Sign-In
Cart
Playing Her Game
Paperback
Series: Hearts on Ice, Book 2
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Feb 14 2026
Pages: 438
Weight: 1.28
Height: 0.89 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Standalone Book Two in the Hearts on Ice Series
A Second Chance - Fake Dating - Friends-to-Enemies-to-Lovers Romance
He broke her heart once.
Now he wants a second chance-
and he's willing to play dirty to win her back.
Mara O'Brien swore she'd never speak to Jensen Calloway again-let alone date him.
Not after he shattered her heart the same night she lost her twin brother. Not after he disappeared when she needed him most. And definitely not now that she's rebuilt herself into someone who doesn't break.
But Denver has other plans.
Mara's fresh start-new job, new city, new boundaries-is already unraveling thanks to her parents' messy divorce. Meanwhile, Jensen, now the flirty golden-boy forward for the Denver Mountaineers, is in PR hell after a deranged hookup sells a tabloid tell-all about his so-called party life.
The team demands a clean image. A steady relationship. A miracle.
Enter their mutual friends with the worst idea ever:
Fake date the one person he's never stopped loving.
Fake date the one man she's spent years trying to forget.
Mara refuses... until she realizes the arrangement might lift her Dad's spirits-and give her the upper hand in her own family chaos. Jensen agrees because it's a chance he thought he'd never get again. Being near Mara feels like coming home... and like punishment he deserves.
Their fake relationship quickly spirals into real tension, real nights, real memories-and real danger of old wounds tearing open. Mara's trust issues. Jensen's survivor's guilt over her brother's death. The secrets neither wants to confront.
And under it all, the truth they've buried for years:
They never stopped belonging to each other.
When the past collides with the spotlight, they'll have to decide whether this second chance is worth the pain-or if they're playing a game only one of them can survive.
Perfect for fans of gritty banter, broken boys with golden hearts, inked-up heroines, slow-burn tension, and found family chaos.
Perfect For Readers Who Love:- Friends-to-Enemies-to-Lovers
- Second Chance Romance
- Fake Dating
- Tattooed Goth FMC × Golden Retriever MMC
- Mutual pining + hurt/comfort
- Hockey boys who melt for their girls
- Tension, banter, and major spice
Also from
Pastrano, Kristen
Also in
Romance
That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf (Mead Mishaps, Book 2)
Kimberly Lemming
Paperback
Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Continues
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin & Sabine Concludes
Bantock, Nick
Hardcover
The Auction (Deluxe Limited Edition): A Spicy, Dark Romance Novel from a Tiktok Sensation
Kincaid, Sadie
Hardcover