Book picks similar to
Open Lanes by Mary Morano


sports-romance
romance
hockey
college

Mr. Billionaire's Second Chance: Enemies to Lovers


Laura Olsen - 2021
    It's my fault for falling for a filthy rich and obscenely handsome Manhattan type.Silly of me to think Preston had something more beneath his immaculate suit than just a chiseled body.But what a body. I still wake up sweating from dreams about the night we shared.I thought knowing I'll never experience one again was torture enough. I was wrong. Because working with him every single day is definitely worse. I hate that he thinks he can order me around or that he still thinks I belong to him.And I really hate that he stays late in the office when I try to bury myself in work to stop thinking about him.Most of all though, I hate seeing glimpses of the man I once believed he was.Hints of true passion and charm beneath Mr. Billionaire's stone-cold demeanor. But it doesn't matter how many evenings we spend together in the office. There is absolutely no way I'm falling for him again. No cheating, no cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed!

The Pilot & the Puck-Up


Pippa Grant - 2018
    Tough? Damn right. Smart? Don’t let the hockey uniform fool you. Large and in charge? Honey, I’m the biggest, baddest, mother pucking-est machine to ever own the ice. I shoot. I score. In and out of the rink. I don’t come early, but I come often, if you know what I mean. And I always leave the ladies wanting more. Until that chick last night. I’m no one-thrust wonder, and you’re damn right I’m going to prove to her I can do better. But every time I think I’m finally on my way back into her pants, she one-ups and out-balls me. I should cut my losses, lick my wounds, and walk away. But Zeus Berger doesn’t walk away from anything. Especially when she's the only woman in the world who might be able to handle me.

Bury the Hatchet


Catherine Gayle - 2015
    Now he needs to prove to the watchful eyes that he’s changed for the better. But cozying up to Little-Miss-Perfect-Gone-Bad isn’t his idea of making amends.Agreeing to marry a hockey star to clear her “bad girl” reputation is the worst idea Oklahoma’s former sweetheart, Tallulah Belle Roth, has ever heard. With cameras constantly in their faces, Hunter and Tallie need to prove their sickeningly-sweet, do-good lives are the real deal—just to Bury the Hatchet once and for all.But when the cameras are off, desire burns hot. Can fake and just for show turn into something real and forever?

The Chase


Elle Kennedy - 2018
    And they must be right, because there’s no logical reason why I’m so drawn to Colin Fitzgerald. I don’t usually go for tattoo-covered, video-gaming, hockey-playing nerd-jocks who think I’m flighty and superficial. His narrow view of me is the first strike against him. It doesn’t help that he’s buddy-buddy with my brother.And that his best friend has a crush on me.And that I just moved in with them.Oh, did I not mention we’re roommates?I suppose it doesn’t matter. Fitzy has made it clear he’s not interested in me, even though the sparks between us are liable to burn our house down. I’m not the kind of girl who chases after a man, though, and I’m not about to start. I’ve got my hands full dealing with a new school, a sleazy professor, and an uncertain future. So if my sexy brooding roomie wises up and realizes what he’s missing?He knows where to find me.

On The Rebound


L.A. Cotton - 2020
    For Calliope James it didn't only leave a mark, it tore out her heart and left it bleeding on the ground. He was her best friend.Her first kiss.Her everything. Until one day, he wasn't. Zachary Messiah will never forget the girl with eyes the color of whiskey. But he's not that boy anymore. Cold.Cruel.He's devoid of emotion. Their paths were never supposed to cross again. But love doesn't always play by the rules. Now he's the King of Steinbeck University and she's the new girl on campus ... and the pasts they have fought so hard to bury are about to collide. Only this time, they might not survive the fallout.

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.

The Ninth Inning


J. Sterling - 2020
    If he doesn’t get drafted this year, he’ll be forced to hang up his cleats for good. It's not something he’s ready to do. To prove he’s serious about his final season, he’s given up girls. No more casual hookups, dates or one-night stands. But there's one girl who has always refused to give up on him. One girl who has been there since the start of Freshman year. One girl he stupidly assumed would always be waiting for him when he got off the field, no matter how long it took. Christina's had enough of Cole pushing her aside for baseball. She’s grown tired of waiting for him to see what she’s known since they were freshmen… that they are good together. She’s finally moved on- for good this time. Cole has other ideas, but she refuses to cave. It’s not her problem if he wants her now. Too little too late. There comes a point in your life when you have to stop the incessant merry-go-round and just get off the ride, right? Try telling that to Cole.

Boyfriend Bargain


Ilsa Madden-Mills - 2019
    Broke and desperate, Sugar Ryan has no use for arrogant, bad boy athletes . . . until she’s forced to bargain with the cockiest of them all.If only he knew she was alive. Her mission? Get on this hockey player’s radar any way possible. Zack Morgan is the king of the ice and the bedroom—but nothing prepares him for the mystery girl who shows up everywhere he does—frat parties, his favorite bar, and finally his front door with an offer he can’t refuse. The only rule in her boyfriend bargain: no falling in love.But after one (um, two) smoking-hot hookups, he’s done with pretending and vows to make their fake relationship real. Too bad she can’t trust a player with a reputation for breaking hearts. Will this hockey star score his forever girl or will their Boyfriend Bargain end in heartbreak? A standalone hockey romance.

Something Old


Liz Lovelock - 2021
    My name is Scarlett and my life is a mess.I’m two divorces down and don’t have any intention of going for a third.Then Lachlan—big time football superstar, one night stand turned husband in a shotgun-Vegas-style wedding, then ex-husband within twenty-four hours—stumbles back into my life.How can I keep him at bay and my heart from breaking again?

The Aubrey Rules


Aven Ellis - 2015
     *Always keep your work and private life separate. *Being open to new experiences will never involve eating kale. *Never, ever date a professional athlete. For Chicago social media professional Aubrey Paige, the rules are everything. So much so that Aubrey has painstakingly written her rules for living into a polka-dot Kate Spade notebook that she carries with her at all times. It’s her personal guidebook to living her life. These rules are the Holy Grail—ones never to be broken. They guide her actions for everything, from dealing with workplace drama to finding a great guy to date. After all, these are her own rules, built from her life experiences and observations. So they have to be perfect, right? Or are they? Because when Aubrey meets a cute Canadian, she suddenly finds her rules being tested and challenged in ways she never dreamed possible. Beckett Riley is the shy, quiet, determined captain of the Chicago Buffaloes, a hockey team on the verge of turning the corner to becoming a winning organization. He’s Aubrey's opposite, with so many qualities that Aubrey had listed as ones she’d never want in a man. Yet Aubrey finds herself drawn to Beckett in ways she’s never known. And when she unexpectedly finds herself working with Beckett, she wonders if rules are meant to be broken after all . . .

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.

In the Grasp: A Second Chance Sports Romance


Cadence Keys - 2021
    I thought I’d have more accomplished by now - like a wife and family - but for nine years I’ve held onto the memory of the girl who got away. Now she’s back and I’m more determined than ever to make her mine. For good this time.PaigeAfter years of working tirelessly, I just landed my dream job at the largest newspaper on the west coast. Unfortunately, that lands me in the same city as the man who broke my heart nearly a decade ago - the same one I’ve never really been able to let go of. When my editor assigns me to write an exposé on Jack, I’m forced to decide where my loyalties lie - with the career of a lifetime, or the love of my life.In the Grasp is the first steamy standalone contemporary sports romance in the LA Wolves series.

Saints


Sophia Henry - 2019
    who sets my blood on fire.When my twin brother defects from Moscow to play hockey in America, a merciless gang sets their sights on me as part of an extortion plot.The leader of a rival operation offers to keep me safe…for a price. In exchange for their protection, he wants my body. And as badly as I want to say no, body over life seems like a better deal.But as I slip deeper into his world, he demands more from me. Now he wants the only thing I'm unwilling to give him.My heart.SAINTS is the heart-stopping first novel in USA TODAY Bestselling Author Sophia Henry's sizzling Saints and Sinners suspense series.

Dean (Morgan Brothers #1)


Margaret McHeyzer - 2021
    She’s tortured by her history. Will their timid bond flourish into a lifelong love? Dean Morgan is an everyday hero. A well-respected firefighter in a small community, he believes everyone deserves compassion. So when he daringly rescues an unconscious teen from a burning building, the boy’s troubled mother immediately sets his heart ablaze. Joanne Hamilton fears she’ll never escape her imprisoned husband’s abuse. But when the handsome ladder-man plucks her son from the jaws of death, she’s surprised when his presence stirs more than gratitude. And when she witnesses the gorgeous guy’s kind soul in action, she feels her shattered spirit might just have a chance to mend. As Dean forms a fatherly connection with the boy, his protective instincts naturally pull them all closer. But when Joanne’s toxic baggage rears its ugly head, she’s terrified her budding attraction isn’t the only thing in danger. Can they survive a dark past and fan the flames of happiness? Dean is the touching first tale in The Morgan Brothers contemporary romance series. If you like healing hearts, tender embraces, and relearning trust, then you’ll adore Margaret McHeyzer’s uplifting story.

Take The Shot


Danica Flynn - 2020
    Why would the hunky hockey player want anything to do with me? I’m a stressed out writer with a lot of baggage. Any other man would say, “HARD PASS!” But Noah was the best man I’ve ever known, and if it wasn’t for him, I might not be alive. But am I ready to put my heart on the line again? NOAH I’ve pined for my best friend for so long, that my teammates issued an ultimatum.  “Make your move now or one of us will ask her out.” They are just trying to push me, besides none of those jerks would ever be good enough for her. Makes me wonder if I even stand a chance. Besides, what would a smart woman like her want with a dumb jock like me? Get ready to meet the Philadelphia Bulldogs hockey team, in this all new-standalone novel. If you love sexy sports romances and friends-to-lovers with a HEA, this book is for you! Content Warning: This book deals with miscarriage & infertility.