Matthew, the third installment in Alisa Jean’s Los Angeles Quakes Hockey series, follows enforcer Matthew Holt as he navigates life after the devastating loss of his sister, Samantha. Grieving, guilt-ridden, and hardened by heartbreak, Matthew returns to the ice with a chip on his shoulder and a target on his back. But when he meets Phoebe Anderson, a sweet, klutzy marketing assistant with a past of her own, his world starts to thaw. Their passionate, complicated fling tests boundaries, including the sacred “bro code,” since Phoebe is the sister of one of Matthew’s teammates. Packed with emotion, scorching chemistry, and hockey grit, this story dives deep into grief, healing, and the jagged road back to love.
I was pulled in right from the first chapter. Alisa Jean’s writing is raw and vivid. Matthew’s voice, sarcastic, foul-mouthed, but deeply broken, felt so real I could practically hear him cursing in my ear. His visits to his sister’s grave wrecked me. I wasn’t ready for that level of emotional gut-punch, especially in a sports romance. And then there’s Phoebe. She’s charming and clumsy, but with just enough edge to hold her own against a man like Matthew. Their banter cracked me up. The way they fumbled (and then sprinted) into bed was spicy, but what surprised me was how tender those moments ended up being. This was about finding someone who sees past your wreckage.
The story sprints between emotional trauma, lighthearted flirtation, and steamy scenes without always giving time to breathe. Some transitions felt abrupt, especially between moments of intense grief and casual, almost comedic dialogue. And yet, I didn’t want to put it down. The supporting cast, especially the hockey boys, gave the story color and camaraderie, even if they sometimes felt like they belonged to another book. The tension between Matthew and Phoebe’s brother added great stakes, but I wished it had been explored a bit more. Still, I couldn’t help rooting for them.
Matthew is a messy, fiery, emotional rollercoaster of a romance with heart. It’s not just about two people falling in lust or love. It’s about falling apart and having the guts to let someone see the broken pieces. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves sports romance with emotional depth, a broody alpha with a soft center, and heroines who trip in heels but still manage to land on their feet. If you like your love stories hot, hilarious, and heartbreaking all at once, this one’s for you.
Luka follows a hockey player navigating the aftermath of a traumatic injury who crosses paths with a woman who forces him to power through his pain and enter the world of community outreach. What made you write a romance story within this setting?
Who doesn’t love a romance with a damaged hero and a feisty heroine LOL!
When we were writing “Lincoln”, the first book in the series, we’d set Luka up as a ridiculously handsome, happy-go-lucky playboy who spoke several languages. He was so endearing and charming that even the women he broke up with had nothing but nice things to say about him. That kind of perfect life had to come with a price tag eventually. Reading about a few players in real life who had suffered injuries from skate blades, it seemed like the obvious source for Luka’s downfall. But was he so vain that having his perfect face marred would be enough to send him off the rails? It also raised the question of could someone really have had such a perfect life, or was there something he’d been hiding even from his teammates? Those are the questions we want readers to be asking themselves.
We’d set up how active the Quakes organization is in the community, including a charity gala event where they raised money for the Quakes Foundation in “Lincoln”. Before the accident, Luka even tells they guys he’s excited to be helping out with a reading program since Spanish is one of the languages he speaks fluently. We wanted to carry through with that idea of what if he backs out of it. How would a struggling non-profit react? It made for a great, conflict ridden beginning of their story. We also wanted to reflect the real life commitment to their city our actual NHL team has shown throughout the years.
We also wanted to shine a light on two very real tragedies in the hockey world and raise awareness of ways to prevent them. One was the tragic death of former NHL player Adam Johnson, whose neck was fatally cut in a game in London and subsequently died on the ice. Since then, cut-resistant gear has been given more attention but there’s still a lot that can be done to make the game safer. The other is head trauma, which is a concern not just in hockey but other sports as well. There is developing new technology that reduces impact and has sensors to monitor the impact and send real time alerts to the training staff.
What comes first for you–the plot or the characters–and why?
With our hockey books, characters come first and then we figure out how they meet and their story. That’s the fun of writing a series like this is riffing about future storylines in the process of writing one book. We had no idea Luka would end up where he did in his book when we first introduced him, but as crazy as it sounds, we had to get to know him better to know where his story would take him.
Which of the characters do you relate to the most and why?
That’s the great thing about two main characters – there’s something for everyone! On one hand, we relate to Liliana. She takes no prisoners and is protective of her kids. Lily wants to do more with her life by making a difference.
On the other hand, we’re also drawn to Luka. We all have wounds, internal and external, that change our perspective on who we are at once point in our lives. How we handle them is the thing and the fact that Luka falls down in that department from time to time makes him relatable to a lot of people.
You didn’t really think we were going to choose one of our children over the other, did you? LOL.
Where will the third book in this series take readers? When can fans look forward to seeing it released?
Yes! Matthew, our very angry D-man on the Quakes blue line, is next up. Without giving anything away, readers will literally get to see there are two sides to every story and Matt’s is both emotional and hilarious. At the very least, we use a plot device that we can honestly say we haven’t seen in any other hockey romances. His book releases on July 15th, 2025 in both eBook and paperback at your favorite online retailer.
As the hottest left-winger in the league, I was the handsome golden boy for the L.A. Quakes. But after suffering horrific injuries during a game, my life is on a breakaway to disaster. My biggest fear is a darkness from my past is about to repeat itself. All I want to do is hide from the world, but fate has another plan.
Feisty beauty Liliana Alvarez doesn’t suffer fools lightly, especially when it comes to her kids in her new non-profit outreach. She’ll drag me, kicking and screaming, if necessary, from the hole I’ve crawled into if it’s the last thing she does. For some reason, she is patient enough to wait for me to heal and something sparks between us, wounds, and all. But her abusive ex-boyfriend threatens to shatter our hopes of a happily ever after.
Can enemies-turned-lovers help save each other or is the ice tilted against us?
Luka: Hockey Romance, Enemies to Lovers, Beauty & The Beast, Tortured Hero, Curvy Heroine Different Cultures, Stalker Ex-Boyfriend
Luka is a gut-punch of a sports romance wrapped in raw emotion and resilience. It follows Luka Ribic, a star hockey player whose life takes a brutal turn after a devastating injury. His face and his sense of self are permanently scarred when a skate blade slashes across his temple during a game. What follows is a slow-burn, tension-filled journey as Luka grapples with his trauma, drowns his pain in whiskey, and isolates himself from the people who care about him. Then, there’s Liliana Alvarez, a fiercely determined woman who doesn’t take crap from anyone. She calls Luka out on his broken promises and drags him (sometimes literally) into her world of community outreach, where his past, his fears, and his future collide in ways he never saw coming.
Luka’s character is layered and heartbreakingly real. The opening scene slams us straight into his nightmare, his body hitting the ice, the crack of his head, the searing pain of the blade. The injury isn’t just physical, it’s mental. His panic attacks, his self-loathing, the way he pushes his friends away, it all feels painfully authentic. One moment that sticks out is when a little kid in a grocery store takes one look at Luka’s scarred face and runs away in fear. That hit hard. It’s a reminder that his struggles aren’t just in his head, his reality has shifted, and the world sees him differently now.
Then there’s Liliana. If Luka is fire, she’s an explosion. She storms into his life, calling him an “arrogant shit” to his face, and honestly? He needs it. Their first interaction is hilarious. She’s furious that he bailed on a reading event for underprivileged kids, and she doesn’t care that he’s a pro athlete with a sob story. But as the book unfolds, their chemistry goes from sharp and combative to something deeper. One of the most satisfying moments is when she calls him out on his self-pity, but later, she’s the one to defend him when she learns about his injury. The way their relationship shifts from enemies to reluctant allies to something more is so well done that you don’t even realize when you start rooting for them.
The writing is sharp, the emotions hit hard, and the banter is top-tier. There’s humor in the darkness. Luka’s dry wit, the way his teammates refuse to let him spiral too far, Liliana’s family roasting her for not realizing she was about to meet a hockey legend. The book does a fantastic job of balancing heavy themes like trauma, self-worth, addiction with the lightness of friendship, love, and redemption.
Luka is perfect for fans of sports romances with grit, heart, and plenty of heat. If you love a broken-but-badass hero, a heroine who doesn’t take any nonsense, and a love story that burns slow but explodes when it counts, this one’s for you. And if you’re into hockey? Even better.
Alisa Jean’s Lincoln, the first installment in the Los Angeles Quakes Hockey Series, delivers an engaging blend of sports drama and forbidden romance. The story follows 36-year-old NHL player Lincoln, a seasoned goalie facing the harsh realities of an aging athlete. Plagued by a lingering hip injury, his recent performance has faltered, leaving his future with the Quakes uncertain. The roaring crowd isn’t chanting his name in celebration anymore, and whispers of a trade loom large. Amid this uncertainty, an unexpected romance blossoms with Catherine, the poised and ambitious daughter of the team’s owner—and its potential future leader. Their relationship brings newfound energy to Lincoln’s game, but when Catherine takes over as the league’s first female owner, their love faces unprecedented scrutiny.
Jean’s portrayal of Lincoln and Catherine’s love story strikes a compelling balance between passion and realism. Their relationship grows in the shadow of professional pressures, societal judgment, and personal ambitions. The stakes feel real, especially as Catherine navigates the challenges of owning an NHL team while protecting her reputation in a traditionally male-dominated world. Lincoln’s struggle to reconcile his declining career with his desire for love and redemption adds depth to his character, making him relatable and deeply human. Their love story is fiery, tender, and complicated but always captivating.
Hockey serves as the backdrop for the romance, and Jean’s accurate use of hockey jargon adds authenticity to the narrative. Even for readers unfamiliar with the sport, her writing remains accessible and immersive, seamlessly blending the high-stakes action on the ice with the emotional drama off of it. The pacing is brisk, keeping readers hooked as Lincoln and Catherine face not only the challenges of their relationship but also betrayal, greed, and shifting allegiances. These elements enrich the story, transforming it into more than just a sports romance.
Lincoln is a fast-paced and emotionally charged novel that explores themes of love, resilience, and identity. It’s a story with a satisfying ending that leaves readers hopeful. Fans of sports romance, especially those drawn to stories with a hint of angst and plenty of chemistry, will find this book a thrilling ride.
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