Book picks similar to
The Player Next Door by Kathy Lyons


sports
romance
contemporary-romance
contemporary

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.

Pitch Please


Lani Lynn Vale - 2017
    But Hancock has heard them his entire life from his parents. His family has lived and breathed baseball even before he started little league.Hancock “Parts” Peters has a name that inspires grins across many faces, but the moment those faces get their first look at him, those grins slide away.Hancock is gruff, filterless, and doesn’t give a crap who he offends. He is the only man in baseball who doesn’t care if he gets an endorsement or not. He’s there to play the game. He’s there to win. He’s there because baseball is his life.People think he’s a jerk.And maybe he is. But if that’s how he has to come off to get people to leave him the hell alone so he can play in peace, so be it. The less people he has to worry about offending, the better.***Don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back. Sway Coffman didn’t mean to rock the boat. She was just there to do her job.Sure, she was a woman in a man’s world. Yes, she beat out several of those men to get the job as head athletic trainer for the professional baseball team, The Texas Lumberjacks. And yeah, she now got hate mail from those men.But she’s good at her job, and she earned the position.What she is not good at, however, is talking to men.Men seem to see her curvy hips, large breasts and thick thighs and automatically think she is incompetent. Because surely a fat girl couldn’t get the job treating some of the most fit and athletic men in the world, right?Wrong.This fat girl got the job, and she is proud of it.What else did she get?The attention of the sexiest bearded man she’d ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.It was enough to bring to her down to her knees…in front of that man, the hot and grumpy baseball player, Hancock Peters.

Playing Dirty


Mickey Miller - 2016
     I'm going to teach Andrea to play dirty...she just doesn't know it yet. Jake Pulling in eight figures a year as star pitcher for the Chicago Jaguars, there's no shortage of parties, booze, and women. I'm a beast on the mound and between the sheets but when my social media presence becomes a major problem, the team’s owner brings in a PR expert to clean up my image. Andrea Diggers is the complete opposite of every girl I’ve ever met. She’s smart, classy, and completely off limits. Which makes me want her even more. I’ve always loved a challenge, and Andrea has no idea I'm about to get her to play...on my terms. Andrea Cleaning up Jake Napleton’s image may be my hardest assignment yet, and not just because of the secrets he keeps deeply buried. Working alongside the six-foot-six arrogant, filthy-mouthed man is a challenge in restraint. He screams poster-boy for favorite mistakes with his chiseled abs and rippling muscles. And I want to take him up on every dirty word he’s said. But he’s not the only one with something to hide. Our attraction may be immediate. Potent. Dirty. But is it enough to withstand our shadowed pasts? *Playing Dirty is a full length sexy standalone with an HEA.*

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.

It Had to Be You


Susan Elizabeth Phillips - 1994
    And Phoebe is definitely not prepared for the Stars' head coach Dan Calebow, a sexist jock taskmaster with a one-track mind. This is the book that began it all. The Chicago Stars are about to take the field... and they’re not the only ones playing for keeps.

Fly


Molly McLain - 2016
    Now I’m living the dream, on the brink of high-flying super-stardom. But something’s missing.That something is Taylor.She’s my best friend. The one who makes me want to push harder and higher. The one I fall back on when shit gets tough. The one I’d give it all up for.I’d do anything to protect her. To make her dreams come true too.But a single night changes everything.And now the one she needs protection from...is me.

The Devil in Denim


Melanie Scott - 2014
    Baseball’s in her blood, and she’s always dreamed of the day when she would lead the Saints to victory herself. That was before her dad had to sell the team to Alex Winters. The fast-talking, fiercely attractive businessman has a baseball pedigree that’s distinctly minor league. Maggie wants to hate him but his skills of seduction, however, are off the charts.Will Love Be A Home Run?Alex could never have imagined how much this team means to Maggie. He needs her to help show the players that they’re still a family…even if he and Maggie are at the verge of exchanging blows. But her fiery determination and gorgeous looks prove irresistible to Alex. And much as he wants to relegate their relationship to the playing field—and get the Saints back in the game—Alex just can’t help himself: What he wants to win most is Maggie’s heart…

The Rivalry


Nikki Sloane - 2017
     He’s good with his hands, even better with his sexy mouth, and the best at making me forget my own name. His—ahem—stats are perfect. But I can’t fall for him. He might be everything I want, all rolled into a glorious package of gridiron god, but there’s one teeny-tiny problem. The vile, loathsome team I’ve spent my entire life hating—my beloved school’s arch-rival? This guy is their star player.

The Two Week Stand


Samantha Towle - 2021
    Now, the only thing she wants is two weeks of uninterrupted peace and quiet with absolutely no men in sight. West Oakley doesn’t even believe that romance exists, and he has no desire to convince himself otherwise. The only reason he’s heading to the Maldives is to escape a scandal and spend time on an island where no one knows who he is. But plans change, and when West takes one look at Dillon, another idea forms in his mind—a no-strings two-week stand. Even though Dillon knows their sexual chemistry is explosive, her romantic heart is torn.Can she really spend fourteen nights in the arms of a god like West, making all of her fantasies come true, only to walk away at the end of it?Or can Dillon turn this two-week stand into more than an unexpected holiday fling, convincing West that romance does exist after all?

Four Day Fling


Emma Hart - 2018
    You’re ready to leave after a one-night stand, and you’re figuring out how to—shock horror—leave your number and ask him to be your fake boyfriend for your sister’s wedding this weekend. When he wakes up. Well, that happened to me. And over coffee and omelets, I found myself a date. Which was how I ended up arriving at the wedding with a guy I knew nothing about. I didn’t know his last name, or how we met, or how long we’d been dating. I didn’t know where he grew up, what he’d majored in in college, or how many siblings he had. I sure as hell didn’t know he was Adam Winters, hotshot hockey player—and not only my father’s favorite player, but my little nephew’s freakin’ idol. Which means I’m in trouble. Big, big trouble. My mother is suspicious, my sister is bridezilla on crack, and my grandpa will tell anyone who’ll listen about his time in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. Four days. I have to keep this up for four days, and then Adam and I can return to our regular lives, where we don’t have sex whenever we’re alone and my family aren’t interrogating him over his intentions with me. At least, that’s the plan. And we all know what happens to those.

The Right Player


Kandi Steiner - 2020
    And while that label stung at first, I’ve since embraced it — living the wild and free life and sticking to a three date max. That’s just enough time to have some fun and snuff out the possibility of catching feelings. And it’s been working for me for years… Until Makoa Kumaka.Sadly, he also has a three date rule — and it’s the exact opposite of mine. From the second I meet him, all I can think about is stripping down that six-foot-five Herculean hunk of a man. But like the gentleman I wish he wasn’t, he’s making me wait.The more time we spend together, the more I feel those pesky emotions creeping in. I’m even tempted to trust him, but blame it on my past or my instincts, I can’t shake the feeling that he’s hiding something… I’ve been playing the game forever, and no man has ever won my heart — which meant they never had the power to break it.But maybe I just hadn’t met the right player.Maybe I’ll wish I never did.

Hardball


C.D. Reiss - 2016
    Perfect swing. Perfect swagger.They call Dash Wallace the Diamond King.He’s the hottest commodity in baseball and in the bedroom. When he runs the bases, every woman’s eyes are glued to his stunning body and a smile that puts the night lights to shame. I’m no queen. I’m a regular girl with a regular job. I just watch him on TV and from the bleachers, season after season. Girls like me grab a guy like that one in a million times.My number just came up, and he is as spectacular in bed as he is on the field.But there’s not a woman in the world who can distract Dash Wallace from the game. Not for a moment. Not even me.Until the night I do. And everything changes.-----Hardball is a SMOKING HOT, SEXY romance with a touch of angst and a ton of heart from CD Reiss. It's a fun, witty, full-length standalone.

Double The Ache


Alexa Riley - 2018
    She’s ready for the change of scenery, but she’s unprepared for the two hulking football players who want to make her theirs. Wes and Dean have been inseparable since the day they met. They even went to the same college and were drafted to the same team. They’ve known their whole lives that they wanted one woman to share. And the day they lay eyes on Amelia they know she’s the one. Warning: These guys are over the top but head over heels for the one they love. This ménage is filled with double the alphas, double the possession, and double the ache. Come play with us!

Night Games


Collette West - 2014
    For years, she's watched him play on TV, and now she's gazing at his hard, lean body across a bar in her hometown.Grey's crush on Chase goes all the way back to his rookie season. So when she approaches him for an autograph, she's startled by what a jerk he can be.Chase is no mood to humor his fans, even one as alluring as Grey. He's in the last year of his contract and stuck having to prove himself on a minor league team. He's only there to rehab an injury, nothing more.But when Grey tells him off, Chase realizes her fiery spirit may be just the distraction he needs to take his mind off not being in the majors. His heart is safe. No one's going to break his streak as baseball's most eligible bachelor. Not even someone as irresistible as Grey.

Monday Night Guy


Liz Lovelock - 2018
    He’s a basketball captain with charm and popularity. Will her vow to stop dating jerks have to take a time out?Bookworm Addison James has vowed to crush it in her second year in college. Avoiding guys who'll break her heart is at the top of her to-do list. But when a smoking hot jerk makes her Monday night shift part of his weekly routine, she wonders if her resolution will even last until midterms…Parker Kent knows he’s at the top of the popularity food chain and loves playing it to the max. While he enjoys the looks he gets from showing off his sport-sculpted, tattoo-covered body, it's the witty banter with Addison that truly draws him to her. Unfortunately, he can’t seem to persuade the gorgeous geek to let down her defenses.When Addison discovers a grand betrayal involving Parker's current squeeze, she's ready to swear off dating for good. But the basketball captain persists in showing up with plenty of reasons for her to change her mind. Can Addison let go of the wall around her heart to chance love with Parker or will another relationship land out of bounds?Monday Night Guy is the first book in the My Guy series of New Adult sweet college romances. If you like snappy dialogue, delicious characters, and swoon-worthy moments, then you'll love Liz Lovelock's feel-good novel.