Book picks similar to
False Start by Julianna Marley


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Payback


Amy Daws - 2019
    Her cheating ex deserves to see her living her best life; a one-night-stand with a hot South African soccer player would be the perfect revenge. Right? Wrong. Allie is so, so wrong. ROAN DEWALT HAS ALL THE MOVES. On and off the field he’s at the top of his game. Roan respects hard-work, dedication—and follow through. He’s not a one and done kind of man, and he’s far from being done with Allie Harris. One sexy night and two years later, Allie’s job brings her back to town. An opportunity for the perfect replay Roan has been fantasizing about since they slept together. THE PROBLEM? Allie Harris has a secret; one she’s been keeping from Roan all this time. Video proof of their one night together—taken without his consent. Will Allie’s payback plan come back to bite them both? Or can she erase her past mistake and embrace a new future with Roan?

Anaconda


Lauren Landish - 2017
     Football star and internet sensation Gavin “Anaconda” Adams is the biggest celebrity our little town has ever seen. But I had no idea who he was when I accidentally walked in on him naked.   I was shocked, seeing all of him, a cocky grin on his face. I didn’t know what to do. So I ran. Now I’m in a world of trouble. No matter what I do, I can’t get that image out of my head. His strong muscular thighs. His washboard abs. His big, throbbing, toe-curling… Jesus! To make matters worse, Gavin wants a date with me. He’s seen the lust in my eyes, and he’s not taking no for an answer. I should tell him to get lost. He’s nothing but trouble, and he’s only here for a week. But with one look, I go weak in the knees. And whenever I hear his deep, rich voice, I feel my defenses crumbling. It’s only one night. What could it hurt? Anaconda is a full-length Sexy Romantic Comedy with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger!

Focused


Karla Sorensen - 2020
    requited. That day was bad enough, but things just got worse.Noah Griffin turned himself into one of the best football players in the country and a transfer to the Washington Wolves— the team I work for—lands him on my doorstep. The timing couldn't be worse, because my boss just handed me the opportunity of a lifetime. And that promotion rides squarely on Noah's big, muscular, condescending shoulders.He wants nothing to do with me, and the feeling is so very mutual. But for the sake of my career, I can ignore all those things about him that drive me insane. His eyes. His mouth. His big, big … hands. Until one day, we can’t ignore them anymore.You know what they say about the line between love and hate though? They’re so very right.

Lines We Cross


Marika Ray - 2020
    Skylar Rae I’m getting by just fine on my own when the boy who stole my heart and ran away twelve years ago shows up in town again. He’s a big shot baseball player now, needing my help to rehab his knee. If he’d just lay off the flirting and the dimples he throws with each grin, I might be able to do my job. Good thing I’m not dumb enough to fall for him a second time.Max I promised my best friend I would never make a move on his little sister. I kept that promise—if you don’t count that one kiss senior year—but now that we’re adults and I’m moving back home, all bets are off. Skylar Rae isn’t the same person I knew twelve years ago and neither am I. It’ll take a lot more healing than I expected to see if she and I can cross that line again.

The Heartbreaker


Claire Contreras - 2021
    Unable to face the consequences of what we’d done, if we were ever in close quarters, I ran in the other direction. If we were coincidentally put in the same class, I dropped it.Avoidance was the name of the game and so far I was winning.That is, until we’re assigned the same apartment.Living with Jagger during my last semester was definitely not in my plans, but I’m determined to make it work. As long as I don’t look at him for too long or let his innuendos get under my skin, I should be fine, right? I have to be.They say hooking up with your roommate can be messy, and losing my heart to Jagger would be disastrous.100% standaloneenemies-to-loverssports romanceroommates

Hard Luck


Liv Morris - 2016
    Hot shot. MVP.I've been called it all.I was the real deal, baby.The diamond was my battlefield.Women were the victory celebration.My "Lucky" streak was a given.On and off the field.Then I slept with the wrong woman,And she cursed me.Literally.Turned my game upside-down,In the ballpark...and bedroom.Now my team is paying the price.My last hope is Cali Jones,A smart and sexy physician assistant.Her Midas touch may fix my swing,Repair my equipment.But will it be enough to cure my hard luck?

Line of Scrimmage


Marie Force - 2008
    Marriage to football superstar Ryan Sanderson was a whirlwind of passion, heat, energy, and excitement, but Susannah got sick of playing second fiddle to his team, watching women throwing themselves at him, and living in terror of the hard hits he took on the field. With their divorce just days from being final, she's already planning a wedding with her new fiance...He's finally figured out what's really important to him. If only it's not too late...Ryan has just ten days to convince his soon-to-be ex-wife to give him a second chance. He has just brought home his third championship and his career is at its pinnacle, but during the year of their separation, Ryan's come to realize it doesn't mean anything at all without Susannah...

The Red Zone


Amie Knight - 2019
    But for me, those last twenty yards were my sweet spot. They didn't call me Lukas "Last Minute Lucy" Callihan for nothing. I was at the top of my game...until life sacked me harder than any linebacker ever could. Losing my mom was devastating and left me as the sole person responsible for my little sister. Taking care of Ella and juggling my career was like playing the hardest game of my life.  My only saving grace was Scarlett Knox, Ella's sexy, red-headed, no-nonsense teacher.  She loved Ella. She hated me.  She thought I sucked at this parenting thing, and she wasn’t wrong.  But whenever she was around I got the same earth-shattering, heart-stopping feeling I did when I was only twenty yards from the goal line. She made me feel like I was back in the red zone, a place I’d never fumbled. Until now.

For a Little While


Mary J. Williams - 2017
    Intense. Everything.UNFORGETTABLEBlue O'Hara.Falling in love with her best friend's brother hadn't been in Blue's plans. She had known Spencer since she was a little girl. Annoying at times, he wasn't supposed to be The One. But an unexpected kiss changed everything. For two years, their relationship bloomed. She couldn't imagine her life without him. Then the unthinkable happened. Spencer broke Blue's heart.Spencer Kraig.Baseball was his dream. His life. Falling for Blue was unexpected. And the most intense experience of his life. A steady girlfriend in college was one thing. But he had his sights set on being the best in the game. He wasn't ready for anything permanent.Breaking Blue's heart—and his own—was the hardest decision Spencer ever made.Four years later, Blue lands her dream job with the Seattle Cyclones. So what if Spencer is their star player? She's not the same starry-eyed young woman who thought the sun rose and set with Spencer Kraig. She's moved on.One look into Blue's eyes was all Spencer needed to know he wanted a second chance. Fame and fortune were great. But unless he had someone to share his life, what was the point? Not just anyone. The only woman he had ever loved. Could love. Blue.Blue could forgive Spencer.Trusting him with her heart—again—wasn't going to be as easy.Grab your copy of this intense, love conquers all, standalone novel today.

When Stars Burn Out


Carrie Aarons - 2018
    So slowly that each layer burning out feels like agony … or suddenly, exploding into a million pieces before the universe even has a grasp of what is happening.When Paxton Shaw left Demi Rosen without so much as a goodbye, he stole her shine in both manners.Now, eight years later, he’s trying to pull her back into his orbit. The nation’s most beloved football player, a tight end with a seriously tight end, has finally realized Demi is the one who got away.But she’s a different woman than the weak girl who used to come running whenever he called in the middle of the night. Strong, successful, her life’s mission being to grant the wishes of children whose flames have all but been extinguished.And untouchable, as dark and cold as a midnight sky with no moon in sight.When one special child forces their star-crossed paths to collide, it’s impossible to keep the feelings of their past buried. Paxton had been her Halley’s Comet; the once in a lifetime love that scorched Demi’s heart in the most spectacular of fashions.She promised herself she would never make that mistake again. But, how can she forget the dreams of love she once had, when Paxton wants to make them come true?

Blindsided


Ava Ashley - 2017
    Irresistible. Womanizer. Those are the facts I uncover about football star Lennox Hardy after a long night of martinis and bad choices. Hardly the stuff of tabloid headlines. Everyone knows the star quarterback is a womanizing bad boy whose voicemail is practically set to “no comment.” What they might not know is that our night together? Kind of disappointing. Of course, that didn’t stop me from getting knocked up. But it’s when I confront Lennox and discover that I’d actually slept with his identical twin brother Logan, a rising politician, that my life goes from page twelve news to a gossip columnist’s wet dream. Lennox is used to cleaning up his brother’s messes, and he barely blinks before he asks me to move in with him and pretend the baby is his, at least until his brother’s election is over. Giving me full access to his elusive, private life and the story that will make my career. What’s a reporter to do? But sharing an apartment with a brooding, private man who’s sexy as sin and my raging hormones may not have been the best idea. And when the only investigating I do happens with our clothes off, I know my plan has gone seriously awry...

False Start


Sasha Marshall - 2021
    Zhanna Hale THEN My father is a legend. Some call me football royalty, and in my hometown of Louisiana, I suppose I am. His legacy didn’t prepare me for Bryant Hudson. The quarterback. I swore I’d never date football players. Permanently. Yet Bryant had other plans.Three dates and a handful of conversations, I handed him my heart without realizing it. But, Bryant shatters my soul. I’m left picking up the pieces. If only erasing him from my heart was as easy. Bryant Hudson NOW I lost at the only game that matters. And it wasn’t even a game. It was and is my forever with Zhanna. I am the best quarterback out there. That should be enough, right? Achieving my dreams. But none of that matters without my woman beside me. When she left, she took my heart with her.Now I’m back. To remind her of what we had. To see me—the man whose heart she owns, not the quarterback.Our love is fate. Our lives are forever intertwined. I refuse to let a false start signal our end. I’m ready to repeat the play and show Zhanna she is my everything.

Resentment


Nicole London - 2015
    (Yes, I’m well aware that’s not the actual definition, but it might as well be . . .) It’s been ten years since we've seen each other and the feelings are still as strong. I’m not going to bore you with all the details of how our love was once intoxicating, consuming, and perfect. Because it was . . . until it wasn't. I've been fine without him. I haven’t missed his cruelty, his coldness and his spite. And after the ugliest breakup in the history of breakups, I forced myself to move on. Year by year, the feelings I had for him slowly drifted away, but one encounter with him recently changed everything. One encounter made me realize how the heart doesn't forget shit, and how my mind is going to have to work overtime to make sure I never forget my definition of resentment.

Playing for Kinley


Melanie Munton - 2016
    He was in love with Kinley Masterson. And he was in hell. Parker Cruz pretty much had it made. Coming from basically nothing, he was at the height of his career and was now one of the best baseball players in the major leagues. He was raking in the millions just to play the game that had always been his passion. He was living the dream and could have anything he wanted. Except Kinley Masterson. Kinley always knew her camera would take her places someday. She was exactly where she wanted to be in her professional life, but her personal life…that was a long story. Because she always imagined that she’d see all of those places and share in those experiences with someone she loved. Someone she fell for a long time ago and someone who had crushed her heart and left her broken and crying in his wake. Parker Cruz. She had loved him forever and the one summer they had together was magic…before he took off for Boston and acted like she’d never meant anything to him. Parker knew he’d screwed it up bad with Kinley and he didn’t blame her for hating him. But what he thought had been the right decision at the time turned out to be the worst mistake he had ever made. And now he was determined to win her back. He was going to make her fall in love with him again and nothing and no one was going to stand in his way. Not even Kinley.

Hate to Love You


Isabelle Richards - 2015
    Constantly in competition, they fight incessantly, making it nearly impossible for them to be in the same room with each other. Until they slept together. Sex changes everything.In one emotional evening, they go from enemies to lovers. Hate quickly evolves into passionate lust, but old habits die hard. The love growing between them can’t erase a lifetime of animosity. The two quickly fall back into old routines of spite and vengeance, and their relationship crumbles under the weight of their deep-seated distrust.Chase and Arianna spend the next two years on opposite sides of the globe, avoiding each other at all costs. Despite the lies they tell themselves, neither one is ready to let go. Even though they are both engaged to other people, they can’t find it in their hearts to forgive each other or to move forward.A family emergency calls Arianna home, where they have no choice but to face each other again. Will they finally admit the truth, or will they remain forever trapped between love and hate?