Book picks similar to
A Game Like Ours by Marissa J. Gramoll


arc
college-romance
bisexual
sports-romance

The Ninth Inning


J. Sterling - 2020
    If he doesn’t get drafted this year, he’ll be forced to hang up his cleats for good. It's not something he’s ready to do. To prove he’s serious about his final season, he’s given up girls. No more casual hookups, dates or one-night stands. But there's one girl who has always refused to give up on him. One girl who has been there since the start of Freshman year. One girl he stupidly assumed would always be waiting for him when he got off the field, no matter how long it took. Christina's had enough of Cole pushing her aside for baseball. She’s grown tired of waiting for him to see what she’s known since they were freshmen… that they are good together. She’s finally moved on- for good this time. Cole has other ideas, but she refuses to cave. It’s not her problem if he wants her now. Too little too late. There comes a point in your life when you have to stop the incessant merry-go-round and just get off the ride, right? Try telling that to Cole.

The Story of You and Me


Pamela DuMond - 2013
    I planned on college, keggers, and cute frat guys—not MS. I told a few people, but they started treating me differently, so now I keep it secret. I probably have many more years to live with this disease, but my grandmother does not. So I traveled thousands of miles to L.A. to look for healing: stem cell studies, acupuncture, shamanic vision quests. Some therapies were dangerous, but I’d try anything. I’d risk it all because I was fighting for our lives—but I didn’t have the luxury of dating, let alone falling in love. My first night in L.A. I landed in the middle of a campus bar fight. The most beautiful man I’d ever met, Alejandro, a complete stranger, rescued me. He took me to the ER, drove me to my new home, and even washed my beer-drenched hair. On my second day I got lost in a dicey part of town and was attacked by gang-bangers. I escaped—this time. So I hired Alejandro to drive me to my appointments; be my bodyguard. He made me laugh again. He sheltered me. My heart started cracking open… I wish I had told him my secret. When I discovered—he hadn't yet told me his...

Can't Take That Away


Steven Salvatore - 2021
    But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice.Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey's tormentor and others in the school. It's up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights--and they refuse to be silenced.Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore's Can't Take That Away is both a romance, and an affirmation of self-identity.

We Are Lost and Found


Helene Dunbar - 2019
    His brother, Connor, has already been kicked out of the house for being gay and laying low seems to be his only chance to avoid the same fate. To pass the time before graduation, Michael hangs out at The Echo where he can dance and forget about his father's angry words, the pressures of school, and the looming threat of AIDS, a disease that everyone is talking about, but no one understands.Then he meets Gabriel, a boy who actually sees him. A boy who, unlike seemingly everyone else in New York City, is interested in him and not James. And Michael has to decide what he's willing to risk to be himself.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Optioned for screen by Game of Thrones’ Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s, Ill Kippers Productions, and Pretty Little Liars’ Julian Morris

When We Left


Elena Aitken
    He needs her to see how he’s changed. Can time really heal everything and make a second chance at love possible? Reeling from a painful divorce, and with a teenager in town, Cam’s returned to her hometown to heal. Not only is Timber Creek the only place that’s ever felt like home, her best friends are there...and the first boy she ever really loved. Evan has only ever loved one woman. Sixteen years ago he knew he wasn’t good enough for her, but now she’s back, and time has a way of changing things.Cam’s got her hands full trying to come to grips with her new life. The last thing she needs is to get involved with Evan again. But their attraction is impossible to ignore, and the connection that existed between them so many years ago is still very much alive.This could be the second chance they’ve always wanted, but there are years of hurt and misunderstandings between them. Never mind the truth of the past and the reality of the present that could once again threaten to pull them apart. This time for good.

Offside


Abbey Foxx - 2016
     Penny - Jasper Stone is massive in every respect. He’s a beast on the field, an animal off it, and just what we need to turn our season around. Medal winner, star athlete, one hundred percent alpha male at the top of his game. The trouble is, it’s the wrong one. That's not the only thing either. He's cocky, arrogant and constantly in trouble, and that's when he manages to keep that thing in his pants. I can’t stand him, but unfortunately that doesn't matter right now, because apparently we don’t have a choice. If we want to survive for another year, we need Jasper Stone to help us do it. It's a risk, but the potential reward is absolutely huge. After all, staying up isn't something Jasper Stone seems to have any trouble with. Nor is being big and strong. Bad boy Brit, banned athlete, and bigger all over than I’ve ever seen before, if there's one thing that Jasper knows how to do, it's win. He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. Girls, medals, millions of dollars - there's very little that can get in his way. With him on our team, there's no way that we can lose, and right now Jasper Stone is a free agent. I just didn't realize I was too. Jasper - Banned. No rugby for a whole f*cking year. I wouldn’t be here if I had the choice, but apparently, I don't. The owners want me out of the way, and if I want to continue getting paid, I've got to play ball. Literally. I don't even know how to play this game, but that doesn't seem to bother anyone. The Tigers get me for free, Corsham get rid of their trouble maker and I keep earning money. Everyone wins. All I've got to do is keep my head down, survive for a year and get the hell out of there when I'm finally done. Simple, right? It is until I meet Penny. *Offside is a 75,000+ word bad boy sports romance heavy on the steam and light on the sports!* **For a limited time only, OFFSIDE comes with a FREE bonus novel, DONKEY: A Stepbrother Sports Romance by Stephanie Brother.**

Missing Piece


Lizzie James
    Exciting. Instead I’ve ended up living across the street from Johnny. Star footballer, charmer, intelligent. Perfect, right? Wrong! I have no intention of being this line-backer’s latest conquest. Staying far away from him is my only choice. Even if every little thing he does makes me swoon. Johnny Baker is bad news for any girl. He’s a player and no girl will change that. Only he wasn’t. He began to capture my attention more and more until all I thought of was him.He was my missing piece…JohnnyBeing the line-backer is easy. Especially when it gets me a different girl in my bed every night. That’s exactly what Tillie was supposed to be. Just another conquest. Wham and bam! She would be easy. I had never been with an art geek before but every other female fell at my feet or more accurately into my bed. Only she didn’t. Tillie Jacobs came into my world and blew it apart. Every little thing she did; every laugh, every moment… she possessed me.She was my missing piece…

Cutters vs. Jocks


Elizabeth Marx - 2011
    But admission to law school is Libby’s ticket out of Indiana and her escape from small town life forever. During a night on the town, Libby beats the most competitive athlete on campus at pool and draws more attention from him than she’s prepared for.Aidan Palowski is one of those jocks your friends warned you about—the kind that never loose—the kind that put notches in their baseball bats. As the closing pitcher on the best baseball team in the Big Ten, he’s on his way to the major leagues. Aidan always gets what he wants and Libby is the final home run he wants to hit out of the park.The last thing Libby needs is to get sidetracked by a superstar jock. Afraid that she might be on a collision course with love at first sight Libby keeps her distance, but the longer she holds out the more Aidan realizes it’s a case of lust he can’t fight.What happens when worthy opponents refuse to play their hearts out?CUTTERS VS. JOCKSThe story of two lovers who put their future goals ahead of each other’s love before they were brought to the table for BINDING ARBITRATION.

Return by Air


Tracey Jerald - 2020
    I returned home devastated, filled with fear and the kind of heartache it takes years to overcome.Now, sixteen years later, as I hurl through the sky on the wings of heartbreak and despair, I’m desperately trying to hold myself together. Not just because of why I’m flying back, but because I know he’ll be waiting.John Jennings — the man who made me realize I could fly without my feet ever leaving the ground.The promise I returned to keep will change our lives irrevocably.We’ve been separated for years by more than air; there’s a secret that stands between us.Only the time has come to reveal it.

I Hate You, I Love You Part 1


Bailey B. - 2020
    Fierce. Nothing at all like the girl I used to know, which is absolutely terrifying because Danika Winters is the only person outside of that room who knows the truth. She could ruin me, and I’m not talking about my reputation. I couldn’t give two shits about what the kids at St. A’s think. I’m talking major, life altering, jail time ruined.I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her quiet. Even if it means destroying the only person I’ve ever cared about.DanikaThey say when you meet the person you’re supposed to be with, time stops. Your brain takes in every microdetail, committing it all to memory, and you’re hit with this unexplainable need. A need to get to know that person, talk to that person, simply be beside that person. And then there’s the kiss. A fire spreading, earth-shattering, kiss that wipes all others from your memory. I’ve felt that pull towards someone once, and it consumed me. I wasn’t supposed to fall for my middle school best friend. But he wasn’t supposed to break my heart.

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.

Fighting for Foster


Bex Dane - 2020
    She's forbidden. Unattainable. Out of my league.All these years, I've struggled to deny the relentless desire to make her mine.But not anymore.Her dysfunctional crime family is destroying her and breaking her soul.I can't let that happen.So I'm infiltrating her secret world to save her.But can I earn her trust and convince her to leave before we both get killed?If you like possessive alpha-males and edge-of-your-seat action, you'll love Fighting for Foster.

Throw Down


Teagan Kade - 2020
    Scoring’s easy when you’re the king.The Kings are the frat-party poster boys of Crestfall Academy, and Peyton King is top of the pile.Quarterback, superstar, and O-bringer extraordinaire, I hate everything he represents.I hate him.But I can use him.He’s going to make the perfect centerpiece for my newspaper exposé on campus parties.I’ll get close to him, find out what makes him tick, and lay it out in black and white for the world to see.If that kind of cutting journalism doesn’t get me out of this two-bit town, I don’t know what will.It should be easy, so why do I become a giggling idiot at the sight of his mocha eyes and sculpted arms?I’m, like, totally not obsessed, right?Right?There couldn’t possibly be an actual beating heart in that beautiful cold, rock slab of a body, could there?But questions alone do not a quality story make.I need to dive deep into Peyton King to make this work.I need all his dirty little secrets before I blow his world apart.

We Are the Ants


Shaun David Hutchinson - 2016
    Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button.Only he isn’t sure he wants to.After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year.Wiping the slate clean sounds like a pretty good choice to him.But Henry is a scientist first, and facing the question thoroughly and logically, he begins to look for pros and cons: in the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in the brilliant and mysterious boy who walked into the wrong class. Weighing the pain and the joy that surrounds him, Henry is left with the ultimate choice: push the button and save the planet and everyone on it…or let the world—and his pain—be destroyed forever.

Silent Love: Part 1 (Forbidden Series)


Kenadee Bryant - 2018
    Going to college is my chance to escape it all. The CEO father, the famous mother, the cameras, the drama, everything… Unfortunately, I’m still stuck with my older brother and his best friend Ethan—AKA the guy I’ve been crushing on for years. But I plan on using this opportunity to make Ethan see me as a woman, and not just his best friend’s little sister. That’s if Gage, the campus bad boy, doesn’t interfere. The last thing I need is an arrogant, cocky playboy whose sole purpose seems to be to complicate my life. The only thing he’s good at is showing up at the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s rude, obnoxious, and I need to avoid him at all costs. Only problem is...I can’t seem to stay away from him.