Book picks similar to
The Backup Plan by Jen McLaughlin


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contemporary-romance
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Playing for Keeps


Kendall Ryan - 2019
    Elise Parrish, my teammate's incredibly sweet and gorgeous younger sister, should have been off-limits, but my hockey stick didn't get the memo. After our team won the championship, our flirting turned physical, and I took her to bed. Then shame sent her running the next morning from our catastrophic mistake. She thinks I don't remember that night - but every detail is burned into my brain so deeply, I'll never forget. The feel of her in my arms, the soft whimpers of pleasure I coaxed from her perfect lips....And now I've spent three months trying to get her out of my head, but I'm starting to understand she's the only girl I'll ever want. I have one shot to show her I can be exactly what she needs, but Elise won't be easily convinced. That's okay, because I'm good under pressure, and this time, I'm playing for keeps.Get ready to meet your new favorite hot jocks in an all new stand-alone novel. If you like sexy, confident men who know how to handle a stick (on and off the ice), and smart women who are strong enough to keep all those big egos in check, this series of athlete romances is perfect for you!

Fake Fiancée


Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2017
    They say nothing compares to your first kiss,But our first kiss was orchestrated for an audience.Our second kiss . . . that one was REAL.He cradled my face like he was terrified he'd f*ck it up.He stared into my eyes until the air buzzed.Soft and slow, full of sighs and little laughs,He inhaled me like I was the finest Belgian chocolate,And he'd never get another piece.A nip of his teeth, his hand at my waist . . .And I was lost.I forgot he was paying me to be his fake fiancée.I forgot we weren't REAL.Our kiss was pure magic, and before you laugh and say those kinds of kisses don't exist,Then you've never touched lips with Max Kent, the hottest quarterback in college history.Three months. Two hearts. One fake engagement.

Game On


Katie McCoy - 2015
    Rumor has it Nathan is going to be drafted to the Major league, and yet he still fits an intense training regime around volunteering at a animal shelter. He's a prodigy with a heart of gold, as American as apple pie and has an ass that deserves a trophy all its own. He may be the country's heartthrob, but Sophie isn't going to fall for that. She just has to remain objective and cover the story. But she didn't bet on Nathan's gorgeous green eyes or the way his arms flex with muscle when he's holding a bat. And she certainly didn't think he'd be witty and smart and caring. Nathan is completely untouchable, but she can't help it if those lingering gazes turn into something more. How could she not fall at the thought of the hottest guy she's ever met devoting his limited free time to saving kittens?When Sophie's scoop turns into Nathan's scandal, Nathan needs her more than ever. With both of their careers on the line will they strike out - or hit a home run?

Shameless King


Maya Hughes - 2018
    Voted Biggest Flirt. Highest goal scorer in Kings of Rittenhouse Prep history. Everyone’s impressed, well except one person…After a blow out in high school, Makenna Halstead and I were happy to never have to cross paths again. Except life has a way of knocking you straight in the teeth with a puck when you least expect it. She hasn’t just returned to my life, she crashed into it like a wrecking ball...into my college kingdom, into my class, and smack dab into the seat next to mine. My new lab partner to be exact. For years we hated each other... I may be King on the ice, but she is the Ice Queen. She has no problem calling me out, doesn’t back down, and her piercing blue eyes have me picturing more than than just my arms wrapped around her. Now we’re stuck with each other and there’s no getting around that fact that we have to work together. My hockey career hangs in the balance. Problem? Oh, yeah.I can’t deny it. I want her. More than I ever thought I could want a woman. I’ve got one semester–only four months–to convince her everything she thought about me was wrong. Will my queen let me prove to her I’m the King she can’t live without? Only one way to find out...

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"**

Getting Lucky Number Seven


Cindi Madsen - 2015
    While every other college student is out having fun, Lyla is studying. With her cat. Well, she's played it "safe" quite enough, thank you. So she creates a "College Bucket List"―with item #7 being a night of uninhibited, mind-blowing sex...But she needs some help from her man-whore best friend.Hockey player Beck Davenport thought Lyla's transformation would be subtle. Man, was he wrong. With every item she ticks off, Beck finds himself growing seriously hot for his sweet, brainiac best friend. And if he's not careful, he'll end up risking their friendship in order to convince Lyla that he might just be her lucky #7...

Spinning Out


Lexi Ryan - 2016
    I had it all, and I threw it away with a semester of drugs, alcohol, and pissing off anyone who tried to stop me. Now I’m suspended from the team, on house arrest, and forced to spend a semester at home to get my shit together. The cherry on my fuckup sundae? Sleeping in the room next to mine is my best friend’s girl, Mia Mendez—the only woman I’ve ever loved and a reminder of everything I regret.I’m not sure if having Mia so close will be heaven or hell. She’s off-limits—and not just because she’s working for my dad. Her heart belongs to someone else. But since the accident that killed her brother and changed everything, she walks around like a zombie, shutting out her friends and ignoring her dreams. We’re both broken, numb, and stuck in limbo.Until I break my own rules and touch her. Until she saves me from my nightmares by climbing into my bed. Until the only thing I want more than having Mia for myself is to protect her from the truth. I can’t rewrite the past, but I refuse to leave her heart in the hands of fate. For this girl, I’d climb into the sky and rearrange the stars.SPINNING OUT is a sexy, emotional novel of 100,000 words. It is first in the Blackhawk Boys, a series of standalone novels.

Draw Play


Tia Lewis - 2016
    I’m all that on the field and between the sheets — who cares about my stupid grades?But Claire doesn’t treat me like I’m dumb. When we’re not busy fighting, she actually encourages me. And with those sexy curves of hers, I know just how to thank her.Claire:I hate football players, but I need the money. Jake is just as cocky and arrogant as the worst of them … but his touch sets me on fire.I have to believe he’s different, that he won’t use me and break my heart. Because I can’t stop wanting him. I just hope I survive the ride.

Off Sides


Sawyer Bennett - 2013
    Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone... something... to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost... a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved...”Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.Forced her to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days...

Hold My Breath


Ginger Scott - 2016
    One decision can ruin lives. A blink can be tragic. And loving a Hollister…can hurt like hell.I would know.They say the average person can hold their breath under water for two full minutes when pushed to the extremes. Will Hollister has been holding his for years. The oldest of two elite swimming brothers, Will was always a dominant force in the water. But in life, he preferred to let his younger brother Evan be the one to shine.Evan got the girl, and Will…he got to bury all of the secrets. A brother’s burden, the weight of it all nearly left him to drown.The daughter of two Olympians, my path was set the day my fingertips first touched water. My future was as crystal clear as the lane I dominated in the pool—swim hard, win big, love a Hollister.My life with Evan burned bright. He gave me arms to come home to, and a smile that fooled the world into believing everything was perfect. But it was Will who pushed me. Will…who really knew me.And when all of the pieces fell, it was Will who started to pick them up.In the end, the only thing that matters are those few precious seconds—and what we decide to do while we still have them in our grasp.

Score


Christine Bell - 2016
     A bunch of cocky, lying cheaters who think they’re god’s gift to women, just like my dear old dad. I’ve managed to avoid them my whole college career until now >.< I just got assigned to be wide receiver Callum Samskevitch’s physical therapist. Pro: It will be great to add to my resume. Con: I have to see him. Every. Single. Day. Which would be fine…if he wasn’t so dang sexy… Cal Football is all I’ve got, so when Coach saddles me with some frumpy PT student with a chip on her shoulder, all I can think is doom. I don’t have time for this. Not now. Not when my dreams are on the verge of being crushed. All that should matter right now is ball. So why can’t I stop imagining what Bee Mitchell is hiding beneath those baggy sweatshirts?

Hooked


Brenda Rothert - 2016
      Miranda: Even though I’m broke, putting myself through college, and working two jobs, I’m trying to make the best of it. Meanwhile, Jake Birch, hockey’s hottest bad boy, lives in a luxury hotel in downtown Chicago—and still complains about every little thing in his penthouse. But after I tell him off, instead of getting me fired, Jake requests me as his personal housekeeper. Then he starts flirting with me. Only I’m not flirting back . . . at least, I’m trying not to. Did I mention that he’s hockey’s hottest bad boy?   Jake: I’ve met the best woman at the worst possible time. Miranda is the fire to my ice—a sexy, charmingly candid spark who breaks down my walls and reminds me what it’s like to feel again. But I’m being forced to date my team owner’s daughter to keep my job, so I can’t be caught with Miranda. Still, we’re getting closer—until Miranda finds out about my “girlfriend.” And that’s not the only secret I’ve been keeping. But Miranda’s the one I want . . . even if she doesn’t believe me.   > Includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

Edge of Glory


Magan Vernon - 2016
    I'm Lia and I'll nguhhhhhhhhhhhhh". I froze. Directly facing me was Olympic swimmer, Jay Morningstar… and I just made an idiot of myself. The rest of the table looked up to see me standing there with my mouth practically gaping. His coach, who I recognized from TV interviews, and even two other swimmers from the Olympic team... they didn't say anything, they didn't even blink. "Uh… I mean…" I couldn't even put together my words and Jay Morningstar was just staring at me with that Wheaties box smile and those icy blue eyes. What was I supposed to say? "Sorry I just made a weird noise, it's just that I have a poster of you on my wall where you are wearing nothing more than your gold medals, a smile, and a pair of man panties?"

Preservation


Rachael Wade - 2012
    Constantly battling eviction notices, tuition she can’t afford, and a sick, dependent mother, the last thing she needs is to be distracted with someone else’s complicated baggage. When she stumbles into Ryan Campbell’s creative writing class, he is only “Mr. Campbell” to her, until Ryan finds himself captivated by her writing and she is forced to face their mutual attraction. His cocky know-it-all syndrome is enough to send her running in the other direction, and his posse of female admirers and playboy reputation are enough to squander any odds in her favor. But underneath Ryan’s abrasive facade is something to behold, and she can’t stay away for long. Ryan and Kate must decide who they’re willing to become and fight against their former selves if they want to make things work. That’s if academia, vicious vixens, old skeletons, and their own mastery at self-destruction don’t pummel their efforts first.

Bad Boys Break Hearts


Micalea Smeltzer - 2020
    Rich. Hotter than sin. The campus’s reigning bad boy. We knew each other once upon a time, but even if I’m named after a princess, it doesn’t mean my life is a fairytale. My plan is to keep my head down, get my degree, and leave this town.But the moment Mascen Wade recognizes me all my carefully laid plans come crumbling down. He’s decided he wants to make my life a living hell. But I’m not so easy to push around and won’t put up with his bully playground antics. Too bad for me I’ve never been able to resist him.