Book picks similar to
First Score by Lyssa Lemire


college
sports-romance
sports
hockey

Forbidden Puck


June Winters - 2017
    But success runs in the family and Ella, a fiery and self-made interior decorator, never wanted to settle for anything less than a quality man. But another disappointing breakup has Ella flirting with idea of a meaningless fling – because this whole v-card business has gone on for way too long. When Ella visits her brother Lance for the weekend, she finds herself all alone with his teammate, Ryan. The rugged hockey star is tall, chiseled and gorgeous – and based on his past, he won't get attached. It's a nice fantasy... but Ella isn't the type of girl to sleep with her brother's best friend. That's what she keeps telling herself, anyway... Live by the code, die by the code. On the ice, tough guy Ryan Ryder enforces the code of the game with his fists. And he won't let anyone mess with the team's superstar center, Lance Couture. Ryan might sleep around, but he knows to keep his distance when Lance's sister visits the two roommates at their Boston condo. The code has a rule about family members, after all: they're strictly off-limits. Not that Ryan's worried about breaking that rule – he's already heard an earful about how insane his best bud's younger sis is. But Lance never said anything about Ella being a cute babe with an adorable laugh. And he definitely never said anything about how she's finally ready to lose her v-card... But if Ryan can't keep his hands off Ella, not only will he stab his best friend in the back – he'll ruin everything he's worked for. So why can't he get that girl out of his mind? Forbidden Puck is a 60,000 word, slow-burn hockey romance! This stand-alone novel is the first entry in the Boston Brawlers series. Narrated in alternating first person. No cheating, no cliffhanger, HEA guaranteed.

Famous Last Words


C.W. Farnsworth - 2021
    In its liquid form. The chlorinated kind she swims in. The perennial droplets soaking her adopted hometown. The waves she ventures out on to observe the ocean. Water in its frozen state holds no appeal to her. That’s not the only—or most divisive—difference between her and Conor Hart. The arrogant, arresting captain of Holt University’s hockey team spends every second not picking fights or partying atop a sheet of it.Plenty of girls fall for the charming lines and that cocky smirk. Harlow knows better. Knows more.The fuel for the fury that makes him such a dominant force on the ice. The reason he ignores her as resolutely as she pretends he doesn’t exist. The history they share but didn’t write. Knowledge meant to ensure he’s the one guy she could never—would never—like, much less love. Famous last words.

Full Measures


Rebecca Yarros - 2014
    That’s why Mom hadn’t opened the door. She knew he was dead." Twenty years as an army brat and Ember Howard knew, too. The soldiers at the door meant her dad was never coming home. What she didn’t know was how she would find the strength to singlehandedly care for her crumbling family when her mom falls apart. Then Josh Walker enters her life. Hockey star, her new next-door neighbor, and not to mention the most delicious hands that insist on saving her over and over again. He has a way of erasing the pain with a single look, a single touch. As much as she wants to turn off her feelings and endure the heartache on her own, she can’t deny their intense attraction. Until Josh’s secret shatters their world. And Ember must decide if he’s worth the risk that comes with loving a man who could strip her bare.

Player


Natalie Rios - 2017
    Player. Ready to score. Theo Montgomery is Carlton University's most promising student athlete – and it’s biggest player. Confident, charming, and handsome as sin, there isn’t a single girl on campus who is immune to this quarterback. Except Allie. ​ Smart. Sassy. Not interested. Allie Perez can’t stand jocks. Especially the spoiled, cocky, womanizing types like Theo. She could have gone her entire college career without ever seeing his smarmy smile again. Except…they’ve been paired together for a major class project. ​ The solution seems simple: set their differences aside for the sake of their grades. Until one bet changes everything. ​ She thinks he's the last guy she should fall for. He's determined to change her mind. What happens when the one person you hate becomes the one person you can't live without? An enemies to lovers romance filled with heat, snark, and a dash of football.

Breakaway


Ali Parker - 2016
    He’s hard-hitting, rough and puts up with very little. He’s kept to himself throughout his years at Providence University, but it’s time to train the next man up in line for his position. His second on the Hockey team has a twin sister that catches everyone’s eye and leaves most of the guys acting like idiots, but Lucas isn’t interested. Girls are too needy, too catty and a pain in butt. Plain and simple. Aubrey Moore’s had her eye on the captain of the hockey team for the last few years since her brother, Jayce joined the team. He’s known for being a complete jerk, but Aubrey’s had the pleasure of seeing around the edges of his personality and wants to know him more. Now she just has to figure out how to help him breakaway from being so jaded and join her in the best adventure anyone could embark on -love. 18+ Explicit sexual content, possible foul language and violence. **HEA - these novels are all within the Pro-U series, but are about different couples at the university and should stand-alone.

Jersey Girl


Rhonda James - 2016
    Now that his dream of signing with the Detroit Red Wings has come true, his goals for senior year are simple: Work hard. Score big. Stay away from love. And then he meets her. There's just one problem. She's the sister of his best friend, and he’s been warned that she’s off-limits…Cassie Rivers is a musician desperately in need of a do-over. Leaving the past behind, she transfers to GLU in search of something, or someone, that inspires her. And then she meets him. Her brother's best friend and teammate. But according to the Bro Code he's supposed to be off limits…You’ve heard what they say about forbidden fruit… One taste is more addictive than one of them is ready to admit. Will he keep skating away from love? Or has this player finally found his Jersey Girl?

The Rivalry


Nikki Sloane - 2017
     He’s good with his hands, even better with his sexy mouth, and the best at making me forget my own name. His—ahem—stats are perfect. But I can’t fall for him. He might be everything I want, all rolled into a glorious package of gridiron god, but there’s one teeny-tiny problem. The vile, loathsome team I’ve spent my entire life hating—my beloved school’s arch-rival? This guy is their star player.

Blitzed


Lauren Landish - 2016
    I brought her back to meet you.” I’m normally not into jocks, but when Troy Wood asks me out, I feel like I’m the Chosen One. After all, he’s hot as hell and Silver Lake’s best athlete, practically the King of Campus. God’s gift to women—that’s what they call him, but I’ll make a gentleman out of him. Everything is perfect, and he already practically has his ticket to the Big Leagues. There’s just one little problem . . . I’m hiding a secret that could destroy him and his future. I can’t tell him . . . I can’t tell him that I’m pregnant with his baby. **Blitzed is a full-length romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger!

Kicked


Celia Aaron - 2016
    Perfect-Has-Everyone-Fooled Carrington.He’s the star quarterback, university scholar, and happens to be the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. He shines at any angle, and especially under the Saturday night stadium lights where I watch him from the sidelines. But I know the real him, the one who broke my heart and pretended I didn’t exist for the past two years.I’m the third-string kicker, the only woman on the team and nothing better than a mascot. Until I’m not. Until I get my chance to earn a full scholarship and join the team as first-string. The only way I'll make the cut is to accept help from the one man I swore never to trust again. The problem is, with each stolen glance and lingering touch, I begin to realize that trusting Trent isn’t the problem. It’s that I can’t trust myself when I’m around him. This is a full-length, sweet, hot, safe, standalone American football romance novel.

Breakaway


Catherine Gayle - 2013
    He can’t lose focus now—not with his career on the line. But when his best friend’s little sister makes him an offer he can’t refuse, Eric could lose the drive the team relies on from their captain.Still in a downward spiral after a life-altering event in college, Dana Campbell is desperate to try anything to break away from the horror of that fateful night—even enlisting the help of the only man she trusts completely.No matter how irresistible she is or how tempting the offer, Eric might not be able to cross that line—especially with the team’s chance at the playoffs on the line. Now, Eric has to take one last shot, but will he choose Dana’s Breakaway chance at happiness or the move that could secure his career?

Play


Holly S. Roberts - 2013
    The pre-season jock party isn’t her scene, but she’s roped into attending to provide her sister a sober ride home.Hiding in the kitchen to avoid an athletic sex fest, a drunken football player forces Rebecca to her knees, and thrusts his crotch in her face. Before Rebecca can extricate herself from the demeaning situation, an unknown champion saves the night. When Killian assists Rebecca off the floor, she’s stunned into silence while staring at the sexiest man alive.Will Killian’s bad boy rep and Rebecca’s need for commitment, make this the most impossible “Play” of the season? Or, will Killian’s haunting past and need for victory destroy the most important game of his life?

The Not-Outcast


Tijan - 2020
    I was an outcast.He was best friends with my stepbrother, that same stepbrother who hated me.His two parents loved him. My mom was a junkie. My dad barely knew me.Years passed.I got my life together.Cut went onto NHL stardom.Then there was a text.I was drinking.There was a party.Cut was there...I loved Cutler Ryder since the first moment I saw him.The only problem? He never knew I existed.

Not Yet


Laura Ward - 2014
    Lesson #1: Nothing goes the way you plan.Lesson #2: You can’t trust men. Especially not the pretty ones.Lesson #3: Turns out, appearances are almost always deceiving.Emma thinks she has life all figured out, and what she knows isn’t good. For years, she’s put her big sister, who was born with Down syndrome, first. Now Emma’s ready to start her own life, but fate has other plans. To do the right thing for the sister she loves, Emma’s dreams will just have to wait.She doesn’t plan on meeting Landon — a rich, flirtatious jock, who never has to wait for anything. Not for attention, not for money, and certainly not for girls. Meeting Emma marks the first time in his life that he’s had to fight for something. And Landon doesn't know how to lose.Emma has no interest in wasting her summer with a superficial guy like Landon. But very soon she realizes she is wrong about him. The question is, can she trust him? Or will he let her down like every other guy in her life? But most importantly, can Emma trust herself enough to live the life she's always dreamed of?Life has a way of sneaking in the most important lessons when you aren't looking. And once the heart gets involved, that's when the real learning begins. *** This book is intended for mature audiences. 18 and over!

Roommates with Benefits


Nicole Williams - 2017
    He’s the epitome of the “bad boy, good man” persona. The best of both worlds. The worst of them too. He’s the type of guy most girls wouldn’t mind sharing a confined space with, except my new roommate isn’t all swagger and chiseled abs. He’s bossy. Messy. Cocky. Infuriating. Doesn’t believe in personal space. Has no qualms about roaming the apartment with a loincloth-sized towel cinched around his waist. Seems under the delusion he’s my personal protector (refer back to infuriating). He plays college baseball and holds down a part-time job—I don’t know where he finds the time to get on my nerves. We have nothing in common . . . except our attraction to one another. And in six hundred square feet of shared space, the tension only has so much room to grow before one of us gives in to temptation. But really, what chance do a couple of young kids chasing their dreams in the big city have of making it?Since Soren claims I know squat about sports (he might have a semi-point), here’s a stat for him—one in a million. That’s our odds.

Power Plays & Straight A's


Eden Finley - 2020
    Keep an eye out for his best friend on campus and keep my hands to myself.Easy.Even if Zach is a quintessential nerd, who I’ve always thought was cute, I don’t have the time to think with my … stick.There’s only one stick I should be focused on this year, and that’s my hockey stick. My goal once I graduate is to get an NHL contract.The last thing I need is a distraction. On or off the ice.Only, keeping to the rules is harder than I thought it would be. ZACHPeople confuse me.And no one more than Foster Grant.I’ve barely spoken two words to him in the whole time I’ve known him, but the second I step foot on campus, he’s impossible to shake.I can never anticipate his next move. And whenever we’re together, my next move is a total mystery as well.I want to give in to him, but that might mean coming clean about something I’ve never been bothered about before.I’m still carrying my V-card.And I think it’s time to turn it in.