearts
Slap Shot Sweethearts is about what happens when an Emmy nominated actress and a star hockey player find their relationship invaded by the media.
About The Book
Naomi Sterling is Hollywood’s golden girl. Three Emmy nominations and seeking an Oscar. A flawless public persona. An acting career built on making audiences feel things she’s taught herself never to feel in real life. After a devastating betrayal convinced her that vulnerability is just another word for weakness, she perfected her armor: perform everything. Feel nothing. Never let anyone see the woman behind the role.
Caleb Hayes leads the Boston Lions on the ice with ferocity, loyalty, and a will to win that borders on relentless. Off the ice, he’s learned the hard way that fame attracts the wrong kind of attention. Every woman who’s come into his life has wanted what he represents—the name, the jersey, the story—not who he actually is. So he tests. He watches. He waits for everyone to prove him right.
When Naomi lands in Boston for a new film and stumbles into the world of hockey—and into Caleb’s orbit—something unexpected and dangerous happens. For the first time in years, she starts to feel things she can’t script. And for the first time in his life, he starts to believe someone might actually mean it.
But the world won’t let them have this quietly.
A manipulative ex resurfaces with surgical accusations. The media turns their romance into a bloodsport. Their careers pull in opposite directions. A brutal playoff run tests everything Caleb has left. And the two people most terrified of being truly seen are forced into the light—publicly, painfully, together.
They’ll each have to choose: keep the walls up and survive. Or tear them down, risk everything, and find out if what they have is real enough to last.
She’s spent her whole life making people believe in love.
He’s spent his whole life making sure no one gets close enough to break him.
What happens when two people who’ve mastered the art of self-protection collide—and discover the only way forward is to stop?
What’s inside
Chapter 1
September 14th, 2026
“These are the nominees for Best Actress in a Drama Series…”
Naomi Sterling sat in the front row of the Peacock Theatre. The silk of her custom Valentino gown pooled around her feet. She breathed in shallow, controlled breaths. Anything deeper might crack the foundation her makeup team had spent three hours applying.
Third Emmy nomination for her hit medical drama Heartbeat. The show wrapped its final season last year. This was her last chance to capture an award for the role of Dr. Melinda Valentine.
Everyone said this was her year. She’d won the Golden Globe. She was the odds-on favorite to win.
Her brown hair was swept back so tightly it pulled at her temples, the kind of elegance that required endurance. Every pin was perfectly hidden. Every curl had been negotiated into place.
“And the Emmy goes to…”
Time didn’t slow. That was a lie movies told. What actually happened was worse. Everything sped up, compressed into a single crystalline second where the envelope opened.
“…Emma Price, for Wildflower!”
Naomi’s smile didn’t falter.
Not for a millisecond. Not for the span of a heartbeat. She’d been trained for this, too.
She turned to Thomas, or rather, the empty seat where Thomas would have been. They hadn’t ended things on good terms four months ago; instead, in a conversation so carefully managed by their respective teams that it felt more like a merger dissolution than a breakup.