The Proposal Play
(Love and Hockey, #3)

by Lauren Blakely

 

Released – 8 January 2025

 

Available today!
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Blurb

My plan when I win a date in Vegas with my brother’s hockey star best friend? Poker and go to sleep early. Instead, I wake up with a ring on my finger and the sexy athlete naked in my bed.

But Asher’s my best friend too so we’ll get this annulled and laugh about this secret for years to come.

Trouble is our wedding pics went viral overnight.

Now everyone thinks we’re a real couple. We race back home, where I’ve just landed the big art commission of my dreams and he’s launching a sports charity so we need to look like we meant to tie the knot.

Easy enough. We’ll claim we’ve been secretly in love, while staying in separate rooms for the rest of the hockey season.

The last thing either one of us wants is to ruin a decade-long friendship by falling into bed again.

But, I experience a new side of my husband at home. He cooks for me, encourages me…and buys me so many toys.

And, it’s more fun to share your toys with a friend.

We’re just enjoying temporary marital benefits.

Except, the more times he calls me his wife, the more I start to wonder if Asher was ever pretending?

And if my heart is ready to take the biggest risk of all.

Tropes: brother’s best friend, friends to lovers, marriage of convenience, marriage pact, he’s been secretly in love with her for years, forced proximity, my wife, pro hockey

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Review

4.5 stars!

The Proposal Play is the third book and another fantastic read in the Love and Hockey series. It’s an entertaining friends-to-lovers romance that gives us wonderful characters, tons of fun, spicy moments, and so much heart.

Maeve and Asher have been best friends for over ten years. They hit it off the moment they met and have been having fun together ever since. When Maeve wins a date with Asher at the charity auction to avoid another woman trying to use ASher’s hockey status for her own good, these two look at the date as another adventure together. An adventure that takes them to Vegas and ends with rings on their fingers. Just having fun, these two figure they will get an annulment when they get back home. However, when news of their marriage breaks, they decide it would be better for both of them to remain married. Little did they know, their fake marriage won’t stay fake for long.

How did I miss what’s been right in front of me?

I adored Maeve and Asher. They are so fun together and just enjoy spending time together no matter what they are doing. Their friendship is one of the most important things in their lives and I felt their connection as friends which only strengthens their connection when they become more.

Faking their relationship shouldn’t be hard because they really know each other. However, these two have sizzling chemistry and the marriage and the pretending turn real before they know it but they fight the feelings. They don’t want to ruin their friendship and I get it. They are so close and mean so much to each other. They’ve been in each other’s lives for so long and they mean so much to each other that they don’t want to lose their best friend.

Slowly though they get closer as husband and wife and they really turn up the heat while trying to keep things the same. Obviously these two are meant to be together and I love that they know each other so well. They are always supporting the other and want what’s best. They really are best friends but so much more. I was smiling ear to ear with every interaction.

I love that there’s not much drama but there is still a lot of depth to the story and characters. Each has a complexity to them that makes you invested in their lives and rooting for a happily ever after. Maeve and Asher have to overcome challenges and the different fears that both have were well written. I loved the growth they both experienced as they learned to manage those fears.

I also love the secondary characters, most of whom we met in previous books. They are a fun bunch and enjoyed their support and their interactions with Maeve and Asher. We also get snippets of the interactions with the couple in the next book and it makes me extra excited to see how their love story plays out. I can’t wait for more from the Love and Hockey series!

*ARC generously provided by the author*

 

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Love and Hockey

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About the Author

A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s cute but spicy. Lauren likes dogs, cake, and show tunes and is the vegetarian at your dinner party.

 

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