Hermosa Beach seems to be the place for throwing together unlikely opposites. My rooster Rowdy and his new crush, Pixy the goat. Me and the obnoxiously cocky cowboy from Texas.... But unlike Rowdy and Pixy, there’s no way I’m going to fall for David Strickland. Nope. Not gonna happen. I could never be with a man so completely opposed to everything I believe...no matter how hot he is.

When he invited me to join him for a drink, I thought Alessandro was an ordinary guest at my family's hotel. I didn't know I belonged to him until he told me right there in the restaurant. I thought I had a say in the matter. But when I stood up to leave, it just earned me a sore bottom for the plane ride to New York, where our wedding was already planned for the next day. But I was soaking wet for him before he even walked me down the aisle.

One wild and reckless night changed my life three years ago. I got a taste of what it meant to be with a real man - how just a whisper could ignite my desire, and his commanding voice could have me kneeling at his feet in submission. He was my everything and I only knew him for a few hours. But like everything good in my life, it went up in flames. When I learned the truth about him, I ran as fast as I could. I’d like to think I would’ve stayed if I knew about the baby… but I doubt even that would’ve stopped me, not after what I learned.

I'm the notoriously angry, grouchy D.C. Eagles defenseman who just can’t keep his temper in check—a temper that leads to a fifteen-game suspension from the NHL. As if that’s not bad enough, I'm forced into a short-term youth-hockey coaching gig—which my manager swears will “rebuild my image.” But what I didn’t expect was for a gorgeous, spunky blonde to stomp onto the ice on day one and lecture me about being rude to her little brother.

Finding out I’m actually a princess was a shock. Finding out there’s a prince who has been waiting to marry me when I turned eighteen? Yeah, that was a shock too. I’m not exactly princess material, even if I do have the evil sisters and neglectful parents thing going on. My life was supposed to be boring, cruel, and most of all, uneventful. But all that changed. I’m taken to a city that shouldn’t exist - a kingdom that shouldn’t exist. It’s a whole new world full of possibility, where teams of servants cater to my every need and my room is at the top-most tower of a palace.