![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/the-girlfriend-zone-LIVE-2-BANNER.png?resize=640%2C281&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In my defense, I had no idea the tattooed, glasses-wearing, soulful hottie I spent one perfect day\u2014and one unforgettable night\u2014with was a hockey star on my father\u2019s team.<\/b><\/p>\n
And Miles didn\u2019t know I was the coach\u2019s daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s the point of a \u201cno-work-talk\u201d date.<\/span><\/p>\n But now? He’s as forbidden to me as I am to him.<\/span><\/p>\n When I land a new gig as the team photographer, we vow to keep it professional. We mostly succeed\u2026except for that time after a game when he couldn\u2019t keep his talented hands off me. And, okay, maybe that other time before a road trip. But I swear, it won\u2019t happen again.<\/span><\/p>\n Too much is at stake\u2014I can\u2019t risk my heart or my father\u2019s team.<\/span><\/p>\n But when I\u2019m asked to dog-sit Miles\u2019s pack of rescue pups for a few weeks, I discover there\u2019s more to him than I ever imagined\u2014a man who\u2019s genuine, thoughtful, and irresistibly real.<\/span><\/p>\n He looks at me like he can\u2019t believe his luck. Touches me like he never wants to let go. And listens to my hopes and fears.<\/span><\/p>\n My heart\u2019s getting dangerously attached. But if I follow it\u2026 am I putting everyone\u2019s dreams on the line?<\/span><\/p>\n Find\u00a0The Girlfriend Zone\u00a0<\/em>on GOODREADS<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Miles<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n I breathe out hard, giving in to the lust that grips me, the want I feel for her\u2026my coach\u2019s daughter.<\/span><\/p>\n For a few seconds, I freeze over those words\u2014<\/span>coach\u2019s daughter.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n Don\u2019t go there again. Get it together. Stop f*&king thinking of her.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n But the dick is sometimes stronger than the will.<\/span><\/p>\n I ignore that voice because it doesn\u2019t matter what I do when I\u2019m home alone. It\u2019s what I do when I\u2019m with her that counts. I haven\u2019t crossed the line again. And baggage or no baggage, we\u2019re not going to be a thing. But her admission that she looks at the pictures too? It\u2019s what I wanted. It\u2019s what I needed. It\u2019s also all I can have of her.<\/span><\/p>\n So what\u2019s the harm in giving in tonight?<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 5 stars!<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes you just know when you meet the love of your life.<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Girlfriend Zone <\/i> is the fourth book in the Love and Hockey<\/i> series and may just be my favorite. It features Leighton and Miles who share an unforgettable first date that ends there because it turns out he\u2019s a hockey player and she\u2019s his coach\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n Instantly, Leighton and Miles go from wanting to explore their connection to knowing absolutely nothing else can happen. She is off limits and it sucks. Their chemistry is off the charts. They know what they want but they can\u2019t have it.<\/p>\n These two work so hard at staying away. And with the exception of a few stolen moments, they actually accomplish it. They genuinely care about each other and do not want to risk their jobs. I love that these two are so mature and patient. They act like the adults they are and are realistic with expectations. They understand each other and I love that they don\u2019t hide how they feel even if they don\u2019t think they can be together.<\/p>\n This book is so much fun and there were so many times I was cracking up. And though there are some smoking hot scenes, it\u2019s really the friendship they form and the sweet swoony moments they share that made this book unputdownable. I was so happy when they were together and I was invested in their romance.<\/p>\n Miles and Leighton were so good for so long but eventually they couldn\u2019t stay away because they realize exactly what they mean to each other. I knew something was going to happen and I didn\u2019t see how they two were going to be caught but I really liked how everything played out. There isn\u2019t any over the top drama and the drama we do see is realistic and understandable.<\/p>\n I really enjoyed this love story and getting more of the other characters from previous books, too. I can\u2019t wait for more from this group and am so excited to get Tyler and Sabrina\u2019s romance!<\/p>\n *ARC generously provided by the author*<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Boyfriend Goal (#1)\u00a0<\/strong>– (Josie & Wesley) The Romance Line (#2)<\/strong> – (Everly & Max) The Proposal Play (#3) <\/strong>– (Maeve & Asher) The Girlfriend Zone (#4) <\/strong>– (Miles & Leighton) The Overtime Kiss (#5)<\/strong> – (Tyler & Sabrina) The Flirting Game (#6)<\/strong> – (Ford & Skylar) <\/p>\n<\/div>\n A #1 New York Times Bestselling, #1 Wall Street Journal Bestselling, and #1 Audible Bestselling author, Lauren Blakely is known for her contemporary romance style that\u2019s cute but spicy. Lauren likes dogs, cake, and show tunes and is the vegetarian at your dinner party.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n She’d love to give you a free book today so check out her WEBSITE<\/a> and grab one today!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n To receive an email when Lauren releases a new book, sign up for her NEWSLETTER<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blakely, comes the next standalone hockey romance in her Love and Hockey series, THE GIRLFRIEND ZONE! This sexy, coach\u2019s daughter, one who got away, age gap, forbidden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":77694,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","yasr_overall_rating":5,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1548,290,972,25,65,9,24,58,29],"tags":[59,56,1580,344,48],"class_list":["post-78488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-age-gap","category-book-news","category-forbidden","category-friends-to-lovers","category-lol-funny","category-romance","category-second-chance-romance","category-sports-star","category-steamy","tag-arc","tag-lauren-blakely","tag-love-and-hockey","tag-new-release","tag-review"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Girlfriend-Zone_Ebook-1.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7gaNL-kpW","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=78488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=78488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=78488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=78488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nExcerpt<\/b><\/h4>\n
\nReview<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nLove and Hockey<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/The-Boyfriend-Goal.jpg?resize=80%2C122&ssl=1\")
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/The-Romance-Line-1.jpg?resize=80%2C122&ssl=1\")
\u00a0\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/The-Proposal-Play-cover.jpg?resize=80%2C122&ssl=1\")
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Girlfriend-Zone_Ebook-1.jpg?resize=80%2C122&ssl=1\")
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/The-Overtime-Kiss.jpg?resize=80%2C122&ssl=1\")
\u00a0![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/The-Flirting-Game_Ebook-1.jpg?resize=80%2C122&ssl=1\")
<\/h4>\n
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audiobook<\/a><\/p>\n
\nReview<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audiobook<\/a><\/p>\n
\nReview<\/a>
\n<\/strong>Buy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audiobook<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>Review<\/a>
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Audiobook<\/a><\/p>\n
\nReview<\/a>
\nBuy:\u00a0 Amazon<\/a><\/p>\n
\nBuy: Amazon<\/a>\u00a0 |\u00a0 Paperback<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAbout the Author<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.escapistbookblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Lauren-Blakely-2021.jpg?resize=200%2C187&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nWEBSITE<\/b><\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0<\/b>FACEBOOK<\/b><\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0<\/b>TWITTER<\/b><\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0INSTAGRAM<\/a><\/b>
\nGOODREADS<\/b><\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0AMAZON<\/a>\u00a0 | \u00a0BOOKBUB<\/a><\/strong><\/h4>\nCheck out our LAUERN BLAKELY AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT<\/a> for more amazing reads!<\/strong><\/h4>\n