Connor “Hog” Hawkins is Thunder Bay’s loudest export—Storm enforcer, locker-room clown, and master of turning noise into belonging. But one New Year’s Eve, a quiet man in flannel crossed the bar, kissed him at midnight, and left Hog replaying it ever since.

Rhett Mason doesn’t do chaos anymore. He runs his father’s contracting shop, coaches kids’ hockey, and keeps his world steady in a town that once clipped his wings. But kissing Hog Hawkins wasn’t steady—it was reckless, brave, and exactly what he’s been missing.

Between coffee shop mornings, youth practices, and snowy walks overlooking the Sleeping Giant, the lines between their worlds start to blur. Hog’s learning that being wanted doesn’t mean being smaller, and Rhett’s discovering that staying home can still be a choice worth making.

But gossip travels fast, playoffs demand sacrifice, and Hog’s body can only take so many hits. When the noise fades, they’ll have to decide if love can stand on something quieter—something real.

A small-town MM hockey romance filled with found family, hurt/comfort, and a happily ever after as certain as winter in Thunder Bay.

323 pages