Book picks similar to
Beauty and the Running Back by Colleen Masters
sports
freebies
college
romance
The Hard Way
Katie Ashley - 2016
Because of his talent at football, coupled with his father’s wealth, he’s always gotten his way. But when a night of drunken debauchery lands him in hot water with the college athletic board, neither his influential father nor his charming grin can save him. He finds it a total buzz kill when he is sentenced to community service with troubled youth at an inner-city shelter. But his nightmare is only beginning when his greatest high school regret is the very one in charge of the program, and she has him by the balls in more ways than one.For Avery Prescott, senior year was a nightmare of epic proportions, and Cade Hall played the lead villain. After she fled her small town for college in the bright lights of Atlanta, she thought she had escaped the painful memories of her past. She never could have imagined Cade would waltz through the door of the outreach program she presided over. But Avery has news for Cade--she isn’t the same shy, doormat of a girl she was in high school. Since she holds Cade's football future in her hands, she’s more than ready to make payback a real bitch.Will the two stay in the defensive zone or discover that sometimes life's greatest lessons are learned the hard way?
Make Me Forget
Kennedy Fox - 2017
Being a romance novelist comes with its perks but when Ethan Rochester enters my life and interrupts my solo writing retreat, my world turns upside down.I write about guys like him for a living—sexy and charming, yet reluctant to get into a serious relationship. His body’s the ultimate temptation, but his condescending personality makes him a notorious heartbreaker.When we’re forced to be neighbors, he makes me forget my rules, and soon my upcoming deadline isn’t the only thing I’m dreading.*Can be read as a complete stand-alone! Formally titled Falling for the Bad Boy. Content has not changed.*
Off Sides
Sawyer Bennett - 2013
Maybe it was the impossible expectations I faced, maybe it was my own self-loathing. But I just knew I needed something different to happen. I needed someone... something... to derail me from my current path. Otherwise, I would become lost... a hollowed out shell of a man. So I did it. I approached her, then I pursued her, then I made her mine. And my life was saved...”Ryan Burnham is the privileged son of a U.S. Congressman and captain of his university’s hockey team. While he is on the verge of fulfilling his dreams to play in the NHL, his parents want him on a different course. One he is expected to accept for the sake of his family’s public image.Forced her to abandon her music career after the heart breaking death of her parents, Danny Cross exists on the opposite side of the tracks from Ryan. She is struggling to make her own way, working two jobs, attending college part time and volunteering in a homeless shelter. She is on a mission to build her own success.With a chance meeting, their vastly different worlds collide, causing each to evaluate whether they are truly on the correct path to self-fulfillment and happiness. Can their relationship survive? Particularly when others are against them every step of the way. A lot can happen in just ten short days...
Rae of Sunshine
Micalea Smeltzer - 2014
Then with one stupid decision everything fell apart and nothing was ever the same.Rae Wilder wants nothing but a do over—but life doesn’t work that way. She’s stuck living out the consequences of her actions. At times the burden feels unbearable. College is supposed to be her second chance. New place.New people.New life.No one to know what she did.Despite that, she has still vowed to avoid everyone and everything at all costs. Unfortunately for her, an accidental run-in with the campus heartthrob, Cade Montgomery, derails that plan. He’s determined to thaw the ice around her heart and expose the girl she used to be. He wants to show her that life is worth living for and that she really is a Rae of Sunshine.
Manic Monday
Piper Rayne - 2018
Great, right? Too bad he was the best man at my wedding.I didn't swear off all men after my divorce, but I sure as hell swore off anyone remotely like my ex. On the top of that list? Attorneys. Everyone knows they can't be trusted.Been there.Done that.Burned the T-shirt.Now that I've moved back into my childhood home in Chicago, my focus is my daughter, my mom and me. I haven't given up on finding my happily-ever-after; it's just on hold-indefinitely. Yup, life is in a real upswing.Then I see Reed Warner again, and I'm reminded of all my past mistakes. I push him away, but somehow, he weasels his way into every part of my life, not willing to take no for an answer.In spite of my better judgment I can't stop thinking about the way his designer suits fit his muscular frame, or the way his blue eyes seem to eat me up with every glance. Reed is like the equivalent of a chocolate éclair and my willpower is fading fast. I never was good at depriving myself of life's guilty pleasures.
#Nerd
Cambria Hebert - 2014
He wants to stay on the team. An awkward alliance doesn't even begin to cover Rimmel and Romeo's relationship.But that's about to change.It starts with a dare. An initiation. A challenge.Quickly, it turns into more. But when you're a victim of your status, there is no room for anything real. The rules are clear and simple.Stick to your circle.And never fall in love with anyone on the outside.
The Player
Claire Contreras - 2016
With flashy cars and enough media attention to put the Royal Family to shame, I’m the definition of Most Eligible Bachelor. I've never met a man who doesn't want to be me or a woman who doesn't want to tame me. Until I meet Camila. From the moment I lay eyes on her, I know I have to have her. She wants to keep me at arm's length.I want her naked in my bed. She thinks our worlds are too different.All I want her to think about is screaming my name. She says I’m bad news. I have three weeks to prove her wrong.
Bound
Brenda Rothert - 2013
But just when she's learned to adjust, heartache threatens to break her apart.Pro hockey player Jason "Ryke" Ryker has it all: adoring fans, a promising career, and a beautiful wife. But when his seemingly perfect life is shaken by tragedy, he's left questioning whether having it all is ever more than an illusion.When circumstance brings Kate and Ryke together, they discover they don't have to hurt alone. Bound by a grief that haunts them both, they must rely on one another to survive heartbreak. But that grief is more powerful than they realize, and the tie that binds them together may ultimately tear them apart.
Banging Reaper
Izzy Sweet - 2015
Only one can be the best in the ring.Only one can make her completely his.AveryLife isn't easy when your mother abandons you and the grandmother who raised you is gone. Ethan has been my best friend since middle school. He helped me out with college when I was flat broke, and now I feel like I owe him. So when he starts treating me like his MMA lucky charm, it's hard to say no. But when he finally loses, he blames me--and Reaper, the guy who beat the crap out of him, is the one who rescues me.I want to forgive Ethan ... but I can't resist Reaper.ChaseYeah, they call me Reaper, because I make anyone who fights me wish he was dead. I'm large and in charge with a big house, two cars, and enough money to party for the rest of my days. Life is great--but meeting Avery changes everything. She's nothing like the ring girls I usually hook up with. There's just something about her that brings out the protective beast inside me. She needs to be mine, but that cheating asshole Ethan is in the way.I'll do whatever it takes to claim her ... even if that means destroying her best friend.Banging Reaper is a HEA, standalone MMA/Bad Boy romance with a dominant alpha hero and a young heroine trying to make her way in the world. Some content intended for mature readers.
Dare to Kiss
S.B. Alexander - 2014
She’s on top of the world when Arizona State University approaches her to discuss a scholarship. To be the first girl ever to grace a college boys’ team is beyond what she has ever dreamed.Her fastball is impeccable, her curveball equally as good, and her slider annihilates anyone who dares to step in the batter’s box. But fate has its own way of throwing curveballs. When she loses her mother and sister to a home invasion, baseball and her dreams die with them. Tragedy has a way of seeping deep into her psyche, causing nightmares, panic attacks and blackouts. Diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, her psychiatrist recommends a change of scenery and picking up the things that she loved to do, and for Lacey that is baseball.After a move clear across the country, only two things matter to Lacey—overcome her PTSD and make Kensington High’s baseball team. But trying out for the team comes with obstacles—the captain, Aaron Seever, doesn’t want a girl on the team. Her life is further complicated when she meets Kade Maxwell, a tall, sexy and drool-worthy bad boy who has a magical touch that awakens her feminine side and a kiss that slowly erases her nightmares. But getting involved with him may be dangerous when Kade’s archenemy returns to town to settle a vendetta. To complicate matters, her PTSD has taken a turn for the worse. She has to find a way to heal otherwise she may not have a chance at anything in life, especially love.This is a New Adult Novel and contains strong language and sexual content. Intended for audiences age 17+.
Stroked
Meghan Quinn - 2016
There is no denying his sex appeal.I hate to admit it, but I’m head over heels infatuated with him.There is one HUGE problem though. His achingly gorgeous abs, inked up arm, and cocky swagger belong to my boss, the high-profile, reality star bitch from hell and certified heinous human being, Bellini Chambers.What I think is going to be an easy job assisting a glorified wench turns into a cluster f*ck of epic proportions.
Tyed
L.J. Shen - 2015
Blaire, an underachieving college student with zero prospects and a ton of issues (hey, being the less-successful twin of a gorgeous supermodel would totally do that to you) needs something from Ty. Mixed Martial artist Ty, a soon-to-be Welterweight champion of the Xtreme Warrior League and the hottest guy in the Bay Area, wants something from Blaire. But Ty has a secret. And Blaire can barely even handle his truths. Life is about to throw a few knockout punches at both of them. Can they handle the pain?
On a Tuesday
Whitney G. - 2017
Became best friends, then lovers, on a Tuesday. And everything fell apart on a Tuesday... Charlotte Taylor has three automatic strikes in my book: 1) She hates me. She also claims that I'm a "domineering jerk with a huge, overbearing ego." (I do have something huge. It's not my ego, though.) 2) She takes our mandatory tutoring sessions way too seriously. 3) She's sexy as hell...And a virgin. At least, those were her strikes before our study sessions started lasting longer than they were supposed to. Until one innocent kiss became a hundred dirty ones, and until she became the first woman I ever fell hard for. Our future together after graduation was supposed to be set: Professional football for me. Law school for her. But she left me at the end of the semester with no explanation, and then she completely disappeared from my life. Until tonight.We met on a Tuesday. Became everything, then nothing, on a Tuesday. And now it's seven years later, on a Tuesday... **This is a full length second chance romance, inspired by Adele's "When We Were Young"**
Rebel
Kim Linwood - 2015
I can’t fucking stand him.All I wanted was a quiet summer before starting college. Catch up on my books. Maybe get a summer job. Then he dropped into my life.His name’s Gavin Caldwell, and he’s stupidly rich. Cocky. Arrogant. Ridiculously, panty-meltingly hot.And he’s parading around our bridal suite shirtless. Pantless.He has no freaking shame, and I have to pretend to be in love with him.I hate him.So why can’t I stop thinking about him?
Noah
Elizabeth Reyes - 2012
After disconnecting with the world two years ago to be at the side of her dying mother, she’s left alone, unemployed, overweight, and feeling a decade older than her twenty-eight years. When her best friend coaxes her into joining the local gym to ditch her depression and rejuvenate her life, she meets Noah. Assigned to help Veronica lose weight, Noah is everything she expected a young trainer to be—perfectly chiseled, supportive and motivating. Add to that, he’s incredibly sexy. He’s everything she’s ever looked for in a man. What she least expected was for him to fall for her, but he has. There's just one glaring problem: Noah is eight years younger.Noah Quintanilla has his eye on a boxing title—someday. Down for a few months with an injury, his maintenance-boy pay at 5th Street Gym won't cut it. He’s finally given the opportunity to train. The catch? His trainee is an out-of-shape woman with a free week pass. Taking on the challenge, Noah stumbles into one of the closest friendships he’s ever known, and before he knows it, he’s in love. But Veronica’s not having it—the age difference is too much. Their platonic relationship means having to watch her date other men—something that would make him crazy. Believing he's the man for her, Noah sets out to prove that age is but an illusion, and there's more to him than just a number.