Just Breaking The Rules (Hockey Ever After 1 by Lauren Blakely-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 19, 2026

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.

••••••

REVIEW:JUST BREAKING THE RULES is the first instalment in Lauren Blakely’s contemporary, adult HOCKEY EVER AFTER erotic, romance series, a spin off set in the author’s Love and Hockey world. This is professional hockey player and single dad Corbin Knight, and baker Mabel Llewelyn’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Mabel and Corbin) using present day, texts, and letters from the past, JUST BREAKING THE RULES follows the brother’s best friend building relationship between Mabel Llewelyn and Corbin Knight. Mabel Llewelyn is a baker whose recent stint on a televised baking show ended in disaster, and to further complicate the loss, humiliation by the ex-boyfriend who is on a reality show himself. When Mabel’s late grandmother leaves our heroine the deed to her hometown fire station, Mabel goes in search of her brother Theo’s best friend Corbin, to partner with her in a new bakery they will call Afternoon Delights . Remodeling the fire station brings with it a treasure trove of love letters written seven decades earlier, but also the bitter retorts and less than friendly welcome from the locals in Cozy Valley.

The world building follows several pathways including Mabel’s reputation as a disaster both in and out of the kitchen; the start up of Afternoon Delights to the less than welcoming people of Cozy Valley; the discovery of a cache of love letters that mirror Corbin and Mabel’s love life, and keeping their attraction to one another a secret in the face of Theo’s threats and a forbidden relationship. As Corbin and Mabel begin their new business venture together, the heart is hoping for something more but disaster strikes again, and Corbin is willing to walk away. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are colorful, energetic and often familiar. We are introduced to Corbin’s daughter Charlotte and her mother Sarah; Corbin’s friend Annabelle, Mabel’s brother and team GM Theo Llewelyn, celebrity chef Ronnie Legend, Mabel’s ex and reality TV star Dax Strong, as well as Corbin’s teammates; several couples previously introduced in the Love and Hockey series,and the less than friendly townsfolk of Cozy Valley.

JUST BREAKING THE RULES is a story of secrets and attraction, family and friendships, relationship and love. The character driven premise is entertaining and heartwarming, the characters are flirty, animated and determined; the romance is seductive and spicy

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Corbin

Those last two words echo like a warning—working together. 

We are definitely working very closely together, and this—kissing, touching, f*&king—is a recipe for failure.

But when she looks at me like that, lips wet, eyes dark, I can’t bring myself to care about consequences. Not when she’s right here in my arms and I need her so damn badly.

I make quick work of the apron strings, undoing them at her neck as I crush her lips with mine.

Her mouth feels so good, soft and pliant. She moves with me, our tongues skating together. Our moans mingling.

“It feels like forever since I kissed you,” I mutter as I briefly break the kiss, frantically tugging down the apron, exposing the collar of the dress that I bought her.

“A day is a long time,” she teases.

“I didn’t kiss you yesterday.”

She seems to think about that for a few seconds. “You should keep making up for that.”

A #1 New York Times Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that’s hot, sweet and sexy. She lives in California with her family and has plotted entire novels while walking her dogs. With fourteen New York Times bestsellers, her titles have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestseller Lists more than eighty times, and she’s sold more than 2 million books. In October she’ll release HARD WOOD, a sexy, standalone romantic comedy. To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter! laurenblakely.com/newsletter

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