Book picks similar to
The Match by Winter Renshaw


sports
romance
sports-romance
single-parent

Condemned to Love


Siobhan Davis - 2021
    Will one life-altering night unite or destroy them? Bennett Mazzone grew up ignorant of the truth: he is the illegitimate son of the most powerful mafia boss in New York. Until it suited his father to drag him into a world where power, wealth, violence, and cruelty are the only currency.Celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Sin City should be fun for Sierra Lawson, but events take a deadly turn when she ends up in a private club, surrounded by dangerous men who always get what they want.And they want her.Ben can’t believe his ex’s little sister is all grown up, stunningly beautiful, and close to being devoured by some of the most ruthless men he has ever known. The Vegas trip is about strengthening ties, but he won’t allow his associates to ruin her perfection. Although it comes at a high price, saving Sierra is his only choice.The memory of Ben’s hands on her body is seared into Sierra’s flesh for eternity. She doesn’t regret that night. Not even when she discovers the guy she was crushing on as a teenager is a cold, calculating killer with dark impulses and lethal enemies who want him dead.Understanding the risks, she walks away from the only man she will ever love, stowing her secrets securely in her heart. Until the truth becomes leverage and Sierra is drawn into a bloody war—a pawn in a vicious game she doesn’t want to play.As the web of deceit is finally revealed, Ben will stop at nothing to protect Sierra. Even if loving her makes him weak. In a world where women serve a sole purpose, and alliances mean the difference between life and death, can he fight for love and win?A STAND-ALONE DARK MAFIA ROMANCE.

Drumline


Stacy Kestwick - 2017
    Especially in the South. College football. Rivalries. Tailgating. Halftime shows. Some things just don’t change. Until Reese Holland shows up with her long legs and no-bullsh*t attitude to audition for the prestigious all-male Rodner University snare line. It doesn’t matter how much hazing she has to endure from Laird Bronson, with his narrowed green eyes and arrogant smirk. She wants that damn spot, and she’s more than good enough to earn it. She expects there to be tension. Even friction. But not sparks hot enough to burn the entire campus down. ***Drumline is a standalone college romance.

Looking to Score


Carrie Gray - 2020
    Oakley Davis is the star running back at our University, and the reason I’ve broken my vow to avoid the college party scene. Thanks to a mixup with my advisor, I’m now serving my Public Relations internship as a glorified babysitter to the party-hard football players.Specifically, Oakley.He’s impossible to manage. His Instagram is full of half-naked, drunk photos and he’d rather attend parties than practice. His brand needs some serious work, and when he’s not driving me insane, he’s sleeping his way through the entire female population. But I’m determined. I have plans to graduate a semester early and nothing or no one will get in my way. I’m a Virgo, after all. Oakley Davis might be a privileged, cocky, football star, but I’m Amanda Matthews; and I’ll do whatever it takes to get my A. I have to make sure I don’t end up falling in love with the idiot, first.

Second Draft


C.M. Seabrook - 2017
    More than just the washed up hockey player, turned sports journalist whose body is almost as scarred as his soul. Layla Harper made me hope again. But life has a warped sense of humor, and I wasn't the only Bennett brother that fell for the girl with the caramel colored eyes. The night I saw Travis with her I knew I'd lost, even before I had the chance to fight. Because one thing I never compete with my brother over is women. Even if the woman stole my breath, and my heart with one single kiss. And damn, what a kiss it had been. Now, she's pregnant with my brother's baby. A baby he wants nothing to do with. And he's asked me to clean up his mess. What he doesn't know is that I'm in love with her, and I have no intention of offering her the deal he's laid out. I have a deal of my own. One that will finally make her mine.

In This Life


Cora Brent - 2018
      Will love turn them into a family?     KATHLEENHe's a loner. He's also volatile, wickedly hot and unforgiving.Probably not the kind of man anyone should trust with an infant.Definitely not the kind of man any woman should trust with her heart.When Nash Ryan returned to town for the sake of his baby brother I thought I already understood who he was.I also thought I was done giving my heart away until he proved otherwise.But we don't stand a chance.Everything is ready to unravel.And the secrets I've kept will be our undoing.NASHThis isn't the first time I've known tragedy.Maybe that's why I've chosen a solitary life.But my self-imposed exile ends when a terrible twist of fate makes methe guardian of my four-month-old brother.Suddenly I've got a kid to raise and a family business to save and there's no time for anything else.That's why Kathleen Doyle and I made this arrangement.Once a skinny little girl who used to follow me around everywhere, she's now a single mom with flaming hair, a killer body and too many responsibilities.We told each other it was just physical.We told each other there were no strings attached, no expectations.We lied.And the consequences will cost us.But I'm not surrendering this new family without a battle.Because in this life we might only get one chance to have it all...In This Life is a complete stand alone from USA Today and NYT Bestselling Author Cora Brent.**Warning: You may need tissues to deal with all the feels.**Excerpts and future book news also included at the end!

Moonlighter


Sarina Bowen - 2019
    Two adversaries. Only one bed in their hotel room.I'm at the height of my hockey career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don't even know its name.Pass, thanks. I don't need a summer job.But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she's a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.So guess who's on a flight to Hawaii?It's going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we're torturing each other. It's all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector.Moonlighter is a stand-alone novel for Brooklyn Bruisers team member Eric Bayer. No cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary. Expect: a growly hero, a lady boss with no time for his attitude, and a war of wills and hormones. Bonus: a hunk wearing a baby in a sling.

My Life in Shambles


Karina Halle - 2019
     When Valerie Stephens made the resolution to say yes to new adventures, she never thought she’d end up in the tiny town of Shambles, fake engaged to one of Ireland’s top rugby players. But there’s a first time for everything. They say bad things happen in threes. After my boyfriend broke off our engagement, I lost my apartment, and was laid off from my job, I can definitely attest to that. They also say life is what happens when you say yes to new adventures. So when my two sisters invited me to ring in the new year in Ireland, I decided to throw all caution to the wind and go for it. I was going to let “saying yes” be my new resolution. Little did I know I’d spend New Year’s Eve having a hot and dirty one-night stand with Padraig McCarthy, one hell of a sexy Irishman. I also didn’t know that the brooding and intense sex god was one of Ireland’s top rugby players. A rugby player with a proposition for me: Come with him to his tiny hometown of Shambles and pretend to be his fiancé for a few days, just so that his ailing father can have some peace of mind. It sounded simple enough. It was anything but. Not when a town gets up in your business, not when the media hunts you down, not when your past comes back in the picture, not when there are real hearts and feelings at stake. Not when there are secrets that could break you. They say life is what happens when you say yes to new adventures. This is my life in Shambles.

Fumbled Love


Lila Rose - 2018
    While Reagan knows Carter from her high school days, since he was her past crush, she wasn’t ready to see him again. At the time, she hated being invisible. But right now, she wished she could simply disappear. Carter Anthony is keen to give back to his hometown, but what he doesn’t expect is getting something in return. When a chance encounter with Reagan, the shy girl from his past, happens, he knows instinctively this woman is supposed to be in his life. With an embarrassing ability to blurt out whatever’s on her mind, Reagan doesn’t understand Carter’s attention. She has no doubt, though, he’ll soon realize his mistake when he discovers just how crazy she and her family are. But no matter what he sees, what he hears, or how her looney family behaves, he doesn’t run. In fact, Carter’s family seem just as unique as hers. Through dog poop, naked yoga, and the paparazzi’s, can Carter and Reagan have any hope in love, even when it’s fumbled?

Sacked


Jen Frederick - 2015
    Warrior. Champion. And...virgin. Knox knows what he wants--and he gets it. All American Football player? Check. NFL pros scouting him? Check. Now, he's set his sight on two things. The national title. And Ellie Campbell. Sure, she's the sister of his fellow teammate, but that's not going to stop him. Especially not when he’s convinced Ellie is the one. ...but he's never met her before. But Ellie isn't as sure. She's trying to start a new life and she's not interested in a relationship...with anyone. Beside it's not just her cardinal rule of never dating her brother's teammates that keeps her away, but Ellie has a dark secret that would jeopardize everything Knox is pursuing. Knox has no intention of losing. Ellie has no intention of giving in.

Blindsided


Amy Daws - 2019
    Midfielder Maclay “Mac” Logan is a loud-mouthed, tattooed ginger content with focusing on football. But when an adorably-freckled seamstress comes barreling into his life, he finds Netflix-And-Bickering with her to be his new favorite pastime. Freya Cook is used to being the invisible woman with a needle and thread, offering cheeky punchlines as she helps dress London’s finest. She’s plus-sized in body and spirit, and other than her friendship with Mac, talking to the opposite sex is one skill she never mastered. However, after one innocent game of Never Have I Ever, Mac offers to play Love Coach for Freya. What neither of them see coming are the feelings that develop when the clothes come off. Now they’re both about to learn the biggest lesson of all: Don't fall in love with your best friend.Blindsided is a full length (97,000 words) contemporary rom-com standalone with a sports theme.

Long


B.B. Hamel - 2016
     Gibson Evans is the best college football quarterback in the country. He’s tall, broad, tattooed, and so incredibly handsome. And he got me pregnant. It was supposed to be just one night, but a broken condom changed all of our plans forever. People treat him like a hero, but I think he’s a total prick. Gibson gets whatever he wants, and now suddenly he wants me. But I have enough to deal with. I have to stop daydreaming about his hands between my thighs and concentrate on having this baby while still managing to graduate on time. He wants to make a deal. If I promise to spend time with him, he’ll help me with my final biology research. That means an entire semester of studying Gibson’s body. I’m not sure I can do this. One second I can’t stand to be around him, and the next I’m touching his ripped muscles and trying to suppress my excitement. I’m terrified he’ll ruin everything if I let this become more than just work. Long is incredibly steamy and features some very dirty language. It’s only recommended for audiences 18+. Long is a standalone, full-length novel. No cliffhanger. Guaranteed HEA. **For a limited time, Long includes Smash: A Stepbrother MMA Romance**

When the Time Is Right


M. Mabie - 2020
    Hudson Bradley is the cockiest, most stubborn, hard-headed man I’ve ever known. And for fifteen years, he’s been my brother's best friend. But lately, what I’m feeling for him isn’t friendship at all.Why is my heart racing every time his blue eyes lock on mine?Why does every word he rumbles in my ear make my body come alive?And worst of all, why did I bet him that I could find a woman he and his son would both love? If I hadn’t given up on love altogether, Hudson would have been perfect for me. After all, he was there the day my world fell apart. He’s spent the last six years piecing me back together. There are a million reasons why we could never work, but after a single kiss, I can’t remember any of them. Now that the time is right, I have to make him mine—before I lose him forever.

Dare To Resist


Carly Phillips - 2020
    Ex football player. Sports agent. And as of this morning? Father. Finding a baby on his doorstep should have been a joke but the pink sticky note and baby carrier she came in is deadly serious.What’s an out of his depth bachelor to do? Call his tempting and beyond gorgeous executive assistant and beg her to move in.Quinnlyn Stone agrees to help Austin until he can straighten out his messy life. It’s just another item on her very long To-Do list. It’s absolutely not because she’s attracted to her very single and extremely handsome boss.Close quarters. A baby. Undeniable chemistry. What could possibly go wrong?A complete standalone novel!

Hail Mary


Nicola Rendell - 2016
    After she wakes him up with a few slaps and some smelling salts, the very first thing he does is ask her out for ribs and beer. His name is Jimmy. He looks like a Gillette model. And he’s just too hunky to resist.Jimmy “The Falcon” Falconi is mystified that Mary has absolutely no idea who he is. Mystified and refreshed. He is, after all, not your everyday NFL quarterback. He shops at Costco, has a soft spot for Pinterest, and is in the midst of an epic losing streak.Jimmy falls for Mary fast and hard, the way he does everything—balls out and like it’s fourth and long. And he realizes he’s finally met his match. That stamina he’s so proud of? Doesn’t stand a chance against her Kegels.But what they don’t know is she’s also his new physical therapist, recently hired by the Bears to work on his rotator cuff…and groin injury. If she can’t help him, he’ll be traded faster than they can say “offensive penetration.”In spite of the thousands of internet memes featuring Jimmy’s face with captions like: “HEY GIRL, WANT TO TOUCH MY BALLS?” Mary finds herself falling for him and his unrelenting desire to make her his.Until a toddler shows up at Jimmy’s door.And throws their lives into total chaos.***To the reader: Sweet. Safe. HEA. This is a comedy that gets very dirty, so be advised. Other tasters' notes: Hints of honey and champagne. And a feisty little dog named Frankie Knuckles.

My [Mostly] Secret Baby


Penelope Bloom - 2020
    I apparently missed out on that one.Because Damon Rose came, and instead of running, I got pregnant.DamonYes. I remember Chelsea Cross.I remember five years ago when she thought she could handle me.Proving her wrong was… enjoyable.With hair I wanted to fist. A mouth that only stopped when I kissed it. A body that I needed to press against the nearest wall and claim.And now she wants a job.A smart man would say “no”.Or, I could teach her the same lesson I taught her five years ago.She can’t even begin to handle me.Author’s Note: Buckle up for the ultimate bosshole in this steamy, workplace romantic comedy with a sassy heroine and a stubborn grump who wants to ruin her day.