New release blitz: Keep Me Like A Secret by Ivy Hamilton

 

Title: Keep Me Like a Secret

Series: Lancaster Hornets, Book One

Author: Ivy Hamilton

Publisher:  NineStar Press

Release Date: 12/16/2025

Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex

Pairing: Male/Male

Length: 318

Genre: Contemporary, gay, bisexual, demisexual, sports romance, Canada, mental health/anxiety attacks, forbidden love, found family, doxxing/outing

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Description

Matt Miller’s hockey career is on the perfect track. He has an impressive Junior hockey record—not even a single fight—and his choice of full-ride scholarships at the end of the season. Nothing can throw him off course now. Nothing except a drunken mistake with his team captain, Jake Heeren. If Matt and Jake know anything, it’s this: being queer and professional hockey don’t go together. As their feelings for each other deepen and their games start to suffer, Matt and Jake need to decide how far they’re willing to fight for what they have once the world finds out their secret.

Excerpt

Keep Me Like a Secret

Ivy Hamilton © 2025

All Rights Reserved

Chapter One—Matt Miller

Multiple cameras go off at once. My eyes burn as I fight the urge to blink. The last thing I need is to be the idiot in the official picture with their eyes closed. I can’t draw any more attention my way. Beside me, Jake Heeren shifts his weight, his fingers brushing mine. His touch burns my skin.

Unwillingly, I flinch.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the media, thank you for joining us.” The voice belongs to my head coach, Mark Palmer. His hands grip the wooden podium. “The Lancaster Hornets are proud to be here today, making this announcement.”

I push all negative thoughts away. Thinking about my mistakes leads me to Jake and our secret. That’s a dangerous path to go down, especially when he’s so close. As our captain, he stands in the middle, tall and broad. I flank his right, with Budi Anderson, the other alternate captain, to his left. The rest of the team fans out on either side of us, with our two goalies at the end. The ice glows behind us, the Hornets logo lit up on the backboard of the rink.

We’ll make for a sharp photo.

“The Centennial Cup is a long-standing tradition in the Canadian Junior Hockey Association,” Palmer continues. “A decade has passed since the Hornets last brought the cup home. I am confident the team behind me will advance to the Centennial finals. However, we have also been given an honour.”

Palmer pauses, the eyes of every journalist trained on him. Lancaster, Saskatchewan isn’t exactly a booming metropolis, so there are really only a dozen people in the room.

“The Lancaster Hornets are proud to announce that in two years, we will be the host city for the Cup, and I am fully committed to preparing us for a win on home ice.”

We all clap on cue, prompting the media to clap as well. None of this will matter to me. I’m happy the Hornets have this chance, but I’ll be long gone from the Hornets by the time they host the Cup. This is my final year of junior hockey, and in two years’ time, I hope I’ll be playing for a Division I team somewhere and headed for the Frozen Four.

The Canadian Junior Hockey Association finals are a Canadian staple. I’ve been a Hornet for three years, with this season the start of my fourth. The Hornets have made it to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey Association finals—the Valour Cup—every year, but that’s it. Earning the honour of host city would change all that. The Hornets could come last in our league, and we’d still get to play for the Centennial Cup. The host city always gets a guaranteed spot.

Unless we pull off a miracle this season, I’ll never get to experience that.

I paste my media smile on as more flashes go off. I’ve worked hard on perfecting my smile; it comes in handy for times like this when my entire body ripples with unease. I get lost in my head too easily, letting anxiety take over, so I’ve learned to train myself to respond with controlled measures.

Everyone will look at today’s pictures, and no one will know how uncomfortable I am standing next to Jake.

The rest of the press conference finishes up. The media asks the few, pre-approved questions they’ve been given and take a few more photos. Everyone’s excited, even though once the hosting season starts, they’ll be tired. Host teams always have a long, grueling season lasting nearly ten months, with plenty of trades and upheaval since the coaches stack the team.

The only regret I have is missing out on the number of scouts slated to watch. With the players under immense pressure to perform their best, and with all the attention directed their way, everyone’s fighting for the limelight. Everyone wants to be the next kid scooped up into a bigger draft. I have scouts who watch me now, but they’re university scouts. The top scouts in the country aren’t angling to sign me to the NHL.

Jake shifts, brushing our shoulders together, and I snap back into focus. His touch electrifies me from the inside out. Every instinct in me screams to flee. Any FOMO I experienced less than two seconds ago disappears. I’m barely holding things together now as it is. I can’t handle more eyes on me, watching my every move, waiting to find out my secret. I can’t wait to get out of Lancaster and away from Jake Heeren.

Jake’s hand grazes mine, and the flight versus fight instinct kicks in. As always, flight wins, and I recoil before I can stop myself. The camera flashes increase, and I turn away from him, set on edge as I struggle to remain calm.. I try to force my anxiety back down into my gut before the panic takes over completely.

Life had been so good. And then I fell into bed with Jake, and now everything is falling apart.

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NineStar Press | Books2Read

Meet the Author

Ivy grew up on the vast prairies in Saskatchewan, where hockey isn’t just a sport—it’s a culture. She resides on Treaty land and spends her time (when she’s not watching hockey, writing about hockey, or talking about hockey) either reading, playing board games with friends, or dreaming about the day she adopts a corgi.

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