Noah Carter is Lakeshore's wall on the ice — steady, selfless, and waiting for Minnesota to call on draft day. At 2 AM he comes home to find his best friend and his sister have been hiding their relationship for three weeks. One punch, split knuckles, and suddenly he has no girlfriend, no place to sleep, and nowhere to go.
Mia Lawson has lived above the laundromat since sophomore year, runs on mint chip ice cream and flashcards, and has been his emergency contact since the day he caught her at family skate. The night the kiss cam found them at the rivalry game, he called it a joke. She never asked again.
Now they're both dumped on the same night. One tiny apartment that smells like dryer sheets and vanilla. One couch that's too short for a 6'3 defenseman. Three house rules:
Rule one: Don't tell Zoe.
Rule two: Don't touch the thermostat.
Rule three: Use your feelings words.
What starts as forced proximity turns into late-night taped ribs, planet blankets, and the friendship that always felt like more.
PICKING THE WILD is a full-length, low-angst college hockey romance with high heat and a guaranteed HEA:
Brother's best friend / best friend's sister
Friends to lovers and found family
Forced proximity, one couch, roommates
Cinnamon roll hockey defenseman + pre-med sunshine heroine
College sports romance with found family
Lakeshore Titans Book 2. Can be read as a standalone. If you love steamy hockey romance, college sports romance, and best friend's sister stories that make you stay up too late, start Noah and Mia's story today.
Tessa Lane writes the kind of gripping romantic suspense and steamy contemporary romance that ruins your sleep schedule. She thrives on crackling banter, thick forced-proximity tension, and putting her characters through absolute agony before finally handing over a hard-earned, heart-stopping happily-ever-after.
When she isn’t busy plotting grand gestures or dreaming up your next favorite book boyfriend, Tessa is navigating the beautiful chaos of the real world. As a mom and a small business owner.