The Penalty Game
(2026)(The second book in the Austin Stampede Hockey Romance series)
A novel by Maddie Langley
LIAM
Crash Callahan never misses a party, never ducks a fight, and never met a spotlight he didn't love. He's the best character I ever created.
He's also a lie. Because when the arena is empty, I'm just Liam — a guy with a bottle of Macallan and a two-year-old hole in his chest shaped exactly like Quinn Parker.
Now my GM is giving me thirty days to save my contract before the front office has to make hard decisions. One problem: the doctor running my recovery is the woman who I almost destroyed while trying to drink away my biggest regret.
QUINN
My worst professional nightmare has come true: designing a thirty-day intervention for the Austin Stampede's franchise right winger, featuring daily check-ins, full monitoring, and his future riding on my assessment.
The GM asked me because I'm the best in the business at player wellness. He handed me a waiver to do it because I'm also Liam Callahan's ex-girlfriend. I have a protocol for everything. Except for watching Liam finally become the man I needed him to be, two years too late.
On the ice, a penalty sends you to the box while the game goes on without you. But every penalty expires. And the best players know what to do with a second chance.
🏒TROPES YOU'LL LOVE 🏒
The Penalty Game is a second-chance hockey romance packed with slow-burn tension alongside a redemption and emotional healing arc that is ready to wreck you in the best way. This one is for the readers who love pro team sports romance where the hero does the work, the heroine holds the line, and the whole found family bets on the outcome (literally.) It’s all wrapped up in these top tropes:
Crash Callahan never misses a party, never ducks a fight, and never met a spotlight he didn't love. He's the best character I ever created.
He's also a lie. Because when the arena is empty, I'm just Liam — a guy with a bottle of Macallan and a two-year-old hole in his chest shaped exactly like Quinn Parker.
Now my GM is giving me thirty days to save my contract before the front office has to make hard decisions. One problem: the doctor running my recovery is the woman who I almost destroyed while trying to drink away my biggest regret.
QUINN
My worst professional nightmare has come true: designing a thirty-day intervention for the Austin Stampede's franchise right winger, featuring daily check-ins, full monitoring, and his future riding on my assessment.
The GM asked me because I'm the best in the business at player wellness. He handed me a waiver to do it because I'm also Liam Callahan's ex-girlfriend. I have a protocol for everything. Except for watching Liam finally become the man I needed him to be, two years too late.
On the ice, a penalty sends you to the box while the game goes on without you. But every penalty expires. And the best players know what to do with a second chance.
🏒TROPES YOU'LL LOVE 🏒
The Penalty Game is a second-chance hockey romance packed with slow-burn tension alongside a redemption and emotional healing arc that is ready to wreck you in the best way. This one is for the readers who love pro team sports romance where the hero does the work, the heroine holds the line, and the whole found family bets on the outcome (literally.) It’s all wrapped up in these top tropes:
- A Second Chance Romance where He Falls First (Because He Never Stopped Loving Her)
Grumpy x Sunshine (She's Guarded, He's Golden Chaos) in a Forbidden Workplace Romance
Forced Proximity Paired with Mutual Pining and a Slow Burn
Protective MMC with Touch Her and Die Vibes, but with Her, He Begs and Earns It
Found-Family Team Chaos along with a Ride-or-Die Girl Gang
Steamy/Spicy NHL Hockey Romance that’s a Standalone with Guaranteed HEA
Low Angst Romance Book with Laughs and No Third-Act Breakup
Genre: Romance
Used availability for Maddie Langley's The Penalty Game