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Playing with Fire by Nicole Crystal
Release Day: June 13th 2026
Tropes: Hockey Romance, Best Friend's Sister, Coach & Player, Forbidden Love, Slow Burn, Years of Pining.
Series: This is Book 3 in the Playing the Game series of interconnected standalones.
POV: Dual POV.
Content Warnings: Open Door, Explicit Language. For readers aged 18+.
Expected Page Count: 300
BLURB:
Sometimes the right play is the one that sets it all on fire.
Luke Anderson’s coaching career is on the line before it even starts.
According to everyone with an opinion, I'm too young, too inexperienced, and definitely too close to the players I'm supposed to be leading. After an emergency hire, I'm head coach of Silver Pine's brand-new women's hockey program. A roster that includes my best friend’s little sister.
Emma Cole: elite forward, Olympic hopeful, and the one person I've been running from for years.
The rules are clear: act like a coach, focus on building the program, and absolutely do not fall for your star player. Especially when that player is your best friend's sister. Especially when she's wanted you since she was seventeen and has never been good at taking no for an answer.
But Emma's done waiting. And I'm done pretending I don't want her.
The plan was supposed to be simple: keep our heads down, get through the season, protect her dreams. Except Emma makes me forget every rule I've ever followed. And the only thing more dangerous than losing my job is losing her.
This season, we’re both about to burn.
Playing with Fire is a steamy, angst-filled college sports romance featuring forbidden attraction, secret relationships, protective siblings, and a coach who's absolutely terrible at keeping his hands to himself.