Book picks similar to
Ryan's Kiss by Mel Walker
contemporary
romance
sports
second-chance
Rushing Into Love: A small-town sports romance
Kara Kendrick - 2021
Work. Football. That’s my life summed up in three words.Sure, I used to be a pro NFL baller, but now I’m perfectly content with a quiet life in my small hometown of Peachtree Grove, Georgia.That is until Bree, a beautiful blonde dating expert, gets tackled at my Pee Wee football practice, knocking me off my game.I swore I’d never get involved again after my messy divorce left me reeling, but one date with Bree and I’m dropping all my hesitations—along with my jersey. Now she has me rethinking my plays.But will the tabloids, my ex, and Bree’s complicated past keep us in the friendzone?
Love & Other Chaos
Jackie Walker - 2020
Brody’s my friend - just a friend. He’s also my autistic son’s favorite teacher.He’s as off limits as they come, no matter how drop dead gorgeous he is. Falling for him would be wrong. Resisting him though, is becoming pure torture. After being burned by men who can’t handle dating a single-mom of a special-needs child, I refuse to date anymore. Not until my son is grown. My plan is working fine until my trouble-making bestie presents me with a dare that I can’t resist. I’m a sucker for a good dare - especially when margaritas have been consumed. And she’s just dared me to plant a surprise kiss on Brody’s sexy lips, while she records it for a trending TikTok challenge video. But if I do this, it could change everything. My life is already pure chaos and maybe now is not the best time to shake things up even more. Is it worth risking our friendship and his important role in my son’s life for one kiss? What if he wants more? What if I do? Love & Other Chaos is a hilarious, steamy, friends-to-lovers romantic comedy featuring a drop dead gorgeous and seriously buff teacher with the hots for a single-mom of an autistic pre-teen son... who happens to be one of his students. This story also includes wise-cracking grandparents with zero respect for personal boundaries, swoon-worthy beach scenes, a jerky boss with no concept of personal space, nosey siblings and a foul-mouthed best friend who loves to instigate trouble. If you don't like sarcasm, steam, sexy-times, heroines who drink copious amounts of margaritas and laugh-a-minute dialogue, then this might not be the book for you. It’s a stand-alone novel with a happy ending, because cliffhangers will kill your margarita buzz.
Detour
A. Marie - 2020
Angela Head down, eyes peeled for any opportunity to get off the dead-end course my mother carelessly paved for me years ago.My plan takes a sharp turn landing me directly across the hall from Creekwood’s resident bad boys. The three streetbike riding misfits are as stubborn as they are sexy. And they. Are. Sexy. Especially the one with the mocha swirl eyes watching my every move.But even the six-foot hallway separating us can’t keep the overbearing trio from constantly getting in my way.When my past threatens to catch up with me, I quickly learn not every detour promises an easier route, no matter how tempting my new neighbors might make it look. Coty Head up, eyes locked on anything threatening to throw me off the carefully constructed path I have mapped out.I live my life the same way I ride my bike, never once regretting the roads I’ve chosen.Lately though, after years of the same scenery, everything’s starting to blur together. It’s only when our elusive neighbor girl comes out of nowhere that I realize what’s been missing.And now that I have, I don’t think I can let her pass by so quickly. At least not without proving the lengths I’ll go for her first.
Forever Friend Zoned
C. Morgan - 2021
I took all of that crap from the past and turned it into a goldmine. My body, namely. And there’s one girl I want that rejected me over and over. Lucky for me, the beauty is on the heels of a terrible breakup. Yes. I mean, aww… Her parents are pushing her to go to the gym to lose some weight. Boy, do I know how that feels. And guess who’s waiting for her when she gets there?That’s right. Me. The forever friend-zoned guy. But I have no ill will toward my curvy first love. I only want what’s best for her. Namely, me. *wink*So the game begins, and I’m lucky to be in the coach’s shoes this time. She has no clue who I am, but sparks fly high. No way in hell I’m telling her I’m the guy she remembered rejecting. ‘Cause I’m not out for revenge. I just want what I’ve always wanted… Her.
Billionaire Cowboy's Runaway Bride
Hope Moore - 2020
He’s a confirmed bachelor, she’s a runaway bride who needs his help.After confirmed bachelor, Cole Tanner catches the garter at his friend’s wedding he finds a dazed and confused runaway bride limping along the back roads of his hometown of True Love, Texas and stops to help.Tulip Jones obviously can’t say no to public marriage proposals—this is her second time to be a runaway bride! She needs help in more ways than one—can Cole teach her how to become a confirmed bachelorette and learn to say no?They’re a perfect match until love gets in the way!The billionaire bachelors of True Love, Texas are about to meet their matches...
The Tillman Crush
Kelly Gendron - 2021
His hold was firm.The next day, he vanished. After seven years, he’s back with a sexy smile, flirty eyes, and jacked muscles.Not that I care.Let him slather on the charm.I won’t give in to The Tillman Crush. Not this time. BRITT Sadie Holland. Beautiful. Smart.The untouchable girl next door.Growing up, I wanted her.To keep her at a safe distance, I was mean to her.Then, the accident happened.With my mom gone, my father turned to the bottle.So I left town the first chance I got.Now, I’m back and not just for Sadie.The other thing I want.Well, the girl I came back for might not like it.Still, I won’t stop until I get what I want.Not this time.
Bayou Cottage
Suzanne Jenkins - 2020
It’s the perfect place to run away to after her heart was broken.The first night while she’s down at the road to lock the gate, a hunky guy on horseback steps out of the woods, but Maggie doesn’t recognize him. Turns out they were childhood playmates long ago during winter visits to her grandparents’ cottage. Justin Chastain, local vet and wild horse advocate, heard through the grapevine that Maggie had returned to Cypress Cove and wanted to see her for himself. But he didn’t know that she was hiding from a failed marriage, leaving her with a big chip on her shoulder. It remains to be seen if she can ever trust again. The chemistry Maggie senses fluctuates between lukewarm and molten, but for Justin, it’s constant and he’s falling in love, hard. Then he unintentionally commits a blunder that Maggie will struggle to forgive, and they have to start all over again. Is there another chance at love for Maggie Angel?
Fierce-Devin
Natalie Ann - 2021
Secretly...of course. Devin Andrews loves his job at Fierce-The Brewery and working for his cousin Mason. What he doesn’t love is that his Aunt Jolene has set her sights on making him the next target of her matchmaking scheme. But he’s onto her and has no plans on falling prey like her unsuspecting children did. Besides, he’s not sure he has what it takes to fall in love since he never has before, even being the oldest of the family. Hope Hall picked up her life and moved to Charlotte for a man. She should have listened to her family when they cautioned her against it, reminding her that she was too spontaneous with everything in life...even men. After being blind, stupid, and naive once again, she doesn’t want to go home and listen to them say they were right. Instead she is trying to make a life for herself—one without a man in it—and prove she can do it on her own.
Something Old
Liz Lovelock - 2021
My name is Scarlett and my life is a mess.I’m two divorces down and don’t have any intention of going for a third.Then Lachlan—big time football superstar, one night stand turned husband in a shotgun-Vegas-style wedding, then ex-husband within twenty-four hours—stumbles back into my life.How can I keep him at bay and my heart from breaking again?
I Pick You
Eryn Scott - 2021
Magnolia Parker loves botany, but became a professor mostly to make her parents happy. When she’s passed up for tenure, Maggie decides it’s time to make a change. Escaping the city, she finds herself in the idyllic town of Plumb Creek staring at a For Sale sign in a flower shop that shares her name. It must be destiny. Maggie goes all in. Being a florist should be easy for a professor of botany. Right? Boy, is she wrong. Before she even opens shop, she’s angered half the town. After her first customer leaves in a huff, she realizes a botany degree isn’t going to cut it. Enter Grant Sommers, hot local entrepreneur who has the town in his back pocket. He’s willing to help turn the shop around, if Maggie will listen. As much as she wants this to work, she fears she’ll never be able to loosen the town’s tight-knit roots enough to be accepted.It’s time for Maggie to pick her own path, even if it means disappointing everyone else.
Full Court Press
J. Akridge - 2021
To her, it’s a painful reminder of her past relationship mistakes. But after losing a bet to her sister, she finds herself at an Atlanta Hawks game, hating life. There, she meets basketball star Landon Prince and treats herself to one steamy night with him. Landon sees Kelsi as the kind of girl he could fall for, but it takes a bit of convincing for her to give them a chance. When she finally relents, Landon fully believes he can protect her from the trappings of his fame. He was wrong. One reporter was all it took to catch a picture of them in a compromising position, that could cost Kelsi her teaching job. But when Kelsi’s ex sees the picture, he formulates a plan to exploit the situation in a vicious custody battle. Can Landon and Kelsi work together to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and begin a full court press to their happily ever after? Or will the price of his fame tear them apart?
Sweet Keeper (Sweet Talkers, #1)
Thalia Sanchez - 2020
until I met Stanley McKinley.From the moment that I met him, I knew that I was going to hate his guts, that he was everything that I'm not, everything I despise.One mistake.That's all it took for our paths to collide and merge into one,and I can't find a way to get rid of the magnetic pull he has over me.I want to push him away, to do everything in my power to keep him as a friend—at most.But friends aren't supposed to flirt and look at each other the way we do.I shouldn't want him... but I do.And there's nothing I can do to change before I mess him up too.STANLEYShe thinks that I'm a golden boy, that I'm the perfect guy.Rich and spoiled asshole that can have everything he wants in life.I'm neither of those things.From the moment I met her, Bree Pierce got under my skin and I can't get her out of my system, no matter how hard I try to. I was an inconvenience for her, someone she only spoke to because we made a mistake, not even worthy of being her friend. But I don't want her friendship.I want her.And I'm willing to do whatever it takes for her to choose me, to keep me as much as I want to keep her.Even if it ruins everything that we have.
Not So Broken (Love Grows Series Book 1)
Renee Regent - 2019
An independent woman. When they collide, love grows in a most unexpected way! A bitter divorce from my cheating ex-husband left me reeling, but I forged a new life on my own. Now on the verge of a promotion, everything I want is in reach—except a family. I’ve all but given up on ever having a child.So I decided I would adopt one on my own.Then one wild night changed everything. I was swept away by Gibson, a hot-looking handyman who was, well, pretty good with his hands. And then some.But there were unintended consequences from our tryst. Now he and I are forever connected, and it turns out Gibson was not at all what he seemed to be. We barely know each other, and now he is in my life forever. Maybe we can make this work if we stay platonic.That will be easy, right?The Love Grows Series- Strong, protective heroes. Feisty, independent heroines. When they meet, Love Grows in unexpected ways.
Mr. Billionaire's Second Chance: Enemies to Lovers
Laura Olsen - 2021
It's my fault for falling for a filthy rich and obscenely handsome Manhattan type.Silly of me to think Preston had something more beneath his immaculate suit than just a chiseled body.But what a body. I still wake up sweating from dreams about the night we shared.I thought knowing I'll never experience one again was torture enough. I was wrong.
Because working with him every single day is definitely worse.
I hate that he thinks he can order me around or that he still thinks I belong to him.And I really hate that he stays late in the office when I try to bury myself in work to stop thinking about him.Most of all though, I hate seeing glimpses of the man I once believed he was.Hints of true passion and charm beneath Mr. Billionaire's stone-cold demeanor.
But it doesn't matter how many evenings we spend together in the office.
There is absolutely no way I'm falling for him again.
No cheating, no cliffhangers. HEA guaranteed!
Broken Hearts (Broken Rebel Brotherhood Next Generation, #1)
Andi Rhodes - 2020
Not when the pull of serving our country is my competition. With no other choice, I rebuild myself and focus my attention on the clients of the Broken Rebel Brotherhood, the people who need the club’s help. I even date other guys in an effort to circumvent the heartache. It works for a while but eventually, the past comes back in the form of muscles, tats and so much baggage.Isaiah is no longer the boy I loved. He’s a man that oozes sin and pain. His eyes tell a story that I’m not sure I’m up to hearing. Why then is it so hard to turn my back on him? And why in the hell is he the only person my soul calls out to when I’m in trouble?Isaiah…Leaving my family and Tillie was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. But duty called and I had to answer. Especially if I want to be the president of the Broken Rebel Brotherhood and fill my dad’s very large shoes. When a bombing sends me back to the only place I’ve ever called home, I mistakenly think that everything will magically be the same. Not only has everything changed, but Tillie has moved on. She’s become a woman I don’t recognize, a woman who spends her days proving she doesn’t need me. But I know her better than she knows herself. And danger lurks in the shadows, threatening her existence, whether she wants to admit it or not. I will stop at nothing to protect her, to show her that we still belong together. Fighting for my country was my duty. Fighting for Tillie is everything.