Grumpy Dad, Real Sunshine
(2026)(The second book in the Small Town Hockey Romance series)
A novel by Piper Sullivan
☀️🔥A sunshiney grad student becomes nanny to a grumpy single dad college hockey player in this spicy, forced-proximity rom-com. 🏒🌶️
All I needed was a paycheck to cover tuition.Instead, I got a nanny gig caring for the cutest kid ever, and her impossibly hot, infuriatingly grumpy, college hockey-star dad.
Cal Benson. Star defenseman. Devoted single father. A brooding wall of muscle who somehow makes ‘responsible dad mode’ look indecently good.
Between juggling classes, student loans, and a dangerous addiction to Cal’s woodsy cologne, I’m determined to keep things professional. He’s my boss. He’s forbidden. He’s everything I can’t afford to want.
Then a freak accident left me injured and living under his roof.
His offer? Move into the guest room. Stay as long as I need. Help with Noelle when I can.
Simple enough… until sharing a home with Cal Benson becomes the most dangerous arrangement of all.
Until a family birthday party, where he introduces me as his Ginger.
Until late-night pizza on the couch, his grumpy walls crumbling, and he gives me that soft, secret smile.
Until his protective instincts and gentle, lingering touches make it impossible to pretend this is just about being nice.
Until I realize that every time he looks at me, he’s fighting the same battle I am.
If we cross this line, I could lose the job keeping me in school. He could lose the stability he’s built for his little girl. One wrong move and everything falls apart, the trust, the arrangement, the family we’ve accidentally become.
But I’ve already made the worst mistake possible.
I fell head over crutches for my kind, gorgeous, completely forbidden boss.
And I think he actually fell first.
A steamy college hockey romance featuring a slow-burn, roommates-to-lovers love story with a protective, brooding hero and a sunshine heroine who melts every wall he’s built. Standalone with a guaranteed happily ever after.
Tropes: Grumpy sunshine • Single dad • Nanny romance • Roommates to lovers • Forced proximity • Forbidden / off-limits romance • Slow burn • He falls first • Protective hero • Boss/employee • College hockey romance
Genre: Romance
Used availability for Piper Sullivan's Grumpy Dad, Real Sunshine