Book picks similar to
The Exception by Mickey Miller


sports-romance
contemporary-romance
romance
dnf

Quarterback's Baby


Roxeanne Rolling - 2017
    I have everything I could want. Except for her.No woman will ever compare to her. We met in college, when she was supposed to be fixing my shoulder. She fixed a whole lot more than that...She's not going to slip through my fingers again.LiaRunning away was the biggest mistake of my life. I still miss him.I thought it was too late, but now he's suddenly back in my life.This is what I've been waiting for.But what about this secret I've been hiding for so long? I can't risk destroying what we have.Quarterback's Baby is a full-length romance. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed HEA.

A Christmas Tart


Lola West - 2021
    It’s palpable. The whole town knows it. They have been at each other’s throats since their sand castle building days. But what everyone doesn’t know is that there was a winter, a long time ago, when Max had a secret and Patrick was there for her. They forgot to be hateful and thought maybe, just maybe they were in love….But you know, then it all fell apart. Until now...Get ready to watch tension fly and the three french biddies meddle when Max and Patrick reconnect at the Laurent Bakery in Martha's vineyard.A Christmas Tart is a standalone novella with an HEA, but it features characters from the Universe of all of Lola West's books.Pine-ing for the perfect holiday romance? It’s love at frost sight with The 12 Days of Kissmas! A dozen standalone holiday novellas so steamy they’re sure to melt that winter chill. From dashing doctors to dirty-talking mountain men, staying off the naughty list just got a whole lot harder.

Penalty Kiss


Annie Dyer - 2021
    Problems that could score her an own goal.She’s meant to be my penalty, but will she let me be her kiss instead?Penalty Kiss is the first standalone in the Manchester Athletic series. Meet the team in this grumpy/sunshine, enemies-to-lovers, bad boy athlete romance.

Fool Me Twice


Lizzie Morton
    It turned into a media scandal and now he's famous for all the wrong reasons.To the world he's impossible to love but to me he's impossible to hate.I have a chance to redeem myself and show everyone who he really is. But how can I do that when I don't even know myself?Becket revealed a lot of his secrets the day we met on the plane, but I now know, with absolute certainty, he still has one left to tell.

Ruined Promises


Stefanie Jenkins - 2020
    One decision. It only took one night out to turn Lexi Baker’s so-called perfect world upside down. A chance encounter with a tall, dark, and handsome stranger makes her feel things she’s never felt before, both physically and emotionally. When her emotions get the best of her, she escapes with only his first name: Ben. A one-night stand—that’s all it was supposed to be. She was never supposed to see him again. And he definitely wasn’t supposed to be standing in her office Monday morning being introduced as her new boss. Ben and Lexi promise each other that nothing more can happen and they must remain professional. But some promises are meant to be ruined, right?

Close to Me


Monica Murphy - 2020
    My first crush.My first kiss.The boy who ripped my heart out of my chest again and again. Over and over. I let him have it every single time.Willingly.We are that toxic high school couple you hear about, the one you witness in the hallway avoiding each other. You laugh at them in class when they’re forced to work together, their gazes full of hatred. We are the couple you gossip about when they win homecoming prince and princess their sophomore year…The back and forth is what kills me the most. I’m not his princess, I’m the girl he toys with when he’s bored. And he’s definitely not my prince, no matter how badly I want him to be.Our senior year and we’re months away from never having to see each other again when disaster strikes—and brings us closer together. All it takes is one touch, and I’m burning for Ash. Hotter than I ever have.But will that burn turn into a devastating fire? Or can we actually make it work this time?

Making the Call


Amanda Shelley - 2020
    Ha! I can only wish. With a deadline looming, I’ve escaped to my family’s cabin on Anderson Island to free myself from distractions. My plan's great, until a man, who could pass as a cover model on one of my books, comes to my rescue. Is there chemistry? Sure. Is he everything I’d look for in a guy? Absolutely. But will my career be at risk if I give into my desire?LukeFor a player, women line up outside the locker room. For coaches, we're lucky to get in the game. As the youngest NFL coach in the league, I live, eat, breathe, and even sleep football. To gear up for this season, I return to my home on Anderson Island for a much-needed break. When Dani literally crashes into my life, my mind’s suddenly on the sexy brunette with a sailors mouth, rather than my team's next play. She has me dusting off another playbook entirely, making me wonder, did I make the right call?

Beneath the Stars


Emily McIntire - 2020
    I loved him before I knew what lovin' was. I pulled, he pushed. I gave, he took. I loved... I lost. Now he's back. All grown up and sexy as sin. But things changed while he was gone. So, he can show those dimples and flex those muscles all he wants. It won't change a thing. Chase Adams is nothin' but a lost memory. I'll do everything I can to keep him that way. Chase Growing up, there were only two women I ever loved. Neither one of them ever really loved me back. Until her. Alina. My Goldi. She was everything that's good. I was the bad. She was the brightest goddamn star. I was the black hole shredding her to pieces.I loved her wrong, losing her to my demons. But now I'm back. A better man. I'll do everything I can to make her remember us, even if all she wants is to forget.***Beneath the Stars is a full-length, interconnected standalone featuring strong language, explicit sexual scenes and mature situations which may be considered triggers for some. Reader discretion is advised. Please note that while there is a HEA for the main characters at the end of this book, since it is an interconnected standalone, there are themes and side stories that run through the series and may not be resolved immediately.

Kicked


Celia Aaron - 2016
    Perfect-Has-Everyone-Fooled Carrington.He’s the star quarterback, university scholar, and happens to be the sexiest man I’ve ever seen. He shines at any angle, and especially under the Saturday night stadium lights where I watch him from the sidelines. But I know the real him, the one who broke my heart and pretended I didn’t exist for the past two years.I’m the third-string kicker, the only woman on the team and nothing better than a mascot. Until I’m not. Until I get my chance to earn a full scholarship and join the team as first-string. The only way I'll make the cut is to accept help from the one man I swore never to trust again. The problem is, with each stolen glance and lingering touch, I begin to realize that trusting Trent isn’t the problem. It’s that I can’t trust myself when I’m around him. This is a full-length, sweet, hot, safe, standalone American football romance novel.

Tortured


N.M. Catalano - 2018
    The four of us, that’s what we do.They say I have no emotions.I wish. I feel everything, maybe more than you.They said I shouldn’t fall in love with a married woman.They’re right about that, too. It wasn’t part of the assignment.But I did. Now they want her.My demons are going to destroy them.There once was a girl who believed in fairytales.They all came true.With contracts and lies and deceit.There is a woman who cries herself to sleep.Who lives a lie behind a beautiful mask.There is a woman who almost gave up.Almost.But then her prince charming came.He is everything she needs.Mysterious, dark, dangerous, who makes her do things, things that would shock you.Everything that she needs.There is a woman who belongs to someone else, who can never leave.There is a woman who is imprisoned by deals and money and power.There is a woman who loves a man she cannot have. There is a man and a woman who will be destroyed. **Intended for adult audiences, 18+, strong language, strong sexual content, MFM, BDSM, ends in a cliffhanger.**

First Love Second Chance


Chanta Rand - 2017
    She didn’t belong in his world of glamor and high-stakes opportunities. But now a chance encounter with a runaway teen convinces him there’s more to life than his own selfish needs. Despite his wealth and status, Social Services won’t consider him an acceptable candidate to adopt the kid unless he can provide a stable family environment. There’s only one woman Colt can trust to handle the job—his ex-wife, Shayla. To convince her he's a changed man, he'll have to go hard or go home. For almost a decade, Shayla Carter has fought feelings of anger, grief, and confusion every time she sees her celebrity ex-husband on TV with some new bimbo draped on his arm. She never imagines the man who filed for divorce after only two months of marriage ever would want anything from her again. So, when he shows up out of the blue with a Texas-sized solitaire and a promise to do right by her, she gives him a reception like hell frozen over. But Colt is persistent, and when he agrees to her long list of demands, Shayla can’t help but wonder if it’s time to give her first love a second chance.

Hold Me (Hart of Stone Family Book 2)


Tory Baker - 2022
    That was what Alana was supposed to be, what she became was so much more.Keller is more than what meets the eyes, a single father, completely devoted to his son, Jace. Who also happens to be a student in my classroom, my eyes were wide open when Keller and I started our quote-unquote relationship. Too bad my heart didn’t get the memo.When a man screws up, he knows it, and that’s what I did with Alana. I thought I was doing the right thing, trying to shield my boy’s heart and my own. Too bad that plan blew up in my face and I was left feeling more than I ever have before.This book is sure to make you feel all the emotions with this guaranteed happily ever after, hot romance, and a Hero that is sure to make you swoon! Don’t forget each book in this series can be read as a complete stand alone.

Her Second Chance Cowboy


Makenna Lee - 2020
    After his mother died in childbirth, and witnessing his father’s destruction at the loss of true love, James sticks to casual affairs. Marriage and children are risks he won’t take.Reese Turner visits Cypress Creek, Texas, to complete a photo assignment for National Geographic and buy back her grandparents’ cottage. After disastrous romances, she’s sworn off men to focus on her career. Marriage and the babies she longs for can wait. When she runs into an old flame, she decides she can live out a fantasy, then leave town to pursue her dreams.But love doesn’t play by the rules...

Second Down Love


Kara Hart - 2016
    On and off the field. I'm tall, confident, and ripped. Yeah, that's right. Jackson Leeman is my name and I'm the player of every woman's dreams. Love? F*ck that. No one can tie me down. That is, no one except for my high school sweetheart, Fiona Breckenridge. She's a hot piece of a** with curves to die for, but I broke her heart over a decade ago. Now that I'm famous, she despises me. Wait until I show her the whole package... I'm the best football player there ever was, but I can't control myself. When I find out she's my new PR agent, I know I'm screwed. I'm not the kind of guy who holds back. I'm going to tame her. I'm going to make her mine. This is my year, but my whole career is on the line. I need to settle down and focus. One problem: I want that woman more than I want to win the big game. All it takes is one night to get her begging my name. After that winning touchdown, I'm taking her all the way home. "It's always hotter the second time around." **Second Down Love is a standalone, 50,000 word, bad boy sports romance novel with a HEA and absolutely NO CLIFFHANGERS!**

Hate to Love You


Isabelle Richards - 2015
    Constantly in competition, they fight incessantly, making it nearly impossible for them to be in the same room with each other. Until they slept together. Sex changes everything.In one emotional evening, they go from enemies to lovers. Hate quickly evolves into passionate lust, but old habits die hard. The love growing between them can’t erase a lifetime of animosity. The two quickly fall back into old routines of spite and vengeance, and their relationship crumbles under the weight of their deep-seated distrust.Chase and Arianna spend the next two years on opposite sides of the globe, avoiding each other at all costs. Despite the lies they tell themselves, neither one is ready to let go. Even though they are both engaged to other people, they can’t find it in their hearts to forgive each other or to move forward.A family emergency calls Arianna home, where they have no choice but to face each other again. Will they finally admit the truth, or will they remain forever trapped between love and hate?