Book picks similar to
Knockout by C.J. Martín


fighters
fighter
sports
sports-romance

The Viper


Kele Moon - 2014
    A gang member. Someone who has seen the dark side of humankind and survived. He has lost family and gained enemies. He has stolen cars and destroyed hearts, stripping one for money and the other for pleasure. His past is haunted and his future is bleak.Until her.Katie Foster is a high school history teacher. Smart, strong, and sexy. She is a woman Marcos shouldn’t want. Shouldn’t touch. Shouldn’t love. He met her in Garnet, a backwards, hick town that’s the last place in the world he wants to be, but he finds himself going back for a taste of the forbidden.Katie represents all that is good in the world, and Marcos knows he’s nothing but trouble for her perfect life. He fights and he screws. He commits crimes and he breaks the rules. He will never change and he will never escape his gang lifestyle.Or can he?What happens when two different people from two very different walks of life risk it all by giving into the passion that threatens to consume both of them? Can a woman who only knows how to play it safe give her heart to a man who lives hard and loves harder?Will she survive The Viper?

Outmatched


Kristen Callihan - 2019
    When she landed her dream job in renewable energy, she thought she’d be entering a world at the forefront of progressive thinking. But the head boss prefers to promote employees who are “settled.” Thankfully, she’s found the perfect candidate, a fellow intellectual looking for some quick cash. What Parker gets is his protective big brother—Rhys Morgan. The tall, muscled ex-boxer with a foul mouth shows up just as her boss does, and now she’s stuck with the manipulative jerk.Responsibility weighs heavily on Rhys. Now permanently out of the ring, he’s trying to hold together his late father’s gym and keep his younger brother, Dean, on the straight and narrow. To save Dean from himself, Rhys takes his place, ready to give this society girl a piece of his mind. Instead, he finds an opportunity. Even though they can hardly stand each other, posing as Parker’s boyfriend is a win-win deal. She gets to keep her job, and he’ll charm her star-struck boss into sponsoring his gym. Problem is, they can barely keep their hands off each other. And what started as an easy deal isn’t so easy anymore. Because what future can a rough ex-boxer, afraid to open his heart, and a polished society geek, who has sworn off real relationships, possibly have? They say opposites attract. These opposites are about to combust on impact.

Knock Out


Michele Mannon - 2013
    Dropped by her ex on national TV, she's gone from prima ballerina to ring card girl, reduced to revving up the crowds before MMA bouts. However distasteful she finds her new job, it pays well…and she needs the money if she's ever going to rebuild her life. Promised a huge bonus if she can convince a brooding, gifted welterweight to keep fighting, she'll do whatever it takes to earn his trust.Keane O'Shea is unbeatable in the octagon. A former marine, he fights with a ruthlessness no gym jockey can match. He knows his brutal strength is too much for the delicate ex-ballerina, regardless of how fascinating he finds Logan's tight dancer's body. But one private performance and he's drawn to her in a way he can't—or won't—resist.As Logan discovers the heartbreaking truth that lies beneath this handsome warrior's rage, she'll need to forfeit everything she thought mattered for the one thing that matters the most: saving Keane from himself.

Fighting for Flight


J.B. Salsbury - 2013
    Liberated from the neglectful home of her prostitute mother, she finds solace as a mechanic. With few friends, she’s content with the simple life. Flying under the radar is all she knows, and more than she expects.Until she catches the eye of local celebrity, UFL playboy Jonah Slade. Weeks away from his title fight, Jonah is determined to stay focused on everything he’s trained so hard to achieve. Undefeated in the octagon, he’s at the height of his career. But resisting Raven’s effortless allure and uncomplicated nature is a fight he can’t win. Jonah trades in his bad-boy reputation and puts his heart on the line. But when her father contacts her, setting in motion the ugly truth of her destiny, Jonah must choose. In a high-stakes gamble where love and freedom hang in the balance, a war is waged where the price of losing is a fate worse than death.Will the hotheaded Jonah be able to restrain his inner fighter to save the woman he loves? Or will Raven be forced into a life she’s been desperate to avoid?Word Count: 112,406

12 Rounds


Lauren Hammond - 2012
    One, he's the middle-weight boxing champion of the world with an undefeated record. Two, women find his cocky persona, chiseled biceps, and inked body sexy. Also, the fact that it's known that he doesn't do relationships only adds to his sex appeal. And three, he's Irish, proud of it, and a member of the Braithreachas Don Saol, a branch of the Irish mafia and king pins of the drug cartel taking over the streets of Cleveland.Connor Doyle(aka Connie) the boss and leader of the Braithreachas Don Saol, has been like a father to Sean, taking him under his wing and teaching him how to survive on the streets after the death of his parents. Sean has never been ungrateful, but has always wanted one thing...More. More to live for. More to fight for. More to believe in. A chance at a future without drugs or guns. A chance at a future without wondering which day will be his last.There's only one problem with that. You live by the braithreachas. You die by the braithreachas. And Sean knows whether Connie considers him to be family or not, the only way he'll be leaving the braithreachas is in a body bag.Hadlee Flax has had a year to overcome her issues. After almost being raped and brutalized, she's putting her best foot forward, seeing a therapist, and has even(with some persuasion from her best friend, Lara) enrolled in self defense classes. And she's doing well moving on with her life until she meets the dark, and conflicted Irish boxing champion of the world, Sean Reilly.Hadlee is immediately drawn to the gorgeous, cold, and mysterious man who speaks with a slight Irish brogue. She soon learns that there is much more to him than his darkened gaze, cool demeanor, and body covered in tattoos. He's not the type of man she thought he was. And Hadlee finds herself doing something she never thought she would do in the last year...Falling for a guy.Falling for Sean Reilly. A man who is on the path to becoming a boxing legend. One thing Hadlee doesn't know is the other part of Seans' life. His life of drug running, and killing. Or the fact that when he's not boxing he's walking the streets with a gat tucked into the back of his loose jeans, and glancing over his shoulder at every turn. But it doesn't take Hadlee long to learn that some attractions and relationships can be fatal.And sometimes...They just might be worth fighting for.

Real


Katy Evans - 2013
    One night was all it took, and I forgot everything and anything except the sexy fighter in the ring who sets my mind ablaze and my body on fire with wanting...Remington Tate is the strongest, most confusing man I've ever met in my life.He’s the star of the dangerous underground fighting circuit, and I’m drawn to him as I've never been drawn to anything in my life. I forget who I am, what I want, with just one look from him. When he’s near, I need to remind myself that I am strong—but he is stronger. And now it’s my job to keep his body working like a perfect machine, his taut muscles primed and ready to break the bones of his next opponents...But the one he’s most threatening to, now, is me.I want him. I want him without fear. Without reservations.If only I knew for sure what it is that he wants from me?

Knockout


J.C. Valentine - 2014
    The only light in her life was a boy whom everyone agreed was destined for prison; but with his first kiss, he had set her soul on fire. Since the day the police dragged him away in handcuffs, she had managed to lead a quiet life, but when she attends an event fraught with mayhem, trouble resurfaces.The one person she can’t forget...Jamison Weston is the kind of guy dads load their shotguns for; endowed with a hot temper and a rap sheet as long as both tattooed arms. Known as “The Judge,” Jami’s hot temper, lethal fists, and cocky attitude have earned him respect and admiration both in and out of the ring. But just when he thinks he’s pummeled his past to death, Alyson Blake reenters his life.Two paths collide…After years of separation, Alyson is eager to reexplore the man who’s never left her thoughts, but for Jamison, she’s both the distraction he wants, but doesn’t need. As the two embark on a relationship that neither of them expected or bargained for, an outside threat closes in. When Alyson crosses the line of professionalism and takes her work home with her, her life is put in danger, leaving Jamison with no choice but to once again step in and become her protector.WARNING **Book One in a two part story.** This book contains a mild cliffhanger ending that will be resolved in book two. The release date for book two has been moved up to July 2014. If you do not like cliffhangers, you might consider checking out my Night Calls series instead.

Fight For Me


Bethany Bazile - 2014
    She carries the blame on her shoulders after losing a big piece of herself. When Ryder Hayes sweeps back into her life, she has something to hold on to, but just as quickly as he appeared he was gone. When fate-or meddling parents-throw them back together they can no longer deny the heat that’s burned between them for years.Ryder has always wanted Lexi, but he’s never fought so hard against something in his life. Saving Lexi from her past was never on his agenda, but he could never bear letting her drown in it. With his UFC championship title on the line, the last thing he needs is to be distracted by Lexi. When she’s thrown back into his life he can no longer fight their attraction. But once he claims her he knows he’ll never let go.Mature content warning: this title is intended for adults 18+ due to language and explicit sexual content. If you have an aversion to steamy scenes, you may not want to board this ride, because it will be a hot and sweaty one.

Hate to Love You


Tijan - 2017
    I get it. It kind of is, but college was supposed to be my sanctuary. It was my place to start over. The rumors, the whispers, and the jealousy I endured through high school would all be gone.No one would know me at college.Rule #2: No drama.I’d major in pre-law. I’d make a few loyal friends. Everything would be easy breezy. No one was going to use me or hurt me. I wouldn’t let them. Rule #3: New year. New place. New me.Right?Wrong.And all because of Shay Coleman.Football captain and quarterback, he was the big guy on campus. The cocky guy in my political science class with a smirk. I hated him on sight . . .. . . and he was about to break all my rules.

Revved


Samantha Towle - 2015
    With a good reason behind the rule, she has no plans on breaking it.Carrick Ryan is the bad boy of Formula One. With a face and body that melts panties on sight, and an Irish lilt that leaves women on their knees, begging for more. He races hard and parties harder. The youngest driver to ever sign with F1, he’s still at the top of his game five years later, breaking hearts on and off the tracks.When Andi is offered her dream job working in the glamorous world of F1, she leaves her home in Brazil, positive she can handle working for Carrick. But she’s not prepared for the off-the-chart sparks that fly the moment they meet.Now, Andi has a crush on the one man she can’t have, and her resolve is about to be put to the test, because Carrick has decided he wants Andi, and he plans on testing her to the very limit…

Wrong (A Stepbrother Romance)


Stella Rhys - 2016
    Cocky smile. Sculpted hipbones that scream filthy sex. Liam Cage is walking torture for any girl in New York, but especially me. He’s my stepbrother and on top of that, I’m living under his roof. I’m following his rules. I’m nothing but his good little girl and so I can’t want him. I can’t tempt him.I can’t bait him into touching my half-naked body while I lay "asleep" on his couch.… About that.It was every kind of wrong but I couldn’t help myself. I stripped down for my stepbrother. Tortured him. Forced him take out years of pent-up lust on my body in one sticky, sweaty shot. Long story short, I made the hottest mistake of my life, and I know there’ll be consequences, especially with a past like mine. But now that I’ve opened up Pandora’s box, there’s no going back. Basically, I’m screwed.But when it’s with a man as painfully sexy as Liam, screwed has kind of never felt so good.**Wrong is a raunchy, angsty standalone novel with a HEA.**

The Hurricane


R.J. Prescott - 2015
    A gifted mathematician, she is little more than a hollow, broken shell, trying desperately to make ends meet long enough to finish her degree. Through an unlikely friendship with the aging, cantankerous owner of an old boxing gym, Em is thrown into the path of the most dangerous man that she has ever met.Cormac “the Hurricane” O’Connell is cut, tattooed and dangerous. He is a lethal weapon with no safety and everyone is waiting for the mis-fire. He’s never been knocked out before, but when he meet Em he falls, HARD. Unlike any other girl he’s ever met, she doesn’t want anything from him, but just being around her makes him want to be a better person. They are polar opposites who were never meant to find each other, but some things are just worth the fight.

Sacked


Jen Frederick - 2015
    Warrior. Champion. And...virgin. Knox knows what he wants--and he gets it. All American Football player? Check. NFL pros scouting him? Check. Now, he's set his sight on two things. The national title. And Ellie Campbell. Sure, she's the sister of his fellow teammate, but that's not going to stop him. Especially not when he’s convinced Ellie is the one. ...but he's never met her before. But Ellie isn't as sure. She's trying to start a new life and she's not interested in a relationship...with anyone. Beside it's not just her cardinal rule of never dating her brother's teammates that keeps her away, but Ellie has a dark secret that would jeopardize everything Knox is pursuing. Knox has no intention of losing. Ellie has no intention of giving in.

Until You're Mine


Cindi Madsen - 2018
    No one cares about personal reasons when it comes to losing fights and money. I’m determined to get back to where I was. For you to hear my name again. I’ve finally convinced the owner of Team Domination to take a chance and get me back in fighting—and winning—shape. What I didn’t bargain for is the guy’s spitfire of a daughter. Factor in her two professional-fighter brothers who are acting as my coaches and the fact that my career hangs in the balance, and Brooklyn’s the last girl I should be fantasizing about. The closer we get, the more I want Brooklyn. The stakes are high, and I know there’s a big chance of both of us getting hurt, but I won’t stop until she’s mine.

Extreme Love


Abby Niles - 2013
    But when the MMA fighter meets pretty Caitlyn Moore, he seems to be striking out left and right. The more Cait denies his advances, the more intrigued he becomes by the sharp-tongued beauty. She's a challenge he cannot resist.Comfortable with the average Joe, Cait doesn't get it when the ultra-masculine Dante walks into her life and expresses an interest in her. Sure, she's shed eighty pounds and her confidence is building, but there's nothing spectacular about her. Certainly not enough to hang onto a ripped babe-magnet like Dante, whose violent profession, catty groupies, and cruel competitors are already making her life a living hell. Dante's light-hearted pursuit quickly becomes a battle to win her heart as they find themselves thrown together again and again and it's affecting his training. Cait won't let him lose the biggest fight of his career because of her, but when her plan to keep him focused lands her in the dangerous clutches of Dante's vicious opponent, there is more at stake than just the championship belt.