Book picks similar to
False Start by Marianne Rice


sports
contemporary-romance
romance
contemporary

Ever After Drake


Keary Taylor - 2014
    But I got dumped that morning. Via text. And then one of my students hit on me. And the rest of the day was a complete mess. The beautifully single Mr. Drake McCain found me in my classroom, feeling sorry for myself. And not sixty seconds later he had me laughing and electricity racing through my blood.My family is broken and complicated. I literally don’t know my biological father’s name. My mother is absent and my half-brother barely knows who she is. But Drake? He’s not complicated. He’s sweet and kind and insanely adorable, and comes from a wonderful family. He is everything I want.The chemistry between us? It’s there in spades. I keep telling myself that I should be feeling really awful and depressed since I just got dumped a few days ago. But I keep getting this ridiculous smile on my face every time Drake is around and it’s kind of hard to keep telling myself that.I’m Kaylee Ray. I believe in fairy tales and happily ever after’s, and maybe the search for Prince Charming is over.Cue reality check.

The Misadventures of Catie Bloom


Brooke Stanton - 2016
    He's a player ready to settle down. Can they fake it till they make it into each other's arms? Catie Bloom dreads being found out as a hot mess. So when the high-profile domestic goddess’s supposedly perfect life is scheduled for a TV special, she’s desperate to hide the slovenly reality while she scrambles to learn to cook and find a studly pretend hubby. And with her future on the line, she reluctantly accepts the office playboy’s lifeline to help her cover up the cracks and look the part… Sportswriter Sam Harding buries authenticity behind his breezy charm. And though he knows Catie’s less-than-tidy secret, he’s frustrated when his lady’s man reputation gets in the way of intriguing the one woman who holds his heart. So when he discovers her goose could be cooked, he jumps at the chance to stand in as her handsome prince. As Catie struggles with burned offerings, her growing attraction to Sam is a grease fire waiting to happen. While Sam worries if he keeps his desires hidden for much longer, he’ll lose his opportunity to move from bogus husband to the real deal. Is their passion about to be roasted, or can they whip up a gourmet romance?The Misadventures of Catie Bloom is the hilarious first book in the Bloom Sisters romantic comedy series. It’s a dash of Sophie Kinsella’s Can You Keep a Secret, with a helping of Christmas in Connecticut, and a recipe all its own, mixed into a delicious and romantic romp. Buy The Misadventures of Catie Bloom to set a table for two today!

Drilled


Teagan Kade - 2016
     Chance ‘Gunner’ Adams –- quarterback, superstar womanizer, and panty slayer extraordinaire. He wants me. He wants me bad, but I’m not about to become another notch on his girthy bedpost. I came to Los Angeles to get away from my past, to start fresh. I don’t need trouble, especially the muscly, abs-of-marble kind. The problem? As team masseuse it’s my job to get hands on with this as*hole. I’ll be working on every hard, intimate area of his body. But if he thinks he can treat me like any other girl who stirs his pants, he’s wrong. After all, I’m a professional… right? We both want a happy ending, but sooner or later my past will catch up with me, and the Mob’s not big on mercy. I need more than a smart mouth. I need a savior -- one whose talent for mayhem doesn’t end when the fourth quarter’s over. For once in my life, I need someone who knows how to play dirty. Drilled is a full-length bad boy romance with a happily ever after and no cheating. For a limited time, it also includes bestselling novel Stroker as a bonus. FREE BAD BOY EBOOK! Sign up to my VIP list and receive a copy of Burned: A Bad Boy Romance plus special offers, ARCs, date releases and more!

By the Book Bride: Ryder


Joann Baker - 2016
    Of course, the youngest of the three Anderson brothers couldn’t hold a candle to his oldest brother’s womanizing ways. Still, he’d had his share of relationships and then some, but he’d never known true love. Until Georgia. Georgia Stevens moved to the quaint town of Devil’s Spur, Texas, to put some distance between herself and her younger, thinner sisters. She loved them, and they loved her, but maybe now that she was on her own, the dating gods would be kinder. Red-hot cowboy, Ryder Anderson, may seem like the answer to her unspoken prayers, but he’s a player. Will she be able to read between his lines and find true love?

Club Privé: Book I


M.S. Parker - 2014
    Is he stalking her, or is it fate?Despite telling herself that she doesn't have time for a relationship, she finds his persistent attention flattering, and can't help but be attracted to those deep blue eyes. An evening of fun and dancing turns into the most incredible night of her life, and she still doesn't have a clue about Gavin. All she knows is he's an amazing lover.Don't miss Book 1 of the hottest erotic romance series of the year, but be warned – you might need a cold shower after this one.

Jaded Billionaire


Jill Snow - 2018
     Ethan Thomas is disillusioned after selling his company for billions and discovering all the people he cared about are now only interested in him for his money. Needing to get away, he heads to a campground in Sweet Mountain, Montana. It’s the off-season and he is assured all the other cabins will be empty. He’s after complete solitude which is why the last thing he needs is a city-slicker faux camper in the cabin next door. Especially one who doesn’t even know how to boil water over an open fire. Lily Ryder doesn’t even know how to boil water over an open fire. Or on a stove for that matter. But she can’t pass up the opportunity for a big promotion at the newspaper where she works. All she has to do is spend one week at a campground and she’ll steal the job right out from under the nose of her rival. Camping, even in a cabin, turns out to be a lot hard than she expected, but the last person she’s going to turn to for help is the Neanderthal that almost shot her dog. They could just ignore each other, but Sweet Mountain is hiding a secret, one that could change both their plans forever.

The Billionaire Deception


Holly Rayner - 2015
     Erin Summers is delighted; with an interview for a role within the prestigious Hunter Corp sealed, she's one step closer to fulfilling her life-long goal. Erin, however, has a secret. She's no ordinary applicant... Born Adele Morgan, the daughter of the late Sean Morgan, and rightful heir to the Hunter Corp business empire, Erin and her family were screwed out of her birthright by the nefarious and ruthless businessman James Hunter. Now, with a credible back-story and a route to infiltrate the company, Erin can finally take back what's hers. With her plans finally coming to fruition, her continued association with Seth, James Winters' handsome, charismatic son and heir - albeit an heir to a stolen business - throws her ambitions and ideals into turmoil. Caught between conflicting desires for the man she finds irresistible, and the livelihood and birthright she feels is rightfully hers, Erin has some tough decisions to make...

Control


Suzanne Halliday - 2018
    Good, old-fashioned, heart-thumping, panty melting, lady boner smut. There’s a fancy box on my desk filled with letters from readers, eager to share their sinful escapades like the character in my first book! Each of the naughty writings in my fancy box is a tale worth telling, so I started weaving stories around the titillating confessions. Even though names have been changed to protect the innocent, these are the stories as presented to me along with some wicked embellishments. CONTROL is the sexy, dirty love story of Adam and Emily. For this hot couple, a mutual attraction led to her awakening and the fulfillment of all his alpha dreams.

Charade


Jade C. Jamison - 2017
    Definitely no sex required.Erica Larson had dreamed of being a lawyer for as long as she could remember, but the job at Ford & Associates—a family business run by a father and his three sons—is sheer drudgery. Erica is ready to pull up stakes and move home—until devilishly handsome but arrogant Brock Ford, the youngest son, makes her an offer she can’t refuse.Play his fiancée for a month...maybe two, because his future with the firm depends on deception.Just attend a function here and there.No kissing and definitely no sleeping together.Well...maybe one kiss.Or two.And, before Erica knows it, she’s doubting if she can distinguish between fiction and reality, because her heart can no longer tell the difference. Can she stop herself from becoming a victim of his charm before it’s too late?

My Favorite Love


G.L. Snodgrass - 2016
    Go to a normal school. Maybe meet a nice boy. The Last thing she expected was to be the pretend girlfriend of Jason Turner.Jason needs a pretend girlfriend to keep the high school drama as far away as possible. Amber Johnson needs the social acceptance being Jason’s girlfriend would give her.It’s only for a few weeks. Just long enough to get everyone to back off. Amber quickly learns though. There is nothing worse than pretending to be in love with someone you already love.

Be My Love


Lucy Kevin - 2014
    and five beautiful, close-knit sisters who are each about to find their one true love.After four years on the Seattle mainland, when Hanna Walker returns to Walker Island to make a documentary about the infamous Peterson-Walker feud from the early 1950s, she’s shocked to realize that passions still run high. Especially when it comes to Joel Peterson, the one man who is totally off-limits… but that she’s never been able to stop dreaming about. The last thing Joel wants is for Hanna to dredge up the past, but when he realizes she’s determined to follow through with her documentary no matter what, he knows he has no choice but to join her. But despite vowing to hold back his growing feelings for her, as Joel works with Hanna to unravel the mystery of what really happened between their two families, he soon begins to see that love is an unstoppable force… and that sometimes two people are meant to be. BE MY LOVE is the first fun, sweet, and emotional contemporary romance in the Walker Island series from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, Lucy Kevin.

Hot Renovations


Kristen Kelly - 2017
    If someone told me six months ago, I would be visiting a cave one hundred and fifty-six feet underground in the pitch dark and that the journey would change my life forever, I would have bet odds on my having a panic attack and possibly not living through the experience. Add a hot sexy stranger to the mix and the fact I wanted to rip his clothes off the minute I laid eyes on him … and nearly did … in the middle of a public tour, I'd say you were certifiably insane. The hard brush of his lips and the way he's packed into those tight mouth-watering trousers, set my mind racing out of control. It's just sex though. Raw. Carnal. Bone-melting sex. That voice. It drives me crazy. A few choice words spoken in that deep Southern drawl, and currents of electricity sizzle up my spine. In a single kiss, he's brought me to my knees. Literally. As the most sought after house reconstruction designer in all of Albany NY, Sam lives 11,000 miles away and that is the way I like it. I retain complete control in this relationship. No expectations. No ties. A contract with my very own escape clause. Only one problem. My heart never signed on the dotted line however.

Stay With Me


Kelly Elliott - 2016
    Only people who have never lost anyone they loved with all their heart can blindly believe those words. What if I didn’t want to move on? What if I wanted to wake up every morning with that familiar ache in my chest, knowing I’d never see her again? But, life can change in a moment.I knew that better than anyone … So, when I couldn’t get those mesmerizing green eyes out of my head, I decided to do something about it. Would one night with her be enough, or would my heart decide it was finally time to move on from the past?

The Inn by the Cove: A Sweet, Small Town Romance


Ellen Joy - 2021
    So, why can’t she just hate him?Previously published as "Inn with You."Zoe has dedicated her life to working at the family inn, where she lives with her son, but the business has fallen on hard times. She has ideas about how to turn things around; but, her father owns the place and he’s stuck in his ways.To make matters worse, Zoe learns that her father has a silent partner, Ethan’s father. Ethan has a trust fund, but Zoe’s not impressed when he comes to town with his own ideas about what’s best for the inn, as well as an ultimatum from his father. If the inn doesn’t start turning a profit, he’ll force a sale.Tensions rise as the two struggle to agree on anything. But, neither can deny that they’re starting to fall for one another. As Zoe and Ethan struggle with their feelings, and their plans to save the inn, Ethan realizes he can’t carry out his father’s wishes without risking whatever it is he has with Zoe.Will Ethan help Zoe save the inn or will family obligations get in the way? Enjoy this first in series, enemies to lovers romance!Then, once you fall in love with Camden Cove, you can enjoy the rest of this sweet, shoretown romance series:The Inn by the CoveThe Farmhouse by the CoveThe Restaurant by the CoveThe Christmas Cottage by the CoveThe Bakery by the CoveAlso, check out Ellen Joy's sweet western romance series, Prairie Valley:Her Second Chance CowboyHer Next Door CowboyHer Pretend CowboyHer Fresh Start CowboyHer Christmas Cowboy Her Last Chance Cowboy

Mr. Mistake: A Fake Marriage Romance (Mr. Mistake Series Book 1)


Karice Bolton - 2019
    Wrong?Those were the words that shaped Tessa Berry's entire dating life the moment she vowed with her best friends in high school to never date a bad boy. Each of them took a pledge to never date a Mr. Wrong...and Morgan McKenzie was Tessa's wrong.But when her best friends bring up the pact and come up with a challenge to go after their Mr. Wrongs before they turn thirty, Tessa realizes they're all in over their heads and Tessa must teach her friends a lesson.But when Tessa's Mr. Wrong becomes her fake fiancé, she wonders if she made the biggest mistake of her life.After all, love isn't a fake emotion, even if the relationship is, right?