Book picks similar to
The Longest Game by Autumn Avery
contemporary
sports
second-chance
sports-romance
Broken at Love
Lyla Payne - 2013
A rich kid who’s not used to being disappointed by life, Quinn and his sociopathic half-brother Sebastian create a frat house game intended to treat girls how they see them—as simple game pieces to be manipulated for their pleasure.College sophomore Emilie Swanson knows Quinn’s reputation—after all, he did send one of her sorority sisters into therapy earlier in the semester—but the game and his charm bring them closer together and soon she starts to believe there’s more to Quinn than people think.But what if the more is something darker than a game of toying with emotions and breaking hearts?Quinn and Emilie might be falling for each other, but there are secrets he’s not ready to tell—and lifestyle changes he’s reluctant to make. She willingly stepped on the court, but if Emilie finds out she started out as nothing as a pawn in Quinn and Sebastian’s twisted game, she might never forgive him.To his surprise, Quinn finds that he might finally care about someone more than he cares about himself…even if that means letting Emilie walk away for good.
Trying Sophie
Rebecca Norinne - 2016
When we were kids, he tormented me mercilessly ... but that little boy is all man now, and there are some very adult things I’d like to do with him. But it’s not just his hot body or his wicked mouth that I’m falling for. Underneath all that cockiness he’s kind and generous too—the exact opposite of who I expected him to be. And now I have to decide if I’m ready to put down roots in Ireland or go back to America, which would mean walking away from the reformed bad boy who just might be the love of my life. DeclanRugby was the only thing I cared about until Sophie Newport walked back into my life. When we were kids, I treated her like garbage, but we’re both adults now, and I want to make it up to her. Especially since she still makes me feel things no one else ever has—or likely ever will. I want her, and I never give up without a fight. Even if it means showing her who I really am … introducing her to the things I need. Even if it means laying my heart on the line and asking her to stay. But first I have to win her trust, and then I’m going to win her heart. And this time, I want forever.
Quarterback Sneak
Baylin Crow - 2019
RUSH: I’m in love with my best friend. There wasn’t an exact moment when I fell for him. It was something that grew and evolved over time. He loves me back, but it’ll never be more than platonic. It can’t be because he’s straight. Then one night he kissed me and left me with more questions than answers. The very next morning my trust was shattered by a family secret. I’d been lied to my whole life. He was by my side through it all, offering support when I needed it most. How can I risk losing a friendship that held me together when I was falling apart? TORIN: He friend-zoned me. Four years ago, I gathered enough courage to kiss my best friend. What I’d hoped would be a pivotal moment that would start a new kind of relationship between us was over before it began. His world was upended, so I put my feelings aside and stepped back into my role as a friend he could count on. He wasn’t ready then, but now it’s time to find out if he’s willing to take a chance on us being something more. We’ve been friends, roommates and teammates, but I want him, body and heart. Quarterback Sneak is a low angst, high steam novella about childhood friends, trust and football.
Rookie Move
Sarina Bowen - 2016
But on the first day he’s called up to the newly franchised Brooklyn Bruisers, Leo gets checked on both sides, first by the team’s coach—who has a long simmering grudge, and then by the Bruisers’ sexy, icy publicist—his former girlfriend Georgia Worthington.Saying goodbye to Leo was one of the hardest things Georgia ever had to do—and saying hello again isn’t much easier. Georgia is determined to keep their relationship strictly professional, but when a press conference microphone catches Leo declaring his feelings for her, things get really personal, really fast....
Killian
Brenda Rothert - 2015
We don’t play for money, glory or fame—we’re in it for the straight-up, all-in love of hockey. And not only do women flock to me as a pro athlete, my reckless behavior only makes the fans love me more. As the star forward and team captain of the Fenway Flyers, my job is secure no matter how much trouble I get in—both on and off the ice.That is, until our team is bought by a real estate mogul who busts my balls like it’s her job. And while I suppose it actually is, I can think of much better ways to spend my time with the fearless firebrand who’s now my boss.She wants to control me, and I’m all for it. As long as she surrenders to me in the only place that really matters—the bedroom.
Long Game
Teagan Kade - 2017
They call me ‘The Damage’ because I crush it on the field and off. I’m all about the offensive penetration. No one knows the game as well as I do. It doesn’t hurt I’ve got a goal post in my pants. But the moment I see Indiana’s smoky eyes and tight end, I know I’m in trouble. No one has a college record that clean, which means she’s either hiding something or running from something, and I intend to get the bottom of all her dirty little secrets. Even if I have to tease it out of those sweet curves. Even if she’s playing hard to get. Because I can go the distance. Because I always score. Because I’m in this for the long game. Small on sports, big on steam, Long Game is a full-length bad boy romance with a happily ever after and no cheating. Includes bonus books and exclusive bonus scene for a limited time.
Inhibitions
Kimberly Bracco - 2015
She walked in on her boyfriend with another woman, leaving her needing a new place to live and a mountain of debt. As if that wasn’t enough, her ex convinces her that his infidelity is her fault for being unadventurous in bed.Deep down Ashley has always had the desire to be wild but has been held back by her own insecurities. She’s desperate to break free, but she's fearful of how people will judge her if they know her inner desires. She wants nothing more than to lose herself in sex that pushes her to the limit, but she hasn’t found anyone she trusts enough to take her there until she meets Tanner.Tanner doesn’t trust anyone outside of his inner circle easily. The infamous, media proclaimed playboy, quarterback is tired of people using him for money, connections and to get their fifteen minutes of fame. Determined to protect his image and himself, he makes sure to keep most people at arm’s length until Ashley is thrown into his life. He’s inexplicably drawn to her, and she needs his help in more than ways than one. But to help her, he’ll need to let her in.There’s an immediate attraction and connection that neither can deny, but can both of them get past their inhibitions and find what they are looking for in each other or will everything backfire in their faces?
Line of Scrimmage
Marie Force - 2008
Marriage to football superstar Ryan Sanderson was a whirlwind of passion, heat, energy, and excitement, but Susannah got sick of playing second fiddle to his team, watching women throwing themselves at him, and living in terror of the hard hits he took on the field. With their divorce just days from being final, she's already planning a wedding with her new fiance...He's finally figured out what's really important to him. If only it's not too late...Ryan has just ten days to convince his soon-to-be ex-wife to give him a second chance. He has just brought home his third championship and his career is at its pinnacle, but during the year of their separation, Ryan's come to realize it doesn't mean anything at all without Susannah...
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.
Getting Lucky Number Seven
Cindi Madsen - 2015
While every other college student is out having fun, Lyla is studying. With her cat. Well, she's played it "safe" quite enough, thank you. So she creates a "College Bucket List"―with item #7 being a night of uninhibited, mind-blowing sex...But she needs some help from her man-whore best friend.Hockey player Beck Davenport thought Lyla's transformation would be subtle. Man, was he wrong. With every item she ticks off, Beck finds himself growing seriously hot for his sweet, brainiac best friend. And if he's not careful, he'll end up risking their friendship in order to convince Lyla that he might just be her lucky #7...
The Play Book
Avery Wilde - 2016
Hundreds of eager women are in the shared black ledger the football players of the Jupiter Suns call The Playbook. But there’s only one that I want. The one marked unf*ckable. Women fall to my feet as soon as I turn on the Jacob Maddox charm, and yet my new teammates don’t think I can get one woman into my bed? Pfft, they don’t know who they are dealing with. The Playbook says she’s unconquerable, unobtainable, and off limits, but I’ve never shied away from a challenge before, and I’m not going to start now. One look will be all it takes for her to open up her legs. Lucia will be mine for a night, then forgotten about for the rest of the season. I’ll collect my winnings and concentrate on what really matters: getting my number one spot back! But as soon as I get one addictive taste of Lucia Cortes the plan goes to shit… she’s a game changer. The play is busted and I’m scrambling to keep it together. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat… f*ck, I can barely breathe without her. She’s slipping through my fingers and it only gets worse when I find out who she really is! I don’t have a chance in hell of keeping her, but I’ll risk everything to make her mine. The Playbook is a new, full-length (70k+), standalone romance novel with a HEA.
Playing for Kinley
Melanie Munton - 2016
He was in love with Kinley Masterson. And he was in hell. Parker Cruz pretty much had it made. Coming from basically nothing, he was at the height of his career and was now one of the best baseball players in the major leagues. He was raking in the millions just to play the game that had always been his passion. He was living the dream and could have anything he wanted. Except Kinley Masterson. Kinley always knew her camera would take her places someday. She was exactly where she wanted to be in her professional life, but her personal life…that was a long story. Because she always imagined that she’d see all of those places and share in those experiences with someone she loved. Someone she fell for a long time ago and someone who had crushed her heart and left her broken and crying in his wake. Parker Cruz. She had loved him forever and the one summer they had together was magic…before he took off for Boston and acted like she’d never meant anything to him. Parker knew he’d screwed it up bad with Kinley and he didn’t blame her for hating him. But what he thought had been the right decision at the time turned out to be the worst mistake he had ever made. And now he was determined to win her back. He was going to make her fall in love with him again and nothing and no one was going to stand in his way. Not even Kinley.
Silver-Tongued Devil
Rosalind James - 2016
No more wild side. Blake Orbison’s pro football career with the Portland Devils may have come crashing to an end, but not calling the signals anymore just gives him more time to devote to his business enterprises, including the latest and greatest: the opening of the Wild Horse Resort in scenic north Idaho. And that other one, too. Blake’s on the marriage track now, and he’s got a game plan. But when he runs into a trespasser leaping from his shoreline boulders into his lake, what’s a good ol’ boy to do but strip down and join her? Dakota Savage is nobody’s temporary diversion, least of all the man responsible for her family’s semi-desperate circumstances. Some people may think she has a piercing too many, but she’s had more than enough of being called trash in this town. She’s come home to Wild Horse to run her stepfather’s painting business, and any extra time she has goes into creating her stained glass. An overpaid, entitled, infuriating NFL quarterback is no part of her life plan, no matter how sweet he talks. No matter how slow he smiles. No matter what.
The Red Zone
Amie Knight - 2019
But for me, those last twenty yards were my sweet spot. They didn't call me Lukas "Last Minute Lucy" Callihan for nothing. I was at the top of my game...until life sacked me harder than any linebacker ever could. Losing my mom was devastating and left me as the sole person responsible for my little sister. Taking care of Ella and juggling my career was like playing the hardest game of my life. My only saving grace was Scarlett Knox, Ella's sexy, red-headed, no-nonsense teacher. She loved Ella. She hated me. She thought I sucked at this parenting thing, and she wasn’t wrong. But whenever she was around I got the same earth-shattering, heart-stopping feeling I did when I was only twenty yards from the goal line. She made me feel like I was back in the red zone, a place I’d never fumbled. Until now.
Hopeless Romantic
Julie Capulet - 2019
Introverted and studious, she plans on spending most of her time holed up in the library working on her novel and keeping to herself. But when she gets dragged along to a school football game by her fun, football-mad new roommate, the hot alpha quarterback almost drops the ball at his very first sight of her.Bo McCabe is saving himself. A hopeless romantic at heart, he’s holding out for the real thing. As soon as he lays eyes on the shy stranger with the striking gray eyes and the angel’s face, he’ll stop at nothing to find out if she’s the one he’s been waiting for all along. Millie thinks Bo's insta-obsession is insanity and wants nothing to do with him. But Bo is determined. Because, somehow, Millie has already stolen his heart … and he is now utterly obsessed with winning hers.Can Bo convince Millie he’s the man of her dreams? Hopeless Romantic is a sexy standalone novella, starring an obsessed hero and the love of his life (includes three hopelessly romantic HEA epilogues!). This book is a tribute to love at first sight and insta-everything (because it happened to me :). Book #1 in the McCabe Brothers series