Book picks similar to
The Friend Zone by Sariah Wilson


romance
sports
contemporary
sports-romance

The Off Limits Rule


Sarah Adams - 2020
    It’s here, moving in with my older brother because I’m too broke to afford to live on my own. But that’s okay because we’ve always been close and I think I’m going to have fun living with him again.That is until I meet Cooper…Turns out, my brother has very strong opinions on the idea of me dating his best friend and is dead set against it. According to him, Cooper is everything I should stay away from: flirtatious, adventurous, non-committal, and freaking hot. (I added that last part because I feel like you need the whole picture.) My brother is right, though. I should stay away from Cooper James and his pretty blue eyes. He’s the opposite of what I need right now.Nah—Who am I kidding? I’m going for him.The Off Limits Rule is a laugh-out-loud, closed-door romance with sparkling chemistry that flies off the page.

Delayed Penalty


Sophia Henry - 2015
    Thankfully, I landed a gig as a translator for a minor-league Russian hockey player. Sadly, the initial enthusiasm was short lived.One glance and I immediately recognized my new client as the same arrogant jerk who came on to me at the bar the night before. Sure, Aleksandr Varenkov was sexy--with his chiseled muscles and alluring grin. That didn’t change the fact that he’s a notorious womanizer. While our working relationship started as friendly as a hard check on the ice, I soon saw a softer side to Aleksandr that left me entertaining thoughts of a trip for two to the penalty box. After all I’ve been through, I can’t risk letting my guard down for a hot-headed player with a bad reputation. Still... how can I resist an attraction hot enough to melt the ice?This is a New Edition of a previously published book. There is exclusive, NEW content.

Hands Down


Mariana Zapata - 2020
    Including those your once loved ones might have unintentionally given you. (Those just take longer.)She thinks she’s ready when a call has her walking back into her old friend’s life. Or at least as prepared as possible to see the starting quarterback in the National Football Organization. Before the lights, the fans, and the millions, he’d been a skinny kid with a heart of gold. Waltzing out of Zac Travis’s life should be easy. Just as easy as he walked out of hers.

Intercepted


Alexa Martin - 2018
    But there's a new player on the horizon, and he's in a league of his own...Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She's definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There's just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights.Gavin fights to show Marlee he's nothing like her ex. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to let her escape her past. The team's wives, who never led the welcome wagon, are not happy with Marlee's return. They have only one thing on their minds: taking her down. But when the gossip makes Marlee public enemy number one, she worries about more than just her reputation.Between their own fumbles and the wicked wives, it will take a Hail Mary for Marlee and Gavin's relationship to survive the season.

Hate to Love You


Tijan - 2017
    I get it. It kind of is, but college was supposed to be my sanctuary. It was my place to start over. The rumors, the whispers, and the jealousy I endured through high school would all be gone.No one would know me at college.Rule #2: No drama.I’d major in pre-law. I’d make a few loyal friends. Everything would be easy breezy. No one was going to use me or hurt me. I wouldn’t let them. Rule #3: New year. New place. New me.Right?Wrong.And all because of Shay Coleman.Football captain and quarterback, he was the big guy on campus. The cocky guy in my political science class with a smirk. I hated him on sight . . .. . . and he was about to break all my rules.

Something in the Way


Jessica Hawkins - 2017
    Under the sweat and dirt, Manning Sutter was as handsome as the sun was bright. He was older, darker, experienced. I wore a smiley-face t-shirt and had never even been kissed. Yet we saw something in each other that would link us in ways that couldn’t be broken...no matter how hard we tried.I loved Manning before I knew the meaning of the word. I was too young, he said. I would wait. Through all the carefully-chosen words hiding what we knew to be true, through his struggle to keep me innocent, and through infinitely-starry nights—I would wait. But I’d learn that life isn’t always fair. That no matter how much you achieve, none of it matters if you suffer the heartbreak that comes with falling for someone you can never have. Because even though I saw Manning first, that didn’t matter. My older sister saw him next.

Fake It 'Til You Break It


Meagan Brandy - 2020
    He didn’t have to break me to win. But he did it anyway.

The End Zone


L.J. Shen - 2017
    She knows that her best friend, Sage Poirier, is a bad idea. He’s a walking, talking cliché. The Adonis quarterback with the bulging biceps and harem of fangirls trailing behind him on campus like a stench you can’t get rid of. Sadly, that’s also the reason she can’t stay away from him. Well, that and the fact that they’re roommates. Jolie is already straddling the line between friendship and more when Sage comes to her with an offer she cannot refuse: be his fake girlfriend and live for free for the rest of the semester. She tells herself that she can handle it. He’s just the boy she saved ten years ago, right? Wrong. So very wrong. He is a man now, and she is his captive Heart, body, and soul…

Irresistible You


Kate Meader - 2017
    Three estranged sisters inherit their late father’s failing hockey franchise and are forced to confront a man’s world, their family’s demons, and the battle-hardened ice warriors skating into their hearts.Harper Chase has just become the most powerful woman in the NHL after the death of her father Clifford Chase, maverick owner of the Chicago Rebels. But the team is a hot mess—underfunded, overweight, and close to tapping out of the league. Hell-bent on turning the luckless franchise around, Harper won’t let anything stand in her way. Not her gender, not her sisters, and especially not a veteran player with an attitude problem, a chip on his shoulder, and a smoldering gaze designed to melt her ice-compacted defenses.Veteran center Remy “Jinx” DuPre is on the downside of a career that’s seen him win big sponsorships, fans’ hearts, and more than a few notches on his stick. Only one goal has eluded him: the Stanley Cup. Sure, he’s been labeled as the unluckiest guy in the league, but with his recent streak of good play, he knows this is his year. So why the hell is he being shunted off to a failing hockey franchise run by a ball-buster in heels? And is she seriously expecting him to lead her band of misfit losers to a coveted spot in the playoffs?He’d have a better chance of leading Harper on a merry skate to his bed…

Love, Comment, Subscribe


Cathy Yardley - 2021
    Now, at twenty-eight, she feels like she’s finally on the cusp of succeeding as a beauty influencer—if she can hit five million subscribers, brands will take notice and she could get her own makeup line.Fellow Nerd Herd alum Tobin Bui has had a lot of success as a YouTube gamer. But the road to online stardom has been rocky. First, he disappointed his parents by dropping out of college, and now, after years of pranks, skits, and playthroughs, he’s struggling to come up with new content to satisfy his ever-growing fan base. His agents say he needs cross-audience appeal, a new twist.When Nerd Herd frenemy Lily approaches Tobin about teaming up to do a video to bolster her brand and reinvigorate his, he agrees. But when their first collab video goes viral, their relationship heats up too. With the whole internet watching, will these two former misfits finally realize they’re perfect together?

The Secret Ex-Boyfriend


Krista Ritchie - 2017
     And then we broke Aerial Ethereal’s biggest rule together. We’ve been paying the price ever since. Corporate won’t let me see her. Or speak to her. And we painfully signed on the dotted line in agreement. Erasing our secret relationship from existence. Now I’m twenty, and I hate Corporate. But I can’t leave. My family makes up one-third of Aerial Ethereal’s cast list. I love them.(And I still love her.) BAYLEE WRIGHT Luka is back. My undeniably hot secret ex-boyfriend was just shifted to the Vegas show Infini. We’re working together again on a show that means too much to me. No distractions. Even if the sexy, rebellious boy with hidden troubles completely stole my teenage heart.Aerial Ethereal demands he remains my tragic secret.This book was previously published with the title Infini.

Where the Road Takes Me


Jay McLean - 2015
    She’s made a promise to herself: don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone love her. She’s learned the hard way what happens if she breaks her rules. So she’s focused on being invisible and waiting until she can set out on the road—her dream of freedom, at least for a little while.Blake Hunter is a basketball star who has it all—everything about him looks perfect to those on the other side of his protective walls. He can’t let anyone see the shattered pieces behind the flawless facade or else all his hopes and dreams will disappear.One dark night throws Chloe and Blake together, changing everything for Blake. For Chloe, nothing changes: she has the road, and she’s focused on it. But when the so-called perfect boy starts to notice the invisible girl, they discover that sometimes with love, no one knows where the road may lead.

The Trouble with You


L.A. Cotton - 2019
    Cocky football players, school rivalry, and the girls who get in their way. Get ready … The Raiders are coming! Hailee Raine only has to survive one more year. One year of life in her football obsessed town. One year of nauseating school spirit. Just one more year of her cruel step-brother Jason; and his cocky, arrogant, football-playing friends. She hates them. Especially, Cameron Chase, the guy she thought was different. Cameron Chase has the world at his feet. He has it all; good looks, talent, and the charm to go with it. He has colleges lined up at the door, all wanting a piece of Rixon Raiders star wide receiver. Until something threatens everything he's ever worked for, and only one person can quiet the war raging inside him. But he's supposed to hate her; his best friend's sister. She's off-limits. Untouchable. She's trouble with a capital T. Then Hailee finds herself in the middle of a football prank gone wrong... And suddenly hating each other never felt so good.

Jersey Girl


Rhonda James - 2016
    Now that his dream of signing with the Detroit Red Wings has come true, his goals for senior year are simple: Work hard. Score big. Stay away from love. And then he meets her. There's just one problem. She's the sister of his best friend, and he’s been warned that she’s off-limits…Cassie Rivers is a musician desperately in need of a do-over. Leaving the past behind, she transfers to GLU in search of something, or someone, that inspires her. And then she meets him. Her brother's best friend and teammate. But according to the Bro Code he's supposed to be off limits…You’ve heard what they say about forbidden fruit… One taste is more addictive than one of them is ready to admit. Will he keep skating away from love? Or has this player finally found his Jersey Girl?

Wilder


Rebecca Yarros - 2016
    He’s Paxton Wilder.Twenty-two-year-old, tattooed, smoking-hot leader of the Renegades.Five time X Games medalist.The world is his playground—especially this year—and for the next nine months I’m stuck as his tutor on the Study at Sea program.He’s too busy staging worldwide stunts for his documentary to get to class.But if I can’t get him to take academics seriously, I’ll lose my scholarship…if I don’t lose my heart first.Six unlikely friends on a nine-month cruise with the Study at Sea program will learn that chemistry is more than a subject and the best lessons aren’t taught in the classroom…but in the heart.