Wednesday, March 28, 2018

#Hockey #Romance #Series by Linda O'Conner


Today is guest day. Please enjoy the post by Linda O'Conner

Thanks so much for hosting me! I’m excited to share a sneak peek of Behind the Bench – Book 2 of my In the Game Hockey Romance series. It will be included in the Coming in Hot 2: Rescue Me Romance Collection – a contemporary and paranormal medical romance boxed set coming on April 18. To celebrate, I thought I’d share six fun facts about hockey!

1. Hockey pucks are three inches in diameter. They’re frozen before each game so that they don't bounce during the game. In the old days, they used frozen cow poop. Bet the goalies are happy with that upgrade!

2. If both of the team’s goalies are injured during a game, they can get anybody to play the position — even a fan! (What are the chances that a retired NHL goalie would be in the crowd? :D)

3. Goalies can’t cross the centre line. Former Philadelphia Flyers goalie Ron Hextall was the first goaltender to score a goal by shooting the puck down the ice and into the other team’s net. 

4. Twelve women have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup, either as owners or team executives.

5. Canadian goaltender Manon Rhéaume was the first – and only –woman to play in the NHL. She laced up for two exhibition games with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

6. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Trent Evans embedded a loonie at centre ice to bring luck to Canada's men's and women's hockey teams. Both brought home gold – it was a lucky loonie! (We needed one at the 2018 games.:D Congrats to the USA Women’s team for winning gold this year!

Blurb for Behind the Bench
Dr. Danni Angelo is the team physician for the Clarington Quakes hockey team. She’s worked hard to earn the players’ respect, but the new coach, Trey Mason, is stirring things up, and Danni’s worried her job may be in jeopardy.

Trey finds Danni…distracting. Beauty, brains, and sexy moves on the ice have him uncomfortably attracted. He’s the new guy on the block. He has a reputation to build and a standard to set. The last thing he needs is a complication.

When the team spirals out of control and Danni and Trey get caught up in a drug scandal, things heat up on and off the ice. It’s a whole new game plan…Behind the Bench. 

Excerpt
Danni watched the tail end of the in-house broadcast of the news conference and flicked off the screen. How could you not be impressed with that? Trey Mason was confident and eloquent, and spoke in a relaxed and engaging way. The beach-bum blond hair, sculpted cheekbones, and easy smile would win over the non-hockey fans, and his passion and knowledge of the game would impress the followers. He had it all, and landing in a town like Clarington must be a dream come true. For him.
And a nightmare for her.
She had worked part-time as the team physician for the Clarington Earthquakes, Quakes for short, for the past three years. It had taken time to gain the players’ confidence. Being a female physician for a men’s hockey team hadn’t been easy, but she’d built a solid professional relationship.
She loved everything about the job – the energy of the games, working with high-level athletes, and a new clinic in a state-of-the-art arena. She certainly didn’t want it to change because of a new head coach.
Trey Mason couldn’t fire her. Theoretically. That would be up to the owners of the team. He could, however, make her life miserable. And if there was friction between them, it would affect the players, and ultimately, what affected the players influenced the owners. There were two other physicians who shared the job with her and a few more who would be eager to take it on.
He, on the other hand, could be set for a long run if he delivered half of what he’d promised today. She certainly hadn’t seen any charm when he’d walked into the pressroom, and yet it came out in spades when he spoke. She could only hope that her initial impression had been wrong, because between the two of them, it wasn’t likely that he’d be leaving any time soon. Bottom line – she needed to suck it up and get along with the new guy. She sighed. She hated sucking up. She’d thought she was done with that. Apparently not. She shook her head and gritted her teeth. Time to smile and play nice. 

Buy links:
Behind the Bench is part of the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me Romance Collection. It’s available for preorder for only 99cents. Coming April 17!

For a chance to win a Kindle Fire and a big box of books, enter the Coming in Hot: Rescue Me Rafflecopter: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/1be7623365/ 

Linda O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet other than subtly rearranging the displays at the local home décor store. It turns out she loves writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing, she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories :D ). She hangs out at www.lindaoconnor.net.
Laugh every day. Love every minute.




10 comments:

Margo Hoornstra said...

Welcome. Love the premis, the excerpt and the fun facts. I was a figure skater, my brother played hockey. Then my husband, son’s, nephew, son-in-law...Go Redwings...eventually, again. Best of luck with your latest. With or without the loonie!

Linda O'Connor said...

Haha - thank you very much! I think skating runs in the blood - and so often in families. :D

Brenda Whiteside said...

My son played hockey in Phoenix of all places. Started when he was five. Played in high school prep and in juniors up in Minnesota. Love hockey. I preordered the set and got Behind the Pipes while I was at it. Looking forward to the reads. Good luck!

Rolynn Anderson said...

My alma mater, St. Olaf College, in Minnesota, had a hockey rink outdoors for the team, and I liked watching the guys play. Now St. Olaf has a women's team, as well. In the north reaches, hockey glides on while the much of the world doesn't engage in the sport. My friend, Liana Laverentz wrote one of the first hockey romances in 2011 that I'd ever read...Thin Ice. Linda, you've got a nice niche here...go for it!

Linda O'Connor said...

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy them! Hockey's a great sport. I know my sons learned a lot of life lessons being part of a team, and I've met a lot of great hockey parents.

Linda O'Connor said...

Hi Rolynn - thanks so much! Maybe we'll pique interest in hockey around the world one romance at a time. :D

Jannine Gallant said...

I loved the fun facts! Especially the cow poop one. I've heard piles referred to as hockey pucks. Now I know why. Best of luck with your new release!

Linda O'Connor said...

Hi Jannine - thanks very much! I thought it was interesting that they freeze the pucks to prevent them from bouncing. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on a better material, it was the perfect simple solution! At least they didn't go back to cow dung!

Leah St. James said...

Welcome, Linda! Love the fun facts! I'd heard that about the pucks but never really knew if it was true. All I can say, ewwwwwww. :-) The story sounds fantastic. Wishing you much success with it!

Diane Burton said...

Remember when "sports" romances were unheard of? Susan Elizabeth Phillips broke out with her football team romances back in the 1990s. If you're an avid hockey fan, why not write about it? Loved the fun facts.