
Sean Avery has come a long way from getting into NHL fights. For one thing, his new career brings a lot more heat.
The former enforcer, who spent his 12 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers, is now embracing a second career as a romance novelist. The 45-year-old unveiled the cover and title of his upcoming book, Summer Skate, on Instagram, revealing that it will be released on September 9, 2025. “The romance novel game is about to be elevated,” he wrote.
The novel, which Avery co-wrote with Leslie Cohen, is a story about a forbidden attraction between an incoming New York Rangers player named Carter Hughes and a bestselling author, Jessica Riley, while they were each in the midst of enjoying a summer vacation in the Hamptons.
“A novelist with a rebellious streak and a bad habit of turning men into material. A hockey player with a dark past… and a shot at stardom that he just might blow,” the description from the publisher, Simon & Schuster, reads. “A summer vacation that heats up with a forbidden attraction strong enough to burn their neighboring Hamptons houses to the ground.”
Social media reactions have been mixed, with some highlighting Avery’s controversial antics both on and off the ice and questioning his decision to write a steamy romance novel.
Avery also published a memoir, “Ice Capades,” in 2017. It’s called “Offside” in his native Canada. He retired from hockey in 2012. He also spent time interning at Vogue Magazine, working at a creative agency, and as a restaurateur.