Book picks similar to
Christmas Blitz by Amy L. Gale


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football
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Blitzed: A Football Romance (The Alpha Ballers Book 3)


Lucy Snow - 2016
    That goes doubly so when you’re a pro football player and her father owns the team. But what do you do if she can’t stay away? Hudson Asher Mackenzie Mayfield is smart, interesting and the hottest girl I've ever seen. She's also the daughter of my team’s owner and a front office executive. And she's entirely off limits. For both reasons. The trouble is, she won’t leave me alone. And I can’t stay away from her either, not after I’ve saved her from something horrible. But how can we get together when we work together? The rule says I'm not supposed to date anyone at work. I'm definitely not supposed to undress Mackenzie with my eyes and with my hands every time she looks at me. All I want is to help my team win a championship. But in the meantime, I’m in danger of losing my heart to Mackenzie Mayfield. Mackenzie Mayfield Hudson Asher’s been on my father’s team for a decade. He’s a hulking beast of a man who destroys his opponents on the field. All I can think of when I see him are the naughty things I want him to do to me. After saving me from something terrible, I try and return the favor, but something is holding us both back from each other. I just hope I can find out what it is in time. Blitzed is book 3 of the Alpha Ballers series, but can be read standalone. It is 62,000 words long and contains an HEA with no cliffhanger. *This is not a football heavy story, but unlike other football romances, there is an attempt to get the facts correct, so if you're not into sports, don't worry! It's medium on the sports and heavy on the steam!*

Men in White Suits: Liverpool FC in the 1990s - The Players' Stories


Simon Hughes - 2015
    The Daily Mail was the first newspaper to tag Evans’s team as the Spice Boys.Yet despite their flaws, this was a rare group of individuals: mavericks, playboys, goal-scorers and luckless defenders. Wearing off-white Armani suits, their confident personalities were exemplified in their pre-match walk around Wembley before the 1996 FA Cup final (a 1-0 defeat to Manchester United).In stark contrast to the media-coached, on-message interviews given by today’s top stars, the blunt, ribald and sometimes cutting recollections of the footballers featured in Men in White Suits provide a rare insight into this fascinating era in Liverpool’s long and illustrious history.

Bend It Like Bullard


Jimmy Bullard - 2014
    But what he has in spades is a genuine love for The Beautiful Game that few of his peers can match. One of the last graduates from football's old school, Jimmy actually worked in the real world - including as a painter and decorator - before turning pro. Maybe that's why he played football with a smile on his face, always says what's on his mind, and is no stranger to a spot of mischief.Having played under the likes of Barry Fry, Harry Redknapp and Phil Brown, appeared alongside names as diverse as Neil Ruddock and Paolo di Canio, and as long as Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Jimmy has racked up an amazing collection of tales and pranks both on and off the football front-line. Told with candour, Bend It Like Bullard is the extraordinary story of his journey from cable TV fitter to cult hero. It will make you smile, chuckle and, occasionally, ROFL.

Soul Crew: The Inside Story of Britain's Most Notorious Hooligan Gang


David Jones - 2002
    Formed in the early Eighties, it took its name from its followers love of soul music and brought together disparate mobs from the Welsh capital city and from the surrounding valleys and industrial towns. And it has left mayhem in its wake. David Jones and Tony Rivers are former members of the Soul Crew and give a riveting insider's account of clashes with the violent crews from as far afield as London, Middlesborough, Plymouth and Glasgow. They describe the intense rivalry with the 'Jacks' of Swansea City, reveal how internal tensions have prevented the gang from having a clear leadership, tell of their obsession with the 'casual' fashion scene and explain how they have forged friendships with fellow terrace obsessives from all over Britain.Told with black humor and unflinching honesty, 'Soul Crew' is an explosive account of how the hooligan culture has prevailed despite the best efforts of police, politicians and the football authorities to stamp it out.

Fighting Spirit: A Championship Season at Notre Dame


Lou Holtz - 1989
    Holtz brought the Fighting Irish back from a five-year slump in 1987. Illustrated.

Vertigo: One Football Fan's Fear of Success


John Crace - 2011
    John Crace and Spurs were made for each other. But then the team started to play like possible champions. For most fans, these are the glory moments they dream about. For Crace they just opened a new dimension of anxiety: the fear of success. Crace has supported Spurs for 40 years. His wife thinks he suffers from a psychiatric disorder, but fandom is not only one of the ways he negotiates his relationships, it also helps him make some sense of his life. Vertigo is the story of why fandom that starts out in boyish hope always ends in dark comedy.

Coached


Hunter Rose - 2021
    Rugged. Playmaker. Casanova…All those names apply to Darren Walters. Yes, he’s cocky too.How can you not be when you look and play like him?The beginning of college should be the start of something new.Yet, here I am still stuck crushing on the star quarterback of the college team,and my older brother’s best friend - Darren.I’m sure he’s always seen me as the nerdy younger sister type.Oh, and did I forget to mention that I’m still a virgin and have no idea about guys?I know… I'm hopeless.Darren promised my brother that he’d look out for me and protect me.The best thing I can come up with is to have him coach me how to date.Coach me to say all the right things,kiss the right way,and when we’re alone…Sigh, if only our love story was that simple.

Play by Play


Kate Donovan - 2013
    And lately it’s all about Sophie, the pretty young woman who just moved into his apartment building. His readers know her only as “Elevator Girl,” and they’re all rooting for Jake to score.The blog posts and banter with his followers are all in good fun, and he fully intends to come clean with the woman he’s wooing and wowing. That is, until she confides that she grew up in a house full of jocks and even dated a few. Her verdict? Never again!Jake knows he needs to confess. But somewhere along the line he fell in love with Sophie and can’t stand the thought of losing her. So he procrastinates, and blogs, and digs himself deeper into a hole, until it all leads to a showdown that’s so nail-biting, not even the best play-by-play guy could ever have seen it coming.

The Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport


David J. Berri - 2006
    Over the years sports debates have become muddled by many myths that do not match the numbers generated by those playing the games. In The Wages of Wins, the authors use layman's language and easy to follow examples based on their own academic research to debunk many of the most commonly held beliefs about sports.In this updated version of their book, these authors explain why Allen Iverson leaving Philadelphia made the 76ers a better team, why the Yankees find it so hard to repeat their success from the late 1990s, and why even great quarterbacks like Brett Favre are consistently inconsistent. The book names names, and makes it abundantly clear that much of the decision making of coaches and general managers does not hold up to an analysis of the numbers. Whether you are a fantasy league fanatic or a casual weekend fan, much of what you believe about sports will change after reading this book.

Field Party Collection Books 1-3: Until Friday Night; Under the Lights; After the Game


Abbi Glines - 2017
    Where you bring the party to the field, where you dance all night, where anything goes. From New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Abbi Glines comes a series about a small Southern town filled with cute boys in pickup trucks, Friday night football games, and crazy parties that stir up some major drama. This boxed set includes: Until Friday Night Under the Lights After the Game

The Wedding Rescue


Jenna Brandt - 2020
    Now, he’s been asked to be the best man at a wedding where she’s going to be a bridesmaid. The moment he sees her, he realizes he still loves her, but all she does is avoid him. Aspen Sinclair’s heart was broken by a man who picked a badge over her. She’s avoided dating ever since, not wanting to take another risk. She thought she built up enough walls to keep from getting hurt again, but when Derik walks back into her life, she realizes she never got over him. In this short story, will he be able to tear down the walls around her heart? Can she let go of the past to make room for a new future? And will they survive the storm raging all around them? Step into the world of Disaster City Search and Rescue, where officers, firefighters, military, and medics, train and work alongside each other with the dogs they love, to do the most dangerous job of all — help lost and injured victims find their way home.

Kaiser: The Greatest Footballer Never To Play Football


Rob Smyth - 2018
    He’s the most loveable of rogues with the most common of dreams: to become a professional footballer. And he isn’t about to let trivial details like talent and achievement stand in his way. . . not when he has so many other ways to get what he wants.In one of the most remarkable football stories ever told, Kaiser graduates from abandoned slumdog to star striker, dressing-room fixer, superstar party host and inexhaustible lover. And all without kicking a ball. He’s not just the king… he’s the Kaiser.

The Wenger Revolution: Twenty Years of Arsenal


Amy Lawrence - 2016
    In the subsequent twenty years as manager he has transformed the club. English football's longest serving manager has overseen a period of radical change. His experience spans across the spectrum from complex challenges to historic success.The Wenger Revolution chronicles this fascinating era through the combination of distinctive photographs taken from the inner sanctum, and words from Amy Lawrence.This is a stunning photographic journey, based on the images captured by official club photographer Stuart MacFarlane, who has had exclusive access for many years. Publication coincides with the twentieth anniversary of Wenger's arrival in England.The Arsenal he joined bears little resemblance to what the club looks like as we approach 2016. A total renovation in terms of training, stadium, style, economics and a global audience has taken place under Wenger's instruction.His successes illustrate what a sensation he created in English football. He is regarded as a guru of new football methods, getting a club with a traditional English culture to give up drinking, modernize diet, embrace new training methods, and play with a panache that ripped up the stereotype of Boring Arsenal. The Wenger Revolution is worth commemorating, and this book will do so in style.

This Is The One: Sir Alex Ferguson - The Uncut Story Of A Football Genius


Daniel Taylor - 2007
    A year earlier his managerial career had reached its nadir amid speculation he would be forced out of Old Trafford. He was taken to the limit over the Roy Keane scandal, his volatile relationship with the media, the political fallout of Malcolm Glazer's takeover and a miserable six-month run in which the team were humbled in Europe, embarrassed by the Conference side Burton Albion and barracked by their own fans. Ferguson, it is claimed, came close to quitting. But the great man has used his inimitable managing skills and bloody-minded determination to turn it around yet again and remind everyone he is still the most formidable manager in the business.Written over the course of two hugely eventful, diverse and controversial seasons, "This Is The One" offers a unique, warts-and-all portrait of Ferguson from a privileged behind-the-scenes position. As a football writer for the Guardian, Daniel Taylor has been there from day one and seen every side of Ferguson, from the flint-faced authoritarian to the kind, quick-witted man with the heart the size of the Old Trafford trophy room. Entertaining, revelatory, sometimes shocking but always affectionate, this is the close-up look at one of the most talked-about figures in sport, in good times and bad, and culminating in the glory of his ninth tittle win.

Philly Special: The Inside Story of How the Philadelphia Eagles Won Their First Super Bowl Championship


Sal Paolantonio - 2018
    This is the inside story you will get nowhere else—from the team’s storybook start to the nail-biting victory over the New England Patriots in Minneapolis, featuring the “Philly Special,” perhaps the most memorable play in Super Bowl history. Through exclusive interviews, readers will learn how the Eagles overcame Carson Wentz’s season-ending injury, how the team defied the odds and the critics and how they beat the greatest dynasty in modern pro football. With exclusive inside access, Paolantonio reveals a rare look into the dynamic between head coach Doug Pederson, back-up quarterback and eventual Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles, and the many individuals who stepped up and answered the call at the right times. Paolantonio captures the mood of the team week by week, every step of the way, profiling numerous key players, coaches, and much, much more.