by: Kate Meader
Series: Chicago Players
Genre: Contemporary Sports Romance
Release Date: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Kate Meader
A surprise single dad, nanny, age gap, hockey romance!
Lars
I just found out I’m a dad.
My one-night stand dropped a baby bombshell in my local bar where I was celebrating my team’s win. Then she fled, leaving me holding my new daughter.
Thank God for Adeline. The daughter of my teammate and closest friend on the Chicago Rebels, she practically raised her little sister and knows exactly how to deal with this situation. I need a nanny; she needs a job. Problem sorted, right?
Not so fast …
Adeline
I think you’re the sexiest guy alive.
That’s what Lars Nyquist overheard me say while recounting my embarrassing crush on him. Yeah, that Lars Nyquist. Defenseman for the Chicago Rebels. Owner of the thickest thighs in the league. More than a decade my senior. Oh, and my dad’s teammate.
My only option? Leave the country, of course. Luckily, I’d already planned a round-the-world trip with my bestie and by the time I returned to Chicago a year later, I expected my blunder would be long forgotten. Shows what I know. Now I’m lying awake in the bedroom next to his while playing nanny to his surprise little girl. But I can ignore this stupid infatuation. I have to. Even though the sight of Lars learning to be a dad leaves me breathless and takes that crush to a whole other level.
One that has the potential to break my sorry little heart …
My FAVORITE Chicago Rebel is back! I LOVE, love Theo Kershaw, who fell in love, married his wife, and started a family in Instacrush. Superglutes is just as I remembered him.
Sweet Thing finds the Kershaw family front and center. Theo has been in the league for over twenty years. He knows his time is coming to a close, but he wants to accomplish two things before he retires: 1) play at least one year with his son, Hatch, who just so happens to be the Chicago Rebels’ newest acquisition, and 2) win the Cup again. To say Theo needs this season to be perfect would be an understatement. When Theo’s co-defenseman and honorary member of the Kershaw clan, Lars Nyquist, unexpectedly has his surprise baby dropped in his lap, Theo and his wife, Elle, rush in to offer assistance. Not only do they supply him with almost everything he needs for a baby, they offer up their oldest daughter, Adeline—who’s just come back from touring Europe—to be a temporary nanny until he can find a permanent one. Little do they know Adeline has had a crush on Lars for several years.
Kate loves to stack tropes in her books, and Sweet Thing is no different. With this story, you get:
- Surprise single dad (That moment is CRAZY!)
- Nanny (Because a hockey player needs someone to take care of his kid when he has no one else.)
- Age gap (Yep. Thirteen years.)
- Dad’s teammate and friend (Same d-line, they have each other’s backs, and Theo made Lars an honorary member of the family.)
- Forbidden/Off-limits (Refer back to tropes three and four.)
- Slow burn (They try really, really hard not to give in to their attraction.)
- Spicy (Yeah. That shower scene. Enough said.)
Adeline is very big on family, yet she tends to find herself in the background. She isn’t like her brothers, who gravitate toward hockey and seek the spotlight. She likes to be in the background but feels as though she doesn’t live up to her family’s expectations. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Lars is truly alone. Both his parents have passed away, and he’s spent his career trying to prove he’s nothing like his father. Unfortunately for him, people won’t let him forget who his father was. With the Kershaw family, he found a family that truly loves and cares about him. It’s a little foreign to him, but he also doesn’t want to lose it.
I loved the way Lars and Adeline both stepped up to take care of baby Mabel and build their own family unit without realizing it. Their love story definitely rivals the great love story of Theo and Elle.
Up next for the Chicago Players series is Rebel Bride, featuring Hatch Kershaw. That should definitely be a fun and entertaining book, and I KNOW Theo’s going to be in it! It’s a definite must-read for me.
~ Favorite Quotes ~
“The world needs weirdos.”
“We’re our own worst enemies.”
**Received a copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it. Also personally purchased a paperback copy.**
Rating: 5
Purchase Sweet Thing from:
(Affiliate Links Used)
The Chicago Players Series:
Holly Jolly Rebel (Prequel) ~ Review
Rebel Bride (Book 2) releases October 21, 2025
Top Shelf Stud (Book 3) releases February 24, 2026
The Chicago Rebels Series:
In Skates Trouble (Book .5) ~ Review
Irresistible You (Book 1) ~ Review
So Over You (Book 2) ~ Review
Undone by You (Book 3) ~ Review
Hooked on You (Book 4) ~ Review
Wrapped Up in You (Book 4.5) ~ Review
The Rookie Rebels Series:
Instacrush (Book 2) ~ Review
Foreplayer (Book 4) ~ Review
Dear Roomie (Book 5) ~ Review
Rebel Yule (Book 6) ~ Review
Places to find Kate Meader:
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