Book picks similar to
Taking a Knee by Sean Ashcroft
m-m
mm
sports
contemporary
Tight End
Devon McCormack - 2016
Just about everything. Except a good reputation. After being outed by the media as a promiscuous cheat, sponsors are dropping him left and right. To make matters worse, he’s been targeted as the next victim of an anti-gay celebrity serial killer. The FBI works with his team to protect him, assigning Agent Bryce Finnegan as his undercover bodyguard. But Tad doesn’t like Bryce from the get-go. The fed thinks he’s a spoiled brat. Maybe he’s right. Regardless, Tad doesn’t plan on proving him wrong, and he’ll do anything to make Bryce’s job even more difficult. Still, as much as he hates him, he can’t deny the guy’s hot as hell…and he wouldn’t mind passing a few balls around with him in the sheets. “I don’t get paid enough for this.” Agent Bryce Finnegan is no stranger to undercover work. With a background in busting drug cartels, he’s used to his life being on the line. He’s not used to putting up with spoiled rich kids who don’t realize how good they have it. When he meets Tad Roarke, he expects him to be a jerk. And he’s right. But the more time he spends with him, the more he realizes that all Tad’s attitude is little more than bravado. He’s not an asshole, and the media has twisted more than a few facts to tarnish Tad’s reputation. Now Bryce isn’t just worried about protecting this guy from a serial killer, but about falling in love in the process. Tight End is a stand-alone gay romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger.
Freshman Feint
Elaine Ashford - 2015
My freshman year at college is giving me a tough time. It’s not just the classes … it’s knowing I’m in love with my straight best friend, Nathan.I can’t leave him…We’ve been friends forever, and that means I have to help him get ready for his date with Charlotte, the girl we know from high school. It kills me to think he’ll never feel the same way about me that I do about him.Unless something changes…Owen, the guy from my hockey team, is into me … and maybe it’s just my imagination, but that seems to bother Nathan. Is there really a chance for us, or am I just kidding myself?
My Roommate's a Jock? Well, Crap!
Wade Kelly - 2012
Since then, his obsessive-compulsive behavior and sarcastic nature have driven away most of the population, and everyone else hates him because he's gay. As he sees it, he's bound to repulse any prospective friends, let alone boyfriends, so why bother?By the time Cole enters college, he's become an anal-retentive loner—but it's not a problem until his roommate graduates and the housing department assigns Ellis Montgomery to move in with Cole. Ellis is messy, gorgeous, straight, and worst of all, a "jock"!During a school year filled with frat buddies, camping expeditions, and meddling parents, Cole and Ellis develop a friendship that turns Cole's glass-half-empty outlook on its head. There must be more to Ellis than a fun-loving jock—and maybe Cole's reawakening libido has rekindled his hope for more than camaraderie.
Home Ice
Kate Sherwood - 2011
But Mike went off to be a star in the NHL and Jason stayed behind to start his life as the dedicated, deeply closeted coach of the town’s junior hockey team.Now Mike is back in town and Jason finds that their passion burns as hot as ever. But they’re both still in the closet and when Jason is threatened with exposure, he freezes. The flames of desire can’t melt Jason’s fears, but maybe, just maybe, the warmth of love will thaw the ice.
Convincing Cole
Jaclyn Quinn - 2021
Moving back to my hometown of Coral Pointe Inlet and opening Shore Thing Management with my four best friends is the best decision I've ever made. Falling back into old habits with an ex? Not so much. When Aiden, the sexy, straight owner of SandBar comes to my rescue pretends to be my boyfriend—handing me the flashlight I need to make my way out of the darkness—lines begin to blur. Suddenly, I'm falling again, but is it stupid of me to want Aiden to land by my side? Aiden Rafferty I've made a name for myself in this town. Granted, sometimes it's passed around in a morsel of gossip over morning coffee. I've poured my heart and soul into SandBar, and despite some townspeople thinking I turned my back on the family business, it's become a tourist hotspot. I see and hear a lot as a bartender, but I never get involved—until Cole. There's something about him, something that makes me want to protect him. Problem is, he's been hurt before. This fake relationship was myidea, so how do I go about convincing Cole there's nothing fake about it?
Geek Tattoo
R. Cayden - 2020
That’s the first reason he can’t be my boyfriend.Straight tattoo artists with dark histories and sad eyes just aren’t meant for geeky guys like me.Even if he does have killer cheekbones…But when our lives get thrown together one day at the park, he proposes something surprising.Stone needs a fake relationship to get him out of trouble, and I might be the perfect guy to help.The only problem is I don’t understand why a fake, straight boyfriend feels so good to cuddle up close to.And I can’t figure out why a man who scares me to death can also make me feel so safe.Stone marks me forever with his ink, but am I strong enough to make him truly mine?
Out in the Field
Kate McMurray - 2012
His dream comes true and then some; he finds himself playing alongside his idol, first baseman Matt Blanco, who is everything he dreamed of and more. Matt Blanco is entering the twilight of his career, plagued by injuries and two decades of lying about who and what he is, but he thinks he still has a few good years left in the major leagues. Then he meets Iggy and everything turns upside down. But carrying on an affair with a much younger man is one thing. Having an affair with his teammate introduces a whole new set of complications. When a trade and a career-ending injury threaten to keep them apart, both men have to figure out what they’re willing to risk for the love of baseball and each other.
True Brit
Con Riley - 2015
He doesn’t have the best voice, but success would be life-changing. His strategy is simple—he’ll make the British public love him.Ex-soldier Ed Britten has a different agenda. Winning means he’ll keep a promise made after a deadly Afghan ambush. His voice is his weapon, but he leaves his heart unguarded.Ed and Pasha’s discovery that the contest isn’t a fair fight calls for creative tactics. Staging a fake love story could bring victory, only there’s more at stake than the prestigious first prize. If winning means surrendering each other, they could both end up losing.
Cherish
Tere Michaels - 2012
The older girls - Katie and Miranda - are off at college, Evan is about to be promoted to captain and things are calm.Briefly.Evan accidently learns that Miranda has a new boyfriend and is talking marriage after just three months of dating. After peeling himself off the ceiling, he demands a conversation with his eldest daughter, which erupts into, as Matt calls it, “a steel cage match”.Miranda indeed has a boyfriend (Kent), a business major (from Connecticut) and they are most definitely serious. In fact, Miranda wants to bring him to Thanksgiving dinner - along with his parents, Blake and Cornelia.There is much debate but Evan agrees - mostly because Miranda's part of the bargain is that she won't get engaged or elope until the parents have met.Thanksgiving descends into madness before the turkey is cut.
Kick Off
C.F. White - 2016
A flare of temper, a thrown punch, and Jay Ruttman’s dream of being a footballer evaporated. Thrown out of the Pro Academy, Jay falls back to Plan B. University. At least he got accepted onto the sports scholarship. It might keep his dreams alive. Now he has a new plan: Head down. Train hard. Get scouted. That plan does not include falling for a rock musician – last thing he needs is a posh muso stirring up those well-hidden preferences that could end Jay’s career before it can even begin. Sebastian Saunders is out and proud. This rich kid rock musician wants to live it up, chase the dream and rock out for as long as he can, dodging his millionaire father’s plans for him to take the helm of the family business. He has a strict rule that he doesn’t date closest cases because he’s been there, done that. So that should mean not falling for shy sexy footballers, no matter how pretty their baby blue eyes are. For the sake of his heart. And both of their dreams. Kick Off is the first book in The District Line series. A New Adult, Opposites Attract, First Time, Sports/Rocker Contemporary MM Romance serial featuring an east end cockney footballer, a west end elite public-school boy gone rogue and the London tube line that connects them both.
Power Play
J.M. Snyder - 2003
until an accident during practice leaves him confined to a wheelchair. The doctors say he'll walk again but a new season is already underway and he's been replaced on the team, which leaves him feeling alone and betrayed. What's the use of fighting to get back on the ice now? Then he meets Dante Espinosa, a short track skater on the city's speed skating club. Though he has to work overtime to afford his sport, Dante is hell on ice, and dreams of making the cut on the U.S. Olympic Speedskating Team. Their love of the ice brings them together, but too many obstacles stand in their way: Ryan's struggle with therapy. The memory of Dante's first boyfriend. Lack of funding to the event, Dante's harassing boss, a skating friend in love with him, and Wil Dietrich, who will do anything to win.
The Summer of Us
Lily Morton - 2016
He’s driven, arrogant and hides a warm heart underneath a façade of cool politeness. He’s used to people disliking him but for some reason when meeting Matt in London the other man’s open dislike of him bothers him. He’s therefore surprised to find himself offering Matt a place to stay in his villa in the South of France while he’s working nearby. He’s surprised because he’d actually planned to spend the summer working on his book and plotting to get his ex-wife back.However, his perfect plans take a blow as the long hot summer progresses and the two men get closer, and John starts to nurse an unexpected attraction to his houseguest from hell.Matt is John’s polar opposite. He’s warm, funny, sociable and scruffy. He loves people and they love him back. However, to his consternation he hates John more than he hates Marmite, and Marmite makes him vomit. He hates his arrogance, his public school voice and the air of superiority that he carries around. The idea of staying in his home with just him for company sounds torturous and not in a good way.However, as the hot, lazy days slip by he’s forced to realise that maybe he’s not such a good judge of character after all, because underneath that arrogance is a warm, funny, vulnerable man who’s incredibly sexy. The only problem is that while Matt is gay John is completely straight and Matt now wants him more than he’s ever wanted anything in his life.See what happens when two men who think that they have nothing in common apart from a past mutual hatred find out that they might actually be each other’s future.From the author of the popular Beggar’s Choice series comes another scorchingly hot romantic comedy.This is a spin-off from the Beggar’s Choice series. It features characters from the series but can be read as a complete standalone.
Lucky
Garrett Leigh - 2018
There are no trophies for being gay in his game. Locked into his rep as the meanest defender on the pitch, keeping his secret is soul-crushing, but love has no place in his sport, even if his soft heart craves it. Lucky Coleman is on his knees when he meets a man with more money than sense. It’s a Grindr hook-up for cash, not a love match, but dreaming of his desperate, kind eyes earns a place amongst his numerous bad habits. Meeting once was risky, twice pushes Dom’s courage to the limit. Losing Lucky seems inevitable, but his tight grip on his image counts for nothing when Lucky starts to fall. Catching him could cost Dom everything, but if he can set his heart free, getting Lucky long term might be a risk worth taking.
I'm Straight, Right?
Romeo Alexander - 2019
Sloane: I know I can be a grumpy bastard, and I’m not the easiest man to deal with, but you’d think my best friend would trust me. We don’t keep secrets, even about our love lives. That’s what I thought until I found out Dean was seeing someone. I don’t like it...don’t ask me why. But there’s more to the story than I thought, and now I have to deal with feelings I didn’t even know were possible for me. Dean: I would not recommend being in love with your straight best friend. I met Sloane in Basic Training and fell head over heels. Years later and a deployment under each of our belts, it’s still not easy. All I’ve wanted for six years, six fucking years, was Sloane. Maybe it’s time I moved on. I’ll never have the same feelings for anyone else, but I’ll never get what I want from Sloane, right? After one slightly drunken night, will Dean and Sloane ever be able to get back to what they’d been, or has everything between them changed forever?
You Could Make a Life
Taylor Fitzpatrick - 2015
“I think you’re my new best friend,” Dan says, his excitement beating out common sense, social filters, the need to play it cool. “It is nice to meet you, new best friend," Marc says, his mouth twitching. In hindsight, Dan probably falls in love with him in that moment, Marc laughing at him and with him all at once, but it takes a little while to figure that out.