Book picks similar to
Wilder Games by Ali Dean
sports
romance
sports-romance
new-adult
Hot by Halloween
Jessica Bucher - 2019
Which is why her senior year goal is to get revenge.Step one: Join the swim team and get seriously fit.Step two: Find some gorgeous new arm candy to take to ex's big Halloween party and make him crazy with jealousy.Step three: Try not to fall super hard for said arm candy.Gray Turner is a California transplant with goals of his own: get the swim team to regionals, get the scholarship he needs, and get out of this town. Too bad some girl with zero swim skills just joined the team. Private lessons seem like a good idea...until lessons start to feel like something more.Addy and Gray started the season with specific plans, but falling for one another wasn't one of them.
Meet Me at Half Court
Julie L. Spencer - 2019
Basketball was Christine’s ticket from high school to college and her dream of becoming a scientist. The cocky new kid at school was getting in her way, and into her heart. Dylan knew his snarky new tutor was smart, gorgeous and a great basketball player. He just didn’t realize she had a boyfriend, until after he kissed her. Now he has a choice, play fair and wait for Eddie to screw up? Or fight to win back Christine’s heart?
The Nerd & the Quarterback
M.L. Collins - 2019
Too bad Jackson High’s star quarterback BLEW. IT. UP.Last year, I was the most hated girl at my old school. This year, my plan was to lay low, keep to myself and graduate. My plan was working. Until the day I ran into Dax DeLeon.It’s impossible to stay invisible when the most popular guy at school claims I’m his girlfriend.Did I mention his ex—the head cheerleader and the most popular girl in school—wants him back? Boom. Now I’ve got a fake boyfriend.And a target on my back. Again. But what’s scaring me the most…If this thing with Dax is fake—why does being with him feel so real?The Nerd & the Quarterback is a *Standalone*clean YA romantic comedy about a nerdy bowler, a hot quarterback, a possible case of mistaken identity, a bunny-napping, ransom notes, a failed ransom drop, thievery, and mean girls being mean. But mostly about a boy and a girl learning to trust. *Warning: this book has a romance so sweet you'll get an urge to call your dentist.*Grab your copy today!Coming next in the Jackson High Series:#2
The Good Girl & the Bad Boy
(Lacey & Grady, An Enemies to Lovers Romance)#3
The Tomboy & the Movie Star
(Bernie & Kingsly, A Fish Out-of-Water Romance)#4
The Shy Girl & the Jock Next Door
(Shay & TJ, A Best Friends to Lovers Romance)*Previously Published as Ali & the Too Hot, Up-to-No Good, Very Beastly Boy
Tomboy Crazy for My Brother's Best Friend (Tomboys Like Us Book 2)
Stephanie Street - 2020
A dude ranch. And her brother's best friend. What could possibly go wrong?NatalieYes, it’s true and embarrassing. For years, I’ve crushed on my brother’s best friend, Finn Moore. After graduation, I flew halfway across the country to spend the summer with my grandparents at their dude ranch, hoping to escape my humiliation. Too bad the day after I arrive, I find out my brother is coming, and he’s bringing Finn with him!Somebody shoot me now!FinnSure, I know Natalie’s got the hots for me. I’ve known for years. It’s not like it’s a secret. But you know what is a secret? I’ve got the hots for her too. So, when her brother invites me to his grandparent’s ranch for a month, I go. Why? Because Natalie will be there, too. She’s finally graduated high school. Now I need the stars to align because I’ve waited long enough for my best friend’s little sister to grow up.Will Natalie and Finn finally get their chance at happily ever after? Find out in Tomboy Crazy for My Brother’s Best Friend.
Young Adulting
Maggie Dallen - 2020
Adulting is harder.While the rest of her high school friends are heading off to college, Isabelle Ellis is diving headfirst into real life. Well…if Hollywood can be considered real life.She’s scored the internship of a lifetime with a major production company. And thanks to the script she discovered, she’s certain she can make her temporary position permanent. Even better? The screenwriter might just be her dream guy. Sure, she’s never actually met him in person, but if their email exchanges are anything to go by, he’s her match made in heaven.There’s only one problem. Her screenwriter crush wants TV heartthrob and Hollywood royalty Henry Landon for the lead role. Signing Henry to the project would be a major coup…but having to work with the unbearably egotistical actor might just be her worst nightmare.Isabelle thought she was prepared for life in Hollywood and all the drama that comes with the glitter and glitz, but this might just be more than her little film major heart can handle.Add in four new roommates, backstabbing intern rivals, and the Los Angeles’ public transit system and Isabelle’s new life in La La Land isn’t exactly the dream she’d imagined. Especially when she discovers her screenwriter dream man isn’t who he says he is… And Henry? It turns out the cocky A-list jerk has a heart. But he has secrets too and they could destroy her career goals and break her heart.But no one ever said Hollywood was for the faint of heart.
The Pick-Up
Miranda Kenneally - 2021
Mari doesn't believe in dating--it can only end with a broken heart. Besides, she's only staying at her dad's house in Chicago for the weekend. How close can you get to a guy in three days?TJ wants to study art in college, but his family's expectations cast a long shadow over his dreams. When he meets Mari in the back of a rideshare, he feels alive for the first time in a long time.Mari and TJ enter the festival together and share an electric moment but get separated in a crowd with seemingly no way to find each other. When fate reunites them (with a little help from a viral hashtag), they'll have to decide: was it love at first sight, or the start of nothing more than a weekend fling?
Penalty Kiss
Annie Dyer - 2021
Problems that could score her an own goal.She’s meant to be my penalty, but will she let me be her kiss instead?Penalty Kiss is the first standalone in the Manchester Athletic series. Meet the team in this grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, bad boy athlete romance.
Out of Left Field
Kris Hui Lee - 2018
It would take a lot more than their goofy antics to keep her from joining them at the neighborhood sandlot to do what she loves best: play ball.An added perk of hanging out at the sandlot? Spending time with Cody Kinski, their high school’s star pitcher and Marnie’s best friend. Sure, he can be stubborn and annoying. He also knows how to make her laugh and respects her skills on the mound. And when he gets nailed in the arm by a bone-fracturing pitch, Marnie becomes the team’s best chance at making it to the playoffs. Except no one told the guys they’re supposed to be on her side. With her own team against her, Marnie begins questioning her abilities. And when fate throws her a curveball, can she play without losing the game, Cody, and her belief in herself?
Off the Ice
Julie Cross - 2017
One semester off, that’s what she promised herself. Just long enough to take care of her father and keep the family business—a hockey bar beside the ice rink—afloat. After that, she’s getting the hell out. Again.Enter Tate Tanley. What happened between them the night before she left town resurfaces the second they lay eyes on each other. But the guy she remembers has been replaced by a total hottie. When Tate is unexpectedly called in to take over for the hockey team’s star goalie, suddenly he’s in the spotlight and on his way to becoming just another egotistical varsity hockey player. And Claire’s sworn off Juniper Falls hockey players for good.It’s the absolute worst time to fall in love.For Tate and Claire, hockey isn’t just a game. And they both might not survive a body check to the heart.
All Laced Up
Erin Fletcher - 2016
Everyone except Lia Bailey. When the two are forced to teach a skating class to save the rink, Lia’s not sure she’ll survive the pressure of Nationals and Pierce’s ego. Not only can’t he remember her name, he signed her bottle of water like she was one of his groupies. Ugh. But if there’s one thing Lia knows better than figure skating, it’s hockey. Hoping to take his ego down a notch—or seven—she logs into his team website under an anonymous name to give him pointers on his less-than-stellar playing. Turns out, Pierce isn’t arrogant at all. And they have a lot in common. Too bad he’s falling for the anonymous girl online. No matter how much fun they’re starting to have in real life, she’s afraid he’s going to choose fake-Lia over the real one…
XOXO, Piper
Ginger Li - 2021
He hates donuts.2. He hates chocolate.3. He hates me.Ash may be East Beach High’s valedictorian and captain of the water polo team, but to me, he’s always been a grade-A jerk.Now, I'm taking on a project to help a local preschool, and guess who shows up to plan the fundraiser?Yup. Him.It doesn't make any sense. Why would Ash help someone he hates so much? And why does my heart race every time he’s near?XOXO, Piper is the first book in the East Beach High Series. Fans of enemies-to-lovers, first love, romantic grand gestures, and donut puns will adore this sweet novel.
Center Ice
Cate Cameron - 2015
After her mother’s death, she moved to Corrigan Falls to live with strangers—her dad and his perfect, shiny new family—and there doesn’t seem to be room for a city girl with a chip on her shoulder. The only person who makes her feel like a real human being is Tyler MacDonald.But Karen isn’t interested in starting something with a player. And that’s all she keeps hearing about Tyler.Corrigan Falls is a hockey town, and Tyler’s the star player. But the viselike pressure from his father and his agent are sending him dangerously close to the edge. All people see is hockey—except Karen. Now they’ve managed to find something in each other that they both desperately need. And for the first time, Tyler is playing for keeps…This Entangled Teen Crush book contains adult language, underage drinking, sexual situations, and crazy squirrels. It may cause you to become a fan of hockey - or at least hot hockey players.
Kissing in Cars
Sara Ney - 2014
Studious and (mostly) sensible, the only thing Molly Wakefield wants to do is get through Senior Year and graduate. Well, that and hit the beach in her spare time. Okay, fine - and go shopping every once in a while for a new dress... (and who could blame her?) And things are going according to plan - until the day she spies Weston McGrath, handsome star athlete and scholar, spying on her in study hall. A tad creepy? Maybe. Thrilling? Absolutely. You see, Weston McGrath happens to be one guy no one can get close to. Despite her best efforts to avoid it (because let's face it - the guy isn't exactly "boyfriend material") Mollly and Weston form a friendship. And more.... Sort of. But it's a friendship that comes with a price - because Weston just cannot seem to stop screwing things up. Or saying all the wrong things. Possibly in that order... And who has time for an 18 year old "fixer-upper" that should know better? Not Molly. Or does she? This is book one and includes chapter one of book two, Ke Kissed Me First. This book is a stand-alone with no cliffhanger. Note: This YA book is intended for 17+ due to the vulgar language used by its male characters (and occasionally the females as well, even though they're too lady like to do it throughout the entire book). Some adult sexual situations that steam up a few car windows. This title is approx. 63,000 words.
Wild Cards
Simone Elkeles - 2013
After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama. Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. So when her older sister comes home after abandoning her ten years earlier, with her hot new stepson in tow, Ashtyn wants nothing to do with either of them. Then she comes up with a plan that would finally give her the chance to leave, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and get the future she wants?
Enemies to Prom Dates
S. Doyle - 2021
He’s also my mortal enemy.We don’t agree on anything except that he hates me as much as I hate him.Until we realize our younger sisters are the target of a super creepy Freshman Bait List. With no choice but to team up, we have to put aside our mutual loathing only to find out…maybe we don’t hate each other as much as we thought we did? I know it for sure when the kissing starts.