Best of
Sports
2019
The Rise of the Ultra Runners: A Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance
Adharanand Finn - 2019
But is the rise of this most brutal and challenging sport―with races that extend into hundreds of miles, often in extreme environments―an antidote to modern life, or a symptom of a modern illness?In The Rise of the Ultra Runners, award-winning author Adharanand Finn travels to the heart of the sport to investigate the reasons behind its rise and discover what it takes to join the ranks of these ultra athletes. Through encounters with the extreme and colorful characters of the ultramarathon world, and his own experiences of running ultras everywhere from the deserts of Oman to the Rocky Mountains, Finn offers a fascinating account of people testing the boundaries of human endeavor.
Teardrop Shot
Tijan - 2019
And just like that, our friendship was off to a great start.Reese Forster was the starting point guard for the Seattle Thunder.Gorgeous. Cocky. Loved by the nation.He's also attending preseason basketball training camp where I used to work.Correction: where I work again, because I was fired from my last job.And dumped.And I might have a tiny bit of baggage, but that's normal. Right?Reese and I shouldn't have become friends. We shouldn't have become roommates.And we really shouldn't have started sleeping together ... (Except we did.)I'm adorably psychotic. He's in the NBA.This is not a disaster waiting to happen, at all.
Payback
Amy Daws - 2019
Her cheating ex deserves to see her living her best life; a one-night-stand with a hot South African soccer player would be the perfect revenge. Right? Wrong. Allie is so, so wrong. ROAN DEWALT HAS ALL THE MOVES. On and off the field he’s at the top of his game. Roan respects hard-work, dedication—and follow through. He’s not a one and done kind of man, and he’s far from being done with Allie Harris. One sexy night and two years later, Allie’s job brings her back to town. An opportunity for the perfect replay Roan has been fantasizing about since they slept together. THE PROBLEM? Allie Harris has a secret; one she’s been keeping from Roan all this time. Video proof of their one night together—taken without his consent. Will Allie’s payback plan come back to bite them both? Or can she erase her past mistake and embrace a new future with Roan?
The Crossover
Kwame Alexander - 2019
. . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. ’Cuz tonight I’m delivering," raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood—he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it’s all on the line. See the Bell family in a whole new light through Dawud Anyabwile's illustrations as the brothers' winning season unfolds, and the world as they know it begins to change.
The National Team: The Inside Story of the Women who Changed Soccer
Caitlin Murray - 2019
Women’s National Soccer Team has won three World Cups and four Olympic gold medals, set record TV ratings, drawn massive crowds, earned huge revenues for FIFA and U.S. Soccer, and helped to redefine the place of women in sports. But despite their dominance, and their rosters of superstar players, they’ve endured striking inequality: low pay, poor playing conditions, and limited opportunities to play in professional leagues.The National Team, from leading soccer journalist Caitlin Murray, tells the history of the USWNT in full, from their formation in the 1980s to the run-up to the 2019 World Cup, chronicling both their athletic triumphs and less visible challenges off the pitch. Murray also recounts the rise and fall of U.S. professional leagues, including the burgeoning National Women’s Soccer League, an essential part of the women’s game.Through nearly 100 exclusive interviews with players, coaches, and team officials, including Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, Hope Solo, Heather O’Reilly, Julie Foudy, Brandi Chastain, Pia Sundhage, Tom Sermanni, and Sunil Gulati, Murray takes readers inside the locker rooms and board rooms in engrossing detail. A story of endurance and determination, The National Team is a complete portrait of this beloved and important team.
Training for the Uphill Athlete: A Manual for Mountain Runners and Ski Mountaineers
Steve House - 2019
Distance running, ski mountaineering, skimo, and skyrunning are becoming increasingly popular all over the world, and are often undertaken by the same person during a single year. This book collects the scientifically backed and athlete-tested wisdom and experience of three of the best uphill athletes and coaches and extrapolates both to educate outdoor athletes of all stripes to perform their best.RUNNING TIME ⇒ 9hrs. and 41mins.©2019 Patagonia Works (P)2020 Tantor
Quitters Never Win
Michael Bisping - 2019
By the time he was 15, he was fighting in his first no holds barred competition. When he turned professional and joined the UFC he was sure about one thing: only a world championship title would do. A British underdog in the greatest fighting championship on earth, he spent the next decade winning some of the championship’s most sensational contests to achieve his dream, becoming the first ever British UFC world champion in 2016.From his boyhood years learning to fight in the gyms of Lancashire to his most shocking clashes in the cage, in Quitters Never Win Bisping tells the raw and unfiltered story behind his legendary career for the first time, including his greatest wins, his fiercest rivals and the harrowing injury that forced him into retirement. As audacious, entertaining and as candid as the man himself, it’s a backstage pass to one of the world’s most extreme sports and an unbridled account of what it really takes to become a champion, from sleeping in his own car to reaching the summit of the world’s fastest growing sport.
Zonal Marking: The Making of Modern European Football
Michael Cox - 2019
From the attacking flair of Real Madrid of the 50s to the defensive brilliance of the Italians in the 60s and onto the total football of the Dutch in the 70s, the European leagues have been where the game has most evolved and taken its biggest steps forward. And over the last three decades, since the rebranding of the Champions League in 1992, that pattern has continued unabated, with each major European footballing nation playing its part in how the game’s tactics have developed.From the intelligent use of space displayed by the phenomenal Ajax team of the early 90s, to the dominance of the highly strategic Italian league in the late 90s and onto the technical wizardry of Barcelona’s tiki-taka, the European game continues to reinvent the tactical dimension of the game, creating blueprints which both club and national teams around the world strive to follow.In Zonal Marking, Michael Cox brilliantly investigates and analyses the major leagues around Europe over specific time periods and demonstrates the impact each has made on how the game is now played. Highly entertaining and packed full of wonderful anecdotes, this is the first book of its kind to take an overview of modern European football, and lays bare just how much the international language of football can be shaped by a nation’s unique identity.
Recovering
Richie Sadlier - 2019
Without structure or a sense of purpose, and fueled by a dependency on alcohol, he spent years running from the dark memories and feelings that had haunted him since childhood. Until one day, he hit rock bottom and decided to confront his demons. Now a successful soccer pundit, psychotherapist and mental-fitness teacher, Recovering, written with Dion Fanning is about a life shaped by efforts to escape, and how it is possible to rebuild a life, piece by piece, with the right help. Inspiring and groundbreaking, it is an important reflection on the need to move away from perceptions of shame in our discussions about mental health, sex, relationships and addiction.
Team Player 2: A Sports Anthology
Charleigh RoseRochelle Paige - 2019
Passionate tennis pros. Sexy soccer stars. All sorts of alpha hotties, on the field and off. Have no fear! The team is back again, and this time...it's thicker. You'll get your sports romance fix with brand-new stories from eleven bestselling authors. Need one last summer fix? Dive into this anthology. *This anthology contains original, never-before-seen stories from Ella Fox, Mandi Beck, Teagan Hunter, Ilsa Madden-Mills, Sara Ney, Rochelle Paige, Meghan Quinn, Charleigh Rose, Kennedy Ryan, Emma Scott, and Kate Stewart. We still aren’t responsible for melted devices.
The MVP Machine: How Baseball's New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players
Ben Lindbergh - 2019
As bestselling authors Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik reveal in The MVP Machine, the Moneyball era is over. Fifteen years after Michael Lewis brought the Oakland Athletics' groundbreaking team-building strategies to light, every front office takes a data-driven approach to evaluating players, and the league's smarter teams no longer have a huge advantage in valuing past performance.Lindbergh and Sawchik's behind-the-scenes reporting reveals:How the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox used cutting-edge technology to win the World SeriesHow undersized afterthoughts José Altuve and Mookie Betts became big sluggers and MVPsHow polarizing pitcher Trevor Bauer made himself a Cy Young contenderHow new analytical tools have overturned traditional pitching and hitting techniquesHow a wave of young talent is making MLB both better than ever and arguably worse to watchInstead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball: Success stems not from focusing on finished products, but from making the most of untapped potential.
Heartache and Hope
Jay McLean - 2019
Ava Diaz needs saving.She just doesn’t know it yet.Just like she doesn’t know a thing about the boy she sits next to on the first day of senior year.He thinks she’s a brat.She thinks he’s entitled.Maybe first impressions don’t always last… Because Connor Ledger’s about to save her.He just doesn’t know why.
Juicy Rebound
Toni Aleo - 2019
However, his marriage has gone up in flames… literally. He’s resigned himself to the single life and being the best dog dad he can be, but he still holds out hope that one day he’ll find “The One.” So, imagine his surprise when he runs into “The One Who Got Away.” Amelia Justice.His best friend’s baby sister.AKA: “The One Who Is Totally Off-Limits.”Amelia is broken. The punches that life, and her ex-husband, have thrown at her have her down for the count. She’s cut herself off from her family and friends as she works to rebuild her self-esteem and her spirit. Hidden away in a small town, she never expects to reconnect with “The One She Should Have Chosen.” Chandler is so much more than he was in college: more handsome, more muscular, more tattooed… It was supposed to be a casual fling while Amelia and Chandler worked to put the pieces of their lives back together. But as every good hockey player knows, a rebound can turn into one hell of a goal.
Axel
Samantha Whiskey - 2019
But I’d never leave the Swedish Hockey League— Not while raising my little brother. But now he’s grown and the Carolina Reapers show up with my greatest weakness: Langley Pierce, their new head of PR. I’ve never been able to say no to her. She’s fierce, independent, and the sexiest woman I’ve ever met. She also has a stubborn streak wider than my entire country. One comment from her smart mouth about never dating again, and I propose. No, really, I actually propose: A six-month marriage contract in exchange for signing with the Reapers. I want to date this woman so badly that I’m going to marry her first. I’ll use each day to show her how a queen should be treated. Our wedding day started a countdown I’m powerless to stop, And the faster the months fly, the harder I fall. She’s sworn she’ll never choose a man over her career, And I promised never to ask her to. Until I’m forced to. How can we move forward when we started this whole thing backwards? If I can’t convince her this marriage is anything but fake— The next document we sign will crush us both. Welcome to the Carolina Reapers, Samantha Whiskey’s newest hockey series where the chill of the ice meets sultry southern nights.
My Dinner with Hayden: A Heated Rivalry Short Story
Rachel Reid - 2019
So it’s an…epilogue prologue? It takes place almost sixteen months after the last chapter of Heated Rivalry, and about three weeks before the epilogue."-Rachel Reid
Trust the Push
Kaylee Ryan - 2019
BlaineMy career is the only thing that matters. Until a redheaded bombshell drops into my life, proving to be the ultimate distraction. I should have seen the caution flag for what it was, but ever since Aubree’s path crossed into my own, I’ve been in a tailspin trying to recover. With back-to-back championships under my belt, I'm making a name for myself in the world of dirt late model racing. I'm determined to win a third and be the youngest driver in history to do so. She's pushing at my walls, and I'm trusting her, letting them fall. Aubree The last place I expect to find love is on the sidelines of a racetrack, but the moment we met, something inside me shifted.I know nothing about racing, but when my boss came to me with a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the United States, I took it. Now, here I am, traveling from city to city engrossed in this new world of dirt tracks, pushed out of my comfort zone, and into the arms of the hottie race-car driver who revs my engine.We made a deal— friends with benefits until the end of the season. Then we would go our separate ways. The only problem, I'm not so sure I want him to let me go.From the start to the finish line, I’ll have to learn to trust the push.
Pucks & Penalties: Pucked Series Deleted Scenes and Outtakes Version 2.0
Helena Hunting - 2019
And likely never will. Also includes Alex & Violet inspired outtakes such as Weiner Warmers: a Holiday Outtake, Let’s Make An Alex Jr, Pretty Eyes (a Pucked-Good Luck Charm crossover), MILF in Training, and Kick Stand Kid.From PUCKED OFFA Valentine’s Day love note, a series of deleted, never before seen scenes from the cutting room floor of Pucked Off and a special birthday outtake.From PUCKED LOVEThe original Prologue that didn’t make the cut in Pucked Love and a Valentine’s Day letter from Darren to Charlene guaranteed make you swoon.Area 51: Deleted Scenes and OuttakesOriginally published in 2016, this compilation of outtakes and deleted scenes features Alex and Violet ridiculousness, lost chapters from Pucked Up, and alternative POVs from our sexiest, horniest hottie: Randy Ballistic.Get Inked: A Pucked Series and Clipped Wings Crossover NovellaWorlds collide when the PUCKED crew decide it’s time to commemorate their love of hockey with a team tattoo and pay a visit to Inked Armor, the renowned Chicago tattoo studio where master artists Hayden Stryker and Chris Zelter ply their trade. Ink cherries will be popped, cupcakes will be consumed, and the hazards and enhancements of boob bling will be pondered.NOTE: * Pucks & Penalties contains over 90 000 words in outtakes and deleted scenes, as well as the full Get Inked novella. Pucks & Penalties was previously only available at signings.
Dump and Chase
Toni Aleo - 2019
After spending the early years of his life without his dad, hockey legend Lucas Brooks, Aiden is determined not to settle for anything less than true love. When he’s ready. Now he’s living the fast life of an NHL bachelor. He won’t give his heart to any one girl, but they can have his body—all night long.The party to celebrate the start of the second half of the season was supposed to be no different from any other night. And when a stunning stranger approaches him, he can’t seem to keep his hands off her.The next morning, she’s gone, and he’s been traded to his dad’s former team, the Nashville Assassins. All of his professional dreams are coming true, but he can’t shake the memory of the girl from that last party. He wants to see her again. Though, after moving across the country—and without knowing her name—that dream seems like a puck destined to miss the net.For Shelli, her night with Aiden was everything she’d ever imagined it could be, and she’s sure it is all about to change for them. But for that to happen…he would have to know who she was.The Dump was only the beginning. The Chase is worth waiting a lifetime for.
The Cost of These Dreams: Sports Stories and Other Serious Business
Wright Thompson - 2019
- John GrishamThere is only one Wright Thompson. He is, as they say, famous if you know who he is: his work includes the most read articles in the history of ESPN (and it's not even close) and has been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing series ten times, and he counts John Grisham and Richard Ford among his ardent admirers (see back of book). But to say his pieces are about sports, while true as far as it goes, is like saying Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a book about a cattle drive. Wright Thompson figures people out. He jimmies the lock to the furnaces inside the people he profiles and does an analysis of the fuel that fires their ambition. Whether it be Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods or Pat Riley or Urban Meyer, he strips the away the self-serving myths and fantasies to reveal his characters in full. There are fascinating common denominators: it may not be the case that every single great performer or coach had a complex relationship with his father, but it can sure seem that way. And there is much marvelous local knowledge: about specific sports, and times and places, and people. Ludicrously entertaining and often powerfully moving, The Cost of These Dreams is an ode to the reporter's art, and a celebration of true greatness and the high price that it exacts.
Risky Play
Rachel Van Dyken - 2019
Fake names. True pleasure. But when she wakes up alone, Mackenzie realizes just how much anger is left in her broken heart.Suffering a tragic personal loss, pro soccer player Slade Rodriguez has his reasons for vanishing without a goodbye. Right or wrong, he’s blaming the beautiful and infuriating stranger he never wants to see again. They’re both in for a shock when Mackenzie shows up as his new personal assistant. And they both have a lot to learn about each other. Because they share more than they could possibly know, including a common enemy who’s playing his own games. And he’s not afraid to get dirty.Now there’s only one way Mackenzie and Slade can win: to trust in each other and to stop hiding from the lies they’ve told, the secrets they’ve kept, the mistakes they’ve made, and the attraction that still burns between them.
This Team Is Ruining My Life (But I Love Them): How I Became a Professional Hockey Fan
Steve "dangle" Glynn - 2019
From video blogging in his parents' house at 19 to yelling on televisions across Canada at 28, Dangle has been involved with some of the most important sports companies in the country.In between tales of Steve's adventures, both online and off, This Team Is Ruining My Life is also a kind of how-to (or how-not-to) guide: in an ever-evolving media landscape, sometimes you have to get creative to find the job you want. This is Steve Dangle and his accidentally on purpose journey through sports media so far.
Who Is Michael Jordan?
Kirsten Anderson - 2019
Michael Jordan has always been competitive--even as a young boy, he fought for attention. His need to be the best made him a star player on his college basketball team and helped him become an NBA legend, both for his skills and his endorsements. His Nike contract for Air Jordan basketball shoes set an unmatched precedent for professional athletes. Author Kirsten Anderson takes readers through each exciting moment, detailing the iconic reverse lay-ups and jump shots of Michael Jordan's storied career.
Michigan vs. the Boys
Carrie S. Allen - 2019
Michigan Manning lives for hockey, and this is her year to shine. That is, until she gets some crushing news: budget cuts will keep the girls' hockey team off the ice this year. If she wants colleges to notice her, Michigan has to find a way to play. Luckily, there's still one team left in town ... The boys' team isn't exactly welcoming, but Michigan's prepared to prove herself. She plays some of the best hockey of her life, in fact, all while putting up with changing in the broom closet, constant trash talk and "harmless" pranks that always seem to target her. But once hazing crosses the line into assault, Michigan must weigh the consequences of speaking up - even if it means putting her future on the line.
Game On
E.M. Moore - 2019
You see, the Ballers and I have a history. They play basketball. I play basketball. But they hate that I play basketball as good as them. And the only thing they hate more than that, is me. That’s right. I’m a girl, and I. Can. Play. Make no mistake about it. The Ballers can do their worst, but I will make it onto the RHS boys’ team. This is my last resort to make a name for myself, and I can’t let them interfere—even if the so-called kings of the school have declared war against me. Game On is a reverse harem high school bully romance novel.
Inside a Marathon: An All-Access Pass to a Top-10 Finish at NYC, Featuring a new Boston Marathon Chapter
Scott Fauble - 2019
Follow along from two different perspectives as Scott Fauble and Ben Rosario share all of the highs and lows over the course of the 18 weeks leading into NYC. Fauble and Rosario take an unprecedented dive into what exactly goes into professional marathon training, and they tell a compelling story along the way. This edition includes a chapter on the 2019 Boston Marathon where Fauble ran 2:09:09 and finished in seventh place.
26 Marathons: What I Learned about Faith, Identity, Running, and Life from My Marathon Career
Meb Keflezighi - 2019
When Meb Keflezighi ran his final marathon in New York City on November 5, 2017, it marked the end of an extraordinary distance-running career. As the first person in history to win both the Boston and New York City marathons as well as an Olympic marathon medal, Meb’s legacy is forever cemented. Meb's last marathon was also his 26th, and each of those marathons has come with its own unique challenges, rewards, and outcomes. In 26 Marathons, take on those legendary races alongside Meb—every hill, bend, and unexpected turn of events that made each marathon an exceptional learning experience, and a fascinating story. 26 Marathons offers the wisdom Meb has gleaned about life, family, identity, and faith in addition to tips about running, training, and nutrition. He shows runners of all levels how to apply the lessons he's learned to their own running and lives. Equal parts inspiration and practical advice, 26 Marathons provides an inside look at the life and success of one of the greatest runners living today.
Upside Down In Love (love emotions Book 1)
Dominique Thomas - 2019
He never had good intentions with my heart from the beginning. Novah, Billie and Normani navigate through life with their heads held high despite their tumultuous relationships with the men they fathered kids with. Novah fell into love quickly with Carter. They were young. He was a rising NFL star and she was a popular video vixen. Years skate by and Novah realizes he isn’t the man she thought he was. After ending their love affair, she learns of their twin sons. Novah does the best she can to keep the peace. While the media makes her out to be the bitter, gold digging baby momma she takes it to the chin. For her sons, she will eat up any negative accusation the world has to say about her. Her only aspiration in life is to give her sons a good one. When Novah begins to stand up to Carter and his demanding ways things go left. He shows her a side of him that she’s never seen before and Novah is left with two choices. Turn another blind eye to his foul ways or finally expose him for the hateful person that he really is. Billie was born to model. It flowed through her being effortlessly. Billie only wanted two things in life. That was to model and be with Dreux. Dreux, however. wanted out of Detroit. He watched his brother fall victim to the streets and vowed to be different. Despite Billie’s love for him he left Detroit and attended college out of state. While being apart from Dreux, Billie found comfort with his cousin Malachi. Malachi was Billie’s yes man. Whatever she needed he was there to make it happen. Billie wasn’t attracted to him but was grateful for his presence. One lonely night Billie found herself in bed with Malachi. From that encounter, a child was created. Billie immediately regretted her decision to be with him and because she wanted nothing else from him Malachi turned bitter. Billie allowed for her broken heart over Dreux to lead her down a dangerous path. She partied more and ended up losing her son to Malachi. It was a mistake that he refused to let her live down. Now that Billie is better than ever and ready to get her son back Malachi is fighting her at every turn. Billie wants peace in her life but with Malachi constantly bringing her chaos she’s fearful that the old Billie might resurface and that’s the last thing she needs. Normani is young and full of life. While in her first year of college she met the popular DJ to the stars Tru. Tru was like a dream come true for her. The unattainable man that somehow wanted her and immediately she became engrossed by him. Without having to think about it she gave up school and allowed for her life to revolve around Tru. She became his biggest fan and after being together for a few years their daughter was born. Suddenly Normani began to see things in Tru that she hadn’t seen before. He was controlling, distant and selfish. Normani had only known two parents. She had an amazing childhood and wanted her daughter to have the same but Tru was making it hard for her to do so. When Normani’s childhood friend Azariah comes home for good and starts to garner her attention Tru takes notice. He makes big strides to show Normani that he is a changed man but for Normani it may be too late. This is a two-part series.
Never Settle: Sports, Family, and the American Soul
Marty Smith - 2019
The guy who visits Nick Saban's lake house and somehow gets Coach to jump in the lake. The guy who sits down with Dale Jr. at Daytona to talk through tears about his miraculous return to racing. The guy who interviews Tiger Woods, Tim Tebow, Peyton Manning and Jimmie Johnson -- the guy who gets paid to live the fantasy of every sports fan in America.Never Settle is the funny but oh, it's true story of how Marty got here, and a revealing look at his journey. Never Settle includes all the best stories and behind-the-scenes moments from Marty's wild life, covering topics including: college football, racing, fathers and sons, how sports can bring us together, and how it all goes back to growing up on a farm and playing high school ball in Pearisburg, Virginia.
Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump
Rick Reilly - 2019
It is by turns amusing and alarming." -- The New Yorker
"Golf is the spine of this shocking, wildly humorous book, but humanity is its flesh and spirit."
-- Chicago Sun-Times
"Every one of Trump's most disgusting qualities surfaces in golf."
-- The Ringer
An outrageous indictment of Donald Trump's appalling behavior when it comes to golf -- on and off the green -- and what it reveals about his character. Donald Trump loves golf. He loves to play it, buy it, build it, and operate it. He owns 14 courses around the world and runs another five, all of which he insists are the best on the planet. He also claims he's a 3 handicap, almost never loses, and has won an astonishing 18 club championships. How much of all that is true? Almost none of it, acclaimed sportswriter Rick Reilly reveals in this unsparing look at Trump in the world of golf. Based on Reilly's own experiences with Trump as well as interviews with over 100 golf pros, amateurs, developers, and caddies, Commander in Cheat is a startling and at times hilarious indictment of Trump and his golf game. You'll learn how Trump cheats (sometimes with the help of his caddies and Secret Service agents), lies about his scores (the "Trump Bump"), tells whoppers about the rank of his courses and their worth (declaring that every one of them is worth $50 million), and tramples the etiquette of the game (driving on greens doesn't help). Trump doesn't brag so much, though, about the golf contractors he stiffs, the course neighbors he intimidates, or the way his golf decisions wind up infecting his political ones. For Trump, it's always about winning. To do it, he uses the tricks he picked up from the hustlers at the public course where he learned the game as a college kid, and then polished as one of the most bombastic businessmen of our time. As Reilly writes, "Golf is like bicycle shorts. It reveals a lot about a man." Commander in Cheat "paints a side-splitting portrait of a congenital cheater" (Esquire), revealing all kinds of unsightly truths Trump has been hiding.
The Red Zone
Amie Knight - 2019
But for me, those last twenty yards were my sweet spot. They didn't call me Lukas "Last Minute Lucy" Callihan for nothing. I was at the top of my game...until life sacked me harder than any linebacker ever could. Losing my mom was devastating and left me as the sole person responsible for my little sister. Taking care of Ella and juggling my career was like playing the hardest game of my life. My only saving grace was Scarlett Knox, Ella's sexy, red-headed, no-nonsense teacher. She loved Ella. She hated me. She thought I sucked at this parenting thing, and she wasn’t wrong. But whenever she was around I got the same earth-shattering, heart-stopping feeling I did when I was only twenty yards from the goal line. She made me feel like I was back in the red zone, a place I’d never fumbled. Until now.
Football Hackers: The Science and Art of a Data Revolution
Christoph Biermann - 2019
Football's data revolution has only just begun. The arrival of advanced metrics and detailed analysis is already reshaping the modern game. We can now fully assess player performance, analyse the role of luck and measure what really leads to victory. There is no turning back.Now the race is on between football's wealthiest clubs and a group of outsiders, nerds and rule-breakers, who are turning the game on its head with their staggering innovations. Winning is no longer just about what happens out on the pitch, it's now a battle taking place in boardrooms and on screens across international borders with the world's brightest minds driving for an edge over their fiercest rivals.Christoph Biermann has moved in the midst of these disruptive upheavals, talking to scientists, coaches, managers, scouts and psychologists in the world's major clubs, traveling across Europe and the US and revealing the hidden - and often jaw-dropping - truths behind the beautiful game. 'A book full of exciting ideas and inside views on modern football. The most exciting book in an exciting time for football.' Thomas Hitzlsperger
The Change Agent: How a Former College QB Sentenced to Life in Prison Transformed His World
Damon West - 2019
He came from a great family, in a home full of God, love, support, and opportunities to reach any goal. A natural born leader, an athlete with good looks and charm, he appeared to be the all-American kid pursuing his dreams. Underneath this facade, however, was an addict in the early stages of disease. After suffering childhood sexual abuse by a babysitter at the age of nine, Damon began putting chemicals into his body to alter the way he felt. Once he was introduced to methamphetamines, however, he became instantly hooked—and the lives of so many innocent people would forever be changed by the choices he made in order to feed his insatiable meth habit. After a fateful discussion during his incarceration with a seasoned convict, Damon had a spiritual awakening. He learned that, like a coffee bean changing with the application of heat and pressure, he was capable of changing the environment around him. Armed with a program of recovery, a renewed faith, and a miraculous second chance at life, Damon emerged from over seven years of prison a changed man. His story of redemption continues to inspire audiences today.
Hissy Fit
Lani Lynn Vale - 2019
She is clumsy and trips on air.She is finally on his radar.God help her now.
The Impossible Climb: Alex Honnold, El Capitan, and the Climbing Life
Mark Synnott - 2019
When Alex Honnold topped out at 9:28 am on June 3, 2017, having spent fewer than four hours on his historic ascent, the world gave a collective gasp. His friend Tommy Caldwell, who free climbed (with a rope) the nearby Dawn Wall in 2015, called Alex's ascent "the moon landing of free soloing." The New York Times described it as "one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever." It was "almost unbearable to watch," writes Synnott.This majestic work of personal history delves into a raggedy culture that emerged decades earlier during Yosemite's Golden Age, when pioneering climbers like Royal Robbins and Warren Harding invented the sport that Honnold would turn on its ear. Synnott paints an authentic, wry portrait of climbing history, profiling Yosemite heroes John Bachar, Peter Croft, Dean Potter, and the harlequin tribe of climbers known as the Stonemasters. A veteran of the North Face climbing team and contributor to National Geographic, Synnott weaves in his own amateur and professional experiences with poignant insight and wit. Tensions burst on the mile-high northwest face of Pakistan's Great Trango Tower; photographer/climber Jimmy Chin miraculously persuades an intransigent official in the Borneo jungle to allow Honnold's first foreign expedition, led by Synnott, to continue; armed bandits accost the same trio at the foot of a tower in the Chad desert . . .The Impossible Climb is an emotional drama driven by people exploring the limits of human potential and seeking a perfect, dialed-in dance with nature. They dare beyond the ordinary, but this story of the sublime is really about all of us. Who doesn't need to face down fear and make the most of the time we have?
Saving Barrette
Shey Stahl - 2019
From USA Today Bestselling Author Shey Stahl comes a story about finding yourself through an emotionally packed coming-of-age novel of lies and betrayal. Barrette Blake has virtually no memory of the night her world changed forever. With the unwavering support of her best friend, she tries to piece together her life and her foggy memories of that night. She’s focused and resilient, but on the inside, she’s losing hope she’ll ever be whole again. Asa Lawson has it all together—on the field that is. He dominates the college football scene, but his life is messy. He’s in love with the girl who can’t love herself after everything that’s happened to her. While everything around him is spiraling out of control and threatens to come crashing down completely, the truth about the night that destroyed his childhood friend is revealed. She’s hiding from the night she doesn’t remember. And he’s going to show her she’s worth the risk. She’s consumed by despair. He won’t let her give up.
Mike Reilly: Finding My Voice: Tales From IRONMAN, the World's Greatest Endurance Event
Mike Reilly - 2019
And race announcer Mike Reilly is known throughout the endurance sports world as the "Voice of IRONMAN."Every year, over three hundred thousand people around the world compete in a series of long-distance triathlons that test the outer limits of their physical abilities and mental toughness. Some do it for glory, some to test themselves, some to honor lost loved ones or colleagues, some to bring healing to their troubled lives.Over the years, hundreds of IRONMAN athletes have shared their tales with Reilly. In this book, he tells some of the stories that have touched and inspired him, in the hope that they will do the same for the reader.A young woman races in a contest against cancer that threatens her life. A soldier carries a flag through the full marathon distance to keep alive the memory of fallen comrades. Two of the sport's most decorated champions do battle in the greatest head-to-head competition ever seen in any sport. Parents put their family back together after the loss of a child.Reilly has witnessed it all, and brings it to life in a series of riveting stories that will have readers re-thinking their notions of what people are capable of when pushed to their limits.
Nikki on the Line
Barbara Carroll Roberts - 2019
but between school stress, friend drama, and babysitting woes, will she be able to make it on her new team? Thirteen-year-old Nikki Doyle's dreams of becoming a basketball great feel within reach when she's selected to play on an elite-level club team. But in a league with taller, stronger, and faster girls, Nikki suddenly isn't the best point guard. In fact, she's no longer a point guard at all, which leaves her struggling to figure out who she is and how she fits in.The stress piles on as Nikki's best friend spends more and more time with another girl on the team, and when her science teacher assigns a family tree project that will be impossible to complete unless Nikki reveals her most embarrassing secret. As if that's not enough to deal with, to cover the costs of her new team, Nikki has agreed to take care of her annoying younger brother after school to save money on childcare. As the stakes rise on the basketball court, at school, and at home, Nikki's confidence plummets. Can she learn to compete at this new, higher level? And how hard is she willing to work to find out?
Wild Ride
Breezie Bennett - 2019
A feisty tomboy with dreams of being a sports agent. Can he build his brand with a fake fiancée? Can she snag the promotion she desperately wants? Sure. If he can keep it in his pants and she can resist taking the ride of her life. Fall in love with Leo and Frankie as their romance slides from fake to forever.Leo:I guess I’m in trouble for real now. At least that’s what my agent says. Just talking my way out of my latest PR shitshow isn’t going to cut it this time. He says the South Florida Riders fans need to believe I’m more than just a cocky wide receiver who throws Benjamins at strippers and breaks the hearts of innocent girls.His brilliant plan to fix my image is to hook the perfect woman on my arm and convince the world I’m engaged to her. Only problem is, I definitely don’t have the perfect woman. As my agent puts it, I’ve been ‘too busy banging my way through NFL groupies to get serious.’ He’s not wrong.But then he decides to hire his intriguing and annoyingly hot assistant to play the part…and all of a sudden his ideas don’t seem so dumb.Frankie:I know you, Leo Sterling. I know your type. I can predict your every move, on and off the field. And I want absolutely as little to do with you as possible.I’m well aware that working for a sports agent will be a pain in the ass and that my dream of eventually becoming an agent myself will put me in very close quarters with unfathomably arrogant athletes like Leo. It’s par for the course with my career path, one I chose so that I can stay as close as possible to the one true love of my life—football.So, when my boss tells me I have to be fake fiancée to this particularly infuriating and sexy player to keep my job, I have no choice. And it doesn’t exactly suck. Having a little weakness for athletes like Leo Sterling doesn’t make me pathetic, it makes me a normal human. And it definitely doesn’t mean I’ll fall for him.
Play Me
Kelly Elliott - 2019
He is a coach who knows how to use his equipment. Neither is looking for love. Should be easy, right? Wrong. This might be the most important game Kendall Wales and Hunter Owens have ever played where everything is on the line. With one wrong play, they could lose it all. Hopefully, the game clock doesn’t reach zero before it’s too late. *Play Me is a standalone novel*
Rookie Mistakes
Danesha Little - 2019
Now a TV personality, her primary focus is to make "Girlfriends Talking Sports" the number one show on ESPN. Her plans are interrupted when NBA Rookie, Sebastian Powers enters her life. Growing up in London, Sebastian Powers' only ambition was to become the greatest basketball player of all time. When his arrogance becomes a roadblock to that goal, he meets his match in Nashya Jordan. What happens when two stubborn souls are forced to face their pasts together?
Fired Up
Riley Hart - 2019
If it hadn’t been for that one teenage slipup where I kissed Beau Campbell, I’d be able to keep fooling myself. Football is the one thing I use to distract myself from the truth, and when I screw-up and lose the game I love, I find myself right back in Fever Falls. And right back face-to-face with Cranky Campbell, who hates me even more than he did when we were kids. Whatever magic he held over me then is still there. As much as I fight it, I still want him. And I always get what I want…well, except with Beau, who constantly calls me on my crap. Why do I like that so much? BEAU I might’ve spent years watching Ash live out my dream—without the off-field antics and orgies with women, at least—but I’ve made a good life for myself. I’m a firefighter, and I coach my brother’s football team for those with developmental disabilities. But when Ash swings back into town armed with his monster ego and an arsenal of stupid nicknames, everyone is in awe of him. Nope, not me. I don’t care if our kiss years ago was responsible for my sexual awakening. I won’t fall for Ashton Carmichael. Though that resolution would be a whole lot easier if he wasn’t so tempting. Once he finds his way into my bed, I’m screwed—in more ways than one. But there’s more to Ash than meets the eye, buried beneath his ego, sarcasm and how we burn up the sheets together. Soon, it’s more than a game. We don’t just get each other fired up, we just might win each other’s hearts. Too bad things are never that simple…
The Forbidden Man
Karina Halle - 2019
Forty-years old and still reeling from a public and painful divorce, Thalia Blackwood is looking for a fresh start, somewhere far away from her upside down life. When she’s offered a new job as the sports therapist for a football (soccer) team, she jumps at the chance. This is just what she needs to leave the heartbreak and shame of Manchester behind, trading it in for the warmth and hopeful vibrancy of Madrid. He was her only desire. Twenty-three year old Alejo Albarado is rising up the ranks in his career. As the charming forward for the Real Madrid team, Alejo’s life revolves around women, parties, and being a tabloid darling, that is until the new sports therapist joins the team. Their passion could not be ignored. What starts out as a strictly professional relationship between Thalia and the young Spanish player, slowly evolves into something more. Much more. Their relationship was forbidden. But their combustible chemistry and simmering sexual tension can only go so far—should Thalia give into Alejo’s advances, she’s at risk of not only losing her job, but succumbing to a much younger man will drag her through the spotlight again. Alejo might be worth that risk. Unless he breaks her heart in the process. The Younger Man is a full-length standalone romance. Characters from Love, in English make a cameo in this book, however The Forbidden Man is intended to be read as a STANDALONE. This book will be approximately 400-500 pages or more.
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City
Paul Goldberger - 2019
In the changing locations and architecture of our ballparks, Goldberger reveals the manifestations of a changing society: the earliest ballparks evoked Victorian society in the accommodations--bleachers for the riffraff, grandstands for the middle-class; the "concrete donuts" of the 1950s and 60s made plain television's grip on the public's attention and the new need for stadiums that could also accommodate football; and more recent ballparks, like Baltimore's Camden Yards, signal a new way forward for stadium design and for baseball's role in urban development. Throughout, Goldberger shows us the ways in which baseball's history--its concurrent rise with the railway system, the origins of the American and National Leagues, the first stolen base--is clued into the important architectural, material, engineering, and site details and requirements that shaped our most beloved stadiums. A fascinating, exuberant ode to the Edens at the heart of our cities--where dreams are as limitless as the outfields.
The Sea Ain't Mine Alone
C.L. Beaumont - 2019
It's his chance to finally reclaim his life, move on from the war, and make a living doing the only thing that keeps him from walking away from it all. But his best laid plans are upended completely when two-time Billabong Pipeline Masters Champion Danny Moore steps up next to James on the starting line. Danny is a young, mysterious, unbeatable big wave surfer. He's man that nobody on the surf circuit can stop whispering about. For the first time since being shipped back home from Vietnam, James is captivated. That first fleeting moment turns the tide for both men, setting them on a path that crosses oceans and defies all odds. This epically romantic m/m historical romance is a slow burn that is full of drama, thrilling surfing, deep emotional connections between the characters, and guarantees the reader a hugely satisfying Happily Ever After!
Can't Block My Love
Xavier Neal - 2019
After all, no matter how well they do or don't do, they are the university's most important athletes.However, when Remington Ronald Rutledge the 3rd, lands himself on the new head coach's bad side, which threatens his chances of playing for the season, he finds himself striking an unusual deal with a blast from his past he can barely remember.Did she always wear these glasses?Was her hair always this curly?Has she always had a smile that makes him wanna smile?What happens when the bad boy who makes all the rules is forced to play by someone else's?Can this good-looking goalie let love score, or will blocking it be the biggest mistake of his life?
Blindsided
Amy Daws - 2019
Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime. Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered. However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya. What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off. Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.Blindsided is a full length (97,000 words) contemporary rom-com standalone with a sports theme.
In Sunshine or in Shadow: How Boxing Brought Hope in the Troubles
Donald McRae - 2019
At the height of the Troubles, Gerry Storey ran the Holy Family gym from the IRA's heartland territory of New Lodge in Belfast. Despite coming from a family steeped in the Republican movement, he insisted that it would be open to all. He ensured that his boxers were given a free pass by paramilitary forces on both Republican and Loyalist sides, so they could find a way out of the province's desperate situation. In the immediate aftermath of the 1981 Hunger Strikes, Storey would also visit the Maze prison twice a week to train the inmates from each community, separately. In itself, this would be a heroic story, but Storey went further than that: he became the trainer for world champion Barry McGuigan and Olympian Hugh Russell, who became one of the most famous photographers to document the Troubles. Even with all his success and the support of both sides, Storey still found himself subjected to three bomb attacks from those who were implacably hostile to any form of reconciliation. He also worked with the Protestant boxer Davy Larmour, who fought two bloody battles in the ring against Russell, his Catholic friend. At the same time, in Derry, the British and European lightweight champion Charlie Nash fought without bitterness after his brother was killed and his father was shot on Bloody Sunday – the most infamous day of the conflict. Now, Donald McRae reveals the extraordinary tale of those troubled times. After years of research and intimate interviews with the key characters in this story, he shows us how the violent business of boxing became a haven of peace and hope for these remarkable and compassionate men. In Sunshine or in Shadow is an inspirational story of triumph over adversity and celebrates the reconciliation that can take place when two fighters meet each other in the ring, rather than outside it.
Two For Holding
Kay Gordon - 2019
I had my son, a great career, and a home that I’d made for both of us. One puck over the glass at a hockey game made me realize I wanted more. The larger-than-life hockey player inserted himself into our world and I never wanted to let him go. The thing is, I don’t know if I’m strong enough to keep him.PorterMy home was on the ice, with a stick in my hand and a puck on my tape. It took one little boy with a toothless smile and his spitfire mother to change all that. I wanted them to be my home and I was willing to take all the penalties necessary to make it happen.Now I just have to convince her that we can handle it all together.Melding three lives into one isn’t as easy as it seems, especially with the traveling, the media, and the insecurities. Savannah and Porter have to decide whether to use the breakaway to head to the goal or take a seat on the bench.After all, 425 Madison is the perfect place to fall in love!For more information on the 425 Madison series and all the amazing stories, check out https://www.425madisonseries.com/
With a Hitch
R.C. Boldt - 2019
Right for the city's beloved NFL wide receiver...———————————————————
She’s playing it safe. He’s playing for keeps.
DARCYGrowing up in the foster system, I learned the hard way that lasting love doesn't always come easy. Dating in the modern era can be daunting; the bar scene and dating apps leave you wondering if there's any hope in sight.That's where I come in. Helping you break the “swipe-right” cycle, I’m dedicated to matching you with the love of your life.Finding Mrs. Right for Dax Kendrick should be a piece of cake. Except nothing about this man is simple.DAXThe NFL has given me more than I ever imagined—a roof over my head, food on the table, and a chance to provide for the family who sacrificed everything while I chased my dreams.Maintaining a squeaky-clean image for my sponsors when my paycheck and the fruits of my endorsements are all women want is a hefty challenge.I’d nearly given up when I hired Darcy Cole. Yet the more I’m around her, the less I care about finding my perfect match.Because it might be right in front of me.#SlowBurn #SportsRomance #Contemporary #FriendsToLovers
The Changeup
Nicole Falls - 2019
At some point, however, the novelty wore off and she stepped away from playing the sport until a chance exhibition places her at the center of attention once again. With the spotlight shining brightly upon her, Geffri finds herself with an amazing opportunity within her grasp that’s she’s eager to take. But with all great success comes the trolls—enter Noah Fence, a sports blogger who’s a little too opinionated about how excellent Geffri really is and challenges her to a competition to prove his superiority. Between Noah’s challenge and the opportunity placed before her, Geffri’s calm summer escalates into a whirlwind season of dreams fulfilled.
Puckboy
Mickey Miller - 2019
Young, rich, handsome, and talking smack about my profession, he was the walking stereotype of a speak-before-I-think hockey player.The second time I met him, I was sad and he made me smile.The third time, we got married.His proposal took me by surprise, to say the least. But Dustin needed a marriage to save his image. And as a bonus, it put an end to my visa issues.Thing is, now we've got to play like we're truly married and in love. Turns out there's this thing called marriage fraud and it can land you up to five years in prison if they catch you. We'll have no problem faking our way through this relationship, right?Except every day we spend together, the more real our connection seems, and we start to fall in love for real.If only it wasn't for those pesky skeletons in both of our closets.And the twist that neither of us could have imagined coming.
Just Playin'
Shandi Boyes - 2019
Number one draft pick, engaged to an up-and-coming model, and voted best player of the decade his first year on the field. Things were golden. . . until an accident saw everything important torn from his grasp. He’s determined to get his life back, though, and with a strict regime, and no time for a life outside of the game, the last thing he wants is the attention of a curvy college student whose only motto in life is to not take it too seriously. Can an Australian expat show the struggling sports star there’s more to life than the next win? Or has Willow Underwood chewed off a chunk of man-meat too thick for her to swallow? Just Playin’ is a standalone sports romance RomCom that will give you all the feels. It has sexy scenes and several laugh-out-loud moments. This is not tied to any of my other books, and can be enjoyed by itself. AKA: No cliffhangers!
The Upset: Life (Sports), Death...and the Legacy We Leave in the Middle
Tyler Trent - 2019
Amid all the matchups discussed on ESPN that day, it was a special video featuring the harrowing story of Tyler Trent - along with his bold, yet accurate, prediction that Purdue would upset Ohio State - that captured the hearts of millions. The Upset chronicles so much more than just an inspiring battle against the seemingly impossible opponent of osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer. A brilliant young statistician and sportswriter, Tyler faced his own mortality, and his life reflects the remarkable eternal upset only experienced in faith, family, and authentic community.
Carter
Xyla Turner - 2019
I'm passionate, sure, but this new referee, has the audacity to throw me out of my own damn game. Who the f*ck does she think she is? I own this league. I could own her, if I wanted. Sasha ChapmanMy transfer to a new league was the perfect move for my career. Until I met, Coach Strong, the abrasive asshole who yelled at me and accused me of having my ponytail too tight to see. He had it coming. I didn't mean for the media to go on a rampage about him, but when he accused me of being attracted to him, that was the last straw. I needed to get away from him. But he wouldn't let me.
The City Game: Triumph, Scandal, and a Legendary Basketball Team
Matthew Goodman - 2019
City College was a tuition-free, merit-based college in Harlem known far more for its intellectual achievements and political radicalism than its athletic prowess. Only two years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier--and at a time when the National Basketball Association was still segregated--every single member of the Beavers was either Jewish or African American. But during that remarkable season, under the guidance of the legendary former player Nat Holman, this unheralded group of city kids would stun the basketball world by becoming the only team in history to win the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year.This team, though, proved to be extraordinary in another way: During the following season, all of the team's starting five were arrested by New York City detectives, charged with conspiring with gamblers to shave points. Almost overnight these beloved heroes turned into fallen idols. The story centers on two teammates and close friends, Eddie Roman and Floyd Layne, one white, one black, each caught up in the scandal, each searching for a path to personal redemption. Though banned from the NBA, Layne continued to devote himself to basketball, teaching the game to young people in his Bronx neighborhood and, ultimately, with Roman's help, finding another kind of triumph--one that no one could have anticipated.Drawing on interviews with the surviving members of that championship team, Matthew Goodman has created an indelible portrait of an era of smoke-filled arenas and Borscht Belt hotels, when college basketball was far more popular than the professional game. It was a time when gangsters controlled illegal sports betting, the police were on their payroll, and everyone, it seemed, was getting rich--except for the young men who actually played the games.Tautly paced and rich with period detail, The City Game tells a story both dramatic and poignant: of political corruption, duplicity in big-time college sports, and the deeper meaning of athletic success.
The Locker Room
Meghan Quinn - 2019
One rowdy and naked encounter against the lockers with the girl of your dreams will make her your wife. Translation: baseball players are stupidly superstitious and believe the locker room has magical powers. But not all baseball players are superstitious, me included. So when the girl I've fallen for brushes me off, I start to question if I need to switch my way of thinking. Maybe it's time I finally hand out a coveted invitation to the locker room. The only question is, will she accept?
Interference
Harlow Cole - 2019
It’s true. Ask anyone. I threw my first curveball the day I was born. The whole damn town is waiting on me. To live up to my father’s famous name. To reach for the stars. All I want to reach for is her. But Ashley is the sweet addiction I can’t afford. She’s my best friend’s sister. Hell, she’s practically my little sister. For years, I’ve protected her from guys that want one thing. What happens now that I’ve turned into one of them? Who’s gonna shield her from the way I was made, from my little white lies and from what I’m about to become?My game plan sounds simple: Pitch my way into the Major League draft and stay out of Ashley Foster’s pants. That first part may be statistically difficult. The second feels damn near impossible. Ashley: From the moment we met, I knew he was trouble. The kind my mother sent me to find. The type that ruins you for any other brand. When we were young kids, I didn’t know what to call the frogs and butterflies that danced in my belly whenever Brayden came near. Now I know they have a name. Those three little words that could heal or destroy him. Before Brayden, my life was normal. And then it wasn’t. It couldn’t be. Ever again. How was I to know stealing his seat would change all our lives?Anger and forgiveness share two halves of the same coin.Our story might make you choose sides.
No Excuses: The Making of a Head Coach
Bob Stoops - 2019
But in just two years' time, Stoops achieved the seemingly impossible: winning a national championship and returning the struggling Sooners to their powerhouse status, churning out NFL talent, Heisman Trophy winners and conference championships, bowl wins and national title runs on a regular basis.During his 18 seasons at OU, his record was a remarkable 190-48. At only age 56, at the peak of his career, he stunned the college football world by walking away.For the first time, Bob opens up about his career alongside the evolution of the game itself. From his unlikely emergence as a star player at the University of Iowa, to his coaching apprenticeships under giants like Hayden Fry, Bill Snyder, and Steve Spurrier, Stoops recounts how the game he fell in love with as a boy has evolved into a billion-dollar business often compromised by recruiting wars, aggressive agents, overzealous boosters and alumni, and the emergence of the CEO head coach rather than mentor and teacher. Bob holds nothing back while explaining why it was time to step away from the game--and players--he still loves.Told with a rare combination of sincerity, vulnerability, and pure heart, No Excuses is both an engaging and eye-opening football memoir and an unprecedented portrait of a coach of one of the greatest legacy programs in the history of the college game.
Game Day Baby
C.M. Seabrook - 2019
Seabrook and Frankie Love!
I had it all planned out. I'd find a girl, marry her, get the white picket fence and make a family. But then a baby is dropped off at my doorstep. My baby. Turns out I'm more than an NFL quarterback -- I'm a father. And my daughter's mother is missing. Or she ran away. No one knows, not even her sister Aria Ryan. Aria carries a gentle grace that doesn't match her story. She has every reason to run -- her sister has made her life a living hell. But Aria is different. And I want her to stay. A baby changes everything and this game I'm playing isn't won on the field. It's dirty, it's dangerous, and I'm in it to win it. Game Change Baby features Tatum Madden, from the Princeton Charming books! This time he isn't letting the girl of his dreams get away. He's fighting for more than touch down -- he's fighting for his daughter's life.
The Hardest Route
A.S. Teague - 2019
I couldn’t handle a baby. I was Griffin Rockwell, the best wide receiver the league had ever seen. But what choice did I have? My baby girl was coming whether I was ready for her or not.Brooke turned out to be an amazing woman and mother. For seven years, we were the MVP of co-parenting—and even better friends.That all changed when tragedy struck our makeshift family and I was faced with the terrifying possibility of losing the one woman I was quickly realizing I couldn’t live without.I was at the height of my career and on the path to becoming the greatest of all time.But keeping my family together, with Brooke by my side, might prove to be the hardest route of all.
Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed
Matthew Futterman - 2019
. . the narrative is smooth and immediate, almost effortless in its detail, if occasionally breathless, like a good fast run . . ." --The New York Times Book Review Visionary American running coach Bob Larsen assembled a mismatched team of elite California runners . . . the start of his decades-long quest for championships, Olympic glory, and pursuit of "the epic run."In the dusty hills above San Diego, Bob Larsen became America's greatest running coach. Starting with a ragtag group of high school cross country and track runners, Larsen set out on a decades-long quest to find the secret of running impossibly fast, for longer distances than anyone thought possible. Himself a former farm boy who fell into his track career by accident, Larsen worked through coaching high school, junior college, and college, coaxing talented runners away from more traditional sports as the running craze was in its infancy in the 60's and 70's. On the arid trails and windy roads of California, Larsen relentlessly sought the 'secret sauce' of speed and endurance that would catapult American running onto the national stage. Running to the Edge is a riveting account of Larsen's journey, and his quest to discover the unorthodox training secrets that would lead American runners (elite and recreational) to breakthroughs never imagined. New York Times Deputy Sports Editor Matthew Futterman interweaves the dramatic stories of Larsen's runners with a fascinating discourse of the science behind human running, as well as a personal running narrative that follows Futterman's own checkered love-affair with the sport. The result is a narrative that will speak to every runner, a story of Larsen's triumphs--from high school cross-country meets to the founding of the cult-favorite 70's running group, the Jamul Toads, from national championships to his long tenure as head coach at UCLA, and from the secret training regimen of world champion athletes like Larsen's prot�g�, American Meb Keflezighi, to victories at the New York and Boston Marathons as well as the Olympics. Running to the Edge is a page-turner . . . a relentless crusade to run faster, farther.
Making the Play
Robin Bielman - 2019
She’s just as career-focused as he is and has resolved to never succumb to the notorious charmer no matter how handsome or quickly they click. But then Chloe lets her guard down one drunken night and confesses she’s cursed. All her boyfriends meet their true soul mate when they date her, so she’s given up dating for good.Star baseball player Finn Auprince isn’t looking for romance, especially with his smart and sexy new media manager. She’s a distraction he can’t afford, but when Chloe confesses her secret, Finn’s competitive side emerges, and he can’t resist the challenge…or Chloe. One date is all he needs to prove that he and Chloe can have a good time without his soul mate popping out from around the next corner.It’s game on…but can they play the game of love and both come out on top? First Published as Heartthrob
Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football
John U. Bacon - 2019
Bacon has received rare access to Jim Harbaugh’s University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes. Overtime captures this storied program at the crossroads, as the sport’s winningest team battles to reclaim its former glory. But what if the price of success today comes at the cost of your soul? Do you pay it, or compete without compromising?In the spirit of HBO’s Hardknocks, Overtime delivers a deeply reported human portrait that follows the Wolverine coaches, players, and staffers through the 2018 season, including Harbaugh, offensive stars Shea Patterson and Karan Higdon, NFL-ready defensive standouts Rashan Gary, Devin Bush Jr., and Chase Winovich, second-stringers striving to find their place on the team, and their parents’ reactions to it all. Bacon met with them every week during a season that saw the Wolverines ride a ten-game winning streak to #4 in the nation, then take a beating at the hands of arch-rival Ohio State, led by controversial coach Urban Meyer, Harbaugh’s foil. Overtime also previews the crucial 2019 campaign ahead.Above all, this is a human story. In Overtime we not only discover what these public figures are like behind the scenes, we learn what the experience means to them as they go through it – the trials, the triumphs, and the unexpected answers to a central question: Is it worth it?From the “poet laureate of Michigan football” (according to New York Times’s Joe Drape), and one of the keenest observers of college football, Overtime offers a window into a legendary program and the sport itself that only John U. Bacon could deliver.
The Barefoot Coach
Paddy Upton - 2019
Over three years of their innovative and creative ways of coaching, the team achieved these goals, and more.Paddy’s journey included working with the South African cricket team as the cricket world’s first fitness trainer, transitioned to him becoming a mental coach in professional sport, and in 2012 became head coach of the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. Since then, he has coached five teams in thirteen seasons across three of the world’s premier T20 leagues.The Barefoot Coach is packed with Paddy’s out-of-the-box thinking and illuminating anecdotes on winning, preparation, failure and working to resolve life’s tangled knots. Inspiring, candid and unusual in its approach to coaching, and with fascinating breakaways into extreme sport, this is a must read for everyone who wishes to enhance their performance, and their lives. http://www.thebarefootcoach.net/
MVP
Rachel Van Dyken - 2019
I was the golden boy. America's Quarterback. I was everything to everyone. Always available. Solid. I can remember how something felt wrong that day. And I haven't been able to get that feeling to go away. Not when I buried my child. Not when my fiancé looked at me like I'd been the reason for it all. Not when I look in the mirror and scream at the top of my lungs. Football kept me sane. But I've lost everything. And then I got a phone call. She was in an accident. She remembered nothing. A gentleman wouldn't fight for her, wouldn't remind her of the pain. So, I let her go. I let her live her happily ever after and I took all the darkness, all the pain, all the anger. Only, the universe had a sick sense of humor. She bumped into me. She pursued me. The beautiful woman I used to call mine. She said she wanted to make me smile. She didn't know she's the reason I stopped.
The Good Groom: Texas Titan Romances
Taylor Hart - 2019
He doesn’t want to attend a Bachelor Auction, he doesn’t want to deal with his family issues, and he really doesn’t want to be forced into working with some woman who clearly doesn’t know how to help him. Not that he does! Sky Brooks only came back to Dallas to collect the money her father left for her after he passed a year ago. Too bad the man in charge of the trust won’t let her have it—unless she agrees to take on one last patient—Dax Brady. Pfft! What is she supposed to do with a cocky football player who keeps telling her to take her he doesn't need help? When Dax and Sky end up in Puerto Rico doing 'untraditional' therapy in the form of building houses for Hurricane victims, Dax is surprised that Sky isn’t like any other woman he’s ever known. When he finds himself pouring out his heart to her, he’s even more surprised, when she shares some of her own secrets. When the past comes back to haunt them, they are left with a choice--give up on forgiveness or let love conquer all.
Girl at Heart
Kelly Oram - 2019
Unfortunately, being the only girl on her high school baseball team, Charlie has always been just one of the guys.When her best friend, and secret love of her life, asks another girl to the prom, Charlie is devastated. She’s tired of being overlooked by boys because she’s not like other girls. Suffering a massive identity crisis, she decides to hang up her cleats and finally learn how to be a girl.But with only two weeks until the state championships, the Roosevelt High Ravens can’t afford to lose their star catcher. Team captain Jace King makes her a deal: Don’t quit the team, and he’ll help her become the girl she’s so desperate to be. After all, he’s got four sisters, one of whom happens to be a cheerleader. He knows a thing or two about girls. (And if he can win her heart in the process, all the better.)From the bestselling young adult author of Cinder & Ella, V is for Virgin, and the Avery Shaw Experiment comes a new sweet romance that's sure to leave you with all the feels! Girl at Heart is a clean and wholesome sports romance that will leave you with warm fuzzies and an itch to watch a baseball game.A sweet YA romance
Homegrown: How the Red Sox Built a Champion from the Ground Up
Alex Speier - 2019
The best team in Major League Baseball-indeed, one of the best teams ever-the Sox won 108 regular season games and then romped through the postseason, going 11-3 against the three next-strongest teams baseball had to offer.As Boston Globe baseball reporter Alex Speier reveals, the Sox' success wasn't a fluke-nor was it guaranteed. It was the result of careful, patient planning and shrewd decision-making that allowed the Boston to develop a golden generation of prospects-and then build upon that talented core to assemble a formidable champion. Speier has covered the key players-Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Rafael Devers, Jackie Bradley, Matt Barnes, and many others-since the beginning of their professional careers, as they rose through the minor leagues and ultimately became the heart of this historic championship squad. Drawing upon hundreds of interviews and years of reporting, Homegrown is the definitive look at the construction and ascendency of an extraordinary team.It is a story that offers startling insights for baseball fans of any team, and anyone looking for the secret to building a successful organization. Why do many highly touted prospects fail, while others rise out of obscurity to become transcendent? How can franchises help young players reach their full potential? And why, when teams invest tens of millions of dollars in young talent, are they so poor at providing them with a framework to thrive?Illustrated with eight pages of color photographs, Homegrown is the fascinating inside account of one of the greatest baseball teams ever, and a meditation on how to build a winner.
Moonlighter
Sarina Bowen - 2019
Two adversaries. Only one bed in their hotel room.I'm at the height of my hockey career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don't even know its name.Pass, thanks. I don't need a summer job.But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she's a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.So guess who's on a flight to Hawaii?It's going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we're torturing each other. It's all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector.Moonlighter is a stand-alone novel for Brooklyn Bruisers team member Eric Bayer. No cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary. Expect: a growly hero, a lady boss with no time for his attitude, and a war of wills and hormones. Bonus: a hunk wearing a baby in a sling.
One-Way Ticket: Nine Lives on Two Wheels
Jonathan Vaughters - 2019
From his early years as a keen cyclist in his hometown in Colorado to his unflinching rite of passage as a professional rider with US Postal to his elevation as one of cycling's most resilient, ethical and intelligent team bosses, the highs and lows of his career have mirrored those of the sport itself. Vaughters has had a front-row seat for most of the major events in cycling over the past three decades. He was both a former teammate of Lance and a leading witness against him. And he went on to renounce doping and start the first pro cycling team to dedicate itself to clean riding, which has grown into one of the most successful teams competing today and started a movement that has swept across the sport.This is also not simply a story of races won and lost: Vaughters shows readers how he navigated the complex, international business of building Slipstream into a world-class cycling team. Over the past decade, he has led the sport out of the scandal-plagued Armstrong era. By presenting the world with a team made of talented racers built around a rigorous approach to clean racing, he set a new standard within cycling that has since spread across the peloton. Written from the unique perspective of both a racer and a team manager, One-Way Ticket gives the complete story of what it takes to build a winning team and repair the reputation of a sport.
Playing With Attraction
Melanie Shawn - 2019
Loved. Protected.As a single mom, my son was my world.From the moment I gave birth to Anthony when I was just a scared teenager, my fate was sealed. I knew that I would do anything; sacrifice anything, to make him feel the love I'd never had. And most days, I was pretty sure I succeeded. Life hadn't always been easy. In fact, it pretty much never was. But that was fine. I had Anthony, and he had me.I was determined that he would always feel safe, loved, and cared for, even if that meant I would be alone.... I knew that the only person my son and I could depend on was the person I saw in the mirror.Until the day I met Cole Carson. And everything changed.Passion. Love. Commitment.As the Quarterback of the Los Angeles Legends, football was my world.From the moment I picked up a football as a scrawny preteen, my fate was sealed. I knew that I would do anything; sacrifice anything to make my dreams come true. And I succeeded. I was considered a legend, on and off the field. Professionally, I was at the top of my game thanks to my passion and love for it. Personally, the closest to a commitment I ever wanted to make was signing the lease on my hook-up apartment, around the corner from my favorite pick-up bar. And that was month-to-month.I wasn't cut out for love, not in the romantic sense ... I knew that my first and only love would be football.Until the minute I saw Julianna Perez. And my world turned upside down. Author's Note: Playing with Attraction was originally written for Carly Phillips Dare to Love Kindle World and released as the novella Daring Attraction. We've revised, rewritten (including changing the POV), revamped, and expanded the story to a full-length novel. It is now book one in our first ever sports series. It was SO FUN revisiting this story and updating it! Cole Carson is one of our FAVORITE heroes, we think he is majorly swoon-worthy and we're so happy that his story is back and better than ever!
The Girls: An All-American Town, a Predatory Doctor, and the Untold Story of the Gymnasts Who Brought Him Down
Abigail Pesta - 2019
For decades, in a small-town gym in Michigan, he honed his manipulations on generations of aspiring gymnasts. Kids from the neighborhood. Girls with hopes of a college scholarship. Athletes and parents with a dream. In The Girls, these brave women for the first time describe Nassar's increasingly bold predations through the years, recount their warning calls unheeded, and demonstrate their resiliency in the face of a nightmare. The Girls is a profound exploration of trust, ambition, betrayal, and self-discovery. Award-winning journalist Abigail Pesta unveils this deeply reported narrative at a time when the nation is wrestling with the implications of the MeToo movement. How do the women who grew up with Nassar reconcile the monster in the news with the man they once trusted? In The Girls, we learn that their answers to that wrenching question are as rich, insightful, and varied as the human experience itself.
The Devout Groom (Texas Titans Romance)
Lucy McConnell - 2019
(Seriously!) #3 No lies Her rules present a problem for Brad Degrand, a professional football player for the Texas Titans who has a secret he can’t share with Petra—because it’s about Petra. (And also because he's falling in love with her.) As their romance heats up and Petra slowly takes down her walls, Brad’s guilt grows. He’s falling for this single mother who fights plaque by day and stalkers and scam artists by night. But, if she knew the part he’d played in her past, she’d send him packing. When the truth comes to light, Brad has to lay everything on the line. And Petra? She has to put those Sunday school lessons to good use. Because guys like Brad don’t come along every day and losing him could be the loss of a lifetime.
Epoca: The Tree of Ecrof
Kobe Bryant - 2019
When Rovi and Pretia arrive, each harboring a secret about themselves, they begin to suspect that something evil is at play at the school. In the course of their first year, they must learn to master their grana in order to save the world from dark forces that are rising.
Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Yankee Teams in History Became the Torre-Era Dynasty
Bill Pennington - 2019
The untold story of the time when the New York Yankees were a laughingstock—and how out of that abyss emerged the modern Yankees dynasty, one of the greatest in all of sports
Dottir: My Journey to Becoming a Two-Time Crossfit Games Champion
Katrin Davidsdottir - 2019
As one of only two women in history to have won the title of “Fittest Woman on Earth” twice, Davidsdottir knows all about the importance of mental and physical strength. She won the title in 2015, backing it up with a second win in 2016, after starting CrossFit in just 2011.A gymnast as a youth, Davidsdottir wanted to try new challenges and found a love of CrossFit. But it hasn't been a smooth rise to the top. In 2014, just one year before taking home the gold, she didn't qualify for the Games. She used that loss as motivation and fuel for training harder and smarter for the 2015 Games. She pushed herself and refocused her mental game. Her hard work and perseverance paid off with her return to the Games and subsequent victories in 2015 and 2016.In Dottir, Davidsdottir shares her journey with readers. She details her focus on training, goal setting, nutrition, and mental toughness.
Boyfriend Bargain
Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2019
Broke and desperate, Sugar Ryan has no use for arrogant, bad boy athletes . . . until she’s forced to bargain with the cockiest of them all.If only he knew she was alive. Her mission? Get on this hockey player’s radar any way possible. Zack Morgan is the king of the ice and the bedroom—but nothing prepares him for the mystery girl who shows up everywhere he does—frat parties, his favorite bar, and finally his front door with an offer he can’t refuse. The only rule in her boyfriend bargain: no falling in love.But after one (um, two) smoking-hot hookups, he’s done with pretending and vows to make their fake relationship real. Too bad she can’t trust a player with a reputation for breaking hearts. Will this hockey star score his forever girl or will their Boyfriend Bargain end in heartbreak?
A standalone hockey romance.
Faceoff
Rebecca Connolly - 2019
He isn’t supposed to want her. But wanting each other is inevitable. Clint McCarthy has finally achieved his dream of playing for a professional hockey program, and is eager to make his mark with his new team. While getting settled in his new city, he happens across Bree Stone, whom he has known for years, with their respective brothers both being in the famed Belltown Six Pack. But for the life of him, he can’t remember Bree ever looking so attractive. Or being so captivating. Or taking over his every waking thought.In the middle of her graduate degree, Bree has no time or desire for working on her dating life, or lack thereof, but the impossibly handsome Clint McCarthy coming back into her life makes everything complicated. She shouldn’t be focusing on him, or on them, not when her professional future hangs in the balance. But once she hears about Clint’s past with the Northbrook Hockey Elite program, and where that program stands now, Bree just might find a way to make her career, and a future with Clint, come to life.Welcome to Northbrook Hockey Elite!
Can You Hear It
Casey Diam - 2019
The deafening roar of the crowd. Football games have been a thing of the past, ever since the love of my life died playing it. One year later, my mom decides to help me to leave it all behind. So here I am. New school. New outlook. A new me, still trying to stop the grieving, and still trying to avoid anything to do with a game I’ve come to hate.In some cruel twist of fate, I meet Ashton.I’m instantly drawn to him with no idea who he is until it all begins to make sense. His height, his physique, his long, powerful arm hurling a football. Ashton Haigen is Alpen Springs High top-notch quarterback. Suddenly, I’m back in the game I swore I would never be in again, only this time, I have a choice. But how does one choose their own heart, over the one that beats for them? How can I put my past behind me and learn to love again?#AshandAverieCan You Hear It is a standalone sports romance that takes place in senior year high school. Due to explicit content, this book is suitable for 17+
Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball's Greatest Forgotten Player
Jeremy Beer - 2019
During his prime he became a legend in Cuba and one of Black America’s most popular figures. Yet even among serious sports fans, Oscar Charleston is virtually unknown today. In a long career spanning from 1915 to 1954, Charleston played against, managed, befriended, and occasionally fought men such as Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Lefty Grove, Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Jesse Owens, Roy Campanella, and Branch Rickey. He displayed tremendous power, speed, and defensive instincts along with a fierce intelligence and commitment to his craft. Charleston’s competitive fire sometimes brought him trouble, but more often it led to victories, championships, and profound respect. While Charleston never played in the Major Leagues, he was a trailblazer who became the first Black man to work as a scout for a Major League team when Branch Rickey hired him to evaluate players for the Dodgers in the 1940s. From the mid‑1920s on, he was a player‑manager for several clubs. In 1932 he joined the Pittsburgh Crawfords and would manage the club many consider the finest Negro League team of all time, featuring five future Hall of Famers, including himself, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, Judy Johnson, and Satchel Paige. Charleston’s combined record as a player, manager, and scout makes him the most accomplished figure in Black baseball history. His mastery of the quintessentially American sport under the conditions of segregation revealed what was possible for Black achievement, bringing hope to millions. Oscar Charleston introduces readers to one of America’s greatest and most fascinating athletes.
Chasing the Bear: How Bear Bryant and Nick Saban Made Alabama the Greatest College Football Program of All Time
Lars Anderson - 2019
CHASING THE BEAR examines how they did it, revealing along the way their similarities in style, background, football philosophy, and recruiting methods, while providing readers a rare inside look at two of the greatest leaders in the history of sports.Bear Bryant and Nick Saban never met, but they have more in common than either of them realize. Both grew up in small towns -- Bryant in Moro Bottom, Arkansas, a dot on the map, and Saban from Monongah, West Virginia, population five hundred. As a child, Saban pumped gas at his father's service station, washing and waxing cars and doing anything he could to help the business. Bryant's father suffered from multiple physical ailments, which forced Bryant to work to keep the family farm going. Both men knew the value of hard work from the time they were young boys, and both understood that there were no shortcuts to success. But both dreamed of escaping their hometowns, and both used football as the means to do so.Separated by two generations, Bear Bryant and Nick Saban are mythic figures linked by a school, a town, and a barroom debate centering on one question: Which is the greatest college coach of all time?
Backstretch Girls
Dawn LeFevre - 2019
A jockey tested by tragedy. A rejected racehorse. A three million dollar race. Teagan Sullivan is a golden disappointment in the show ring. To make matters worse, her family are big deal Olympic equestrians, so she skulks off to pony Thoroughbreds at a rundown racetrack. But while she excels at equine relations, she sucks at human ones—just ask her sexy blacksmith/sleepover buddy Screaming Wolf. And if she hadn't gone and rescued that stupid jockey wannabe Anne Simmons, she wouldn't be saddled with a new roommate, a broken down racehorse and a chance to prove herself to her family at last. Born two months premature to an anorexic mother, Anne was a longshot just to survive. Now eighteen, she arrives on the backstretch with nothing but a duffel bag and Derby dreams. But the horsemen don't trust the naïve newcomer, so she's stuck ponying horses instead of riding races. She is still chasing their respect when a near-fatal accident shatters her body—and her spirit. As Anne struggles to find the courage to ride again, Teagan wrestles with her feelings for Screaming Wolf. Horse racing's richest race, the Breeder's Cup Classic, offers them both a chance at redemption. Will Teagan and Anne conquer their fears in time to claim the things that they love most?
Allez Allez Allez: The Inside Story of the Resurgence of Liverpool FC, Champions of Europe 2019
Simon Hughes - 2019
He takes them to Chapel Street, where the club’s business is determined, and to America, where it is owned. He takes them into Anfield, where many of the most important moments are defined, and he takes them on to the pitches of the Premier League and the Champions League, as we revisit how Liverpool stormed their way to the top of the Premier League this season.
Wild
Teagan Kade - 2019
Alphas. Protectors. Bad to the bone. Fall for the hottest mountain men around in a collection box set of 3 Amazon Best Sellers. Picking a favorite? Impossible. Putting the Kindle down? You won’t stand a chance! Includes Amazon top 100 titles Feral, Reckless, and Savage. Complete set with HEAs. Books included: BOOK 1 – FERAL You can’t tame a beast that’s truly wild. She’s my best friend’s sister. But I don’t see ‘off limits’. I see a challenge. Little Ava’s come home with curves in all the right places and a sassy mouth to match. She’s forbidden forest fruit ripe for the ravaging. But I’m going to take her body before I take her heart. BOOK 2 – RECKLESS My mountain, my rules. Until Federal Agent Edie Ness arrives and breaks every god-damned one of them. With her perfect curves and sassy mouth she’s going to get herself killed going after these poacher bastards. Unless I stand in their way. Because I always protect what’s mine. And she will be mine--screaming and moaning for every hard inch. BOOK 3 – SAVAGE Tame me? The Mountain King? She can try. I don’t do commitment. The only strings in my life are the lacy, hanging-off-the-bedhead kind. Getting laid is a matter of clicking my fingers. But Lexi Shane is different. Her country smile and soft curves don’t fool me. She’s hiding something… and it’s more than a great a$s. She wants the legend of Hell's Bitters, she’s going to get it The entire length of my long, hard mountain wood.
The Judge: More Than Just a Game
Robin Smith - 2019
The Judge, as he was known to all, took on some of the most dangerous fast bowlers of all time with a skill and fearlessness that ensured hero status. His savage square cut drew roars of approval from fans all around the world, especially those of his beloved England and Hampshire. But when he was prematurely dumped from the England set-up at the age of 32, he had to face his toughest opponent of all – himself. Smith suffered a debilitating loss of identity, especially when he retired from professional cricket in 2003, and struggled to deal with the contradictions in his personality. Was he the Judge, the fearless warrior, or Robin Smith, the frantic worrier?Without a support structure to transition from cricket to the outside world, Smith suffered from mental health, alcohol, marital and financial problems until he hit rock bottom and planned to take his own life. In The Judge, he revisits his experience of extreme darkness and challenges received wisdom about masculinity and mental health. He also shares the many highs and lows of his eventful international and county career, including his exhilarating battles with the West Indies and his struggles against mystery spin. And he reflects fondly on a time when cricketers worked hard and partied even harder; a time almost unrecognisable to the modern day.
Mr. Match Collection
Delancey Stewart - 2019
Match prequel novella)Scoring the Keeper's Sister, Book 1Scoring a Fake Fiancee, Book 2Scoring a Prince, Book 3Scoring wih the Boss, Book 4ANDFOUR BONUS EPILOGUES -- All new content with your favorite characters from each book!
The Hardest Hit
A.S. Teague - 2019
Mel’s the first one by my side, determined to put me back together.Ignoring my bitterness and pain, she heals more than just my injured leg and finally, there seems to be a future for us. But, Lady Luck has never been on our side.And the next tragedy that blindsides us may just be the hardest hit of all.
Dirty Secret
Mira Lyn Kelly - 2019
Something about my chronic case of resting prick face and that thing with the captain when the season started. My fist, his jaw. Yeah, we go back and not in a good way. Coach says no more “confrontational BS” or I don’t play at all. And that’s a hit my career in the NHL can’t take. So the plan is simple. Keep my head down and finish out my contract with my fists checked. There’s just one problem. Allie. The girl from Vancouver eight months ago. The one with the sexy, shy, and sinfully bold smile and the sweetest, wettest mouth I ever tasted. The girl who blew my mind and then blew out of my life without giving me her number. Turns out she’s the captain’s little sister. And even though my career depends on it... I can’t stay away from her.
K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches
Tyler Kepner - 2019
We can grip it and hold it so many different ways, and even the slightest calibration can turn an ordinary pitch into a weapon to thwart the greatest hitters in the world. Each pitch has its own history, evolving through the decades as the masters pass it down to the next generation. From the earliest days of the game, when Candy Cummings dreamed up the curveball while flinging clamshells on a Brooklyn beach, pitchers have never stopped innovating.In K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, Tyler Kepner traces the colorful stories and fascinating folklore behind the ten major pitches. Each chapter highlights a different pitch, from the blazing fastball to the fluttering knuckleball to the slippery spitball. Infusing every page with infectious passion for the game, Kepner brings readers inside the minds of combatants sixty feet, six inches apart.Filled with priceless insights from many of the best pitchers in baseball history--from Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Nolan Ryan to Greg Maddux, Mariano Rivera, and Clayton Kershaw--K will be the definitive book on pitching and join such works as The Glory of Their Times and Moneyball as a classic of the genre.
The Sixth Man
Andre Iguodala - 2019
And fresh off the Warriors' third NBA championship in the last four years, his game has never been stronger.Off the court, Iguodala has earned respect, too--for his successful tech investments, his philanthropy, and increasingly for his contributions to the conversation about race in America. It is no surprise, then, that in his first book, Andre--with his cowriter Carvell Wallace--has pushed himself to go further than he ever has before about his life, not only as an athlete but about what makes him who he is at his core.The Sixth Man traces Andre's journey from childhood in his Illinois hometown to his Bay Area home court today. Basketball has always been there. But this is the story, too, of his experience of the conflict and racial tension always at hand in a professional league made up largely of African American men; of whether and why the athlete owes the total sacrifice of his body; of the relationship between competition and brotherhood among the players of one of history's most glorious championship teams. And of what motivates an athlete to keep striving for more once they've already achieved the highest level of play they could have dreamed.On drive, on leadership, on pain, on accomplishment, on the shame of being given a role, and the glory of taking a role on: This is a powerful memoir of life and basketball that reveals new depths to the superstar athlete, and offers tremendous insight into most urgent stories being told in American society today.
The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever
Kevin Robbins - 2019
Here, Robbins brings Stewart's story vividly to life.Written off as a pompous showman past the prime of his career, Stewart emerged from a long slump in the unforgettable season of 1999 to capture the U.S. Open and play on the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team. He appeared to be a new man that summer: wiser, deeper, and on the verge of a new level of greatness. Then his journey to redemption ended in October, when his chartered Learjet flew aimlessly for more than a thousand miles, ran out of fuel, and fell to earth in a prairie in South Dakota.His death marked the end of an era, one made up of "shotmakers" who played the game with artistry, guile, finesse, and heart. Behind them were Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson, and other young players whose power and strength changed the PGA Tour forever. With exclusive access to Stewart's friends, family, and onetime colleagues, Kevin Robbins provides a long-overdue portrait of one of golf's greats in one of golf's greatest seasons.
Winner of the USGA Herbert Warren Wind Book Award
Trouser Snake (Players)
Teagan Kade - 2019
It won’t play nice, act soft, or be your BFF. But it will blow your mother-pucking mind. I’m the guy who arrives with girl A and leaves with girls B and C. A hockey rockstar. An ice-cold scoring machine. I thought coaching the NHL’s newest team would be a walk in the park. I didn’t expect the exquisite torture that is Rae Walsh. She’s a pocket rocket of a PR stunt, our latest recruit with a pretty mouth and tight little body to match. She’ll be the only woman in the league, which means she’s a) completely insane, and b) about to enter a world of pain. I don’t need that kind of distraction, not when I’m yet to prove my coaching chops. But the more I resist the more I want to pin her down and prove why I’m the best in the game. Getting together would be career suicide. I’d be risking everything to be with her, my legacy included. But sometimes the risk really is worth the reward. Sometimes you’ve got to bet everything to score BIG. Go full throttle or go the hell home with this swoon-worthy new sports romance from best-selling author Teagan Kade. Trouser Snake is a full length, standalone bad boy romance packed full of steamy surprises. There’s no cheating, no cliffhangers and a guaranteed HEA. Don’t miss it!
De Gea (Ultimate Football Heroes) - Collect Them All!
Matt & Tom Oldfield - 2019
David has had to face the pressure of expectation throughout his career, but his amazing saves have kept United in the hunt for trophies year after year, no matter the pressure. This is the story of one boy's mission to become the best keeper in the world.Ultimate Football Heroes is a series of biographies telling the life-stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world and their incredible journeys from childhood fan to super-star professional player. Written in fast-paced, action-packed style these books are perfect for all the family to collect and share.
The Savage Gentleman
Christopher Harlan - 2019
I’m the best MMA fighter in the world that you’ve never heard of, but if I have my way, I’ll be a household name soon enough. My life’s been nothing but hard training, crazy partying, and fast women, and that’s just how I liked it. No man had ever gotten the better of me inside the cage, and no woman had ever been able to slow down my lifestyle outside of it. And then it all came crashing down. When I tasted defeat for the first time in the biggest fight of my life, I was a broken man—my pride destroyed and my dreams of greatness deferred. That’s when Mila walked into my gym. When my trainer told me I had to giver her self defense lessons because she was a ‘special case’, I had no idea what he meant. All I knew was that she had a body to die for, and a face that made me forget my own name. I’d been with my share of women, but she was easily the sexiest I’d ever laid eyes on.There was only one problem—we hated each other with a passion!I thought she was whiny with a bad attitude.. She thought I was full of myself. But then something happened that changed everything between us. She gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams once again—to be a champion, to make it into the UFC, to be the savage gentleman that I was born to be.
Bedhead
Kayt Miller - 2019
Student. Dork. And a woman in love with a guy who doesn't know she exists. Cooke Thompson. British. Hottie. Rugby Star. Chick Magnet. And a guy trying to FaceChat with his old mate Maxwell Quinn. Sure, it was a wrong number but sometimes, wrong ends up being so-so right. This is a stand-alone story with an HEA. Due to coarse language and sexual situations, this book is intended for readers 18+.
Legacy and the Queen
Annie Matthew - 2019
SET. MAGIC.Game – Tennis means life and death for the residents of the magical kingdom of Nova, and for twelve-year-old Legacy, it’s the only thing getting her through the long days taking care of the other kids at the orphanage. That’s all about to change when she hears about Silla’s tournament.Set – Silla, the ruler of Nova, hosts an annual tournament for the less fortunate of her citizens to come and prove themselves and win entrance to the Academy, where they can train to compete at nationals. The prize is Silla’s favor and enough cash to keep open the orphanage, and Legacy has her heart set on both. Magic – What Legacy has yet to know is that the other players have something besides better skills and more money than she does. In Nova, tennis can unlock magic. Magic that Silla used to save the kingdom long ago and magic that her competitors have been training in for months already. Now, with the world turned against her and the orphanage at stake, Legacy has to learn to use her passion for the game to rise above those around her and shine.
Enemies
Tijan - 2019
while I made the worst decision of my life.Now I'm in Texas trying to pick up the pieces of my life.But, Stone is here.Stone is everywhere.It doesn't matter that disaster has struck my life again.It doesn't matter that he's the one trying to console me.It doesn't matter that he's the nation's newest football obsession.Because for me, he always has been and always will be my enemy.** Enemies is a 100k enemies-to-lovers football romance standalone!
Wrapped Up in You
Kate Meader - 2019
The holidays are coming and hockey player, Cade “Alamo” Burnett knows exactly what he wants for Christmas: an assurance that his happily-ever-after with Chicago Rebels general manager, Dante Moretti, stays that way. But festive gremlins are conspiring to throw a wrench in the forever Cade and Dante fought so hard for. With their personal and professional lives clashing, can they find their way back to each other — or are they destined to find only coal in their stockings come Christmas morning?This holiday novella continues the story begun in Undone by You and contains spoilers for all the Chicago Rebels novels. Fans of the series will love this check-in with a favorite couple as well as other Rebels, old and new! Includes a sneak peek of Instacrush, the next Rookie Rebels novel.The Chicago Rebels series:#0.5 IN SKATES TROUBLE (Ford and Addison)#1. IRRESISTIBLE YOU (Remy and Harper)#2. SO OVER YOU (Vadim and Isobel)#3. UNDONE BY YOU (Dante and Cade)#4. HOOKED ON YOU (Bren and Violet)#5. WRAPPED UP IN YOU (more Dante and Cade)
Mind and Matter: A Life in Math and Football
John Urschel - 2019
By the time he was thirteen, Urschel was auditing college-level calculus courses. But when he joined his high school football team, a new interest began to eclipse the thrill he once felt in the classroom. Football challenged Urschel in an entirely different way, and he became addicted to the physical contact of the sport. Accepting a scholarship to play football at Penn State, Urschel refused to sacrifice one passion for another, and simultaneously pursued his bachelor's and then master's degrees in mathematics. Against the odds, Urschel found a way to manage his double life as a scholar and an athlete, and so when he was drafted to the Baltimore Ravens, he enrolled in his PhD at MIT.Weaving together two separate yet bound narratives, Urschel relives for us the most pivotal moments of his bifurcated life. He explains why, after Penn State was sanctioned for the acts of former coach Jerry Sandusky, he turned his back on offers from Ivy League universities and refused to abandon his team, and contends with his mother's repeated request, at the end of every season, that he quit the sport and pursue a career in rocket science. Perhaps most personally, he opens up about the correlation between football and CTE, and the risks he took for the game he loves. Equally at home with both Bernard Riemann's notion of infinity and Bill Belichick's playbook, Urschel reveals how each challenge - whether on the field or in the classroom - has brought him closer to understanding the two different halves of his own life, and how reason and emotion, the mind and the body, are always working together. He asks why, "So often, people want to divide the world into two. Matter and energy. Wave and particle. Athlete and mathematician. Why can't something be both?"
Griezmann (Ultimate Football Heroes) - Collect Them All!
Matt Oldfield - 2019
Antoine grew up in the heart of France, before his talent was quickly spotted by scouts who brought him to play in Spain. Ever since then, he has blazed a trail through the Spanish top division, La Liga, for Real Sociedad and then Atlético Madrid. This is the story of a speedy striker who chased his dream to the very top, when he fired France to World Cup glory in 2018.Ultimate Football Heroes is a series of biographies telling the life-stories of the biggest and best footballers in the world and their incredible journeys from childhood fan to super-star professional player. Written in fast-paced, action-packed style these books are perfect for all the family to collect and share.