More than just Pelé and the New York Cosmos, it lured the biggest names of the world game like Johan Cruyff, Franz Beckenbauer, Eusebio, Gerd Müller and George Best to play the sport as it was meant to be played-without inhibition, to please the fans.The first complete look at the ambitious, star-studded NASL, Rock 'n' Roll Soccer reveals how this precursor to modern soccer laid the foundations for the sport's tremendous popularity in America today. Bringing to life the color and chaos of an unfairly maligned league, soccer journalist Ian Plenderleith draws from research and interviews with the men who were there to reveal the madness of its marketing, the wild expectations of businessmen and corporations hoping to make a killing out of the next big thing, and the insanity of franchises in scorching cities like Las Vegas and Hawaii. That's not to mention the league's on-running fight with FIFA as the trailblazing North American continent battled to innovate, surprise, and sell soccer to a whole new world.As entertaining and raucous as the league itself, Rock 'n' Roll Soccer recounts the hype and chaos surrounding the rapid rise and cataclysmic fall of the NASL, an enterprising and groundbreaking league that did too much right to ignore.

    One of best romance books I've read this year." - Extremely Hot Romance Books My name is Aria and I'm just a normal girl. I go to college and work as a bank teller. My only problem is that my mother has racked up sixty thousand dollars worth of medical bills. She doesn't have a job so any extra money I make goes to her bills. When my boss, Zayden, gives me a proposition that if I agree to be his girlfriend for six months then he'll give me the money for my mom's bills I can't turn him down. The only problem is that he wants me to be more than just his girlfriend. Will I be able to stop his seduction?

    Perfect for the fans of the TV series Mr Selfridge and The Paradise. Elizabeth Pennington should be the rightful heir of Bath's premier department store through her enterprising schemes and dogged hard work. Her father, Edward Pennington believes his daughter lacks the business acumen to run his empire and is resolute a man will succeed him. Determined to break from her father's iron-clad hold and prove she is worthy of inheriting the store, Elizabeth forms an unlikely alliance with ambitious and charismatic master glove-maker Joseph Carter. United they forge forward to bring Pennington's into a new decade, embracing woman's equality and progression whilst trying not to mix business and pleasure. Can this dream team thwart Edward Pennington's plans for the store? Or will Edward prove himself an unshakeable force who will ultimately ruin both Elizabeth and Joseph? What readers are saying: 'It was so interesting to read ... I hope Rachel Brimble writes another book about these characters. Highly recommend!' Sharon Brewer, NetGalley. 'The story was a pleasure to read as the writing was so very good and easy to get lost in ... It's a captivating read that touched my heart deeply and is currently one of my top 5 favorite books to have read so far this year' Clare Roden, NetGalley. 'This story [...] brought out the fact that hard work and determination pays and that you can succeed despite the odds' Mystica Varathapalan, NetGalley.

    Knowing that 60% of spouses cheat and 50% of marriages end in divorce, she wasn't too surprised when her husband had an affair. (That he did so with a woman their daughter's age? Well, that part did sting a bit.) She just made sure she got everything in the divorce, including their lovely old Victorian house. And as soon as her middle daughter has her hipster-fabulous wedding in the backyard, she's trading it in for a condo in downtown Chicago...Well within the average market time in her area, Penny gets an offer on the house. But then life happens. Her children, her parents and her ex come flying back to the nest, all in need of Penny's emotional and financial support. Spread thin, Penny becomes the poster child for the sandwich generation, when all she really wanted to do was make managing director, buy a white couch, and maybe go on a Match.com date...

    In his book, Lampard opens up on his early years, how he dealt with the fame and fortune that has come his way since becoming a key member of the England side, his frank opinions on former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson and his manager at Chelsea Jose Mourinho, fascinating insights into Roman Abramovich and revealing tales on his current team-mates. He reveals both the privileges and the pressures of being one of the 'golden generation' of England players. He gives a fascinating inside account of World Cup 2006 in Germany, and describes the disappointment of not fulfilling the dream of bringing the biggest prize in football back to England.

    From local Madrid idol to Kop hero and European Championship winner, he talks here for the first time about the unique challenges faced in his two seasons in England, with candid snapshots of his early years in Spain and life in the North West on and off the field. Born in Madrid in March 1984, he played for his first football team at age five as a goalkeeper and signed as a professional for Atletico Madrid at 15, making his first-team debut two years later. After 200 appearances for Atletico, he was signed for a club-record 20 million by Liverpool in July 2007, and in his debut season in the Premier League became the first Liverpool player in 12 years to score 20 goals. He made his debut for Spain in 2003, has amassed over 50 caps to date, and has played in two European Championships and one World Cup. He scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2008 European Championships Final. He has an older brother and sister, and has a current personal fortune estimated at more than 14 million.

    Seemingly impervious to the pressure of a scoreboard deficit, the quarterback known as Joe Cool brought a steadying calm to every huddle, especially when the situation seemed especially dire. His reputation for miracles began to take root at the University of Notre Dame. In the 1979 Cotton Bowl, he overcame the flu, hypothermia and a 22-point deficit to lead the Fighting Irish to a stunning victory over Houston. This narrative continued in the NFL, as he engineered 31 fourth-quarter comebacks, including victories known in professional football lore as The Catch and The Drive, forever casting his career in a heroic glow.In MONTANA, acclaimed author Keith Dunnavant sketches the definitive portrait of a man who repeatedly defied the odds, on and off the field.While leading the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowl championships over a nine-year period, establishing a new standard for passing efficiency, and twice earning the league's Most Valuable Player award, Montana became the signature quarterback of the 1980s and one of the greatest ever to play the game. Overcoming his own limitations, which caused him to be underrated coming out of Notre Dame, he quickly mastered Bill Walsh's West Coast Offense, and thereby, helped reinvent offensive football.But it was rarely easy. Like the rallies he so often produced, his life was filled with the sort of tension that made his journey seem routinely dramatic: The father who pushed him. The high school coach who challenged his commitment. The college coach who very nearly squandered him. The back surgery that almost ended his career. The younger athlete who tried to take his job.Rich an anecdotal detail, insight and context, MONTANA is a powerful story about a man who was defined by his intense competitiveness, and how this intangible helped him become one of the ionic figures in football history.

    But the repercussions will last a great deal longer. Told from the perspectives of all four characters, Four is a book about love, secrets, friendship and fidelity. A story full of dilemmas, deceits and twists that will keep you guessing until the final page.

    He wants more. And he won't stop until he gets it.Katherine Clayton, divorcée and single mother of two, just sent her kids to California to spend the summer with their father. Which means it's time to let her hair down for her annual summer fling. Unfortunately, her past four summer romances have fallen flat. If she can't find a man this summer who can fulfill her needs, this year's fling will be her last.Well-endowed Greyson James is beyond frustrated with his sex life. Below the waist, he's more man than most women can handle, which has led to more than a few failed relationships. Then he meets Katherine. Unlike the others, she's undaunted by his size. In fact, it's his size that seems to excite her the most.But after one mind-blowing night of passion, neither is prepared for the wicked ride fate has in store for them. When Katherine agrees to attend a business meeting on behalf of her father, with intentions of shooting down a competitor's bid to buy her company, she's shocked to find that Greyson is the prospective buyer. He has his sights set on obtaining Katherine's company, and he'll pull out all the stops to convince her to sell. Now Katherine must decide if she can trust Greyson with not only her heart, but with her company.As the Banger Trilogy unfolds, Greyson and Katherine will wrestle with their feelings for each other, long-held family secrets will be revealed, and scandals neither could have imagined will rock them to the core. Will what they've found in each other be enough for happily ever after? Or will one passionate summer be all they share?NOTE: This book was previously published as part of the 7-book Banger Serialized Novel. While the series has been rebranded as a trilogy, and the story slightly altered to accommodate the new format, it is the same story. Please do not buy this book thinking it is a different story or a continuation of the previous Banger books. Thank you.

    Spiritual. Cunning.The violent guru.The Unholy are the sons of organized crime lords determined to rule the world. With their ruthless brand of vigilante justice, Deacon Cruz is the quiet stalker. To be a menacing outlaw or a charming, sweet talker, Deacon ignites a wild reaction everywhere. As the product of an illicit affair between an old lady from Delirium MC and the president from Reckless Rebellion MC, Deacon’s roller coasting of highs and lows started early.From running away and his prison release to learning to play for one, Deacon remains allied to both good and evil with his brand of spiritual wickedness. His mother built his character, and his father defined his violence, but his friendship with Sal Raniero tests his fortitude, forcing the uprising of a future Saint.Expect the unexpected in this brash look at the men of The Unholy. Fall for the bad boys in the SONS: Deacon Cruz (Son of Saint), Dom Gennaro (Son of Angel), Nick Cristos (Son of Cirque), and Sal Raniero as they forge friendships amidst the chaos of their destiny.

    Today it is the plaything of billionaire oligarchs, staggeringly wealthy from oil and gas, from royalty, or from murkier sources. But who are these new masters of the universe? Where did all their money come from? And what do they want with our beautiful game?In The Billionaires' Club James Montague delves deeper than anyone else has dared, to tell this story for the first time. It is part history of club ownership, part in-depth investigation into the money and influence that connects the super-rich around the globe, and part travel book as he crosses national boundaries in an attempt to reveal the real force behind modern-day football.Whilst almost always cloaked in secrecy, the billionaire owner has to raise his head above the bunker when it comes to football ownership--a rare Achilles heel that allows access to worlds normally off limits for journalists and outsiders. And so Montague criss-crosses the world--from Texas to North Shields, from Malaysia to Montevideo, from Russia to Rajasthan--to profile this new elite, their network of money and their influence that defies geographic boundaries.At its heart The Billionaires' Club is a football book, about some of the biggest clubs in the world. But it is also about something bigger: the world around us, the global economy, where the world is headed and how football has become an essential cog in this machine.

    The Hillsborough disaster was broadcast live on the BBC; it left millions of people traumatised, and English football in ruins.And the Sun Shines Now is not a book about Hillsborough. It is a book about what arrived in the wake of unquestionably the most controversial tragedy in the post-war era of Britain's history. The Taylor Report. Italia 90. Gazza's tears. All seater stadia. Murdoch. Sky. Nick Hornby. The Premier League. The transformation of a game that once connected club to community to individual into a global business so rapacious the true fans have been forgotten, disenfranchised.In powerful polemical prose, against a backbone of rigorous research and interviews, Adrian Tempany deconstructs the past quarter century of English football and examines its place in the world. How did Hillsborough and the death of 96 Liverpool fans come to change the national game beyond recognition? And is there any hope that clubs can reconnect with a new generation of fans when you consider the startling statistic that the average age of season ticket holder here is 41, compared to Germany's 21?Perhaps the most honest account of the relationship between the football and the state yet written, And the Sun Shines Now is a brutal assessment of the modern game.

    Savannah Bondurant, a marriage and relationship columnist for the Savannah Sun Times, just signed her divorce papers. Brody McAlister, the elusive and smoking hot gym boy, has finally recovered from his divorce three years ago. Be it spurred by loneliness or sheer attraction, the two slip into the sheets for a memorable one-night stand. Savannah's pesky ex-husband continues to try and worm his way back into her life, insisting they remain friends, even though he is living with his jealous new girlfriend. An up-and-coming woodworker artist, Brody has every socialite cougar in town promising him success and riches, for a price, of course. With two advice-giving older sisters, one fiercely single and one seemingly happily married, Savannah learns her parents' long and successful relationship does not come without its own secrets. Why should she believe in happily ever after? Her constant overanalyzing and skepticism bodes well in her profession as a journalist, but proves counterproductive in her personal life. Divorce, guilt, suspicion, holding on to the past—can Savannah trust in Brody to help her Let It Go...

    My ex-husband only married me for my family name and money. Now that the divorce is final, I'm ready to move on focusing on providing a happy life for our son. When my friends insisted they take me out to celebrate my new found freedom, I reluctantly agreed. I should have asked where we were going. I never imagined we'd end up in a male strip club. I was ready to leave before we walked through the doors. That is until I locked eyes with a masked dancer. His green eyes bored into me, owning me with just one look. Then when our hands touched, he made me feel things I'd never felt, and want things I'd never dared to dream.Just when my dream seemed like it was coming true, my worst nightmare became my reality. My divorce was just a useless piece of paper, and I’m afraid that not even love will be able to save me.Nash~I can't believe I'm doing this. Never did I ever think that this would be me. I'm an elementary school assistant principal, not a male dancer. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm doing this for my brother. I'm helping him keep his job. That's the only thing that's getting me through this night. That is until I lock eyes with the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. Long blonde hair, expressive blue eyes, and a body that would bring any man to his knees. Going into it I never thought this night would change my life and hers so profoundly. I have my work cut out for me. There is more than just our love at stake. I’ll put everything on the line to save her, and convince her that she's more than just a name.

    The priest tells Eddie that the body was stolen from his monastery by the Mafia. Father McHugh is accompanied by a beautiful woman Eddie swears looks just like a stripper he once fell in love with named Black Cherry.