Book picks similar to
First Score by Lyssa Lemire


college
sports-romance
sports
hockey

Chasing Sunshine


Hannah Gray
    Get drafted into the NFL and escape the shadow of his spiteful father. Eyes forward, no distractions. That is, until Cameran Steele crashes into his life, and suddenly, all of those self-made rules get thrown out the window after one look into her sad blue eyes. He knows she’s running from something, and he wants to be her escape. But what happens when the one who might be his exception pushes him away?Cameran Steele has experienced her fair share of tragedy and heartache. When she lost her parents at the age of seventeen, she thought it couldn’t get much worse. Boy, was she wrong. After escaping her own personal hell four years later, she finds herself at New England University, eager for a fresh start. Her eyes are on the prize—graduation and a better life for herself. Nothing can get in her way. But when a cocky and persistent football player sets his eyes on her, she struggles not to give in. She knows he’s the one without a doubt in her mind. But sometimes, even the right one comes along at the wrong time.

The Captain


Josie Blake - 2021
    I can take care of myself, as demonstrated by my acceptances to a handful of elite music graduate programs. So what if funding my success has meant sacrificing my college social life?That’s why Cord’s offer is perfect. The hot hockey star has playoffs coming up. He doesn’t have time for girls, especially his cheating ex who’s determined to get back together with him. He needs to focus on his game, so he asks me to divert the attention—as his fake girlfriend.I pretend to be in love with him and get a taste of the party life before graduation. Cord is free to concentrate on hockey. But when the line blurs between what’s real and what’s fake, can we create our own fairy tale ending?

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.

Big D


Stephanie Brother - 2016
    Tall and broad, with muscles so thick and good that all I can think about is getting a grip on his biceps and squeezing. Then there’s the other reason. All the girls talk about it. I’m not sure how everyone knows he’s hung like a horse but they do. I try not to think about it because he’s a popular football player who everybody knows and I’m just the work-focused history major who likes to stay mostly invisible at school. But when my professor pulls me aside and asks if I’d be willing to tutor a failing student, suddenly it’s impossible to ignore. I’m going to be teaching Big D. If he doesn’t pass he’ll be off the team and they can’t win without him. We’re going to be together night after night, well, the ones I’m not working. I have two big secrets you see. Huge enough that I know for sure that I’m not right for Big D, even though I wish I was. In my fantasies I imagine finding out if he really does live up to his name, but when trouble heads in my direction again, Dominic Ramsey might be the only one that can keep me safe. Big D is a standalone Sports Romance with a happy ever after. It also features HUGE - A Stepbrother Romance for your continued reading pleasure! Enjoy!

Pucking Parker


Jillian Quinn - 2020
    In the men’s locker room, of all places.As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Mr. MVP gave me one of his killer smirks, right before dropping his towel in front of me. Just to prove a point. That no woman can resist him. Not even me.Now, he keeps finding ways to see me, touch me. And I find myself wanting to break my dad’s rules about his players. Rules I never break for a reason. Because falling for a player like Parker… was never part of the plan.

Hate to Love You


Jennifer Sucevic - 2018
     Brody McKinnon is Whitmore University's star defenseman destined for NHL greatness. He made a name for himself playing juniors before gracing us with his esteemed presence. As much as it pains me to admit it, he’s exploded at the college level. While other girls fall all over themselves trying to gain his attention, I do my best to steer clear just as I would a particularly nasty case of crabs. For reasons I can't fathom, Brody takes great pleasure in messing with me. And I, in return, enjoy slicing him to ribbons with my razor-sharp tongue. You'd think after three years, he'd learn to keep his distance. No such luck. Unfortunately for me, I’m about to experience the worst week of my life. It starts with my ex-boyfriend announcing at a party that I’m a lousy lay. He’s the hockey-playing jerk I dated last year who left a bad taste in my mouth (*eyeroll* seriously…get your mind out of the gutter). Want to guess who rides in on his trusty white steed to rescue me? Or should I say, opens his big mouth? Yep, you guessed it. Brody freaking McKinnon, the guy I love to hate. He only makes matters worse by telling everyone that we’re together and then punching Reed in the face. The first…I plan on strangling him for. The second…I’m only sorry I didn’t get to Reed first. Now I’m stuck fake-dating Brody, the one guy who makes me feel like a rabid dog on a choke chain, for the foreseeable future. I guarantee we won’t last more than seventy-two hours without me killing him. *This is a mature New Adult novel with strong language and sexual situations intended for readers over the age of 18*

Boarded by Love


Toni Aleo - 2014
    Hockey’s in my blood, and not to sound full of myself, but I’m good at it... really good. The draft is within my reach — it’s mine to take — but that’s not the only reason people know my name. They know me because of my way with women. They know the score, and I aim to please. I just tend to stay away from repeat performances. In other words, I don’t do relationships beyond my family and friends. I’m happy with life. However, I should warn you that my story and how I see it playing out is about to change due to a certain redhead on campus.She’s beautiful. Stunning. Breathtaking.She’s my game changer.***He’s trouble from the moment I see him. I don’t know what I’m thinking, but from the moment I meet his gaze, I’m his. It’s a scary feeling.I’ve never trusted anyone outside my aunt and uncle — and even that took months. I didn’t have it easy growing up. My mom was usually strung out, and she didn’t give me a second thought. Drugs and the men who paid her were more important to her. It was horrible, but I’m stronger today. Because of my past, security is what I need most. Money assures me that I can take care of myself today, tomorrow, and next month. I don’t want to ever be hungry or go without again, so I work hard for every penny.Oh, by the way, I’m Claire Anderson. I’m a hard-studying sophomore at the University of Bellevue, dancer for the school dance team, and a burlesque dancer at a club, but that’s my secret.You may think you know how our story ends, but you have no clue. It’s not easy falling in love… or living happily ever after. At first it may seem so, but when is anything worth having ever won without a fight?Especially when you’re boarded by love.

Tutoring the Delinquent


Jessa Kane - 2021
    Family issues and scrapes with the law have his grades suffering and now he has no choice but to be tutored, otherwise he'll be benched for the championship game. Little does Teddy know the possessive wave that will swallow him whole when he takes one look at Iris Stirling, the quiet campus genius. His methods of keeping Iris are nothing short of extreme. But are they so extreme he'll drive her away?

Tackled


Sabrina Paige - 2016
     
Cassie 
I can’t stand jocks. And I don’t know the first thing about football.
 So it’s just my luck that the tutoring job I take to get me through graduate school involves making sure a dumb jock passes his classes.
 Now, I’m babysitting Colton King, a spoiled arrogant player who’s as famous for his bedroom antics as he is for his football skills.
 The tight end with the filthy mouth tells me he’ll show me that everything’s bigger in Texas. 
And heaven help me, I just might be considering it. 
* * * 
Colton 
My life is one big party, and that’s never going to change.
 Not even if my coach finds me a nerdy tutor he thinks will keep me in line. Miss Goody Two Shoes is uptight, high-strung, and unimpressed by the fact that I’m a campus legend.
 Even worse, the hot little tutor is as pure as the driven snow. 
Debauching her and making her mine is the ultimate challenge. And I always rise to the occasion. *This is not a football-heavy story, so if you're not into sports, don't worry! It's light on the sports and heavy on the steam!*

The Year We Fell Down


Sarina Bowen - 2014
    The boy she loves has someone else. What now? She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead. Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He's way out of Corey's league. Also, he's taken. Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the "gimp ghetto" of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands. They're just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she's falling. Hard. But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won't, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness -- one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who's afraid to love her back.

Push the Envelope


Rochelle Paige - 2013
    Boys haven't been on her radar for a couple years after a disastrous breakup with her high school sweetheart. Her plans to focus on school hit a bit of a snag when she meets bad-boy Drake Bennett and he sets his sights on making her his own. Drake transferred to Blythe College for the rugby team, not for a new assortment of college girls. He's sexy and cocky, and he attracts women like moths to a flame. When he meets Alexa, Drake knows he's met his match. She tries to resist him, but Drake isn't used to taking no for an answer.This does not have a cliffhanger.Warning: 18+ due to sexual content

Little Lies


H. Hunting - 2020
    You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords.And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.A standalone angsty new adult romance. Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )

Stud: A College Football Romance


Michaela Scott - 2017
    He's college football's biggest running back.In every sense of the word.But the only way he's going to lead us to a championship is if I'm his next big score...Logan Wolfe is a football god.He's also a cocky, arrogant jerk with a filthy mouth and muscles in places that shouldn't even be possible.And for the rest of the season, I have to pretend to be his girlfriend.It was the only way to save him from getting kicked off the team.Now our whole school thinks we're in love.And Logan thinks I secretly want him just as bad as he not-so-secretly wants me.He swears that by the end of the season, he's going to have me begging for more.But I won't give in.No matter how dirty he gets, or how aggressively he tries to make me his, I can't actually jump into bed with him.Because if I do, this nerdy freshman girl just might fall for the school stud.***Stud: A College Football Romance is a full-length, standalone sports romance with no cliffhangers or cheating and an HEA at the end!  For a limited time, the Kindle edition includes Beast: An MMA Stepbrother Romance, a full-length, standalone bonus novel!***

Player


E. Cleveland - 2020
    Or that he's a legend on skates.And, yeah, I know it's a double entendre. I'm well aware of his reputation for hooking up with half the girls at Westbury. I've had a front row seat to the bunny parade.Still, I won't call him Player. That's not who he is to me. That's never who he's been to me. He's Noah Foster. My best friend. The boy I grew up with. The guy who knows me better than anyone.Well, except there is one secret I've never told him. I haven't exactly been open with him about how I'm still a card carrying member of the V-card-club.But, when Noah needs me to tutor him for his exam, I get an idea. What if I teach him a little science, and the Player teaches me how to play?

Shameless King


Maya Hughes - 2018
    Voted Biggest Flirt. Highest goal scorer in Kings of Rittenhouse Prep history. Everyone’s impressed, well except one person…After a blow out in high school, Makenna Halstead and I were happy to never have to cross paths again. Except life has a way of knocking you straight in the teeth with a puck when you least expect it. She hasn’t just returned to my life, she crashed into it like a wrecking ball...into my college kingdom, into my class, and smack dab into the seat next to mine. My new lab partner to be exact. For years we hated each other... I may be King on the ice, but she is the Ice Queen. She has no problem calling me out, doesn’t back down, and her piercing blue eyes have me picturing more than than just my arms wrapped around her. Now we’re stuck with each other and there’s no getting around that fact that we have to work together. My hockey career hangs in the balance. Problem? Oh, yeah.I can’t deny it. I want her. More than I ever thought I could want a woman. I’ve got one semester–only four months–to convince her everything she thought about me was wrong. Will my queen let me prove to her I’m the King she can’t live without? Only one way to find out...