Just Breaking the Rules

Hockey Ever After, Book 1

By: Lauren Blakely

Narrated by: Samantha Brentmoor, Teddy Hamilton

Performed in duet by Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton!

Everyone knows the golden rule of business—don’t bang your business partner.

Especially if he’s your brother’s hot-as-sin, hockey-star best friend.

But when the sexy single dad athlete saves me from a cake contest catastrophe—and shows me how good he is with his hands—I blurt out the world’s worst business pitch: Want to invest in my bakery?

With no loan or backup plan, this is my last shot at proving I’m more than my past mistakes, and shockingly, he says yes.

We set one rule: don’t mix business with pleasure.

Except Corbin Knight’s impossible to resist.

When he’s not scoring goals, he’s staying up late with me to test tempting recipes.

Braiding my hair before we bake like it’s foreplay.

Giving me his jersey to wear to games.

I try to keep a professional distance from the bossy, possessive and dangerously flirty hockey player, but soon we’re testing the limits of the kitchen counter.

This bakery is my chance to finally get my life right, so I fight the messy feelings.

Until one night, he shows up after closing and admits he can’t stop thinking about me.

Suddenly I’m ready to break every rule—no matter the cost to our dreams.

And breaking the rules has never tasted so good.

This exclusive special edition audiobook includes a cameo by James Joseph and a full reel of bloopers!

This is Corbin and Mabel's romance. Tropes include: Brother's best friend, single dad, workplace romance, hockey, the one who got away, love letters.

©2025 Lauren Blakely Books (P)2025 Lauren Blakely Books

A must listen for Lauren Blakely fans!

This is one of my favorite books I’ve listened to by Lauren Blakely. There is so much great banter and lots of sweet moments in the story. Samantha and Teddy were absolute perfection and had the best chemistry. I highly recommend this book!! Can’t wait for the next one in this series!

Mabel and Corbin

OMG, Samantha and Teddy are absolute perfection in this story! The video clips shared by the author were so much fun to watch! Seriously, two of my favorite narrators!

Mabel and Corbin are 100% made for one another.

Mabel thinks she's a little bit of a hot mess. No matter how hard she tries, things just don't seem to be going her way.

Corbin has wanted to "get to know her better" ever since the first day he met Mabel. He is a single dad of a 12 year old, a professional hockey player, and an all around great person. He is organized almost to a fault, but it enables him to excel at everything he does.

Then someone gets the brilliant idea for Corbin to partner with Mabel in the bakery she wants to open. A little forced proximity for two people who love to bake, and are having a hard time keeping their hands to themselves.

Great story, easy to read. The story flows and there's no huge drama in the 3rd act temporary break-up.

Sweet Scale: 5/5
Spicy Scale: 3/5

Gah! This book made my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

The swoony moments, the spicy delicious ones and the toothachingly sweet ones🥰 Loved every second of Mabel and Corbin's love story! Teddy and Samantha never disappoint and they absolutely smashed it with this one!

Loved the duet!

The duet was great! Loved the characters! It was a little slow to start, but I enjoyed the story.

Love this fun and flirty, hot hockey romance!

Wow, there is so much to love about this fun and flirty, hot hockey romance! It has a swoony slow-burn romance between a sexy single dad and a sweet, spirted heroine, brilliant banter, entertaining and steamy moments, and loads of heartfelt emotion. Corbin has wanted Mabel from the first moment he saw her. But she was his best friends little sister so he kept his distance. Now seven years later he is nearing the end of his career, raising an adorable daughter, and wondering where life will take him. Corbin would bake with his mother before she passed, and their dream was to open a bakery. Enter in the woman of his dreams, who just inherited an old firehouse, and wants to open a bakery but needs a partner, so he jumps at the chance to partner with her. Mabel doesn't want to move back home where she fled after an embarrassing accident, but she is determined to make her dreams come true. They are complete opposites with Corbin being organized and Mabel is a hot mess at times. As they work together to make their business a success, their naughty desires are baking up as well. Will they be able to mix business and pleasure or will the complications break their business and their hearts? I absolutely loved Mabel and Corbin, they were so perfect for each other. He showed her how strong and resilient she could be, and she showed him that love was worth taking a chance on. I was so fascinated by the love letter storyline and how it played in harmony with Mabel and Corbin's romance. I also enjoyed all their family and friends who added so much heartfelt quirkiness, and fun to this story as well. There were so many laugh out loud moments but many emotional, sweet and sizzling moments as well.
I loved the performances by narrators Samantha Brentmoor and Teddy Hamilton. They portray each character with a perfect balance between fun & flirty, heartfelt emotion, and sizzling passion flawlessly. They work so well together, conveying so much emotion in their performances, that they will have you laughing, and swooning from beginning to end. They make this beautiful, romantic, and passionate story even more captivating.