Book picks similar to
Drowning in Love by Beth Rinyu


new-adult
romance
contemporary-romance
sports

The Hooker and the Hermit


L.H. Cosway - 2015
    Well, I have a confession to make…THE HERMITAnnie Catrel, social media expert extraordinaire at Davidson & Croft Media and clandestine celebrity blogger, can make anyone shine in the court of public opinion. She is the Socialmedialite, anonymous creator of New York’s Finest and the internet’s darling. Virtual reality is Annie’s forte, but actual reality? Not so much.THE HOOKERRonan Fitzpatrick, aka the best hooker the world of rugby has seen in decades, despises the media—social or otherwise. The press has spun a web of lies depicting him as rugby’s wild and reckless bad boy. Suspended from his team, Ronan has come to Manhattan to escape the drama, lay low, fly under the radar. Only, Ronan isn’t easy to overlook, and he can’t escape the notice of the Socialmedialite…THE PLANWhen Ronan is sent to Davidson & Croft Media to reshape his public image, he never expects to cross paths with shy but beautiful Annie, nor does he expect his fierce attraction to her. He couldn’t be happier when her boss suggests pairing them together.What lengths will Annie take to keep her virtual identity concealed? And what happens when the hooker discovers who the hermit really is?

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...

When We Touch


Tia Louise - 2017
    My biggest regret. I thought she’d always be waiting for me. I was wrong.Now I’m back in Oceanside searching for peace, hoping to escape what my life has become. She isn’t supposed to be here…Dark hair blowing in the ocean breeze, Luscious curves barely hidden by thin cotton.I didn’t come back for her.But when we touch, I know I’ll do whatever it takes to make her mine.

From Rags


Suzanne Wright - 2012
    Her mum, who committed suicide. Her sister, who she hasn’t seen since her teens. And Connor McKenzie, who disappeared from her life the same day he left their foster home. The hardest part of that was that he never completely left her life because she was forever seeing him on T.V. or in magazines as a Formula One Driver. But Jaxxon refuses to live a ‘woe is me’ life, even in spite of living alone in her one-roomed flat and being expected to survive on a ridiculously low income. Then one night she is offered a modelling job and before she knows it she has been catapulted to the peak of success, gaining fame, fortune and security. Oh and a stalker. Connor McKenzie is busy trying to shake off his crazy ex-girlfriend – another woman who thought she could get around his no marriage rule – when he sees Jaxxon on the cover of a magazine. Remembering how close they had once been, he’s shocked when she doesn’t respond to his attempts to contact her and then acts indifferently to him when they meet. But Connor can’t let it go. The only reason he had kept his hands off her ten years ago was that she had been younger than him. Now that they’re adults, he isn’t prepared to allow anything – not even Jaxxon – to stop him from having her. Warning: This novel contains a bitchy female who curses like a sailor, a persistent alpha male who doesn’t understand the word ‘no’, and explicit hot sex in some very public places.

Getting Lucky Number Seven


Cindi Madsen - 2015
    While every other college student is out having fun, Lyla is studying. With her cat. Well, she's played it "safe" quite enough, thank you. So she creates a "College Bucket List"―with item #7 being a night of uninhibited, mind-blowing sex...But she needs some help from her man-whore best friend.Hockey player Beck Davenport thought Lyla's transformation would be subtle. Man, was he wrong. With every item she ticks off, Beck finds himself growing seriously hot for his sweet, brainiac best friend. And if he's not careful, he'll end up risking their friendship in order to convince Lyla that he might just be her lucky #7...

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…

Hard to Handle


K. Bromberg - 2020
    Bromberg is back with an all new second-chance, standalone hockey romance.At first, the request seemed simple—sign a new athlete to the agency. Then I found out the new athlete was none other than the most wanted man in hockey today: Hunter MaddoxGifted. Sexy. At the top of his game. And the only man who has ever broken my heart.If signing him will help save our family business, I’ll swallow my pride and do what’s asked. But when it becomes clear his uncharacteristic antics off the ice are a hint of something deeper, keeping things strictly professional between us becomes more than complicated. But I know better than to cross that line. I’ll never date a client. Not even for him.***Win the Stanley Cup and do it before time runs out. Not a small feat, but it’s what’s motivated me since the start of my career. And time is running out.Enter Dekker Kincade.Feisty. Dogged. Damn gorgeous. The one I let get away.I have no idea why she’s traveling with the team, but hell if resisting her is going to be easy. But I have a job to do, and I refuse to lose sight of that end game. Even if she confuses me. Even if she sees parts of me I’ve hidden from the world. I can’t lose focus. Not even for her.Are you ready to fall for the Kincade sisters and the men who love them in K. Bromberg's sexy, contemporary, sports romance series? These books can all be read as standalones, but you’ll enjoy reading them as a series!Hard to Handle (Hunter & Dekker's story - hockey romance)Hard to Hold (Rush & Lennox's story - soccer romance)Hard to Score (Drew & Brexton's story - football romance)Hard to Lose (Gunner & Chase's story - baseball romance)Hard to Love (Finn & Stevie's story)

So Much It Hurts


Melanie Dawn - 2013
    All she wants to do is relax and rejuvenate on her weekend escape to the beach. Having a drink at the bar with the girls sounds like the perfect way to unwind. That is, until Kaitlyn hears a familiar voice from the stage that shakes her to her core. She grapples with her memory until Chris King, the lead singer of the band, walks up to her and eliminates the questions in her mind.Chris King…the misunderstood bad boy who once saved her in ways that no one else could. Kaitlyn’s friends beg to know the story behind this mystery man. Forced to revisit a painful past from which she has spent years trying to heal, Kaitlyn's recollection of Chris awakens intense feelings that she has kept buried deep inside her heart. Has time changed him, or is he still the same person Kaitlyn fell in love with so many years ago? Marriage vows are sacred, but temptation is a powerful thing.Seeing Chris again has caused a war between her head and her heart. In the end, which one will win the battle? Facing a difficult decision, Kaitlyn just wants to be sure of one thing when she walks away from this weekend—no regrets.This is an emotionally gripping story of love, loss, redemption, and hope. This Contemporary Romance Novel coming in Sept 2013!

The Law of Moses


Amy Harmon - 2014
    You will know it’s coming, and it will hurt. But you’ll be able to prepare.Someone found him in a laundry basket at the Quick Wash, wrapped in a towel, a few hours old and close to death. They called him Baby Moses when they shared his story on the ten o’clock news – the little baby left in a basket at a dingy Laundromat, born to a crack addict and expected to have all sorts of problems. I imagined the crack baby, Moses, having a giant crack that ran down his body, like he’d been broken at birth. I knew that wasn’t what the term meant, but the image stuck in my mind. Maybe the fact that he was broken drew me to him from the start.It all happened before I was born, and by the time I met Moses and my mom told me all about him, the story was old news and nobody wanted anything to do with him. People love babies, even sick babies. Even crack babies. But babies grow up to be kids, and kids grow up to be teenagers. Nobody wants a messed up teenager.And Moses was messed up. Moses was a law unto himself. But he was also strange and exotic and beautiful. To be with him would change my life in ways I could never have imagined. Maybe I should have stayed away. Maybe I should have listened. My mother warned me. Even Moses warned me. But I didn’t stay away.And so begins a story of pain and promise, of heartache and healing, of life and death. A story of before and after, of new beginnings and never-endings. But most of all...a love story.

The Sweet Gum Tree


Katherine Allred - 2005
    But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick's abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick's abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she's starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she's content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He's back…and he's not alone.Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she's built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson's death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

Puck Me Secretly


Odette Stone - 2018
    I’ve never had an orgasm, but I’ve faked plenty. I want to experience love.  Real, passionate love. I don’t want to die. It’s funny what blurts out of your mouth when the plane you’re on is going down, and I didn’t hold back with my seat mate when my plane decided to crash. My hysterical confessions didn’t faze the muscular stranger that sat beside me.  In fact, he promised if we survived, he’d give me my first orgasm.   We survived. I came. And then he left without telling me who he was. On the first day of my job, I stood in front of the Vancouver Wolves hockey team and called out a number.  #33. Imagine my shock when he skated forward. Max is an incredible hockey player, whose wild, out-of-control antics have almost derailed his career.  So many secrets shroud his past and continue to threaten his future.   Now he’s my secret.  And that secret could ruin everything.   Puck Me SECRETLY.  Some secrets are too big to keep. Intended for adult audiences only.

Hardball


C.D. Reiss - 2016
    Perfect swing. Perfect swagger.They call Dash Wallace the Diamond King.He’s the hottest commodity in baseball and in the bedroom. When he runs the bases, every woman’s eyes are glued to his stunning body and a smile that puts the night lights to shame. I’m no queen. I’m a regular girl with a regular job. I just watch him on TV and from the bleachers, season after season. Girls like me grab a guy like that one in a million times.My number just came up, and he is as spectacular in bed as he is on the field.But there’s not a woman in the world who can distract Dash Wallace from the game. Not for a moment. Not even me.Until the night I do. And everything changes.-----Hardball is a SMOKING HOT, SEXY romance with a touch of angst and a ton of heart from CD Reiss. It's a fun, witty, full-length standalone.

The Birthday List


Devney Perry - 2018
    A journal with a list.Take a karate class. Go skydiving. Learn to play the ukulele. Say yes to everything for an entire day. The list goes on, line by line, of youthful dreams.For too long that list has haunted me. But starting today, I’m going to cross one item off. Today, I’m opening my new restaurant in Bozeman, Montana. The Maysen Jar.It should have marked the first day of a new life. A fresh start. But then Cole Goodman waltzed through the door and brought with him the past. A man who shattered my heart. A man I tried to forget.Maybe it’s a good thing he insists on sticking around. Because the only way I’ll finish the list is with Cole’s help. And then I can finally say goodbye.

The Varsity Dad Dilemma


Lex Martin - 2021
    Until someone drops off a baby with a note pinned to her blanket that says one of those jocks—either Rider or one of his roommates—is the father. The problem? Baby mama doesn’t mention which of these numbskulls is the sperm donor.I wouldn’t care about their paternity problems—not the slightest bit—except my brother lives there too. Which means that adorable squawking bundle might be my niece, and there’s no way I’m leaving her unattended with those bumbling football players.They need my help, even if they don’t know it yet. Once we solve this dilemma and figure out who’s the daddy, I’m out.I’ll just ignore Rider and those soul-searing looks he gives me every time I reach for the baby. He broke my heart three years ago. He won’t get a second chance.

Nothing But Trouble


P. Dangelico - 2019
    And frankly, I kind of wish I still didn’t because then I wouldn’t have a sprained ankle to show for it. And my leg wouldn’t resemble a boa constrictor that’s swallowed a feral pig. Yeah, it’s that bad.I’ve spent years saving every penny I’ve ever earned to be able to transfer to Malibu University. And now my entire future––including my scholarship––is in jeopardy. So I either accept the help he insists on giving me, or lose everything I’ve sacrificed for. In the meantime, I’m going to ignore the fact that we’re becoming friends.And I’m definitely going to pretend he’s not turning into the object of my…umm, dirty fantasies. That’s not happening. Not even a little.Because the minute I clapped eyes on him I knew he was nothing but trouble.