Among the prospects are Virginia defensive end Chris Canty, who overcomes a devastating early-season knee injury to reestablish himself as a top draft hopeful, only to suffer a detached retina in a nightclub skirmish; and Fred Gibson, a talented but rail-thin Georgia wide receiver who struggles to put on the weight needed to go over the middle in the NFL.It's a complex environment, with college coaches attempting to protect their student-athletes from exploitation (while fully aware that they can only remain competitive if they attract NFL-caliber players to their schools), along with sports agents and NFL scouts trying to stay a step ahead of their competition. These parties provide a multi-angled view of the world of emerging NFL talent. The reader follows the season through the eyes of a host of power players and scouts, from veteran agent Pat Dye Jr. to Jerry Maguire clone Jack Scharf, to the coaching divisions of Florida State University and the University of Virginia---headed by longtime Bill Parcells disciple Al Groh. Also central to the narrative are the Atlanta Falcons and executives Rich McKay and Tim Ruskell (now with Seattle), who use a character-based evaluation system to set their draft board. These parallel stories weave together, culminating in draft weekend, to create a gripping and fascinating look at a world few see from the inside.

    A struggling single mom trying to get her business off the ground. Shadows from the past that could destroy everything. Ryleigh Eisenhart knows what it’s like to have her dreams of a perfect life ripped away, only to have to start over. She has no time for romance and balks at the idea of being set up with Chas O’Brien, Texas Titans’ celebrated running back, a.k.a. the Irish Flash. When a near-accident brings Ryleigh face-to-face with Chas, who’s not only charming and charismatic, but also easy on the eyes, sparks fly. Fighting against her growing attraction to Chas, Ryleigh tries to keep both feet planted firmly on the ground—a task that proves nearly impossible when Chas sweeps her away to New Orleans to meet his illustrious family. Just when Ryleigh and Chas think they have everything figured out, hang-ups from Ryleigh’s past threaten to ruin everything. Will Ryleigh and Chas be able to break free from the bonds of the past to carve out a new future, or have they both been embarking on an impossible dream? Read all of Jennifer's Texas Titan Romances: 1. The Persistent Groom 2. The Ghost Groom 3. The Hometown Groom 4. The Jilted Billionaire Groom 5. The Impossible Groom Don't miss Jennifer's new O'Brien Family Romance Series: 1. The Impossible Groom - Texas Titan Romance - Chas O'Brien 2. The Twelfth Hour Patriot - Georgia Patriots Romance - McKenna O'Brien 3. Coming soon. Tess Eisenhart and Caden O'Brien's story

    She’s a recent college grad stuck working the checkout lane of her hometown grocery store. For all she knows, love will never find her … until she gets a friend request from the hot football player who bullied her in high school. Someone she swore she’d never talk to ever again. Travis is a pro football star and enjoys the advantages of that life: money, women, fame. But deep down, he’s missing something – the nerdy hot girl he had been mean to in high school. When he sees her picture on social media, he only hopes she’ll forgive him and give him a chance to show her how much he’d always wanted her - how much he needs her now. PUBLISHER'S NOTE: FUMBLE BABY is a standalone happily-ever-after romance story with no cliffhangers

    But football celebrates violence. Football is a showcase for athletic beauty and physical excellence. But football damages young bodies and minds, sometimes permanently. Football inspires confidence and direction. But football instills cockiness, a false sense of superiority. The athlete is a noble figure with a proud lineage. The jock is America at its worst.When Mark Edmundson’s son began to play organized football, and proved to be very good at it, Edmundson had to come to terms with just what he thought about the game. Doing so took him back to his own childhood, when as a shy, soft boy growing up in a blue-collar Boston suburb in the sixties, he went out for the high school football team. Why Football Matters is the story of what happened to Edmundson when he tried to make himself into a football player.What does it mean to be a football player? At first Edmundson was hapless on the field. He was an inept player and a bad teammate. But over time, he got over his fears and he got tougher. He learned to be a better player and came to feel a part of the team, during games but also on all sorts of escapades, not all of them savory. By playing football, Edmundson became what he and his father hoped he’d be, a tougher, stronger young man, better prepared for life.But is football-instilled toughness always a good thing?  Do the character, courage, and loyalty football instills have a dark side?  Football, Edmundson found, can be full of bounties.  But it can also lead you into brutality and thoughtlessness.  So how do you get what’s best from the game and leave the worst behind?Why Football Matters is moving, funny, vivid, and filled with the authentic anxiety and exhilaration of youth. Edmundson doesn’t regret playing football for a minute, and cherishes the experience. His triumph is to be able to see it in full, as something to celebrate, but also something to handle with care. For anyone who has ever played on a football team, is the parent of a player, or simply is reflective about its outsized influence on America, Why Football Matters is both a mirror and a lamp.

    Kevin’s mum, Anne, was not there to answer his call but she never let her son down. From that fateful day, April 15, 1989, she embarked on a remarkable 24-year battle to see justice done. Convinced of a cover-up by the powers that be, she left no stone unturned in her quest to uncover the truth. It was a campaign that she fought to her dying day, succumbing to cancer at the age of 62 in April, 2013. Anne’s efforts had not been in vain. Just months earlier, a historic breakthrough saw the original inquest verdicts quashed, following a public apology to the Hillsborough families by Prime Minister David Cameron. Her daughter Sara, Kevin’s sister, was with Anne every step of the way. Now, with the help of personal recollections penned by her mum in her final months, she tells the real story of Anne’s remarkable journey – her spirit in the face of the many setbacks and her defiant refusal to accept defeat. Anne’s final message before losing her fight for life was ‘I never walked alone’. This book is dedicated to everyone who has ever fought for justice in the name of the 96.Copyright: All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the copyright holders, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent publisher.

    Z came to expect a certain alchemical, trademark blend: words which were caustic and wry, at times self-deprecating or even puzzling, but always devilishly smart with arresting honesty. A complex package, that's the Doctor.  The one-time sparring partner of Ernest Hemingway, Paul Zimmerman is one of the modern era's groundbreaking football minds, a man who methodically charted every play while generating copious notes, a human precursor to the data analytics websites of today. In 2008, Zimmerman had nearly completed work on his personal memoirs when a series of strokes left him largely unable to speak, read, or write. Compiled and edited by longtime SI colleague Peter King, these are the stories he still wants to see told.  Dr. Z’s memoir is a rich package of personalities, stories never shared about such characters as Vince Lombardi, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor, and Johnny Unitas. Even Joe Namath, with whom Zimmerman had a legendary and well-documented 23-year feud, saw fit to eventually unburden himself to the remarkable scribe.  Also included are Zimmerman's encounters with luminaries and larger-than-life figures outside of sports, notably Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, and Hunter S. Thompson. But not to be missed are Zimmerman's quieter observations on his own life and writing, witticisms and anecdotes which sway between the poignant and hilarious. No matter the topic, Dr. Z: the Lost Memoirs of an Irreverent Football Writer proves essential, compelling reading for sports fans old and new.

    But when he discovered he was so nervous he was unable to speak, let alone pass the ball, in the presence of his boyhood hero and City star Trevor Francis, he realised that a career in football might not be everything he had imagined. The Smell of Football is the brutally honest and utterly unputdownable story of how 'Baz' conquered his personal demons to build a life in the game - from the terrified teenager who purposely tried to get injured in training rather than get picked for the first team, to the experienced pro who became Head of Medicine at Premier League Everton FC in charge of the treatment of the likes of Wayne Rooney, Louis Saha and Tim Cahill. Brilliantly written and packed with hilarious tales featuring a football 'who's who' cast of characters - from Sir Alf Ramsey and 'Big Sam' Allardyce to David Moyes, Duncan Ferguson and Rooney himself - The Smell of Football is an engrossing and moving memoir that covers every aspect of the professional game and gives an unprecedented insight into what life is really like at football's coalface.

    Holtz brought the Fighting Irish back from a five-year slump in 1987. Illustrated.

    

    In this novel about growth and transformation, Lucy, a hard-living, droll, and self-aware young woman, finds herself in strange, new emotional territory and begins sizing up her life by setting the past against the present.She shares the story of her family’s history—including the stunning signature events of one fateful summer when a violent storm results in a freak accident that literally shatters her family. Afterward, the father seemingly disappears and the mother and her daughters move forward on a very different course. It is Lucy’s one treasured memory—a midnight swim with her mother—that reminds her there is grace in her graceless world, a fact that helps her to forgive her mother and, ultimately, let her go.Uplifting but unsentimental, compelling and remarkably moving, Swimming Naked is an unforgettable debut that will resonate with daughters, mothers, and anyone who’s ever searched their past in the hopes of finding a future.

    Which one is drinkable? Ayani has definitely been through the worse. One tragic incident turned her life upside down forever, leaving her sister, Kamille, to hate her. Kamille is now out to wreak havoc on her already messed up life. Ayani is trying her best to hold on to her fragile relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Kash, in the heat of it all. She’ll end up paying the ultimate toll for her scandalous and childish behavior. Will she take heed when her reality sets in or will she just be a product of her circumstances?

    She’s inherited her aunt’s B&B and is determined to carry on her legacy. Upon preparing for guests, she learns of a century-old tale of treasure within the inn. Many have searched for the illusive gems but to no avail. She discovers a man working on the inn’s grounds, but is he the gardener Gina Price hired? Perhaps he’s searching for the hidden treasure.James Atwood, corporate executive, works in the Atwood’s thriving cranberry business. Tragedy strikes, and he’s numb and riddled with guilt. Befriended by Gina Price, he finds solace working evening and weekends in the fresh earth, fescue grass, and aromatic blossoms of the inn’s gardens, helping to divert his mind from his dishonest cousin Robert, bent on destroying the Atwood business. He continues tending the grounds after Gina passes, and the new owner believes he’s a gardener. After she calls late one night upon hearing a prowler, James races to her rescue and discovers his feelings are more than protective.Ashton’s first guests, the Claxton’s, appear out of nowhere saying they’ve had reservations for a year though she finds no record of a deposit. She chalks the failure up to faulty accounting before she arrived. When an elusive intruder continues to make frightening midnight visits, Ashton fears for her own safety and that of the Claxtons. But then, their odd comings and goings cause Ashton to wonder. Are they really vacationing visitors from California, or do they have other motives for staying at the inn?Can two people allow the majestic northwest and fragrant coastal air heal their wounded hearts? Will they discover the secret of The Inn at Cranberry Cove?

    Each one has a HEA and no cliffhanger.

    Instead she finds herself smack in the middle of a centuries old feud that someone wants to settle once and for all....and they will stop at nothing to reclaim what they feel is rightfully theirs.When Shannon discovers an old diary she is suddenly pulled into all the mystery and legend of the Black Hills.As she deals with a mother who talks to ghosts, a grumpy old geezer who is up to no good, and a handsome colleague with revenge on his mind, Shannon tries desperately to help her friend hold onto her home, her dreams and the land that she loves.An extra bonus to this book includes yummy recipes from the Mid West!Mansion MayhemShannon Porter has always loved a good ghost story, so when her editor asks her to write a book about famous ghosts, she jumps at the chance. She loves the idea that the book will take her to various locations around the world, starting with a haunted mansion in England. Little does she know that instead of writing her book, she will spend most of her time trying to solve a murder. Eliminating suspects and finding the real killer among a group of strangers that include a ghost crazy matron, a mysterious maid that appears only to Shannon, and a creepy recluse professor, proves to be more of a challenge than Shannon expects.As a special bonus, this cozy mystery ghost story also includes some yummy authentic British recipes. Boathouse BedlamWith her loyal furry companion, Edgar by her side, Shannon travels to a small town in Maine to compile more research for her book on famous ghosts. Excited to be staying in a haunted boat house, and eager to experience all the culinary feasts that New England has to offer, Shannon is looking forward to doing a lot of work, a little relaxing and an enormous amount of eating.But when her dog Edgar makes a frightful discovery on the beach, her plans for work and relaxation are suddenly thrown into turmoil. Who is friend and who is foe?Only the resident ghosts can say for sure!Delicious recipes for the authentic New England dishes mentioned in the book are included at the end of this cozy mystery ghost story. Castle ChaosAlthough recent experience has taught her otherwise, Shannon is really hoping that this final research trip for her book will be all work, some play and no foul play. But you can never be sure what might happen at an ancient castle in Ireland that is reportedly haunted by a very nasty spirit!While Shannon prepares to deal with whatever may come her way during this final trip, she is also preparing for big changes in her personal life at home.You can share this final culinary adventure with the traditional Irish recipes included at the end of this cozy mystery ghost story.