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The Crease
When Aria returns to the town she once called home, she isn’t looking for answers—only a place to feel safe again. What she finds is Lukas, her childhood friend, still kind, still steady, and still quietly holding space for her.
As Aria begins to heal, their shared past becomes a bridge to something new—built on trust, patience, and the kind of love that grows slowly and stays.
This is a story about coming home, learning to breathe again, and discovering that sometimes the softest love is the one that saves you.
As Aria begins to heal, their shared past becomes a bridge to something new—built on trust, patience, and the kind of love that grows slowly and stays.
This is a story about coming home, learning to breathe again, and discovering that sometimes the softest love is the one that saves you.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 12, 2026
About the author
Victoria Alexander
67 books1,338 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander was an award winning television reporter until she discovered fiction was much more fun than real life. She turned to writing full time and is still shocked it worked out.
Since the publication of her first book in 1995, she has written thirty-one full length novels and six novellas. The Perfect Wife—originally published in 1996 and reissued in March 2008—hit #1 on the New York Times list. Sixteen of her books are bestsellers hitting the New York Times, USA Today and/or Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. With books translated into more than a dozen different languages she has readers around the world and has twice been nominated for Romance's Writers of America prestigious RITA award. In 2009 she was given a Career Achievement Award from RT Bookclub and was named Historical Storyteller of the year in 2003. In 2008 she was the keynote speaker for the Romance Writers of American annual conference in San Francisco. Victoria credits much of her writing success to her experiences as a reporter.
Her years as a broadcast journalist were spent in two radically different areas of the country: Nebraska and West Virginia. In West Virginia, she covered both natural and manmade disasters. She was on the scene when a power plant construction accident in a small town left 52 men dead. She once spent the night on a mountain waiting to learn of the fate of coal miners trapped in a mine collapse. Victoria was producing a newscast when her husband (who worked at the same television station) and several other journalists were held hostage by a disturbed Vietnam veteran. In Nebraska, she reported on the farm crisis and watched people lose land that had been in their families for generations. She covered the story that was the basis of the movie BOYS DON’T CRY and once acted as the link between police and a gunman who had barricaded himself in his home. Her investigative work exposed the trucking of New York City garbage to a small town dump in rural Nebraska.
During her journalism career, Victoria covered every president from Ford to Clinton. She knows firsthand what it feels like to be surrounded by rising floodwaters and inside a burning building. She’s interviewed movie stars including Kevin Costner, ridden an elephant and flown in a governor’s helicopter. She’s covered a national political convention and Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Denver as well as small town festivals celebrating everything from walnuts to Glen Miller. Her work was honored by numerous organizations including the Associated Press who called a feature about a firefighter’s school "story telling genius". It was the encouragement she needed to turn from news to fiction. She’s never looked back.
Victoria claims her love of romance and journalism is to due to the influence of her favorite comic book character: Lois Lane, a terrific reporter and a great heroine who pursued Superman with an unwavering determination. And why not? He was extremely well drawn.
Victoria grew up traveling the world as an Air Force brat. Today, she lives in Omaha, Nebraska with her husband and her dogs. Victoria had two bearded collies, Sam and Louie (named from characters in one of her books). Sam (on the left), the best dog in the world for 13 ½ years, passed away in September 2010. Louie took on the position of loyal companion and did a fine job even though he doesn't understand that kitchen counter surfing is not allowed!
Now he's been joined by Reggie, also a faithful companion.
They all live happily ever after in a house under constant renovation and the accompanying parade of men in tool belts. And never ending chaos. Victoria laughs a great deal—she has to.
New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander was an award winning television reporter until she discovered fiction was much more fun than real life. She turned to writing full time and is still shocked it worked out.
Since the publication of her first book in 1995, she has written thirty-one full length novels and six novellas. The Perfect Wife—originally published in 1996 and reissued in March 2008—hit #1 on the New York Times list. Sixteen of her books are bestsellers hitting the New York Times, USA Today and/or Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. With books translated into more than a dozen different languages she has readers around the world and has twice been nominated for Romance's Writers of America prestigious RITA award. In 2009 she was given a Career Achievement Award from RT Bookclub and was named Historical Storyteller of the year in 2003. In 2008 she was the keynote speaker for the Romance Writers of American annual conference in San Francisco. Victoria credits much of her writing success to her experiences as a reporter.
Her years as a broadcast journalist were spent in two radically different areas of the country: Nebraska and West Virginia. In West Virginia, she covered both natural and manmade disasters. She was on the scene when a power plant construction accident in a small town left 52 men dead. She once spent the night on a mountain waiting to learn of the fate of coal miners trapped in a mine collapse. Victoria was producing a newscast when her husband (who worked at the same television station) and several other journalists were held hostage by a disturbed Vietnam veteran. In Nebraska, she reported on the farm crisis and watched people lose land that had been in their families for generations. She covered the story that was the basis of the movie BOYS DON’T CRY and once acted as the link between police and a gunman who had barricaded himself in his home. Her investigative work exposed the trucking of New York City garbage to a small town dump in rural Nebraska.
During her journalism career, Victoria covered every president from Ford to Clinton. She knows firsthand what it feels like to be surrounded by rising floodwaters and inside a burning building. She’s interviewed movie stars including Kevin Costner, ridden an elephant and flown in a governor’s helicopter. She’s covered a national political convention and Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Denver as well as small town festivals celebrating everything from walnuts to Glen Miller. Her work was honored by numerous organizations including the Associated Press who called a feature about a firefighter’s school "story telling genius". It was the encouragement she needed to turn from news to fiction. She’s never looked back.
Victoria claims her love of romance and journalism is to due to the influence of her favorite comic book character: Lois Lane, a terrific reporter and a great heroine who pursued Superman with an unwavering determination. And why not? He was extremely well drawn.
Victoria grew up traveling the world as an Air Force brat. Today, she lives in Omaha, Nebraska with her husband and her dogs. Victoria had two bearded collies, Sam and Louie (named from characters in one of her books). Sam (on the left), the best dog in the world for 13 ½ years, passed away in September 2010. Louie took on the position of loyal companion and did a fine job even though he doesn't understand that kitchen counter surfing is not allowed!
Now he's been joined by Reggie, also a faithful companion.
They all live happily ever after in a house under constant renovation and the accompanying parade of men in tool belts. And never ending chaos. Victoria laughs a great deal—she has to.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 12, 2026
This was a great debut book from this author! I enjoyed the characters, the story, the tropes best friend's sister and forced proximity were great! The spice was fun, and I enjoyed the Canadian references.
February 25, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 / 5
I think this was a wonderful debut from the author! While I did notice some inconsistencies from one paragraph to the next, they didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. I genuinely couldn’t put it down — I had to know how it ended!
There’s just something about a best friend’s sister trope that always pulls me in, and this one delivered. Lukas was exactly what Aria needed. Watching him step up and support her through her pregnancy — especially when she was feeling alone — was really heartwarming. He showed up every step of the way 🤍
I also think people are being a bit too harsh. Clearly the book wasn’t that bad if it kept you reading until the end! I’d say give it a try for yourself. It’s a strong first novel, and I’m excited to see how this author grows from here.
I think this was a wonderful debut from the author! While I did notice some inconsistencies from one paragraph to the next, they didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment. I genuinely couldn’t put it down — I had to know how it ended!
There’s just something about a best friend’s sister trope that always pulls me in, and this one delivered. Lukas was exactly what Aria needed. Watching him step up and support her through her pregnancy — especially when she was feeling alone — was really heartwarming. He showed up every step of the way 🤍
I also think people are being a bit too harsh. Clearly the book wasn’t that bad if it kept you reading until the end! I’d say give it a try for yourself. It’s a strong first novel, and I’m excited to see how this author grows from here.
February 24, 2026
I was introduced to this book through a book club. It was a first for sports romance novels for me, and I really really enjoyed it.
There are some scenes that are pretty steamy and wild so if you like that, it's certainly in there throughout.
If you're into this genre and these type of books I can almost promise you, you will have tears of all the emotions that can produce them. It's strongly recommended by me and it will be a story I will remember for a long long time.
There are some scenes that are pretty steamy and wild so if you like that, it's certainly in there throughout.
If you're into this genre and these type of books I can almost promise you, you will have tears of all the emotions that can produce them. It's strongly recommended by me and it will be a story I will remember for a long long time.
January 17, 2026
I really enjoyed the story ! I fell in love with the characters and their story, and it was different from other romance books. However, there were some inconsistencies in the book. Little details that change from one paragraph to the next, which caused a little confusion while reading.
February 23, 2026
This book is a hockey romance about Lukas & Aria and it was a struggle to finish.
The book was quite confusing - there were far too many spelling & grammatical errors throughout the book. I read with a Kindle and there were several times during conversations that I did not know who was talking due to the lack of paragraphs (this may not be an issue with the print copy). There were inconsistencies with timelines and too many incidental characters mentioned that had no storyline. I am unsure if the author did research on the game of hockey or its lingo. As an avid hockey fan, I found a lot of what was written to be incorrect.
The last few chapters were so rushed - the author was trying to wrap up the story in a nice package to give the main characters their HEA.
The book was quite confusing - there were far too many spelling & grammatical errors throughout the book. I read with a Kindle and there were several times during conversations that I did not know who was talking due to the lack of paragraphs (this may not be an issue with the print copy). There were inconsistencies with timelines and too many incidental characters mentioned that had no storyline. I am unsure if the author did research on the game of hockey or its lingo. As an avid hockey fan, I found a lot of what was written to be incorrect.
The last few chapters were so rushed - the author was trying to wrap up the story in a nice package to give the main characters their HEA.
March 2, 2026
This was a really cute, enjoyable read—especially impressive for a first-time author.
The characters were lovely and well-developed. There was also decent spice! The Crease was entertaining and easy to sink into.
I genuinely enjoyed my time with this book and I’m looking forward to seeing more from the author.
The characters were lovely and well-developed. There was also decent spice! The Crease was entertaining and easy to sink into.
I genuinely enjoyed my time with this book and I’m looking forward to seeing more from the author.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews