Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Scoring Chance
SERIES: The Comebacks
AUTHOR: A.J. Truman
PUBLISHER: Truman Books
LENGTH: 266 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 28, 2026
BLURB:
A totally fake marriage… with very real feelings.
I’m a carefree bachelor who never wanted kids. But it seems life has other plans.
When my best friend and hockey teammate Tanner Chance finds himself jobless with four kids to support, I suggest a wild marriage. My health insurance can cover Tanner’s family, but to keep nosy coworkers from sniffing out the scheme, the whole Chance clan moves in. Together, we pretend to be one big, happy family.
Suddenly, my sleek apartment is overrun with sticky fingers, loud giggles, and chaotic bedtime routines.
As I stumble my way through parenting, I start to realize the kids and Tanner are finding a permanent place in my heart. But when our fake marriage risks exposure, I risk losing not just my job, but the unexpected family I’ve grown to love. Will this sham marriage turn into something real before our secret unravels?
Scoring Chance is a single dad, friends-to-lovers, marriage of convenience MM hockey romance. It’s book 2 in The Comebacks series, which revolves around a group of former hockey champions recapturing their magic in a local amateur league, but can be read as a standalone. Whether they win or lose, there’s always a post-game beer.
REVIEW:
Oh these two!
Tanner is such a lovable guy. Being a single dad to four is a lot. Losing his wife and then two years later, losing his HR job, he’s under a great deal of pressure. It’s his best friend Des to the rescue! Des knows what pressure is like with his job at an Ad agency. And after his own cancer journey, he really knows how important health insurance is and with four kids from high school freshman to kindergartner, there is always something going on. Des’s idea is a marriage of convenience so he can add Tanner and his kids to his insurance at his company. This seems like a great plan, until is retiring boss finds out due to the big mouth of someone at his company. And it seems like having a solid and marriage is going to weigh heavily in Dev’s favor for the promotion.
Unfortunately Kyle, the son of the founder of the agency is making his own play. Turns out most of this play is to expose Des’s fake marriage. Des has to leave his pristine condo to move in with Tanner and his kids. They have sort of explained the marriage to the kids. Des has been Tanner’s BFF forever, so he’s already been Uncle Des for their entire lives. And surprisingly, Des is really kind of excelling at the stepdad thing. He loves these kids even if he’s not so excited about the messes 😉
One night after movie time with the kids, Des and Tanner can’t fall asleep. One thing leads to another and well there might have been some breaking the rule of staying on their own sides of the bed. But what does this mean? Des has NEVER done relationships. He’s got a lot of hangups thanks to his extremely unhappy childhood. Tanner only does monogamy and commitment. And they still have all this pressure to sell their new family to keep Des’s job and his promotion.
Can the figure out a way forward where everyone gets what they want? Can they be honest with each other about their feelings? Will Tanner find a job? Will they get their HEA? You’ll have to read it to find out.
So this is another sweet and heartfelt book from AJ Truman. I love this man’s books! They are so funny (truly has his pulse on hilarious children) and upbeat and the HEAs always leave me with a smile on my face. Here Des and his hookup and office hijinks pair nicely with his love of Tanner and his discovery that maybe being alone the rest of his life is the opposite of what he really wants. Tanner is such a lovely guy. He is demi and has had some feelings for Des over time, but he’s never acted on them because a) he was married and loved his wife and b) he never wanted to risk his friendship with Des. There are so many funny moments with the kids nd Des’s work life and Tanner’s dealings with his friends but they are balanced by Des’s and Tanner’s vulnerability and trying to figure out how to get what they each are searching for. I can’t count how many times I laughed out loud. This series is terrific and I can’t wait for more. Highly recommended for love and laughs!
RATING: 
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