$14.96 sale price when purchased online
$15.96 list price
Target Online store #3991
About this item
Highlights
- FOR FANS OF hockey romances by Hannah Grace, Elle Kennedy, Lexi LaFleur
- Brown, Grace Reilly, Rachel Reid, Helena Hunting, Anna Zabo, Sarina Bowen,
- Grace McGinty, and Sarah Blue. Readers of sexy, boundary-pushing romances
- with Tiktok/Booktok-driven fandoms by authors such as Ana Huang, Emily
- McIntire, Lucy Score, Colleen Hoover, Erin Watt, Penelope Douglas, Claire
- Contreras, and Lauren Blakely, as well as authors who write complex,
- well-developed characters like Liz Tomforde and Elsie Silver flock to Emily Rath’s
- Jacksonville Rays series as well
- NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED!: As with Pucking Sweet (Sept 24, 2024),
- Kensington’s TP and the author’s indie-published ebook will be released at the
- same time!
- PREMIUM PACKAGE with GLITTER lamination, spot gloss and designed chapter
- headers.
- TROPES: hockey romance; sports romance; MM romance; single guardian
- romance, multiracial romance; workplace romance; a deliciously slow burn,
- mutual pining, grief/loss, found family, demisexual representation, let’s defraud
- our governments together, baking as a love language, bathtub blues, your quiet
- matches my loud, jealousy kink, bedazzled WAG jackets, hair care as a love
- language, “that’s my husband”, unprofessional massage ethics, a hopeless
- romantic double Pisces makes his bed and cries in it, a stoic Capricorn learns to
- lighten up, that trope where marrying the coworker you’re secretly in love with
- never has any consequences
- HEAT LEVEL: Very, very spicy (4 peppers)
- MM HOCKEY ROMANCE: The 4th Jacksonville Rays novel is an emotional MM
- romance between a physical therapist intern, Teddy, and Henrik, the team’s
- Swedish leftwinger.
- EMOTIONAL THEMES & NEW SETTING: Taking place in both Jacksonville,
- Florida and Sweden, this installment deals with themes of grief and blended
- families. In it, a player has to rush home to Sweden after his sister’s unexpected
- death leaves him as the primary guardian of his young niece.
- VIRAL TIKTOK SUCCESS FOR THE JACKSONVILLE RAYS: Within 6 months
- of its indie release in March 2023, #PuckingAround had accumulated more than
- 27 million views. Hashtags related to the Jacksonville Rays series overall have
- more than 20 million views.
- INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER WITH STRONG PLATFORM: Emily Rath is an
- internationally bestselling author with a ton of momentum on Tiktok. As of
- 8/15/24, she has more than 89.5k followers on the platform and more than 1.6
- million likes, plus another 35k followers on Instagram.
- BESTSELLING PRINT TRACK RECORD: The Kensington print editions of
- PUCKING AROUND (1/23/24) and PUCKING WILD (3/26/24) were USA Today
- and Publishers Weekly bestsellers that put another quarter of a million trade
- paperbacks in the market, with the former selling nearly 100k copies in its first 7
- months on sale and the latter 40k within 5 months. Expectations for PUCKING
- SWEET (9/24/24) are double that amount!
- KINKY, INCLUSIVE, QUEER, POLY, “WHY CHOOSE” (REVERSE HAREM)
- ROMANCES: The Jax Rays series is an open and inclusive world, celebrating
- themes of queer joy, ethical nonmonogamy, kink exploration, and body and sex
- positivity. Each book features at least one player on the Jacksonville Rays hockey
- team meeting and finding their love(s).
- HOCKEY ROMANCE: Hashtags associated with the subgenre
- (#HockeyRomanceBooks, #HockeyRomanceBooksTiktok, etc) have accumulated
- more than 470 million views (as of 9/22/23) on Tiktok. Driven by this Tiktok
- explosion, contemporary romance starring hockey players is one of the hottest
- and bestselling trends in romance, with mainstream outlets such as the New York
- Times marveling over its popularity (see: https://tinyurl.com/mu8y88t8).
- Kensington Reads Title Highlights: SEPTEMBER 2025
- Crucially, it's also a subgenre that’s not oversaturated in the market.
- KENSINGTON IS IN THE EMILY RATH BUSINESS: In addition to the
- Jacksonville Rays novels, Kensington is publishing paperback editions of Emily’s
- Second Sons historical romances staring with BEAUTIFUL THINGS (4/29/2025)
- as well as her hardcover adult fantasy duology, Tuonela Duet, starting with
- NORTH IS THE NIGHT in Dec 2025.
- MASSIVE SALES POTENTIAL: Acquiring independently published novels that
- have built viral momentum on Tiktok has become an enormously successful
- model for traditional publishers. Sourcebooks has sold over 1 million trade
- paperbacks in Lucy Score’s Knockmeout Series since acquiring the print-only
- rights. In 2022 alone, Things We Never Got Over sold more than 330k print
- copies, while Elle Kennedy’s The Deal sold more than 130k copies and Neon Gods
- by Katee Robert sold more than 169k print copies. On the hockey romance front,
- Atria has sold nearly 500k copies of Icebreaker by Hannah Grace.
- JACKSONVILLE RAYS SERIES ROLLOUT: One of the first authors to bring the
- why choose trope to hockey romances, Emily Rath self-published the first 2
- books in this series, PUCKING AROUND (March 2023) and PUCKING WILD
- (August 2023), and anticipates a total of 5 installments. Kensington is releasing
- the trade paperback editions of books 1 - 3 in rapid succession and publishing
- the trade paperback editions of the remaining books simultaneously with the
- author’s ebook releases.
- PERSONAL CONNECTION: As a queer person living in Jacksonville who loves
- hockey and hockey romances, Emily Rath’s joyful passion for this series is
- apparent on every page.
- EASTER EGGS: Emily layers in Easter eggs everywhere across all her novels, so
- fans of her Regency books will catch references in her Jacksonville Rays novels
- and fans of the Jacksonville Rays will notice connections in her Finnish fantasy
- duet.
- CAN BE READ AS STANDALONE: Each Jacksonville Rays novel features a
- different female main character and can be read as a standalone.
Description
The Jacksonville Rays go international when their Swedish star forward and
the team’s physical therapist have to stage a very real fake marriage in this
delicious slow burn, spicy MM, workplace hockey romance from viral
sensation Emily Rath!
My name is Teddy O’Connor, and I just made a terrible mistake. It’s been six
years since I was an intern for the Jacksonville Rays NHL team. Six years
since I wrapped ice packs on knees and played Mario Kart on chartered
planes. And six long years since I first met him. Henrik Karlsson, star forward
of the Rays . . . and king of my heart.
Oh god, I’ve got to get over this crush! I’m a doctor now, a respected professional. And
Henrik doesn’t even know I exist. So you tell me why I’m risking everything to follow
this man halfway around the world!
After receiving news of his sister’s tragic death, Henrik must fly to Sweden to retrieve
his injured, grieving young niece. But with a new hockey season about to start, Henrik
can’t possibly care for her alone. In fact, the Swedish government won’t let him. He
needs me. They both do. I’d be heartless not to help—right?
Well, that’s what I told myself last week as I signed our Swedish marriage license. It’s
what I told myself yesterday as I moved into his apartment. And it’s what I’m telling
myself now as the Rays PR Director stares us down. They want this marriage to look
real. The team’s public image, our jobs, and Henrik’s custody agreement all depend on
it.
But my problem isn’t that I don’t love my fake husband. God help me, my problem is
that I do.
the team’s physical therapist have to stage a very real fake marriage in this
delicious slow burn, spicy MM, workplace hockey romance from viral
sensation Emily Rath!
My name is Teddy O’Connor, and I just made a terrible mistake. It’s been six
years since I was an intern for the Jacksonville Rays NHL team. Six years
since I wrapped ice packs on knees and played Mario Kart on chartered
planes. And six long years since I first met him. Henrik Karlsson, star forward
of the Rays . . . and king of my heart.
Oh god, I’ve got to get over this crush! I’m a doctor now, a respected professional. And
Henrik doesn’t even know I exist. So you tell me why I’m risking everything to follow
this man halfway around the world!
After receiving news of his sister’s tragic death, Henrik must fly to Sweden to retrieve
his injured, grieving young niece. But with a new hockey season about to start, Henrik
can’t possibly care for her alone. In fact, the Swedish government won’t let him. He
needs me. They both do. I’d be heartless not to help—right?
Well, that’s what I told myself last week as I signed our Swedish marriage license. It’s
what I told myself yesterday as I moved into his apartment. And it’s what I’m telling
myself now as the Rays PR Director stares us down. They want this marriage to look
real. The team’s public image, our jobs, and Henrik’s custody agreement all depend on
it.
But my problem isn’t that I don’t love my fake husband. God help me, my problem is
that I do.
Suggested Age: Adult
Number of Pages: 704
Genre: Fiction + Literature Genres
Format: Paperback
Author: Emily Rath
Language: English
Street Date: August 26, 2025
TCIN: 94661932
UPC: 9781496752437
Item Number (DPCI): 059-04-9241
Origin: Made in the USA
Shipping details
Estimated ship dimensions: 5.5 inches length x 1 inches width x 8.3 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1 pounds
We regret that this item cannot be shipped to PO Boxes.
This item cannot be shipped to the following locations: American Samoa (see also separate entry under AS), Guam (see also separate entry under GU), Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico (see also separate entry under PR), United States Minor Outlying Islands, Virgin Islands, U.S., APO/FPO
Return details
This item can be returned to any Target store or Target.com.
This item must be returned within 30 days of the date it was purchased in store, shipped, delivered by a Shipt shopper, or made ready for pickup.
See the return policy for complete information.
Frequently bought together
Guests also viewed
$14.24
was $15.19 New lower price
5 out of 5 stars with 1 ratings
$14.24
was $15.19 New lower price
4.5 out of 5 stars with 2 ratings
Discover more options
Related Categories
5.0 out of 5 stars with 3 reviews
100% would recommend
2 recommendations
Another amazing book in this series
5 out of 5 stars
Thumbs up graphic, would recommend
Michelled25 - 4 days ago, Verified purchaser
I started crying after the first few pages because it was like checking in with a old friend. Then, I couldn’t put the book down and kept sneaking it everywhere because I needed to know what happens. I can’t tell you which of the books in this series is my favorite, I can just tell you how deeply they have moved me with the love the characters all have for each other.
What would you do for family?
5 out of 5 stars
Thumbs up graphic, would recommend
Chris S - 13 days ago
What would you do to protect and keep your family together? In Emily Rath’s fourth book in her Jacksonville Rays Hockey Series, that’s what star forward Henrik Karlsson has to figure out. His only sister dies in an auto accident that severely injures her 5 year old daughter, Karoline (Henrik’s niece). Henrik’s job as a forward in the US NHL means that to care for his niece, he needs to take her to Florida. Unfortunately the Swedish Government needs to be convinced that Henrik can take proper care of Karoline in the US while he is on the road during hockey season. The Swedish Government won’t allow Karoline to leave Sweden without this reassurance. Enter Dr. Teddy O’Connor, the Rays newest physical therapist. Follow Henrik and Teddy as they fight their way through governmental red tape as well as develop their relationship in this very spicy book of the fictional Jacksonville Rays Hockey Team. I really enjoyed this next installment of the Jacksonville Rays. It did seem a little contrived how Teddy accompanied Henrik to Sweden, but it worked. I liked getting glimpses of characters from the previous books. It’s fun seeing where they are in their life journeys. This is a stand-alone book, but if one has read the first three books and previous novellas, one has a better understanding of the various back stories of the other characters of the Jacksonville Rays. I wish to thank Kensington Publishing for providing this book and selecting me to review it on NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own. #kensingtonpublishing #jacksonvillerays #hockeyromance #spicyromance