Atlas by Sawyer Bennett
Pittsburgh Titans #19
January 13, 2026
🔥Forced Proximity
🏒Newly appointed Co-Guardians
🔥Enemies-to-Lovers
🏒Grumpy/Grumpy
🔥Unexpected Parenthood
🏒Hockey Romance
🔥Found Family
🏒Opposites Attract
🔥Slow Burn
As a star left-winger for the Pittsburgh Titans, Atlas Karolak thrives on the ice but keeps his personal life uncomplicated. That all changes when tragedy strikes, pushing him into an unlikely partnership that tests his patience, challenges his heart, and threatens to rewrite everything he thought he knew about love and family.
Playing professional hockey wasn’t just a dream, it was the only one that ever mattered. I’ve worked my whole life for this career, and now that I’m playing for the Pittsburgh Titans, I’m exactly where I want to be. My life feels complete.
Losing my best friend to cancer shatters me in ways I didn’t see coming. And as I’m trying to figure out how to say goodbye, I’m blindsided again—because he’s named me and Maddie St. James as joint guardians of his daughter.
Maddie and I… we’re not friends. We’re barely acquaintances. If I’m oil, she’s water, and we’ve never managed to mix without friction. But for the sake of a little girl who’s already lost too much, we need to find neutral ground and figure out how to co-parent.
Are we capable? I’d like to think so. Are we scared out of our minds? Without a doubt. Can we put our differences aside and work together? Honestly, it depends on the day. But when stress turns into stolen glances, which turn into nights we can’t take back, our partnership gets a whole lot more complicated.
Because what started as obligation is starting to feel a lot like forever.
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Atlas by Sawyer Bennett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
🎧📚ARC/ALC Review📚🎧
Talk about #feels! I mean it’s not like I didn’t see the #feels coming, but nothing prepares you for a story with these circumstances, written by an author this talented. Nothing.
The sense of “found family” was strong with this one and it needed to be for the story to be as impactful as it did from the perspective of Maddie and man did my heart go out to this chic. Honestly, my heart didn’t stand a chance with any of this story. Atlas and Maddie both didn’t have the best of upbringings nor did they have the best connection, but the story never really centered on their negatives. That’s probably a weird way of phrasing it, but hopefully you’ll understand that I mean the story was uplifting even through its conflict. It had hope and heart at every corner and pivot. It had love in all manor of ways and I basically cried thru 83% of it all!
I think the part of this story that I’m most proud of is its lack of conflict between Maddie & Atlas aside from the inherent conflict that comes with the bombshell of their circumstance. Basically, nothing was thrown in at the last minute between them that didn’t make sense or that didn’t need to happen in order for the story to make an impact. The opposite actually occurred and I’m just proud about it. Too often authors fall into the trap of “last minute conflict” and it makes me beyond twitchy, especially when it’s unnecessary.
Sawyer, if you’re reading this, thank you for this story. I don’t know if you’ve sat next to a bed in your life, but I have, and you wrote an incredible story of life after… so, thank you!
I had the opportunity to do a read-along with my ALC and boy am I glad I had that opportunity with this story. Normally, I take advantage of doing both a read and a listen separately just to be able to review the narration and any impact it may have or not have on the experience. Well, I knew very quickly that wasn’t going to be the case with this story. Not because 🎤Jeremy York and 🎤Kristen Leigh aren’t excellent narrators and actually did an excellent job with their performances, but because this story is just “a lot” and doing it twice in a short amount of time wasn’t happening.
EXCERPT:
Dear Atlas and Maddie,
If you’re reading this, I’m no longer with you, and I imagine both of you are staring morosely at each other, not sure what to do. I won’t waste time telling you I’m in a better place, because I have no clue what happens after you die. The only thing I can speak to with any surety is my unwavering faith in the two of you to continue without me. I want you to know in the end, I wasn’t scared.
A man could not have been luckier than to have you both in my corner, through all the good times and in the end, the bad.
Atlas… you’ve been my wingman since we were five. You weren’t just a friend, you were my brother. And Maddie… you were the sister I never had, and my only sadness is that I wish I’d known you longer.
Maddie, I know you’ve already agreed to take Grayce—
I don’t need to say how much that means to me, knowing that Grayce will grow up under your loving touch. You’re going to make the most amazing mother, and I hope Grayce turns out to be just like you.
But you can’t do it alone. No offense, but Grayce needs more than one person trying to fill in for me. She needs every ounce of love and support she can get. Which is where you come in, Atlas.
I need you to help Maddie raise my daughter. I want you to be her dad. She needs your steady hand, your stubborn will, your heart. Everything about the man you are—that’s what I want for her. I can’t give it to her anymore, but you can.
You’re not my brother by blood but through all of our life experience together. I trust you implicitly, and I know you’ll show up, even when it’s hard. It’s why I waited until after I was gone to ask this of you, so you couldn’t argue with me about it.
All the legal stuff is handled. Take care of her. Take care of each other. Don’t let me down.
Gray
P.S. Be nice to each other.
Meet Sawyer Bennett:
New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author Sawyer Bennett uses real life experience to create relatable stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From contemporary romance, fantasy romance, and both women’s and general fiction, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.
A former trial lawyer from North Carolina, when she is not bringing fiction to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to her very adorable daughter, as well as full-time servant to her wonderfully naughty dogs.
If you’d like to receive a notification when Sawyer releases a new book, sign up for her newsletter (sawyerbennett.com/signup).
Connect with Sawyer Bennett: https://geni.us/SawyerBennett
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