Book picks similar to
Brief Encounters by Scarlett Hopper
sports
romance
new-adult
college
Lace Up
Shae Ross - 2015
They're competing for life-changing money and for their futures. They have a solid plan to win. All they need to do is trounce the competition: rich frat boys from an archrival university. Easy, right?Team JettJett Trebuchet's first mistake was not realizing that Ryan and her friends were the competition. His second was expressing his unabashed confidence in his team’s ability to win. After all, everyone knows the only thing MSU does better than U of M is produce beautiful, easy women…oh, and he almost forgot to say “dumb.” And boy, does his team pay for that one.Game OnAs each side tries to game the other, something else seems to be getting in the way—attraction. Now Ryan and Jett must keep their teams from getting distracted by the opposite sex...and each other. All is not fair in love and war when it comes to winning this game.
A Game Like Ours
Marissa J. Gramoll - 2021
To the outside world, Bobby Anderson is an attractive, charismatic baseball star. But inside, Bobby holds secrets—including his closeted sexuality—and each secret alone has the power to destroy his carefully-constructed life.When his best friend Cody dies, Bobby is thrown into the unwitting role of supporter for Cody’s grieving fiancée, Lexie. The issue? Bobby has long-harbored feelings for her that he never allowed to surface. Torn between his growing attraction for Lexie and devotion to his deceased friend, Bobby is forced to re-examine his life and concern about divulging his sexual identity. Another secret spoken by Cody during his final moments eats away at Bobby’s conscience, driving the wedge of Cody’s death deeper. Once these secrets come to light, will Lexie ever be able to forgive them? Can she accept Bobby for who he is? Will she ever want anything to do with him again?
Burning Muses
J.R. Rogue - 2020
It can be read as a standalone.Don’t let fear sway you. You’re not your past.Seraphina Daniels feels like running—the kind of running that doesn’t include a set destination. So, when her childhood friend calls in distress, she’s more than prepared to leave behind her failed—and famous—relationship, her writer’s block, and her impending thirtieth birthday. But upon her return to the Ozarks—a sharp contrast to New York City—she discovers that everything’s changed. I think I wanted you before I even knew what it was like to want someone.The homecoming brings Sera to Chace Holloway: the man who’s made a home out of the place that was once hers. Romance isn’t an option, but friendship comes easily with the twenty-two-year-old songwriter—despite the attraction they both feel.He is music, and I am merely madness and melancholy.What started as an escape becomes more of a trap when the past begins to wrap around the present. As hope blooms, Sera and Chace face their biggest obstacles—what they each fear, and what old lovers desire.
Ten Year Crush
Toshia Slade - 2014
Now in college, she's finally ready to get on with her life. Her new boyfriend is the perfect man to squash her craving for Cam. But her boyfriend has an addiction, an obsession that Gabby soon finds out he can't let go.Some cravings last forever.When Camron Taylor received a thump to the head, he couldn't help but adore Gabby. When she grows from cute kid to desirable woman his imagination goes to places it shouldn't. Afraid of ruining friendships he pushes her away. Until something seems off with her new boyfriend.The past isn't always left there.Cam is the savior she's always needed. Gabby is the woman he's always coveted. When past mistakes come back with a vengeance will their love be strong enough to fight it? Or will the past keep them apart?
We Were Here
Daisy Prescott - 2016
This is the story of seven friends. We met in college, completely free for the first time in our lives and determined to enjoy every minute of it. For four years, we gossiped and flirted, partied and road-tripped. We were inseparable. Each of us has our own story of falling in or out of love. Of finding out who we are. Of growing up. We thought we knew everything. We knew nothing. We Were Here is where the Modern Love Stories begins, in a standalone that perfectly captures the humor, angst, and sheer chaos of college.
Dancing by the Moonlight (A Carlisle Bay Novel)
Angie Ellington - 2018
Dancing was her life. Chasing performance dreams is all she's ever known or planned for. Now, she is starting anew. She didn't expect to be a boutique manager at thirty-one, but it's better than spinning out into the abyss of the unknown. Being in Carlisle has brought solace to her listless soul. Brady Carlisle has recently returned to Carlisle Bay; his hometown. He has spent the last decade in California, designing and patenting surfboards, playing guitar and singing for anyone who cared to listen. Becoming his own man, without relying on the Carlisle name and money is all he's ever wanted. He now owns a bait and tackle store by day and spends his evenings playing guitar on his deck or sailing along the bay or over the crystal blue waters of the Atlantic. They discovered love for the first time thirteen years earlier when Olivia spent the summer before college living with her aunt in Carlisle Bay. Will the pain of the past keep them apart or will moonlit summer evenings lead them back to each others' hearts?
Learning to Trust
Cynthia P. O'Neill - 2013
The first woman to arouse his heart could be the one person who helps him to finally open up and feel again. Laurel Hart was a swimming champion until a frightful event and unknown health issues derailed her career. With a recent degree from MIT in Bio-Medical Engineering and an offer to join one of the leading innovators of medical equipment in the world, she plans on making a new life for herself; letting nightmares from her past stay in the past, or so she thinks. Neither of them wants to date, but she finds herself drawn to him and Garrett uses every excuse to be near her. Laurel’s afraid to let anyone get close, but finds solace in his arms. Garrett is finally able to be himself around someone. Together, they discover a connection that manages to soothe both their souls and starts opening them up to new possibilities.Once Garrett finds out about Laurel’s past, all rules in regards to "relationships" are changed, because one false move could drive her away. He attempts to calm her nightmares and gain her trust so he can show her who he really is and the relationship he desires from her.Will they be able to overcome the damage their hearts have encountered? Can they find happiness? Can they trust their minds or will life throw each of them another curveball? Only time will tell if they can learn to trust.***This is a contemporary/erotic romance suitable for mature audiences only, ages 18+.***
Kiss To Conquer
Anna B. Doe - 2020
Hayden thinks he knows all about Callie’s life before Blairwood and he’s not ready to let go of the past, much less forgive her for what she has done three years ago.One thing’s for sure… it’s going to take more than a kiss to conquer their broken past.Note: Kiss To Conquer is an enemies-to-lovers sports romance and it can be read as a standalone novel.
Excuse Me, First Love (College Daze 1)
Danielle Burton - 2016
How could she tell her best friend that he'd stolen her heart? Especially when their friendship was coming to an end. Three years ago Jayson Adams lost his best friend. She moved half way across the country, shattering his world. He spent months in a deep depression, cursing the universe for ripping her away from him so cruelly. When their worlds collide again, old wounds are torn open. Gabrielle fights against a one sided love, forced to watch the man she desires in the arms of another.Jayson, on the other hand, is determined to hold onto his friend this time, even if it means denying his heart what it truly wants.
For the Love of Gracie
Amy K. McClung - 2013
She's reached a point where it's easier to forget about romance and focus on what's important: college, clubbing, and her friends. But the best-laid plans don't always pan out as hoped.Caught up in a web of relationships that threaten nothing but pain, Gracie has to decide who she can trust and who can help keep her safe. What lengths will the man of her dreams go to… for the Love of Gracie?
This Is Fate
Zee Irwin - 2021
He’s once-bitten and twice-shy. Together, their passion is—complicated.Maddie McComber is driven to succeed. Working her way through Harvard by tending bar, the dual MBA and law student isn’t about to lose focus by letting any of her regulars take her to bed. But the flirty banter she shares with the well-dressed older man definitely makes her tingle in all the right places.Daniel Jones has no faith in love. The high-flying billionaire divorce attorney knows from both personal and professional experience that almost all perfect affairs end in expensive disasters. But the way the attractive grad student at the pub sees past his wealth and acknowledges his true self has him totally hooked.Moved when he rescues her from an attacker, Maddie starts to feel her anti-dating regulations may require serious review. But though Daniel recognizes she’s everything he wants, his heart remains mired in the pain of the past.Can these two legal eagles soar over their fears and into a happy future?This Is Fate is the standalone first book in the delicious Fated Loves contemporary romance series. If you like strong women, conflicted men, and steamy open doors, then you’ll adore Zee Irwin’s gorgeous tale.
Third Base
Heidi McLaughlin - 2015
In his second season with the Boston Renegades he has set his eyes on the girl behind the visitors’ dugout.That girl is Daisy Robinson, a journalism student at the University of Boston and a die-hard Renegades fan.But with new found love comes challenges and Ethan and Daisy have to deal with his crazy schedule, school finals and his presence on her campus for some much needed media training. For Ethan nothing can come between him and Daisy, until a secret that she’s been keeping threatens to destroy them both.
Not a Player
A.J. Wynter - 2020
This book can be read as a stand-alone or as book one in the Laketown Hockey Series.
Reckless Longing
Gina Robinson - 2013
Her mother’s wild and wanton behavior has left Ellie with a deep longing. To escape. To belong. To know who her real dad is. To really be loved. Her mother finally crosses a line thatsends Ellie running, escaping to college with one, focused goal–to find and confront her bio dad, who doesn’t even know she exists. Then she meets Logan. Hot, charming, and troubled. He turns her world upside down and puts all her plans in jeopardy.Logan Walker is hiding a shameful and painful secret. One that nearly cost him everything. When he meets the beautiful and mysterious Ellie at a Week of Welcome event, something inside him awakens and he finds himself drawn to her.But the attraction they both feel for each other is as delicate as the web of secrets they each hide behind. And as the truths are revealed, their reckless longing may not survive the fallout.
Three Years Later
Casey McMillin - 2013
The first thing she did when she got there, however, was run headlong into her happily ever after. Unfortunately for her, the guy was way out of her league.Collin Blake, along with the rest of his college swim team, was just visiting Los Angeles for a few days. It was something the U Cal swimmers did every year. Falling in love definitely wasn't on his list things to do while he was there.Is love at first sight even possible?Collin and Rachel thought so. They had an instant connection... right up to the point when Rachel disappeared.Can they pick up where they left off even though it’s... Three Years Later