Book picks similar to
Exception by Sadie T. Williams


sports
college
contemporary
new-adult

Team Hate


Rebel Hart - 2020
    After my father died in a car accident when I was sixteen, I decided to pursue football as a tribute to him. I struggled my way through college coaching for experience, always trying to prove I belonged to the field. And now I’m excited to finally jump into the big leagues as a strength and conditioning assistant coach of the North Carolina Knights.I’ve always been a stubborn, short-tempered, swearing-like-a-sailor tomboy. But it's a different ballgame with the football players.They can be crass, rude, misogynistic.One in particular, the arrogant and egotistical star quaterback, John Scepter.He thinks there’s no place for women in professional football and is not subtly trying to force me out.I hate him.Yet, no one makes my heart race like he does…And that makes me hate him even more.

A Little Like Romeo: A Sweet Enemies to Lovers Romance


Emily Childs - 2020
    It doesn't hurt that Jonas is funny...and sweet...and really easy on the eyes.But when he kisses me, he's not just a secret friend anymore--he's the guy I'm falling head-first in love with.If our families find out, this feud will turn into an all out war!Welcome to the one-of-a-kind sweet, swoony ride following small-town Scandinavian bakers and the ones who hold their hearts. A toe-curling happily ever after, guaranteed.

Anaconda


Autumn Avery - 2016
    They’ll fill you in on how I filled them up. I’m a campus legend. My epic performances in the bedroom are second only to my game winning plays on the field as Ohio’s top quarterback. I’m a shoe in for the big leagues, but I’ve let The Anaconda run wild and my grades are in the toilet. I’ve got to get my head right. But when I meet Julie, the chick assigned to tutor me, I’m not sure which head I’ll be able to listen to. Behind those glasses, frizzy hair and Plain Jane clothes there’s a slammin’ hottie just waiting to be brought out. And I’m the man to do it. I rocked her world, taught her things she never thought she’d do with a man. But now she thinks I’m a jerk and wants nothing to do with me. But what The Anaconda wants, The Anaconda gets, and Julie’s about to learn that. The Anaconda is a stand alone sports romance with plenty of steam, romance, twists and turns, and a guaranteed HEA! If you liked STALLION and BULL then you will love this!

Further To Fall


Catherine Cowles - 2018
    An innocent teacher trying to make the world a better place. He never expected her to become his best friend. But she fought her way into his life, one tongue-lashing at a time. Until one night, one mistake tore them apart. Losing her… that gutted him. But now, as one of the top fighters in the world, he’s back and determined to battle for his girl. But, from the sidelines, someone watches. Someone who’ll do just about anything to keep them apart. Their second chance might be over before it even begins…

Rebellious


Kristy Marie - 2021
    No cuddling. No blah, blah, blah. He wrote the rules onto our skin—every ink stroke tragically smeared by the lines we’d crossed. He claimed it was the only way we could be together—the only way we wouldn’t destroy our families.But there was an exception to his rules—one he never saw coming.All I needed was opportunity and a sunburn. The girl who played by his rules is gone. This girl… is not his “friend.”

Fumbled


T.K. Rapp - 2016
    Even if he is handsome. And buff. And the king of the thousand watt smile.However, prickly Dani is eventually charmed by her hottie knight in shining sunglasses. And a brief moment spent on the side of the road on a hot summer evening quickly leads to a first date.But what Dani doesn’t realize is that she has just agreed to go out with the very famous defensive end for the San Diego Quakes. And Tabor is thrilled to finally meet a woman who doesn’t fall at his overly athletic feet. This year's most valuable player is excited to have a chance to be an ordinary guy with a less than ordinary woman.But being a celebrity can put a real kink in your love life and Dani, a woman used to a much quieter life, is soon caught up in the high paced world of fame and football.Falling in love is easy. Falling in love with a sports star is another story.Can Dani figure out how to play the game before she fumbles her chance at happiness?

All Lined Up


Cora Carmack - 2014
    My life has always been ruled by both.Dallas Cole loathes football. That's what happens when you spend your whole childhood coming in second to a sport. College is her time to step out of the bleachers, and put the playing field (and the players) in her past.But life doesn't always go as planned. As if going to the same college as her football star ex wasn’t bad enough, her father, a Texas high school coaching phenom, has decided to make the jump to college ball… as the new head coach at Rusk University. Dallas finds herself in the shadows of her father and football all over again.Carson McClain is determined to go from second-string quarterback to the starting line-up. He needs the scholarship and the future that football provides. But when a beautiful redhead literally falls into his life, his focus is more than tested. It's obliterated.Dallas doesn't know Carson is on the team. Carson doesn't know that Dallas is his new coach's daughter.And neither of them know how to walk away from the attraction they feel.

Saving Barrette


Shey Stahl - 2019
     From USA Today Bestselling Author Shey Stahl comes a story about finding yourself through an emotionally packed coming-of-age novel of lies and betrayal. Barrette Blake has virtually no memory of the night her world changed forever. With the unwavering support of her best friend, she tries to piece together her life and her foggy memories of that night. She’s focused and resilient, but on the inside, she’s losing hope she’ll ever be whole again. Asa Lawson has it all together—on the field that is. He dominates the college football scene, but his life is messy. He’s in love with the girl who can’t love herself after everything that’s happened to her. While everything around him is spiraling out of control and threatens to come crashing down completely, the truth about the night that destroyed his childhood friend is revealed. She’s hiding from the night she doesn’t remember. And he’s going to show her she’s worth the risk. She’s consumed by despair. He won’t let her give up.

Can You Hear It


Casey Diam - 2019
    The deafening roar of the crowd. Football games have been a thing of the past, ever since the love of my life died playing it. One year later, my mom decides to help me to leave it all behind. So here I am. New school. New outlook. A new me, still trying to stop the grieving, and still trying to avoid anything to do with a game I’ve come to hate.In some cruel twist of fate, I meet Ashton.I’m instantly drawn to him with no idea who he is until it all begins to make sense. His height, his physique, his long, powerful arm hurling a football. Ashton Haigen is Alpen Springs High top-notch quarterback. Suddenly, I’m back in the game I swore I would never be in again, only this time, I have a choice. But how does one choose their own heart, over the one that beats for them? How can I put my past behind me and learn to love again?#AshandAverieCan You Hear It is a standalone sports romance that takes place in senior year high school. Due to explicit content, this book is suitable for 17+

Under the Lights


Shannon Stacey - 2015
    Fourteen years later, they’re back to relive their glory, save the team—and find themselves again… Chase Sanders’s life has taken a lot of crazy turns lately. But returning to his hometown to help his old coach keep his high school football team afloat might be the craziest thing to happen to him yet. That is, until he starts falling for the last person he should—Coach’s gorgeous daughter… Kelly McDonnell learned the hard way that cocky, charming men are nothing but trouble, so she knows Chase is bad news. Still, she can’t resist his smile—or the rest of him. But when his loyalty to her father conflicts with their growing attraction, any hope for a relationship might be blocked before it can even begin…

First & Then


Emma Mills - 2015
    She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them: first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

Broken at Love


Lyla Payne - 2013
    A rich kid who’s not used to being disappointed by life, Quinn and his sociopathic half-brother Sebastian create a frat house game intended to treat girls how they see them—as simple game pieces to be manipulated for their pleasure.College sophomore Emilie Swanson knows Quinn’s reputation—after all, he did send one of her sorority sisters into therapy earlier in the semester—but the game and his charm bring them closer together and soon she starts to believe there’s more to Quinn than people think.But what if the more is something darker than a game of toying with emotions and breaking hearts?Quinn and Emilie might be falling for each other, but there are secrets he’s not ready to tell—and lifestyle changes he’s reluctant to make. She willingly stepped on the court, but if Emilie finds out she started out as nothing as a pawn in Quinn and Sebastian’s twisted game, she might never forgive him.To his surprise, Quinn finds that he might finally care about someone more than he cares about himself…even if that means letting Emilie walk away for good.

The Year We Fell Down


Sarina Bowen - 2014
    The boy she loves has someone else. What now? She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead. Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He's way out of Corey's league. Also, he's taken. Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the "gimp ghetto" of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands. They're just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she's falling. Hard. But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won't, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness -- one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who's afraid to love her back.