The Shift: A Teammates-to-Lovers M/M Hockey Romance

by Michael Beaulieu

Luke Dufort has built an entire career on being unreadable.

Eleven years a pro, captain of a team chasing redemption, son of a hockey legend who taught him that wanting things out loud is how you lose them — Luke keeps his head down, his face blank, and his life behind a wall he calls discipline. It kept him in the league when being seen could have ended him. He has no plans to test whether that's still true.

Then the team calls up Owen Hart.

Fast, reckless, openly gay, and impossible to ignore, Owen plays like he has nothing to hide because he doesn't. He came out years ago and paid for it and refuses to go back. From his first shift he gets under Luke's guard in ways Luke can't file, can't manage, and can't stop — a missed pass, a hand that won't stay still, a want that breaks eleven years of control in a single season.

What starts in empty practice rinks and late hotel bars becomes the realest thing either of them has. But every camera, every viral clip, every question from Luke's father turns their private life into public evidence. Owen won't be a secret kept to make someone else feel safe. And Luke is running out of road between the man he's pretended to be and the man he actually wants to become.

One of them is terrified of being seen. The other is terrified of disappearing.

Same fight. Opposite ends.

The Shift is a slow-burn, teammates-to-lovers M/M hockey romance with a veteran/rookie pairing, hurt/comfort, tender on-page heat, and a hard-won happily ever after. Book One in The Shift Series.

127 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 24, 2026

About the author

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, birthplace of Jack Kerouac, Michael Beaulieu knew he wanted to be a writer since he was eight years old and wrote his first novel. It was only 52 hand-written pages, but in his mind he’d written the greatest murder mystery in the world.

Prior to his novels, Michael wrote 30 original screenplays of varying genres, many of which he plans to direct as independent films. In addition to writing fiction, Michael has been an entertainment journalist since 1995, having written for such magazines and websites as LiveWire, Lollipop, Film Threat, Rocknet and Cinezine.

Michael released his first novel, Reckoning Daze, in March of 2017. The new adult book climbed all the way to #1 on both of Amazon’s best-selling satire categories. Michael’s current project is the young adult series Book of Shadows. The first two volumes, Casting and Rising, were also released in 2017. On February 8, 2018 Book of Shadows: Volume 3: Hunting was released. Book of Shadows 4: In Memoriam was released during late 2018. Michael's latest release is his lost literary fiction satire Becoming Madonna.

Currently, Michael is writing Book of Shadows 5 and polishing his memoir Fear & Self-Loathing in Los Angeles.

In addition to writing novels, Michael is the editor and primary writer for his music and pop culture website Love is Pop, which you can visit at www.loveispop.com. In addition to regularly interviewing pop and rock stars, Michael has interviewed several authors, among them such best-sellers as Jay Asher, Francesca Lia Block and Adriana Mather.

Michael resides near Boston, Massachusetts with his cat, Mister Logan Black, and his turtle, Johnny Rocket. To learn more about Michael visit him at www.michaelbeaulieu.com. Be sure to sign up for his mailing list to be the first to learn about Michael’s other upcoming books.