Book picks similar to
Defiance Falls by Ali Dean


high-school
romance
dnf
sports-romance

One & Only


Viv Daniels - 2013
    Tess McMann lives her life according to the secrets she's sworn to keep: the father who won't acknowledge her, the sister who doesn't know she exists, and the mother who's content playing mistress to a prominent businessman. When she meets the distractingly cute Dylan Kingsley at a prestigious summer program and falls in love, Tess allows herself to imagine a life beyond these secrets. But when summer ends, so does their relationship -- Dylan heads off to Canton College while Tess enrolls at the state university. One love they can't ignore... Two years later, a scholarship brings Tess to Canton and back into Dylan's life. Their attraction is as strong as ever, but Dylan has a girlfriend…who also happens to be Tess's legitimate half-sister. Tess refuses to follow in her mother's footsteps, which leaves her only one choice: break the rules she’s always followed, or allow Dylan to slip away for a second time. ...And only one chance to get things right.

Wicked Liars


Laura Lee - 2020
    Every last one of them. The kings and queens of my new high school.The father and stepmother I never knew. Each has more wealth and privilege than I could've ever imagined. Each has a pile of wicked dirty secrets they'd do anything to protect. These people have grown accustomed to getting what they want and what they want is to make my life a living hell. Too bad for them, you can't break someone who's already broken. Too bad for them, I won't give up without a fight. Too bad for them, I'm going to make them pay...even if it's the last thing I do. *Wicked Liars is the first book in the Windsor Academy series and cannot be read as a standalone. This is a dark high school MF bully romance that may contain triggers for sensitive readers. Due to mature subject matter, it is recommended for readers 17+ only.

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?

Making Their Vows


Jessa Kane - 2021
    There is something about North Whitlock that makes her temperature rise dramatically, her scruples vanishing into thin air. They are drawn together like magnets, despite their obvious differences. Grace attends a wealthy prep school while North must fight to survive. They don’t make sense as a couple—and her father would never, ever approve of the dangerous brawler. Trying to stop North from seeing his Gracie, though? Not a chance. Staying away from each other when every touch sets them aflame is an impossible feat…but will they survive the explosive consequences?

Wicked Saint


Veronica Eden - 2020
    After one kiss, the king of the school hunts me down like I’m a conquest to win. He’ll have to fight harder than that, because I’m no one’s trophy.They all want a piece of me, but I will not bend or break for them.LUCASNo one refuses the king.One case of mistaken identity and a hasty kiss turned my world upside down.The new girl refused me. Not only that, she threw down the gauntlet. That won’t stand. No one ever says no to me. This school is mine and she’ll learn her place as a loyal follower or her life is going up in flames.I’ll make her say yes. She’ll be screaming it before I’m finished breaking her.Warning: Wicked saint is a dark new adult high school bully romance intended for readers 18+. This book is part of a series but can be enjoyed as a standalone. This mature new adult romance contains dubious situations and intense sexual/violent content that some readers might find triggering or offensive. Please proceed with caution.

Collared


Nicole Williams - 2016
    . .Brings her home. Jade Childs spent ten years in captivity, but now that she’s back, the real battle for survival begins. The media shadows her. Flashbacks haunt her. Her old life evades her. Her so-called new life rejects her. She spent too many years in the dark to recognize the light. She spent too long repressing her feelings to remember how to express them. She spent a decade abandoning hope and cannot dare letting it back into her life. Jade’s not just defined by what happened to her—she’s collared to it.When the twenty-seven-year-old woman is found,A community wants to know the story,Parents want to forget the story,Friends want to be a part of the story,And the man who still loves her faces the greatest challenge yet: letting her go.

The Cell Phone Swap


Lindsey Summers - 2012
    Unable to switch back until a week later, she must interact with the arrogant boy, passing along texts and voicemails. As she gets to know him better, she realizes there’s more to him than sexual innuendos and egotistical comments. But when identities are revealed and secrets are exposed, will Keeley’s feelings remain?http://www.wattpad.com/story/1994914-...

Wrong Text, Right Love


Claudia Y. Burgoa - 2020
    I’m an influencer. I run a popular blog where I give all kinds of dating tips, and girls all over the world thank me for helping them with their love lives.I wish I could follow my own advice because my love life is totally dead. I just drunk texted my ex-boyfriend… except, I didn’t. That text ended up going to someone else.Oops.This new relationship is almost picture-perfect, just like my online life. I guess I give good… text.He doesn’t have to put up with my colorful personality — as my hot next-door neighbor describes me. Or my messy schedule.This long-distance relationship is the best thing that’s happened to me and I plan to keep it that way.Until we agree to meet up, and I’m freaking out.When he meets the real me, will he hate me forever?Or will we be one day telling our grandkids about that wrong text, right love?***Wrong Text, Right Love is a cute rom-com of two secret lovers who prepare to risk it all for love. Claudia Burgoa brings the flirty fun in this cozy novel of risking it all for romance.This is a standalone story with an HEA.

Homecoming King


Jami Albright - 2020
    But that ain’t happening. Which is just the cherry on top of the crap sundae that is his life.His football career is hanging by a thread.His mom isn’t speaking to him.His hometown is out for his blood.And Tiger Lyons, the girl he did wrong in high school, is supervising the renovation of his new home … and living in his pool house. How’s the league’s premier quarterback supposed to rehab his battered body and regain his starting position, when the woman who still owns a piece of his heart—and now hates his ever-loving guts—is in his face 24/7? Don’t miss Homecoming King—a hilarious enemies-to-lovers, arrogant football player with a heart of gold, sassy heroine rebuilding her life, small-town sports romcom.

Rain Shadow


Tess Oliver - 2014
    As the hot sun bears down on him, his will to live slips away, but he can't close his eyes. Sleep is the enemy and now it seems he has found his own slice of hell. But through the mist of his agony, a girl's soft voice drifts over him and the sound of it draws him away from the darkness. While riding her horse, Evangeline "Angel" Sharpe finds a man bloodied and beaten. Despite knowing that she'll be in trouble for bringing him to the Bedlam MC compound, she takes him home to tend his wounds. While the handsome stranger heals, Angel finds herself falling for him. As the mystery of his past is revealed, she helps him struggle with the truth, a truth that will lead to his true identity . . . an identity that could destroy Angel's world.

Through to You


Lauren Barnholdt - 2014
    Harper had casually threaded a piece of blue and silver tinsel through her ponytail in honor of school spirit day. And that carefree, corny gesture is what grabs Penn Mattingly’s eye. Penn—resident heartbreaker of the senior class. Reliably unreliable. Trouble with a capital “T.” And okay, smolderingly sexy.Harper’s surprised by Penn’s attention—and so is Penn. The last thing he needs is a girlfriend. Or even a friend-with-benefits. The note is not supposed to lead to anything.Oh, but it does. They hang out. They have fun. They talk. They make out. And after a while, it seems like they just click. But Penn and Harper have very different ideas about what relationships look like, in no small part because of their very different family backgrounds. Of course they could talk about these differences—if Penn knew how to talk about feelings.Harper and Penn understand their attraction is illogical, yet something keeps pulling them together. It’s like a crazy roller coaster—exhilarating, terrifying, and amazing all at once. And neither knows how to stop the ride…

Crossing the Ice


Jennifer ComeauxJennifer Comeaux - 2014
    They vow not to let anything get in their way, especially not Josh and Stephanie, the wealthy and talented brother and sister team.The heart doesn’t always listen to reason, though…The more time Courtney spends with sweet, shy Josh, the harder she falls for him. But they are on opposite sides of the competition, and their futures are headed in opposite directions. Will their friendship blossom into more or are their paths too different to cross?After you finish the book, read the bonus epilogue here! http://bit.ly/1nGYTO0

The Rebound


Winter Renshaw - 2018
     I told him I’d wait for him. He promised to do the same. But life happened. I broke my promise long before he ever broke his—and not because I wanted to. We never saw each other again … Until ten years later when Nevada unexpectedly returned to our hometown after an abrupt retirement from his professional basketball career. Suddenly he was everywhere, always staring through me with that brooding gaze, never returning my smiles or “hellos.” Over the years, I’d heard that he’d changed. And that despite his multi-million dollar contracts and rampant success, life hadn’t been so kind to him. He was a widower. And a single father. And rumor had it, he’d spent his last ten years trying to forget me, refusing to so much as breathe my name … hating me. But just like a rebound, he’s back. And I have to believe everything happens for a reason. AUTHOR'S NOTE: For a limited time, this book contains one bonus book, which means THE REBOUND ends around 50% on your Kindle. Rest assured that it is still a full-length novel. :-)

The QB Bad Boy and Me


Tay Marley - 2017
    . . in all the ways that she shouldn't. But Dallas has one goal—to pursue her dance-school dreams in in California—and no one, not even a hard-bodied, green-eyed football god, will stop her. As the tension between Drayton and Dallas grows thicker, the lines are getting blurred, and all she wants is to come undone under his touch.But this thing between Dallas and Drayton could cost her her dreams . . . if he doesn't break her heart first.

In the Penalty Box


Lynn Rush - 2021
    But one unlucky injury and now I’m down...but I’m definitely not out. I just need to rehab—a boatload of rehab—and who’d have thought I could do it on the boys’ hockey team?Of course, the infuriatingly hot captain of the team seems to think I’m nothing but sequins and twirls. What’s a girl to do but put him in his place? Game on.BrodieHockey is my whole world. I’ve worked my tail off getting my team in a position to win the championships—hopefully in front of major college scouts, too—so what’s a guy to do when a figure skater ends up as our new goalie?Of course, the distractingly sexy skater thinks I’m nothing but a testosterone-laced competitive streak. And surely she’s only biding her time to heal, then she’s gone. Game over.