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Claimed by the Enforcer
He ruined me for one night three years ago...
I ran before sunrise and never told him why...
Now the most feared enforcer in professional hockey is staring at his own eyes on our son's face — and he already knows I lied.
Marcus Kovalenko doesn't do soft. Six-foot-four of Russian-American muscle, knuckles scarred from a decade of breaking men for a living, eyes so pale they stop looking human when he's angry. Three years ago I let him wreck me, beautifully, for one reckless night, then vanished before he woke up. I told myself it was mercy. Really, I was terrified of loving a man built to destroy things.
Now he's standing at the boards of our son's hockey practice, staring at a three-year-old with his exact pale eyes, and three years of careful lies come apart in one breath.
"That's my son," he says. Not a question.
Marcus doesn't ask permission. He takes — my address, my nights, my body pinned against his penthouse glass like he's spent three years starving and finally gets to eat. His mouth against my throat feels like punishment and worship at once.
I tell myself I'm only letting him back in for Luca.
I'm lying. God help me, I'm lying, and every time he growls my name I forget why I ever ran.
He destroyed me once without even trying. This time I see every move — and I want him to make it anyway.
One-click now and fall for the enforcer who refuses to let her go.
I ran before sunrise and never told him why...
Now the most feared enforcer in professional hockey is staring at his own eyes on our son's face — and he already knows I lied.
Marcus Kovalenko doesn't do soft. Six-foot-four of Russian-American muscle, knuckles scarred from a decade of breaking men for a living, eyes so pale they stop looking human when he's angry. Three years ago I let him wreck me, beautifully, for one reckless night, then vanished before he woke up. I told myself it was mercy. Really, I was terrified of loving a man built to destroy things.
Now he's standing at the boards of our son's hockey practice, staring at a three-year-old with his exact pale eyes, and three years of careful lies come apart in one breath.
"That's my son," he says. Not a question.
Marcus doesn't ask permission. He takes — my address, my nights, my body pinned against his penthouse glass like he's spent three years starving and finally gets to eat. His mouth against my throat feels like punishment and worship at once.
I tell myself I'm only letting him back in for Luca.
I'm lying. God help me, I'm lying, and every time he growls my name I forget why I ever ran.
He destroyed me once without even trying. This time I see every move — and I want him to make it anyway.
One-click now and fall for the enforcer who refuses to let her go.
316 pages, Hardcover
Published August 29, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 19, 2026
“Claimed by the Enforcer” is the first book in the “Chicago Reapers Series.” This is a second chance, secret-baby hockey romance with a guaranteed happily ever after. Marcus Kovalenko is the Enforcer for the Chicago Reapers and the most feared man in the league. Sophia Ricci is a single mum to her three year old son, Luca. For three years she worked as a Team Personal Assistant to the Chicago Reapers….a job she loved and was good at. She had spent a year handing Marcus Kovalenko his coffee and standing a little too close and telling herself that it was nothing. And then one night it stopped being nothing, and then one morning it went back to being nothing in the cruelest way a thing can….she left. Two weeks latter she discovered she was pregnant.
Sophia swore she would never step back in the stadium again, but this was the city's only beginner skate program for the under-fives. It was run out of the Reapers community rink on off-season mornings, and Luca had developed a love of ice that bordered on a personality disorder….”and when your kid wants the one thing that lives inside the building you ran away from, you put on your big-girl coat and you walk back in and you tell yourself the building is just a building.” Sophia checked to make sure that no one who knew her would be there, except someone was. Even after three years, she knew who it was….
“His gaze wasn't on me. That was the thing that turned my blood to ice water. He'd clocked me, sure, a flick of recognition, the old electricity firing across the room the way it always had. But his eyes had snagged on Luca and stayed, and I knew, the way you know you've left the stove on, that he was doing the math. Because my son has gray eyes. He crouched down and he looked into Luca's gray eyes with his own identical gray eyes. "Sophia," he said quietly. "We need to talk."
Once I started reading, I could not put this book down! At times you will laugh, you will cry, get angry and frustrated - most of all, you will love the twists! This book will charm “the pants off you” and leave you going back for more. It has fun, laughs, intrigue, twists that you do not expect, and physical attraction. You will fall in love with Marcus and Sophia.
“And then his mouth was on mine, and three years went up like paper. I'd spent three years carefully forgetting how he kissed, the way a man that big and that contained kisses like he's been starving and you're the first meal, controlled and desperate at once, his hand sliding into my hair like he'd been waiting three years to do exactly that, which I suppose he had.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful love story. From page to page, chapter to chapter, from cover to cover - you will enjoy this beautiful story. This book will not disappoint! Highly recommended 😊
Sophia swore she would never step back in the stadium again, but this was the city's only beginner skate program for the under-fives. It was run out of the Reapers community rink on off-season mornings, and Luca had developed a love of ice that bordered on a personality disorder….”and when your kid wants the one thing that lives inside the building you ran away from, you put on your big-girl coat and you walk back in and you tell yourself the building is just a building.” Sophia checked to make sure that no one who knew her would be there, except someone was. Even after three years, she knew who it was….
“His gaze wasn't on me. That was the thing that turned my blood to ice water. He'd clocked me, sure, a flick of recognition, the old electricity firing across the room the way it always had. But his eyes had snagged on Luca and stayed, and I knew, the way you know you've left the stove on, that he was doing the math. Because my son has gray eyes. He crouched down and he looked into Luca's gray eyes with his own identical gray eyes. "Sophia," he said quietly. "We need to talk."
Once I started reading, I could not put this book down! At times you will laugh, you will cry, get angry and frustrated - most of all, you will love the twists! This book will charm “the pants off you” and leave you going back for more. It has fun, laughs, intrigue, twists that you do not expect, and physical attraction. You will fall in love with Marcus and Sophia.
“And then his mouth was on mine, and three years went up like paper. I'd spent three years carefully forgetting how he kissed, the way a man that big and that contained kisses like he's been starving and you're the first meal, controlled and desperate at once, his hand sliding into my hair like he'd been waiting three years to do exactly that, which I suppose he had.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful love story. From page to page, chapter to chapter, from cover to cover - you will enjoy this beautiful story. This book will not disappoint! Highly recommended 😊
September 2, 2026
I loved reading this second chance romance, well written and easy to read this is hot and steamy but also slightly dark and dangerous. She is paid to leave him and given no choice but to accept the threatened payoff. A beginners skating class uncovers her secret she has been protecting since she left. He recognises what is his and he will not stop trying to get them back regardless of the cost.
A heart stopping and heart warming story you won't want to put down.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
A heart stopping and heart warming story you won't want to put down.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 15, 2026
She had a one night stand and left her job and him in the morning because he was very rude about there one night stand and 3 YEARS later she is at the ice ring with a 3 YEAR old son and he is about 4oo yards away and sees them standing there and he sees the eyes of the boy are the same as his light gray and knows that this is his son from the one night stand, both things are impossible, did try to read a bit more, but there are more stuff that does not fit a proper time line, so stopped reading.
September 8, 2026
Really loved this story
Sophia returns to the Reapers ice rink because her 3 year old son Luca wants to see the Zambona clean the ice and he wants to learn to skate. She sees Lucas father Reapers enforcer Marcus watching through the glass. They had one night together and Luca is the result. As they grow closer Marcus agent starts causing all kinds of trouble. Loved the characters especially luca. Great story.
Sophia returns to the Reapers ice rink because her 3 year old son Luca wants to see the Zambona clean the ice and he wants to learn to skate. She sees Lucas father Reapers enforcer Marcus watching through the glass. They had one night together and Luca is the result. As they grow closer Marcus agent starts causing all kinds of trouble. Loved the characters especially luca. Great story.
September 14, 2026
The Chair
Marcus and Sophia are unexpectedly reunited when she is taking him to hockey practice. What happened three years earlier is a pattern of conflict that drives this plot towards heartbreak. I almost felt all the characters conflicting moments and still wanted to know how it all ends.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Marcus and Sophia are unexpectedly reunited when she is taking him to hockey practice. What happened three years earlier is a pattern of conflict that drives this plot towards heartbreak. I almost felt all the characters conflicting moments and still wanted to know how it all ends.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
September 9, 2026
Repetitive lines.
Great story but repetitive. It would have been great if it was proofread. I noticed that some paragraphs are being repeated. I thought it was an error but when I re-read it, it’s been used on previous paragraphs for a different context or to describe a scene.
Great story but repetitive. It would have been great if it was proofread. I noticed that some paragraphs are being repeated. I thought it was an error but when I re-read it, it’s been used on previous paragraphs for a different context or to describe a scene.
October 3, 2026
Too many repetitions.
September 1, 2026
“Claimed by the Enforcer” by Emily Crescent is a sweet hockey romance with a touching and surprising emotional depth. I received a free copy and am voluntarily sharing my honest thoughts.
Marcus, a six-foot-four Russian-American hockey player, finds Sophia after three years and discovers he has a three-year-old son, Luca.
I loved how Luca’s innocence helps Marcus and Sophia open their hearts.
The characters, plot, family dynamics, and especially the grandmothers—Babushka and Nonna—made this a wonderful read, so be sure to grab the extra chapter!
Marcus, a six-foot-four Russian-American hockey player, finds Sophia after three years and discovers he has a three-year-old son, Luca.
I loved how Luca’s innocence helps Marcus and Sophia open their hearts.
The characters, plot, family dynamics, and especially the grandmothers—Babushka and Nonna—made this a wonderful read, so be sure to grab the extra chapter!
September 1, 2026
Review of an advance copy received from the author.
Great storyline with characters that hold your attention from the start.
Their journey is emotional; you empathize with them and feel what they are going through. What turns out to be broken, and what turned out differently due to circumstances, is all changed by a little boy. Will they get a second chance at happiness and to form a family together?
I received an Advance Reader copy of this series and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Great storyline with characters that hold your attention from the start.
Their journey is emotional; you empathize with them and feel what they are going through. What turns out to be broken, and what turned out differently due to circumstances, is all changed by a little boy. Will they get a second chance at happiness and to form a family together?
I received an Advance Reader copy of this series and am voluntarily leaving a review.
August 31, 2026
i am totally blown away by this sweet. hockey romance. inside the story i found meaning. i felt that sometimes adults are to tight to see what’s right in front of them and push their soul away. children and their innocents heal adults.
i found a beautiful sentence .
And here was the softest thing in the world, climbing into my lap on purpose
the plot was good, the characters were all good and i enjoyed this book very much
i found a beautiful sentence .
And here was the softest thing in the world, climbing into my lap on purpose
the plot was good, the characters were all good and i enjoyed this book very much
September 1, 2026
Marcus and Sophia had one night 3 years before that resulted in a son and when Marcus finds out, he admits to so much that he has kept hidden and has to learn to love. Great hockey romance about a rough and tough hockey player that learns to be gentle and believe in himself. Great novel.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews