Book picks similar to
Playing the Game by Stephanie Queen
romance
sports
contemporary-romance
contemporary
The Real Thing
Diana Fraser - 2017
There is no way she’s going to get involved with a commitment-phobe again.Guy takes the concept of a commitment-phobe to a whole new level—but with good reason. He’s been running from his emotions since his wife’s death. But their lives become entwined when Lucia proves his ‘forgery’ is genuine and reveals a mysterious past from which neither can escape…The Real Thing is the first book in The Mackenzies series.—The Mackenzies—Book 1—The Real ThingBook 2—The PA's RevengeBook 3—The Marriage TrapBook 4—The Cowboy's CravingBook 5—The Playboy's RedemptionBook 6—The Lakehouse CaféYou've met the Connelly family in The Lakehouse Café, read their stories in my new series—New Zealand Brides.—New Zealand Brides—Book 1—Yours to GiveBook 2—Yours to TreasureBook 3—Yours to Cherish
Shh!
Stacey Nash - 2015
She has it all, until Christian breaks up with her in public, calling her out as a self-gratifying sexoholic: the kind that plays solo. But Olivia doesn’t masturbate all night — the only thing she does is sleep … right?Now all the boys on campus seem to want her attention for the absolutely wrong reason — including resident hottie, Logan Hays. He's pulling out his best moves to gain her attention, so resisting his sexy charm is hard work. With rapidly slipping grades, a disturbingly lurid reputation and demanding parents, Olivia must discover the truth behind her rumoured sleeping problem. If she doesn't, the perfect life she's worked so hard for may slip away, including the one person who has Olivia breaking all her rules — Logan.What do you do when you’re asleep?***Shh! is a story about acceptance, learning to trust and in turn love while facing life's unexpected difficulties.NB: This book is of a mild heat level, and contains no sex scenes.
After the Sky Fell Down
Megan Nugen Isbell - 2012
But when tragedy strikes, she is left to pick up the pieces of her now shattered life. As she tries to make sense of her new reality, life takes another startling turn, leading her down a path she never imagined. Through it all she finds comfort in a surprising companion who becomes her best friend and rock as she tries to rebuild her life. But when she unexpectedly meets someone, whose kindness and understanding offers her a chance at a fresh start, she struggles to move forward, afraid to leave her past behind. Will she be able to move on and find peace with her past in order to discover her future or will she let her past condemn her to a life of loneliness, unable to let go of a life that can never be?
His Reckless Heart
Jessica Mills - 2020
Or rather, ran away.One of seven brothers, all of them hot enough to need a cold shower and a blast of AC.We were supposed to get married, but he ran away without a goodbye. Something about needing to join the military and serve.Good luck, buddy. Hope it is all you wanted it to be.And here he is back again in Green Valley. A wounded warrior.Every cell in my body woke up the moment I saw him again.But I don’t trust him as far as I can throw up.I ain’t interested in building a future in my head that could get yanked away again.Unfortunately, it isn’t my mind that gets to make the decision on where things go with this second chance at my first love.It’s my reckless heart.
Kissing Micky
Ellen Devlin - 2018
He was there, I was there, and our friends thought we’d be perfect for each other.Not only is Tom McCullin a hockey player on my favorite team, he’s also a gorgeous, glove-dropping defenseman straight out of my wildest fantasies. He’s almost too good to be true.His teammates call him Micky, but to me he’s Tom. And damn it all if the chemistry between us doesn’t wind up being amazing. Turns out we can’t keep our hands off each other, but it’s our secret. We’re not ready to share what we have with anyone else.So, while our friends keep wondering why things aren’t happening between us, little do they know that I’m already…Kissing Micky.
The Spy Who Left Me
Gina Robinson - 2011
Just ask Treflee Miller. If she'd only known that her husband Ty would be here in Hawaii; muscular, sun-bronzed, and infuriatingly gorgeous, she would have brought the divorce papers for him to sign. But life is full of surprises when you're married to a world-class spy.Ty Miller can understand why his wife is tired of playing Mrs. James Bond. He's never home, he's always on a mission, and he's usually surrounded by exotic informants. He has to admit that the perfect spy makes a pretty lousy husband. But for the sake of Ty's security and Treflee's safety, they can't blow his cover. Not here. Not now. Not when his longing is so strong, her lips so tempting, and his enemies so close.
Unapologetic
Pamela Ann - 2016
He was my first everything. I gave him my heart—coming in and out of my life whenever it was convenient for him. I gave him my all—though he graced the tabloids with different women in his arms. River Ellis was Hollywood’s golden bad boy. He rose to fame a few years before me. And now that I’m slowly gaining ground in the film industry, he decided it was time to charm me with his godly presence. For two years after he left me, I had built resistance; simply waiting for the day he’d come begging me back and I’d truly take pleasure in rejecting him. But time and time again, even though I’d set my heart and mind into doing one thing, life had a way of testing my will, my endurance.
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!
Wild Man
Melissa Belle - 2020
Colton Wild didn’t save me. He showed me it was safe to live again. I met him when I was sixteen and broken. When the world was filled with fear. He was seventeen and ridiculously cocky. He was also hotter than the sun with his messy blond hair, clear blue eyes, and wicked grin. My family and I were on the run from a predator, and Colton was harboring his own secrets and pain. We were two lost souls, and the moment I saw him, I felt something spark inside my soul. He flirted with me shamelessly, and I pretended to hate him. I wasn’t allowed to get close to anyone. My life, and my family’s life, depended on it. But I couldn’t stay away from Colton. He was the brightest light I’d ever seen. And once the sun went down, I threw all my rules out the window…
WILD MAN is a first love summer romance and book one in a duet. Read COLTON for the conclusion to WILD MAN. WILD MEN SERIES: WILD MAN COLTON DYLAN AYDEN JENSON BRAYDEN CAMERON
True Blue Cowboy
Debra Holt - 2020
He’d fallen early and hard, but because her heart had belonged to his careless and indifferent brother, Chance had been permanently friend-zoned since Josie was a teen. Now Josie’s running her failing ranch all alone, and it’s time for Chance to step up and keep a promise he made to her dying mother – marry Josie and combine their ranches. Josie Monroe doesn’t want help or need to be saved by anyone – especially her wealthy ranching neighbor and forever thorn in her paw, Chance Braxton. The serious, way-too-handsome cowboy has starred in too many of her fantasies, but he still sees her as a heart-broken girl. She’s a woman now, and she’s determined to prove everyone wrong: She can save her ranch and rebuild her father’s legacy…alone. When Chance proposes, Josie’s problems are just beginning. So why does her pulse kick up every time he rides by and tips his Stetson?
On the Rocks
Sawyer Bennett - 2014
Now he’s returned home to the sand and salty breeze of the North Carolina Outer Banks so he can open The Last Call, a beach bar nestled among the dunes of the Atlantic.Five years ago, Gabby Ward drunkenly threw herself at her best friend’s brother, only to have her young heart crushed. Hunter is back but Gabby is content to stay far away from him and his dangerously charming ways. Gabby’s well-schemed plans to ignore Hunter go up in flames when he presents her an offer she simply can’t refuse. Working together day in and day out proves problematic for two reasons—Gabby realizes her feelings for Hunter are still very much alive, while Hunter struggles to break through to Gabby’s cold heart. What starts out as a mutual business arrangement soon turns into a passion that neither can deny.But when the pro surfing tour comes knocking and Hunter has a chance to reclaim his former glory, hard choices lie ahead for both of them.Choices that could destroy what they have built or take them further than they could ever dare to hope in their second chance at romance.
Heart of a Thief
Ella Miles - 2017
And then watched the heartbreak that occurs in my wake. Love doesn't survive once I enter the picture, if it ever existed at all. Although, stealing Sloane might be my greatest challenge of all. Asher is a villain trying to a put a horrible life behind him by doing the only two things he knows to do: surf and steal. Sloane is an angel that runs a charity helping children needing a fresh start. Asher will do anything to have her. There is just one problem...she's about to marry another man.
Home Sweet Home
Lilly Mirren - 2020
Grief and loss force her to re-evaluate her life. The only thing she can think to do is to return to her hometown where she has to deal with all of the things she left behind; a hometown she hasn't visited since high school graduation.When the police officer who lives next door comes knocking with questions about a tragedy from the past, Trina finds herself exploring the trauma of her childhood and facing the pain and stigma she's run from for so long.As she faces a new season of life, Trina must learn how to navigate complex family relationships, new friendships and a return to the career she left behind to raise a family years earlier. In the process, she'll finally confront the ghosts of her past and upend a mystery that's haunted her adult life.
Wounded Warriors - 3 book set
Patrice Wilton - 2019
This contemporary romance trilogy will make you swoon with pleasure! A HERO LIES WITHIN Kari Winslow is a Palm Beach news reporter, fighting not only to keep her job, but take over the nightly anchor spot. Her boss has axed her special runaway series, and wants “feel good stories” instead. She has only two weeks to come up with something big, or the special series will be taken over by the new anchorman who seems determined to ruin her career. Jake Harrington has returned from two tours in Iraq, and this wounded warrior is searching for peace – and a family friend who’s gone missing. He turns to his former love Kari for help. Though Jake hurt Kari badly once before, she agrees to help him under one condition: he must provide her with “feel good stories” about the everyday heroes he served with. But his memory is sketchy at best, and the only stories he remembers are the ones she doesn’t want to hear. Fate, it seems, has brought them back together – but can Kari ever forget Jakes’ bitter betrayal, and will he forgive hers when to save her career she must betray his trust…? HANDLE WITH CARE Shane Dawson, a medic captured and tortured in Iraq, is back on US soil, but now he must face his painful memories and personal demons. Lauren Reynolds is a widowed ER doctor with a son, Josh, who has ADHD. When the two meet, Lauren thinks Shane is the most wonderful, thrilling man she has met in a long time. But her child’s welfare is priority number one, and there are very compelling reasons to stay apart. Will they be able to overcome their issues to find that once-in-a-lifetime love? Handle with Care is a deeply emotional story about two damaged people and the power of love, healing, and unconditional trust. AT FIRST SIGHT War veteran Brent Harrington, a helicopter pilot who lost his sight when he was shot down in Afghanistan, is now back home in the US and struggling to come to terms with the fact that his sight may never return. Natalie Connors, a beautiful young woman fleeing an abusive relationship and looking for a fresh start, is hired by Brent’s best buddy, another war veteran, as a home health care aide to help Brent adapt to his newly darkened world. Thrown together by fate, they take the first tentative steps toward love… But when Natalie’s vicious ex tracks her down, can the passion and tenderness she and Brent share protect her? At First Sight is a highly emotional story about two damaged people and the healing they must go through before they can commit and find their happily-ever-after.