Book picks similar to
The Player by Claire Contreras


sports
romance
sports-romance
contemporary

The Baller


Vi Keeland - 2016
    The arrogant ass decided to drop his towel, just as I asked the first question. On camera.The Super Bowl MVP quickly adopted a new hobby--screwing with me.When I pushed back, he shifted from wanting to screw with me, to wanting to screw me.But I don't date players.And it's not because I'm one of the few women working in the world of professional football.I'd date an athlete.It's the other kind of player I don't date. You know the type. Good looking, strong, cocky, always looking to get laid. Brody Easton was the ultimate player. Every woman wanted to be the one to change him. But the truth was, all he needed was a girl worth changing for. Turned out, I was that girl. Simple right? Let's face it. It never is. There's a story between once upon a time and happily ever after...And this one is ours. Author's note - The Baller is a full-length standalone novel. Due to strong language and sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.

I Dare You


Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2018
    Good girl.Lover of fluffy kitties and Star Wars. Curious.His dare? Spend one night in his bed—a night he promises will be unforgettable—and she can solve the mystery of who he is. She knows she shouldn't, but what else is she going to do with her boring Valentine's Day?One sexy hook-up later, her mind is blown and the secret's out.Maverick Monroe.Bad boy.The most talented football player in the country.Just ask him.Too bad for him Delaney's sworn off dating athletes forever after her last heartbreak.But Maverick wants more than one night and refuses to give up on winning Delaney’s heart. She isn’t one to be fazed by a set of broad shoulders. Will the bad boy land the nerd girl or will the secrets they keep from each other separate them forever?

The Hooker and the Hermit


L.H. Cosway - 2015
    Well, I have a confession to make…THE HERMITAnnie Catrel, social media expert extraordinaire at Davidson & Croft Media and clandestine celebrity blogger, can make anyone shine in the court of public opinion. She is the Socialmedialite, anonymous creator of New York’s Finest and the internet’s darling. Virtual reality is Annie’s forte, but actual reality? Not so much.THE HOOKERRonan Fitzpatrick, aka the best hooker the world of rugby has seen in decades, despises the media—social or otherwise. The press has spun a web of lies depicting him as rugby’s wild and reckless bad boy. Suspended from his team, Ronan has come to Manhattan to escape the drama, lay low, fly under the radar. Only, Ronan isn’t easy to overlook, and he can’t escape the notice of the Socialmedialite…THE PLANWhen Ronan is sent to Davidson & Croft Media to reshape his public image, he never expects to cross paths with shy but beautiful Annie, nor does he expect his fierce attraction to her. He couldn’t be happier when her boss suggests pairing them together.What lengths will Annie take to keep her virtual identity concealed? And what happens when the hooker discovers who the hermit really is?

Stroked


Meghan Quinn - 2016
    There is no denying his sex appeal.I hate to admit it, but I’m head over heels infatuated with him.There is one HUGE problem though. His achingly gorgeous abs, inked up arm, and cocky swagger belong to my boss, the high-profile, reality star bitch from hell and certified heinous human being, Bellini Chambers.What I think is going to be an easy job assisting a glorified wench turns into a cluster f*ck of epic proportions.

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.

Scoring Wilder


R.S. Grey - 2014
    He's a professional soccer player, America's favorite bad-boy, and has all the qualities of a skilled panty-dropper.• A face that makes girls weep – check. • Abs that can shred Parmesan cheese (the expensive kind) – check. • Enough confidence to shift the earth’s gravitational pull – double check.Not to mention Liam is strictly off limits . Forbidden. Her coaches have made that perfectly clear. (i.e. “Score with Coach Wilder anywhere other than the field and you’ll be cut from the team faster than you can count his tattoos.”) But that just makes him all the more enticing…Besides, Kinsley's already counted the visible ones, and she is not one to leave a project unfinished.Kinsley tries to play the game her way as they navigate through forbidden territory, but Liam is determined to teach her a whole new definition for the term “team bonding.” A fun & sexy New Adult Romance (age 17+)

On a Tuesday


Whitney G. - 2017
    Became best friends, then lovers, on a Tuesday. And everything fell apart on a Tuesday... Charlotte Taylor has three automatic strikes in my book: 1) She hates me. She also claims that I'm a "domineering jerk with a huge, overbearing ego." (I do have something huge. It's not my ego, though.) 2) She takes our mandatory tutoring sessions way too seriously. 3) She's sexy as hell...And a virgin. At least, those were her strikes before our study sessions started lasting longer than they were supposed to. Until one innocent kiss became a hundred dirty ones, and until she became the first woman I ever fell hard for. Our future together after graduation was supposed to be set: Professional football for me. Law school for her. But she left me at the end of the semester with no explanation, and then she completely disappeared from my life. Until tonight.We met on a Tuesday. Became everything, then nothing, on a Tuesday. And now it's seven years later, on a Tuesday... **This is a full length second chance romance, inspired by Adele's "When We Were Young"**

Hardball


C.D. Reiss - 2016
    Perfect swing. Perfect swagger.They call Dash Wallace the Diamond King.He’s the hottest commodity in baseball and in the bedroom. When he runs the bases, every woman’s eyes are glued to his stunning body and a smile that puts the night lights to shame. I’m no queen. I’m a regular girl with a regular job. I just watch him on TV and from the bleachers, season after season. Girls like me grab a guy like that one in a million times.My number just came up, and he is as spectacular in bed as he is on the field.But there’s not a woman in the world who can distract Dash Wallace from the game. Not for a moment. Not even me.Until the night I do. And everything changes.-----Hardball is a SMOKING HOT, SEXY romance with a touch of angst and a ton of heart from CD Reiss. It's a fun, witty, full-length standalone.

Juked


M.E. Carter - 2016
    /jook-t/A slang soccer term meaning: faked out, deceived, confused your opponentSee examples Daniel Zavaro and Quincy Watson:As the rising star in Houston, Daniel has found fame as Captain of his Pro soccer team and the city’s most eligible bachelor. Daniel has everything – except someone special – and that suits him just fine. He doesn’t want, or need, complications.Quincy has baggage, and lots of it. After a tragic accident spins her world on its axis, she finds herself as a single mother, raising a newborn nephew she never knew she had. Between parenthood, her full-time job, and dealing with the suffocating grief of losing her sister, every day is a struggle. When they begin to cross paths unexpectedly and often, an unlikely friendship starts to evolve. Feelings change. Lines get crossed. What happens next surprises them both...Before they know it-- they’ve been Juked.

Alex


Sawyer Bennett - 2014
    Pushed into the sport by an alcoholic father, Alex isn't afraid to give fans the proverbial middle finger, relishing his role as the MVP they love to hate. Management, however, isn't so amused. Now Alex has a choice: fix his public image through community service or ride the bench. But Alex refuses to be molded into the Carolina Cold Fury poster boy... not even by a tempting redhead with killer curves.As a social worker, Sutton Price is accustomed to difficult people--like Alex, who's been assigned to help her create a drug-abuse awareness program for at-risk youth as part of the team's effort to clean up his image. What she doesn't expect is the arrogant smirk from his perfect lips to stir her most heated fantasies. But Sutton isn't one to cross professional boundaries--and besides, Alex doesn't do relationships... or does he? The more she sees behind Alex's bad-boy facade, the more Sutton craves the man she uncovers.

Anything but Minor


Kate Stewart - 2016
    She also has no filter.”“He’s no southern gentlemen.”“I had one last season to prove my worth.”“I’d never seen a game.”“He told me he was a player.”“She told me she was a lesbian.”“But you fell in love with me anyway.”“Yeah, baby, I totally did.”

Good Boy


Sarina Bowen - 2017
    Already the family screw-up, she can’t afford to fail. And nobody - absolutely nobody! - can learn of the colossal mistake she made with the best man during a weak moment last spring. It was wrong, and there will not be a repeat. Absolutely not. Even if he is the sexiest thing on two legs.Blake Riley sees the wedding as fate’s gift to him. Jess is the maid of honor, and he’s the best man? Let the games begin. So what if he’s facing a little (fine, a lot) of resistance? He just needs to convince the stubborn blonde that he’s really a good boy with a bad rap. Luckily, every professional hockey player knows that you’ve got to make an effort if you want to score.But Jess has more pressing issues to deal with than sexy-times with a giant man-child. Such as: Will the ceremony start on time, even though someone got grandma drunk? Does glitter ever belong at a wedding? And is it wrong to murder the best man?Caution: May cause accidental aspiration of tea or coffee. Do not read in a public place where loud laughter is inappropriate. Contains hot but hilarious hockey players, puppy cuddling and a snarky pair of underwear.

The Hardest Fall


Ella Maise - 2018
    You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you’re anyone but me. The first time I met Dylan Reed, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I’m very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I’m attracted to. At the time, I knew nothing about him and thought none of what I said would matter since I’d never speak to him again. Turns out, I was very wrong. He was the star wide receiver of the football team, one of the few players expected to make it into the NFL, and I ended up seeing him all over campus. I might have also propositioned him, run away from him, attacked him with a cooking utensil…and…uh, maybe I shouldn’t tell you all of it. It’s pretty normal stuff, things you’d expect…from me. Eventually, the time came when I couldn’t hide anymore—not that he’d have let me even if I tried. Before now, he never knew I was secretly watching him. Now that we see each other every day, he knows when I have a hard time looking away. It doesn’t help that I’m not the most subtle person in the world either. He smiles at me and tells me he finds me fascinating because of my quirks. I can’t even tell him that I think my heart beats differently whenever he’s around. He thinks we’re going to be best friends. I think I have a big thing for him, and the more I get to know him, the more I don’t care that I’m not allowed to be his friend, let alone fall for him. The thing is, that’s exactly what I’m doing—what we’re doing, I think. Falling. Hard.

Pucked


Helena Hunting - 2015
    So of course she isn't interested in legendary team captain Alex Waters or his pretty, beat-up face and rock-hard six-pack abs. But when Alex inadvertently obliterates Violet's misapprehension regarding the inferior intellect of hockey players, he becomes much more than just a hot body with the face to match. Suffering from a complete lapse in judgment, Violet discovers just how good Alex is with the hockey stick in his pants.Violet believes her night of orgasmic magic with Alex is just that: one night. But Alex starts to call. And text. And email and send extravagant - and quirky - gifts. Suddenly he's too difficult to ignore and nearly impossible not to like. The problem is, the media portrays Alex as a total player, and Violet doesn't want to be part of the game.

The Player


K. Bromberg - 2017
    Bromberg.Easton Wylder is baseball royalty. The game is his life. His passion. His everything. So, when an injury threatens to end Easton’s season early, the team calls in the renowned physical therapist, Doc Dalton, to oversee his recovery. Except it’s not Doc who greets Easton for his first session, but rather his daughter, Scout. She may be feisty, athletic, defiant, and gorgeous, but Easton is left questioning whether she has what it takes to help him. Scout Dalton’s out to prove a female can handle the pressure of running the physical therapy regimen of an MLB club. And that proof comes in the form of getting phenom Easton Wylder back on the field. But getting him healthy means being hands-on. And with a man as irresistible as Easton, being hands-on can only lead to one thing, trouble. Because the more she touches him, the more she wants him, and she can’t want him. Not when it’s her job to side in the club’s best interest if he’s ready to play. But when sparks fly and fine lines are crossed, can they withstand the heat or is one of them bound to get burned?