Book picks similar to
First to Fall by Stacy Lane
sports-romance
contemporary
sports
low-angst
Silver-Tongued Devil
Rosalind James - 2016
No more wild side. Blake Orbison’s pro football career with the Portland Devils may have come crashing to an end, but not calling the signals anymore just gives him more time to devote to his business enterprises, including the latest and greatest: the opening of the Wild Horse Resort in scenic north Idaho. And that other one, too. Blake’s on the marriage track now, and he’s got a game plan. But when he runs into a trespasser leaping from his shoreline boulders into his lake, what’s a good ol’ boy to do but strip down and join her? Dakota Savage is nobody’s temporary diversion, least of all the man responsible for her family’s semi-desperate circumstances. Some people may think she has a piercing too many, but she’s had more than enough of being called trash in this town. She’s come home to Wild Horse to run her stepfather’s painting business, and any extra time she has goes into creating her stained glass. An overpaid, entitled, infuriating NFL quarterback is no part of her life plan, no matter how sweet he talks. No matter how slow he smiles. No matter what.
Making the Call
Amanda Shelley - 2020
Ha! I can only wish. With a deadline looming, I’ve escaped to my family’s cabin on Anderson Island to free myself from distractions. My plan's great, until a man, who could pass as a cover model on one of my books, comes to my rescue. Is there chemistry? Sure. Is he everything I’d look for in a guy? Absolutely. But will my career be at risk if I give into my desire?LukeFor a player, women line up outside the locker room. For coaches, we're lucky to get in the game. As the youngest NFL coach in the league, I live, eat, breathe, and even sleep football. To gear up for this season, I return to my home on Anderson Island for a much-needed break. When Dani literally crashes into my life, my mind’s suddenly on the sexy brunette with a sailors mouth, rather than my team's next play. She has me dusting off another playbook entirely, making me wonder, did I make the right call?
Highlander's Fate
Alisa Adams - 2018
An expert with weapons, she can also hold her own with any man in a battle of wits.She dreams of adventure in the great world. She wants it more than she can bear. And when suitor after suitor comes to offer their hand in marriage, Alexa is firm with each refusal.No man shall lay claim to her heart!Little does she know that from across the sea… her true destiny draws ever nearer.However, love is not without obstacles.Alexa will be faced with a choice: freedom or love?
Detour
A. Marie - 2020
Angela Head down, eyes peeled for any opportunity to get off the dead-end course my mother carelessly paved for me years ago.My plan takes a sharp turn landing me directly across the hall from Creekwood’s resident bad boys. The three streetbike riding misfits are as stubborn as they are sexy. And they. Are. Sexy. Especially the one with the mocha swirl eyes watching my every move.But even the six-foot hallway separating us can’t keep the overbearing trio from constantly getting in my way.When my past threatens to catch up with me, I quickly learn not every detour promises an easier route, no matter how tempting my new neighbors might make it look. Coty Head up, eyes locked on anything threatening to throw me off the carefully constructed path I have mapped out.I live my life the same way I ride my bike, never once regretting the roads I’ve chosen.Lately though, after years of the same scenery, everything’s starting to blur together. It’s only when our elusive neighbor girl comes out of nowhere that I realize what’s been missing.And now that I have, I don’t think I can let her pass by so quickly. At least not without proving the lengths I’ll go for her first.
Rescued
Jill Burrell - 2021
Stranded and desperate, she finds herself at the mercy of a handsome, brooding mechanic. When he offers her help, she accepts, knowing too well the pain that comes from trusting others.Widower and grieving father, Ben Young, fixes cars and avoids people. He can’t stand to see the pity in their eyes. There’s something different in Amy’s eyes, though, and he’s driven to help her—for her little girl’s sake. But helping means caring, and that’s not something he’s capable of. Not anymore.Just when it looks like a relationship might be possible between Ben and Amy, she realizes her breaking down in this small town wasn’t an accident. She holds the key to what happened to Ben’s family. But will her quest for answers cost her everything?
Lusting For Luke
Sara Celi - 2017
I worry every day about my bills and student loans. He's the heir of a wealthy American family, a dynasty that expects him to marry a blueblood--and soon. I grew up on the wrong side of Kissimmee, Florida. When Luke Rothschild races into my life, however, everything changes. He's a breath of fresh, coastal air, a gusty breeze that infuses a brand-new, tempting scent into my world. I lust for Luke, I fall fast, and I fall hard, so much so that I almost forget how little we have in common. But then comes the inevitable...the stark reminder that I don't fit into Luke's rich, sparkling life. No matter how hard I try to play the part outside the bedroom, or how much I lust for him in his boudoir, there is no way I can erase my past and become the woman his family will accept with open arms. Or...is there? LUSTING FOR LUKE first in a series of romance novels and novellas set in Palm Beach, Florida. All titles in the "Billionaires of Palm Beach" series can be read individually and independently. More details to be announced at a later date. ****BOOK COVER NOT FINAL*****
Power Play
Maria Luis - 2017
She's a (struggling) sports journalist looking for her big break. Charlie Denton has been handed the most impossible assignment from her stick-in-the-mud boss: get an exclusive interview with the NHL's golden boy, Duke Harrison. The catch? She's got eight days or she’ll be demoted. Fired. Kicked to the curb - No way is she letting her future rest on the broad shoulders of a goalie who is at least three seasons past his prime. She has eight days to convince Duke that the loyal fans of The Cambridge Tribune (annual circulation: 1,000) are dying to know about his life, on and off the ice. Eight days to stand toe to toe with a man who is pure sex on a stick. Eight days to remember that every mind-blowing kiss is nothing but a power play. What could go wrong?
Steady
Danica Avet - 2016
I went from Shaun Decker, NFL star, to being forced to retire and finding out my wife’s having an affair. Coaching for the Sauvage Spartans' football program will be perfect for getting my life back on track. Then a delicious woman named Katie literally falls into my lap and then, after the best sex of my life, disappears. I’m Katherine Frost, band nerd turned band director and, oh, apparently a magnet for married men. Discovering I’m the other woman already had me rethinking my life, then my one-night stand turns out to be married too. Gah! I want nothing to do with men ever again. Especially tall, handsome, bearded men named Shaun. I thought taking up a teaching position at Sauvage State was a strategic exit, stage left, but it’s looking more like going from the frying pan into the fire. Hey, Shaun again. Don't let her kid you. Fate puts people in the right place at the right time because they're meant for each other. Football and marching bands go together, just like me and Katie. I just need to convince her of that.
Wanted: Big Bad Brother: A Billionaire Bad Boy Stepbrother Romance
Natalie Knight - 2018
Beautiful. Perfection. Everything that's good in this world.Too good for me.When she comes to me for help,I can't resist any longer. I'll make her mine. Even if it means risking everything. I'll risk it all. Go all in on the two of us.
If I win, then it'll soon be three.
Sweet Keeper (Sweet Talkers, #1)
Thalia Sanchez - 2020
until I met Stanley McKinley.From the moment that I met him, I knew that I was going to hate his guts, that he was everything that I'm not, everything I despise.One mistake.That's all it took for our paths to collide and merge into one,and I can't find a way to get rid of the magnetic pull he has over me.I want to push him away, to do everything in my power to keep him as a friend—at most.But friends aren't supposed to flirt and look at each other the way we do.I shouldn't want him... but I do.And there's nothing I can do to change before I mess him up too.STANLEYShe thinks that I'm a golden boy, that I'm the perfect guy.Rich and spoiled asshole that can have everything he wants in life.I'm neither of those things.From the moment I met her, Bree Pierce got under my skin and I can't get her out of my system, no matter how hard I try to. I was an inconvenience for her, someone she only spoke to because we made a mistake, not even worthy of being her friend. But I don't want her friendship.I want her.And I'm willing to do whatever it takes for her to choose me, to keep me as much as I want to keep her.Even if it ruins everything that we have.
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?
Kissing Micky
Ellen Devlin - 2018
He was there, I was there, and our friends thought we’d be perfect for each other.Not only is Tom McCullin a hockey player on my favorite team, he’s also a gorgeous, glove-dropping defenseman straight out of my wildest fantasies. He’s almost too good to be true.His teammates call him Micky, but to me he’s Tom. And damn it all if the chemistry between us doesn’t wind up being amazing. Turns out we can’t keep our hands off each other, but it’s our secret. We’re not ready to share what we have with anyone else.So, while our friends keep wondering why things aren’t happening between us, little do they know that I’m already…Kissing Micky.
Change on the Fly
Maren Moore - 2021
keeping it a secret for years.Ridiculously charming, a total player and a hockey super star... Reed Davidson has been the boy next door who's had my heart for as long as I can remember.He was the ultimate bad boy, and I was just his sister’s shy best friend.But when Reed's world is suddenly flipped upside down and he gets custody of his nephew, I'm the only one who can help.I shouldn’t have offered to come on the road with them, but Reed wasn’t cut out to be a single dad and I knew he needed help. I tried to hide my feelings for him, but the two of us, the cutest kid on the planet, and a long hockey season were a recipe for disaster.Reed was used to getting everything he ever wanted, and this time... He wanted me.Only now, the stakes are higher and my heart is the one on the line.
Back to Shore
Taylor Danae Colbert - 2020
So I turned him away and never looked back. I haven’t forgotten. And I certainly haven’t forgiven.Now, I’m sort of a hot mess. I’m in between jobs, essentially homeless, and newly divorced.But as I try to put the pieces of my life back together, I know that Ryder’s the one that’s missing. I have to find him, and I have to forgive him.And when I do, I learn that he’s not exactly living the easiest life. He needs someone. He needs me.Despite everything, I know I should be there for him. But doing that means I’ll have to put our past behind us.And I’ll have to try my hardest not to fall back in love with the man who broke my heart beyond repair.