Book picks similar to
Love, Ally by Hannah Gray


second-chance
dnf
romance
sports-romance

The Good Luck Charm


Helena Hunting - 2018
    He might think they can pick up just where they left off, but she's no longer that same girl and never wants to be again. Ethan Kane wants his glory days back. And that includes having Lilah by his side. With her, he was magic. They were magic. All he has to do is make her see that. Just when Lilah might finally be ready to let him in, though, she finds out their reunion has nothing to do with her and everything to do with his game. But Ethan's already lost her once, and even if it costs him his career, he'll do anything to keep from losing her again.

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.

Bending the Rules


Mariah Dietz - 2020
    It started with a crush.The best stories always do.Our story sounds predictable, short-lived, and destined for failure.Lincoln Beckett is the star wide receiver at Brighton University--smart, funny, and like many would guess,heartbreak shines in his dark eyes and is etched across his jaw.He's popular,a guaranteed draft pick,and worst of all: my brother's best friend.I tried not to like him.I have an entire list of reasons, reasons that have become my rules for dating.Rules that Lincoln continues bending.

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.

Team Hate


Rebel Hart - 2020
    After my father died in a car accident when I was sixteen, I decided to pursue football as a tribute to him. I struggled my way through college coaching for experience, always trying to prove I belonged to the field. And now I’m excited to finally jump into the big leagues as a strength and conditioning assistant coach of the North Carolina Knights.I’ve always been a stubborn, short-tempered, swearing-like-a-sailor tomboy. But it's a different ballgame with the football players.They can be crass, rude, misogynistic.One in particular, the arrogant and egotistical star quaterback, John Scepter.He thinks there’s no place for women in professional football and is not subtly trying to force me out.I hate him.Yet, no one makes my heart race like he does…And that makes me hate him even more.

Focused


Karla Sorensen - 2020
    requited. That day was bad enough, but things just got worse.Noah Griffin turned himself into one of the best football players in the country and a transfer to the Washington Wolves— the team I work for—lands him on my doorstep. The timing couldn't be worse, because my boss just handed me the opportunity of a lifetime. And that promotion rides squarely on Noah's big, muscular, condescending shoulders.He wants nothing to do with me, and the feeling is so very mutual. But for the sake of my career, I can ignore all those things about him that drive me insane. His eyes. His mouth. His big, big … hands. Until one day, we can’t ignore them anymore.You know what they say about the line between love and hate though? They’re so very right.

Waiting on the Sidelines


Ginger Scott - 2013
    Named after a baseball legend, she enjoyed being the Tomboy, her closet filled with her brother’s hand-me-downs, cut-off jeans and soccer shorts. But when her first trip to high school results in a broken heart from the first boy to ever make her heart flutter and cruel words from an older girl she once thought a family friend, Nolan starts to question the very person she thought she was and wonders if her humble upbringing can compete with the afforded luxuries of her privileged peers.Throughout the next four years, Nolan struggles to maintain herself throughout her path of discovery, learning just how cruel teenagers can be through the pressures of underage drinking, sexuality and class. And despite how life seems to continue to work against her, she still manages to listen to her heart, falling deeper and deeper for the guy the entire town adores, even if he only sees her as a friend. Can Nolan strike a compromise between her own integrity and the boy she loves? And can she make him notice her before it’s too late?Reed Johnson came to Coolidge High School with a lot of fanfare. The son of a hometown football legend and the brother of a local football hero, Reed wore all the pressures of carrying a town without hope into the spotlight. Thankfully, he had the talent to back it up. But when he meets a girl who makes him think twice about exactly what being a hero means, he starts to wonder if following in his brother’s footsteps might be all wrong. Nolan Lennox was everything that was opposite of expected. She didn’t flirt, she didn’t drink and she didn’t sleep around. Nothing about her was easy, but something about her made Reed want to try harder. Though she didn’t look the part, she seemed to be spending a lot of time in Reed’s thoughts, and he wondered if she could be the one who made it all worthwhile. But could Reed handle letting her down? And would breaking her heart break him beyond repair?Waiting on the Sidelines explores young love to its fullest, exposing how real young heartbreak and passion is and how important it is to discover yourself and hold onto your own identity. The story follows two young characters as they deal with mature situations, including the prevalence of bullying and promiscuity in today’s high school setting. Ultimately, Waiting on the Sidelines is a story of hope, honesty and those powerful, first true loves—the ones worth holding onto at any cost.

The Locker Room


Meghan Quinn - 2019
    One rowdy and naked encounter against the lockers with the girl of your dreams will make her your wife. Translation: baseball players are stupidly superstitious and believe the locker room has magical powers. But not all baseball players are superstitious, me included. So when the girl I've fallen for brushes me off, I start to question if I need to switch my way of thinking. Maybe it's time I finally hand out a coveted invitation to the locker room. The only question is, will she accept?

In the Pocket


Jessica Ruddick - 2020
    Been there, done that. All former child star Katie Sullivan wants is to live a normal life. She’s spent years burying her past, and she’ll do anything to keep it that way. Then one too many drinks combined with a dare has her asking out Wyatt Archer. Unfortunately, he's anything but low-profile, and she’s not about to give up her anonymity for some guy. Except Wyatt Archer isn’t just some guy. He's the best college quarterback in the country, and he loves everything that comes along with it-- like winning a national championship and having no shortage of girls. It’s never bothered him that the main thing they’re interested in is his potential to make it big. Until now. Katie’s different. Instead of basking in Wyatt’s spotlight, she runs from it, which only makes him want her more. Good thing he never walks away from a challenge, even if it means risking his heart.

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.

Swinging Strike


Kimberly Readnour - 2020
    That same cocky attitude is what landed him in my anonymous gossip column. Believe me, I, Cara Gonzalez, don’t want anything to do with him.But he’s everywhere.In my class.In my dorm.In my mind.I left this type of drama back home. Transferring to Cessna University is my chance for a redo.And regardless of his rock-hard abs and panty-dropping smile,Arguing with an athlete isn’t one of my goals.My instincts betray me, though.This attraction feels different.Stronger.I have no choice but to stand my ground. Because this time, I’m afraid I’ll not only be hurt. I’ll end up gutted.Book One in the Cessna U Wildcats series, Swinging Strike is an enemy to lovers, stand-alone romance. If you like sexy, hot baseball players, add Braxton Smith to your TBR list.

Holding Onto Forever


Heidi McLaughlin - 2017
    Making sure he worked hard to deserve the opportunities provided to him, Noah is where he's dreamed of being - starting QB for Portland Pioneers. Together, with his model girlfriend by his side, life can't get much better. Except that standing in his path is Peyton Powell-James, his life-long friend and the one woman he can never have. Peyton Powell-James always knew her future would be in football and dreams of having a successful sports journalism career once she graduates college. After being given the assignment to cover a professional game from the sidelines, Peyton believes that everything is going to plan. Until one fateful night changes her life. Harsh reality sets in for Noah and Peyton. One could lose everything, while the other struggles to keep the families together.

Hard Pass


K.G. Reuss - 2020
    A weekend in Vegas. And a challenge that changes everything.LexyTravis Owens has been a pain since he tugged my ponytail and challenged me to our first dare when we were eight years old. Time hasn’t changed a thing in regards to the hotter-than-fire football hero, except the game we play with one another now has higher stakes. A weekend in Vegas and a fake marriage assignment ensures nothing will ever be the same between us. Because I think I’m falling for my enemy, and the ring on my finger says he’s already won.TravisLexy Hale is every guy’s wet dream, but she’s off-limits since she’s my best friend’s twin sister. I’ve spent our entire childhood challenging her to dares, hoping to one day beat her. But she never backs down. This time, I have a plan that will ensure I’ll win. A drunken night in Vegas and a fake marriage assignment are all I need to set this plan in motion. Except I didn’t plan on falling for her.She thinks I’m just a jock with too many notches in my bedpost. Now, I need to prove her wrong because everything I’ve ever wanted is at stake. Getting her to marry me is the easy part. Trying to keep her is the real challenge.Hard Pass is a standalone enemies to lovers college football romance. Guaranteed HEA. Contains mature content.

I Need You To Hate Me


Genicious Fox - 2021
    When they collide, will there be light at the end of a tunnel…or will they spiral towards despair?Two years after a heart-wrenching accident, Calla is still full of guilt.She’s hopeful for a fresh start. A new beginning. She’s in for an unruly surprise when her path aligns with Ace’s—a rude, arrogant, and impulsive asshole.What happens when fate comes out to play?One thing is certain. There’s no fighting it, no matter how cruel or unfair it seems.I Need You To Hate Me is the first book in the I Need You series.

The Hardest Fall


Ella Maise - 2018
    You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you’re anyone but me. The first time I met Dylan Reed, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I’m very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I’m attracted to. At the time, I knew nothing about him and thought none of what I said would matter since I’d never speak to him again. Turns out, I was very wrong. He was the star wide receiver of the football team, one of the few players expected to make it into the NFL, and I ended up seeing him all over campus. I might have also propositioned him, run away from him, attacked him with a cooking utensil…and…uh, maybe I shouldn’t tell you all of it. It’s pretty normal stuff, things you’d expect…from me. Eventually, the time came when I couldn’t hide anymore—not that he’d have let me even if I tried. Before now, he never knew I was secretly watching him. Now that we see each other every day, he knows when I have a hard time looking away. It doesn’t help that I’m not the most subtle person in the world either. He smiles at me and tells me he finds me fascinating because of my quirks. I can’t even tell him that I think my heart beats differently whenever he’s around. He thinks we’re going to be best friends. I think I have a big thing for him, and the more I get to know him, the more I don’t care that I’m not allowed to be his friend, let alone fall for him. The thing is, that’s exactly what I’m doing—what we’re doing, I think. Falling. Hard.