Book picks similar to
Oceans that Swim by Casey Cox
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sports
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romance
The New Neighbor
Rye Cox - 2021
His Mom and younger brother depend on him to be strong and support them, even if it meant sacrificing himself. He was resigned to being a cog in the wheel in a job he hated, until his new neighbor moves in and challenges everything.Zack didn’t do relationships. After his family cut ties with him, he vowed to stick to friendships in the future. However, when his blushing neighbor overhears him mention erectile dysfunction and balls, he can’t let the cute man leave thinking he has issues with his lower parts.The New Neighbor is book 1 of the Corio Heights series about well, the new neighbor. Join Caleb and Zack’s story as they discover that they can have more than what they resigned themselves to. It features a regal cat, hurt/comfort themes, and lots of blushing.
Duplicity
A.E. Madsen - 2022
Now, I’ve been effectively disowned by my parents, and I haven’t dated anyone in almost nine months since. According to my friend, that’s too much time to waste regretting the actions of a good for nothing jerk. Part of me wants to get back out there, but I’m not sure. She insists on setting me up on a semi blind date with her old study buddy. But when I run into him on campus, he isn’t anything like she said. Ian I can count the number of people that I’ve told I’m bi on one hand, make that one finger. I’ve never been the out and proud type. So, when Daniel approached me nervously asking about a date, I was a little surprised, but I was also on my way to soccer practice and had no time to think it through. I gave him my number so we could meet up later and we went on a date the next weekend. It was great, and he kissed me when we were saying goodbye. Then he called me Aiden. That’s my brother’s name. Did I forget to mention I’m a twin? *Duplicity is a mistaken identity romance novel with a HFN ending. Please see front matter for TW.*
Bending the Rules
Brigham Vaughn - 2022
Last season’s catastrophic knee injury sidelined him and ended the Toronto Fisher Cats’ chance in the playoffs but now he’s determined to have one final season to win the Cup before he retires.Hockey has always come first, but when fate offers him a second chance with his college crush, he’s desperate to not repeat the mistakes of his past.Rule #2: Don’t mess with fateWhen a chance meeting on a scenic train trip puts Noah back into Simon Lawrence’s life, he’s wary even though their connection is as strong as ever.Noah walked away from him once to pursue his hockey dreams and the photographer and gallery owner has been burned by long-distance relationships in the past.A future together will require braving not only the distance and time apart, but the media scrutiny that comes with dating a pro hockey player.Rule #3: Trust your heartWhen a catastrophe at the gallery hits just as the pressure of the playoffs is heating up, Noah will have to bend the rules and convince Simon that this time, love comes first.---Note: Bending the Rules was previously released as a free short story called Train to Snowhere. It has been expanded into a full-length novel and significant parts of the plot have changed.
City Boy
A.E. Wasp - 2017
He’s been playing professionally since he was fifteen. Twenty years later, he’s rich, famous, tired, and alone. And possibly gay according to his ex-wife.When a blown tire leads directly to mind-blowing sex with a motorcycle-riding white knight named Dakota, Bryce discovers he is most definitely gay. Now Bryce has a tough choice to make, follow the money to a new multimillion dollar contract, or follow his heart into the unknown?All Dakota Ryan knows how to do is grow apples. Now at twenty-four, he faces losing both his home and his livelihood in one cruel twist of fate.Then Bryce Lowery crashes into his life like the answer to all of Dakota’s prayers. He’s whispering promises to make all of Dakota’s wildest dreams come true. But Dakota knows better than to give his heart to someone who could leave, and if life has taught him anything, it’s that everyone leaves.Dakota has a choice, sit back and wait for Bryce to decide his fate, or for the first time in his life, chose what he wants his future to be.City Boy is a first time gay, fish out of water, May/December love story with a happy ending. It features snarky siblings, a dirty-talking farmer, lots of food, and big choices. (No poultry was harmed in the making of this book.)
Scoring With Him
Lauren Blakely - 2021
As a pro athlete, I have one unbreakable rule when it comes to men -- Don't date another baseball player. Good thing I haven't been tempted once in four years in the majors. Until the day a rising star walks into my locker room. Outgoing, affable, and sexy-as-sin, Grant has confidence and talent for miles. He seems to get me too, maybe because we each have our fair share of secrets and scars -- ones we'll both fight to protect. But, I've got far too much trouble in my past to want to bring any into my present. All the more reason to resist the kind of dirty deeds his lips and eyes promise. Even after I plant a scorching, hot kiss on the rookie one night after a game. Even after he sends me the world's sexiest selfie. But when Grant reveals his biggest secret, I'm so damn ready to rip up the rulebook. Turns out he's a virgin and he wants me to help him get around all the bases. The only rule? Don't fall in love with him as we go. Scoring with Him is book one in the utterly addictive Men of Summer series. This romance between two professional athletes spans five epic years and continues in Winning With Him.
Nothing Ordinary
E.M. Lindsey - 2022
What he doesn’t expect is to get into a rivalry with the volleyball coach who can’t stand him. But the more he gets to know Gabriel Bassani, the more he starts to realize his pain is a lot deeper than the surface of his skin.And Gabriel is a complicated man. He’s lived in the shadow of his MLB star brother for most of his life, his past marriage was a disaster, and he’s long-since stopped believing in love. But Ezra—persistent, beautiful, irritating Ezra—is the kind of man who refuses to give up, and Gabriel isn’t sure if he wants to beg him to stop, or beg him to keep going.Whatever they have isn’t ordinary, but then again, ordinary isn’t something either of them has ever wanted.This book features a low-angst, slow burn, enemies to lovers romance with a nervous sunshine culinary professor in his first year of teaching, a grumpy ex MLB player with a chip on his shoulder the size of Wrigley Field, a gaggle of students who enjoy making bets on the teacher’s lives, and a happily ever after that just might feel like a world record breaking home run.Nothing Ordinary is a previously released serial novel in the Hit and Run series, now with 15,000 words of revised and additional content.
Against Fate
Damian Bloom - 2020
Luckily, his hunky mentor can teach him much more than just how to write a book. Too bad it all comes with a price.By the age of twenty-three, I’ve read enough romance novels to fill up a library. My own love life is yet to start, but I’m in no rush. True love comes to those who wait, and I won’t settle for less than Happy Ever After. So what’s the point in kissing any frogs?But when my clairvoyant grandmother sees heartbreak looming in my future, I learn that life is rarely that simple. And when bestselling author Adam Allister offers to help me write my first novel, I’d be a fool to say no, even if every cell in my body warns me to stay away.After all, as long as I don’t fall for him, I’m safe. And, with a man as cynical and unromantic as Adam, that shouldn’t be a difficult task.Is he hotter than all the cover models of my favorite novels combined? Yeah. Do I sometimes forget to breathe if he looks at me a certain way? I guess…Is one smile from him enough to fill my mind up with pulse-quickening daydreams of unknown pleasures? Um, I’d rather not answer that.None of this matters, anyway. Now that I know what fate’s got in store for me, I won’t be foolish enough to put myself in harm’s way. Not when my heart is on the line.Against Fate is the slow-burn, heart-warming story of two men who learn to put their conflicting ideas of love aside in order to discover the real thing together. Peppered with extra-steamy scenes, the book is guaranteed to make you blush and swoon all the way to the Happy Ever After. This is the first book in the Prince Castle series, but it can be read as a stand-alone.
Coffee and Ink
Olivia Joy - 2021
He only ducked in to get out of the rain the first time, but now along with his new reading habit he has someone to watch. Or watch over. Benjamin Harrison is starting over after tragedy changes his life in Texas and becomes too much to bear. In Boston, he pours his heart and soul into his bookstore and the sparkly, comfortable apartment above it. When his deal to rent part of his store as a coffee shop falls through, though, Benjamin isn’t sure how much longer his dream will last. Cary impulsively offers to fund and run the coffee shop because he knows he’s found exactly what he desires, mainly in Benjamin. The boy is all jangled nerves and confusion, and Cary loves to be the kind of Daddy who gives his boy guidance as well as showering him with love. Will Cary be just the kind of man Benjamin needs and never knew how to ask for?
Catch Me If I Fall
Noah Steele - 2021
When I confessed my crush at seventeen and he pulled away, I got scared and left town without saying goodbye. Fifteen years later, we’re both back in Sugar Hills, and all I want is closure. But when he proposes a flashback tour through our friendship, all my feelings come flooding back. When our reunion leads to romance, is the fall worth the pain of losing Jasper again? JasperBy the time I realized I'm not so straight, Cole was gone, and I was confused and alone. Now I’m back home, between jobs, and looking for a second chance. I need Cole to know he was never just my best friend. The closer we get, the less I want to be without him, even knowing I’ll eventually be leaving town again for my dream job. Maybe it’s my turn to put my heart on the line so I can prove to Cole my feelings are real. I didn't know how to catch him when we were kids, but I'm finally ready for one last fall. Catch Me If I Fall is a best-friends-to-strangers-to-lovers, second chance, MM romance that also features meddling friends, a curious library cat, and a fluffy fall small town Canadian setting. It's low angst, swoony, steamy, and packed with tons of early 2000s nostalgia.
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.
Breakaway
Avon Gale - 2015
He's put his foot in his mouth a few times and alienated his teammates. Then, during a rivalry game, Lane throws off his gloves against Jared Shore, enforcer for the Savannah Renegades. It’s a strange way to begin a relationship. Jared’s been playing minor league hockey for most of his career. He’s bisexual and doesn’t care if anyone knows. But he’s determined to avoid another love affair after the last one left him devastated. Out of nowhere a one-nighter with rookie Lane Courtnall gives him second thoughts. Lane reminds Jared why he loves the game and why love might be worth the risk. In turn, Jared hopes to show Lane how to be comfortable with himself on and off the ice. But they’re at different points in their careers, and both men will have to decide what they value most.
C*ck Blocked
K.C. Kassidy - 2021
As an American actor turned heartthrob, Gray rose to superstar status as a romantic lead on a popular streaming service – but it’s getting harder to hide who he really is.To his legions of female fans, he’s a handsome, single and straight man.But it’s all a made-for-TV lie.Needing a holiday during the show’s summer hiatus, Gray books a stay at a rural Ireland B&B, where he hopes the scenery and solitude will spark creativity to finish his first screenplay. And allow him time to figure out who and what he wants to be to the world.Gruff and steady Niall O’Reardon wonders if this is all life has to offer him now that he’s retired from the Gaelic football league and has taken over his family farm in Boyle, Ireland, where hard work is simply a fact of life. A place where dreams get shoveled up along with the sheep muck. He has no illusions that he’ll find the perfect love or start a family someday.Until his new handsome American B&B guest shows up, messing with his ideas on what love is supposed to be, giving him hope that he can have it all and that perfect isn’t just a fantasy.But choices must be made, and the truth has consequences. And hearts and reputations are on the line and need to be protected.
The Life We Have
Kelsey Kingsley - 2020
That is, until the discovery of his father, Sebastian - a world renown drummer in a famous rock band.Overnight, Greyson's world had been turned upside down, taking him from rags to riches. And now, six years later, Greyson's only goal is to follow in his dad's footsteps.Except, while his father is a reformed ladies' man, Greyson is gay. And that's a secret he's not ready to let go of.But he never planned on meeting Zach.How can he keep the man he loves without disappointing the man he admires?
Whiteout
Ann Grech - 2016
What could go wrong? Or will it be the moment they get all they’ve ever wanted? In discovering their bisexuality, will Reef and Ford be brave enough to reach for each other?Pro-snowboarder, Reef Reid, is at the peak of his career. He has it all. Except the one thing he desperately wants: a lover, the white picket fence and his happily ever after. Disillusioned and exhausted, he flees to a tropical paradise to defrost.But a ticketing mishap lands him in the ski village of Queenstown, New Zealand.Stratford ‘Ford’ Wallace loves the ladies, but rarely sticks around longer than a night. Falling for a man wasn’t on the cards, but everything he knows is flipped on its head when the enigmatic Reef Reid literally drops out of the sky.When a whiteout traps them on a mountaintop neither expects sparks to ignite. They’re unable to resist each other, but will they give into temptation? Or will the avalanche that tears through the mountain end them?Whiteout is book one in Ann Grech’s international hit male/male romance series, Unexpected. Books 2 and 3 continue Reef and Ford’s story through the highs and lows of the pro-snowboarding circuit. You’ll fall in love, want to slap a certain someone or two and swoon over these two men who are made for each other.
Twice In a Lifetime
R.M. Neill - 2021
The other crushing feelings of inadequacy.Fate knew they needed each other.DominicFor the longest time, I believed we get one shot at true love. A single person that sets our soul on fire. I had that with my wife until she died, then I was lost in a dark sea of grief. In need of companionship, I decided to adopt a dog.What I found at the shelter was so much more. Micha, the volunteer, is insanely cute and ridiculously funny. He awakens feelings within me I never knew existed. Is it possible I may get a second chance at real love?MichaLove just isn’t in the cards for some people. And I’m among those unfortunate few destined to be alone. I trusted the wrong man with my heart once and had it shattered into a million pieces. I won’t make that mistake twice. Instead, I pour every ounce of my energy into building my business and trying to convince myself I’m not lonely.But Dominic could be the one to tear down the walls I hide behind. He’s the most handsome man I ever met and unbelievably kind. I know he experienced a horrible loss. Is that what’s behind his attraction to me? Or has the connection between us led to his bisexual awakening?Twice in a Lifetime is the first book in the Sheltered Connections Series. This book involves themes of hurt/comfort, bisexual awakening, and an age gap. Swoon-worthy moments, laugh-out-loud humor, and scorching chemistry make up this 70k word story. Oh, and don’t forget the cherry flavored icing.