Fighting against Gravity: An Enemies to Lovers Sports Romance

Book 2: An Ice Tigers Hockey Romance

by Isabella Cassazza

Synopsis

"The perfect mix of swoon, witty banter, heat, all-the-feels, angst, romance, and hockey!" - Melinda

Can two broken souls make healing their goal?

Michael

I'm not shy about my all-star defenseman moves. But after a career-ending injury replaces my stick with a cane, I forever lose my Stanley Cup dream. And when an interior decorator arrives to make over my home, my shattered ambitions trigger a five-minute major that could cost me everything.

Ellie

After my little boy's father left the picture, I solemnly swore off all men. And I'm definitely not going to put up with an arrogant ex-athlete's temper tantrums. So even with my business on the brink of ruin, I walk away from a lucrative contract.

When Michael apologizes for his awful behavior, he accidentally causes me to break my leg. I reluctantly accept his offer to care for me and my son. But then have nowhere to hide from his tenderness amid his lingering wounds.

Fighting against Gravity is the second book in the spirited Ice Tigers Hockey sports romance series but can be read standalone. If you like enemies-to-lovers tales, swoon-worthy characters, and triumphs over life challenges, then you'll adore Isabella Cassazza's story of unexpected connection.

Buy Fighting against Gravity to dig your blades into ice-cold tension today!

Content note: contains mentions of depression, mental health challenges, and recovery from a career-ending injury.

 

Release date: July 30, 2020

Print pages: 310

Sample

Michael

Present day

The doctor’s mouth moves, but I can’t hear the words. 

I’m suffocating. Slowly. Not because of an actual lack of air, but because the emptiness inside me threatens to swallow the million pieces that an hour ago were my heart. 

When everything was the way it was supposed to be. 

When I hadn’t tried to be someone I never was supposed to be. I should have known better. 

“You’re a defenseman, not a forward,” my very first hockey coach told me when I was five years old. “Your job is to protect the goal and the goalie against sudden attacks. Defensemen are the keepers, not the heroes. Do you understand, Michael? You’re a keeper. You are not a hero. Your job is to protect, not to shine. Your task is as important as to shoot goals, but the forwards will receive the glory. Not you.” 

He had put his hands on my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. Then he asked the million-dollar question. “Do you understand, Michael?” 

I had nodded. Everything Coach said was true after all, and I soaked up every word he said like a sponge, a brainless mass of cellulose.

Tonight proved I hadn’t understood a single thing. 

Tonight I’d thought my time had come to shine and receive the glory. I wanted to make my dad proud. Instead, I ruined everything.

If my arms weren’t trapped under a blanket, I’d punch both of my fists in my face. As hard as possible. 

I thrust the white cloth away. The flimsy thing can’t keep me warm anyway. Ice clots my veins. I’m empty. All that’s left of me is a useless shell.

Instead of punching myself, I press my fingernails in my skin in a desperate attempt to… feel again, but inside me is nothing but numbness. 

The doctor glances down, his eyes giving me a what-the-fuck stare. 

I close my eyes. 

He hasn’t gotten the message yet. Whatever he wants from me, I don’t give a goddamn shit. 

Nothing matters anymore. Nothing. 

Not. A. Single. Thing. 

Nothing.

Game over.