Book picks similar to
A Numbers Game by Tracy Solheim


sports
romance
novella
contemporary-romance

Playing For Keeps


Liz Matis - 2011
    Fresh from the battlegrounds of Iraq, reporting on a bunch of overgrown boys playing pro football is just the change of scenery she needs. If trying to be taken seriously in the world of sports writing wasn't hard enough, Ryan, her college crush, is only making it harder. As a tight-end for the team she's covering, he is strictly off limits. Ryan Terell is a playmaker on and off the field, but when Samantha uncovers his moves, he throws out the playbook. Just as he claims his sweetest victory, Samantha's investigation into a steroid scandal involving his team forces him to call a time-out to their off the record trysts. But then a life threatening injury on the field will force them both to decide just how far they'll go to win the game. Winner of the NERWA First Kiss Contest A Kindle Bestseller.

Most Irresistible Guy


Lauren Blakely - 2018
    When we danced into the night, my mind raced far ahead, entertaining all the possibilities I’d longed for. And later, when Cooper told me he’d won the starting quarterback job before he shared the news with anyone else, I started to believe we could be more.But I didn’t want to lose him as a friend, so I chose to focus on him solely as my buddy. That worked well enough for a while.Until that night, in front of everyone, when he shocked my world to its core.Most Irresistible Guy is a prequel novella to Most Valuable Playboy!

Skating on Thin Ice


Jami Davenport - 2014
      Ethan Parker, a billionaire determined to bring professional hockey to Seattle, will stop at nothing to realize his dream. After signing an agreement to purchase another city's team, Ethan plans to make the move to Seattle, but a gag order by the League forces him to keep the sale a secret until the season ends, leaving him no choice but to go undercover as a consultant to study his team during the playoffs.   Lauren Schneider, Assistant Director of Player Personnel for the Giants hockey team, gets no respect from the team's testosterone-loaded staff. So when Ethan bursts onto the scene, full of charm and genuinely interested in her opinions, she shares the team's weaknesses and discovers a weakness of her own--for Ethan. But when his true identity is revealed, and he starts cleaning house based on her unwitting input, his betrayal cuts deeply on both a professional and personal level. Bound by an employment contract, Lauren reluctantly moves to Seattle to work for the newly christened Seattle Sockeyes and her sexy, infuriating boss.  Lauren and Ethan must come to terms with their passions--for the team, for hockey, and for each other. Will their situation build a frozen wall between them, or will their love burn hot enough to melt the ice shielding their hearts?

Bad Boy's Cinderella


Raleigh Blake - 2016
    I'm nobody's Cinderella. Things I need to do to get my life back in order: 1. Get a new job 2. Save some money for my dad 3. Stop being jealous of my BFF's recent wedding 4. Stop. Obsessing. Over. Reade Lennox!!! He's got those gorgeous All-American good looks. He's the MVP of last year's Super Bowl. And he's on the pages of every tabloid in the country almost every day. His bar brawls. His team's problems. And—most in your face--his conquests. A new one every week. Reade Lennox is the last thing I need in my life. So why is it that peeling my clothes off is all I can think of whenever he gives me that look? He thinks I'm his, whether I accept it or not. Am I ready to be tame this bad boy? ***This stand-alone book is full of shameless instalove, drama, scorching hot sex, and filthy language. If you're not into football, don't worry, this is not a sports-heavy story. It's got little sports but lots of steam! No cliffhanger, no cheating, and a definite HEA.

Falling for Gravity


Isabella Cassazza - 2020
    Yet the moment he saw Wioletta Dabrowski, he knew he’d found the one. But is two days enough to convince her to take a chance on him and give up her old life? Falling for Gravity is a standalone novella in the Ice Tigers Hockey Romance series. Pick up Falling for Gravity and discover this exciting new series today!

Lucky Shot


Sarina Bowen - 2020
    That was the night they broke all the rules…Lucky Shot is a free short story. Enjoy it as is, or go on to read the rest of Bess & Tank’s second chance love story in Sure Shot.

Strike Out


Cheryl Douglas - 2013
    The business helps to fill the void in Zach’s life during the off-season, but when he closes his eyes at night, he still can’t forget the girl who left that gaping hole in his heart when she left him standing at the altar. Lauren ‘Rennie’ Alexander would do anything to fulfill a sick child’s wish. Not only is it her job, as director of the Sky’s the Limit Foundation, but it’s her passion. So when her assistant brings her a letter scribbled in crayon, complete with an application from the little boy’s loving parents, Rennie is ready to make another dream come true. Until she realizes that sick little boy’s dream is her worst nightmare. He wants to meet his hero, baseball player, Zach Foster. The same lying jerk who broke Rennie’s heart. It’s seems she has no choice but to take one for the team.

Just For You


Rosalind James - 2014
    Fun, yes. Love, not so much. But a summer fishing holiday to laid-back Russell could turn out to be more adventure than this good-time boy ever bargained for.Reka Harata hasn’t forgotten the disastrously hot rugby star she met a year ago, no matter how much she wishes she could. Too bad Hemi keeps refusing to be left in her past.Sometimes, especially in New Zealand’s Maori Northland, it really does take a village. And sometimes it just takes a little faith.NOTE: This 36,000-word (120-page) novella begins about six years before the events of JUST THIS ONCE, and yes, it gets a little steamy at times, because Reka and Hemi are just that way. It can be read as a stand-alone book, even if this is your first escape to New Zealand.

Better Than Perfect


Kristina Mathews - 2014
    Known for his legendary control both on and off the field, his pristine public image makes him the ideal person to work with youth players in a preseason minicamp. Except the camp is run by the one woman he can’t forget…the woman who made him a “monk.”Alice Harrison’s three strikes include an unexpected pregnancy, a marriage of convenience and young widowhood. She once traded her dreams so Johnny could have a chance at making it to the Majors. Johnny comes back into her life just as she’s ready to resign as foundation director and pursue her own dreams of finally earning her teaching credential. Her plans may go on hold, though, depending on the reaction when she confesses she may have kept a major league secret from Johnny and her son.With the minutes ticking by until Johnny will leave for spring training, they’ll need to let go of the past and work together in order to win the game of love.CONTENT WARNING: Some strong language, consummated love scenes

Tackle Me


Serena Vale - 2020
    Unlike all the other students in the dorm who just like to party, she’s there to learn and actually get ahead in life. But she never expected Rick to come into her life. Star football player and the famous campus bad-boy, he’s all the things Jenny hates. But soon she realizes he might not be what she think he is, and now she’s getting much more of an education than she bargained for…

Perfect Pitch


Mindy Klasky - 2014
    All she has to do is follow the pageant's rules - no smoking, drinking, or "cavorting" in public.That's fine, until D.J. Thomas - God's gift to baseball - throws her a wild pitch. He slams her in an interview, and the video goes viral. Sam's no shrinking violet. She parlays D.J.'s apology into a national T.V. appearance - and a very unexpected, very public kiss.Soon, paparazzi catch the couple in a steamy make-out session, and Sam's music program is on the block. The blazing hot relationship is threatened even more when D.J.'s son begs to trade in Little League for music class.Can Sam and D.J. sizzle past the sour notes and find their perfect pitch?

In Skates Trouble


Kate Meader - 2017
    . .Addison Williams isn't looking for romance, but when she encounters an eavesdropping stranger on an adjoining hotel balcony, she figures she's due a little fun. She just hadn't reckoned on the "fun" escalating so quickly to "out of control." One minute she's flirting with a whiskey-graveled voice in the dark, the next that same voice is telling her to do things. Hot, wicked things.Cup-winning hockey player Ford "Killer" Callaghan can't believe he let the anonymous woman who blew his mind slip away into the night. He'll track her down because once could never be enough—even if discovering her identity places her strictly out of bounds.Stolen kisses. Secret hook-ups. Deliciously forbidden in every way. Can a passion that started in the dark find a lifetime of love in the light?Originally published in Hot on Ice: A Hockey Romance Anthology, this sexy prequel to the Chicago Rebels hockey series features an older, curvy woman, a younger, driven hero, and a happily-ever-after you'll swoon over.

Blitzed


Lauren Landish - 2016
    I brought her back to meet you.” I’m normally not into jocks, but when Troy Wood asks me out, I feel like I’m the Chosen One. After all, he’s hot as hell and Silver Lake’s best athlete, practically the King of Campus. God’s gift to women—that’s what they call him, but I’ll make a gentleman out of him. Everything is perfect, and he already practically has his ticket to the Big Leagues. There’s just one little problem . . . I’m hiding a secret that could destroy him and his future. I can’t tell him . . . I can’t tell him that I’m pregnant with his baby. **Blitzed is a full-length romance with an HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger!

Roughing


Jillian Quinn - 2017
    But he can’t get the one thing he wants. Two years ago, Bash lost the only girl who ever made him feel something. And he wants her back.Tori Reynolds hates football. But she hates Bash even more. After a not-so-chance encounter at a game, Bash has another shot with the girl who got away. While Bash might be a different person than before, Tori is hesitant to let him back into her life.Bash has never turned down a challenge, and when it comes to Tori, he’s willing to go the distance, and this time, he’s not just looking to score.

The Play


J.H. Croix - 2017
    Falling in love is complicated.I want her. There’s just one problem. She’s my doctor, and she says it’s a no-no. I’ve never been one to play by the rules.But she’s not falling for me. Olivia is the challenge I have to beat.With her lush curves and her by-the-book attitude, all I want to do is show her exactly what she’s missing. Again and again and again.I’ll bring her to her knees…in more ways than one. I didn’t count on her bringing me to my knees. *A full-length standalone sports romance.