Book picks similar to
Play the Game by Emma Tharp


sports-romance
arc
hockey
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Delivery Girl


Lily Kate - 2017
     Things like pizza. The very pizzas that I deliver for my dad’s restaurant, Peretti’s Pizza. It’s a temporary job, something to pay the bills until I graduate from school, but it does the trick. In fact, it's working quite well until Ryan Pierce of the Minnesota Stars decides to order a pizza from me, and life as I know it turns upside down. You see, Ryan Pierce doesn’t just open his front door. He opens it buck naked. And suddenly, I’m not the one boasting the biggest, hottest package in the room. However, it’s what happens next that gives me butterflies whenever my phone beeps. Ryan starts to call, and then text, and then fifteen pizza deliveries and one fantastic night later, we’re friends with benefits. So when he asks me to be his fake girlfriend at his brother’s wedding, I’m happy to help. But the longer we pretend, the more I worry that this is one package I might not be able to handle. ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** This is a full-length, standalone romantic comedy with an HEA. It is intended for audiences 18+ due to mature content including romance, language, and ridiculously fun times.

Big Man on Campus


Stephanie Queen - 2021
    Paul University that label would put me at the top of the watch list for expulsion, or at least be a death sentence to my social life.But no.In truth, I should be a pariah, but I'm not.I'm the BMOC because I'm the starting quarterback of the prized football team. After last season's bowl game victory, I could be Voldemort and I'd still get the champagne treatment.But who cares? Because the one girl on this campus I want doesn't give a sh*t about football. She thinks bad boys are, well, bad.Worst of all, she's my nemesis from back home.It's messed up that I'm stuck on Joni, because she's the biggest threat to my goal of winning the Heisman Trophy. It kills me that she's also a hot tamale as my grandpa would say. If he were still alive.Losing grandpa started my trouble.Being with Joni could ruin me. Or it could save me.All I need to do is convince her she's not my enemy...

Little Lies


H. Hunting - 2020
    You mean nothing to me. I never loved you. I turned my words into swords.And I cut her down. Shoved the blade in and watched her fall. I said I’d never hurt her, and I did. Years later, I’m faced with all the little lies, the untruths, the false realities, the damage I inflicted, when all I wanted was to indulge my obsession. Lavender Waters is the princess in the tower. Even her name is the thing fairy tales are made of. I used to be the one who saved her. Over and over again. But I don’t want to save her anymore. I just want to pretend the lies are still the truth.A standalone angsty new adult romance. Heroine: Lavender Waters (Alex and Violet Waters’ youngest daughter, PUCKED and FOREVER PUCKED couple origin, Pucked Series )Hero: Kodiak (Kody) Bowman (Rook and Lainey Bowman’s son, A LIE FOR A LIE couple origin, All In Series )

The Not-Outcast


Tijan - 2020
    I was an outcast.He was best friends with my stepbrother, that same stepbrother who hated me.His two parents loved him. My mom was a junkie. My dad barely knew me.Years passed.I got my life together.Cut went onto NHL stardom.Then there was a text.I was drinking.There was a party.Cut was there...I loved Cutler Ryder since the first moment I saw him.The only problem? He never knew I existed.

Camden: On the Ice


Lexi Buchanan - 2020
    My dream came true and now I was a forward for the Boston Bay Vikings. I never gave much thought to having that ‘special’ someone in my life until I saw the young woman who hunkered down like a scared rabbit in the team’s shower room. I went from a carefree bachelor to a fierce protector.MollyExhausted and scared, I fell asleep in an empty room and came awake to find the gaze of three naked men on me. It turned out I’d found my way into the shower room of the Boston Bay Vikings—I’d never heard of them. However, it was the fourth man to appear who gave me hope. He spoke with confidence and made me feel safe. I didn’t want to leave his side, but I’d learned the hard way that anything good never lasted.Meet Camden Edwards and Molly Lewis in the first book of a new series by NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Lexi Buchanan.

Savage God: A Dark College Bully Romance


Ivy Blake
    He feasts on my tears and screams for breakfast, stares me down with hateful eyes and taunts me with salacious threats.I was the first girl to say no to him…But Nate doesn’t give a shit about the word no.I was lucky to escape him once, now my luck has run its course.Oakwood was meant to be my safe haven, my escape from home, but now it’s become the lion’s den and my tormentor lurks in the shadows, waiting to pounce.My cries mean nothing to him; they only make him want me more. Nate doesn’t ask, he takes.My bully likes to play with his prey before he devours it.He vows to bring me to my knees and have his way with me.I don’t know when he’ll strike, but I know he’ll make me pay for daring to disrespect him.Nate knows all the right spots to touch, which makes me hate him even more.But when his hand is wrapped around my throat, it’s hard not to be tempted by that deliciously cruel mouth.I won’t stop fighting him, I won’t bend to his will. And yet, I don’t know how much longer I can continue living in fear. If I surrender, will Nate finally leave me alone?‘Savage God’ is a standalone dark college bully romance that will be a part of a series of standalones set at Oakwood Academy. Check the trigger warnings before diving into Nate and Violet’s deliciously dark story! Recommended for older readers.

Bad Boys Break Hearts


Micalea Smeltzer - 2020
    Rich. Hotter than sin. The campus’s reigning bad boy. We knew each other once upon a time, but even if I’m named after a princess, it doesn’t mean my life is a fairytale. My plan is to keep my head down, get my degree, and leave this town.But the moment Mascen Wade recognizes me all my carefully laid plans come crumbling down. He’s decided he wants to make my life a living hell. But I’m not so easy to push around and won’t put up with his bully playground antics. Too bad for me I’ve never been able to resist him.

Off the Ice


Julie Cross - 2017
    One semester off, that’s what she promised herself. Just long enough to take care of her father and keep the family business—a hockey bar beside the ice rink—afloat. After that, she’s getting the hell out. Again.Enter Tate Tanley. What happened between them the night before she left town resurfaces the second they lay eyes on each other. But the guy she remembers has been replaced by a total hottie. When Tate is unexpectedly called in to take over for the hockey team’s star goalie, suddenly he’s in the spotlight and on his way to becoming just another egotistical varsity hockey player. And Claire’s sworn off Juniper Falls hockey players for good.It’s the absolute worst time to fall in love.For Tate and Claire, hockey isn’t just a game. And they both might not survive a body check to the heart.

Lines


Anna B. Doe - 2018
    For the shy, nerdy girl-next-door that she is, high school is torture and all she wants is for it to be over. Having her heart broken by a popular, womanizing boy all those years ago doesn’t help the matters. Nor does his best friend who still has a habit of mercilessly teasing her. Now, she only has one year left, one year to be invisible before she can move on with her life.Derek King doesn’t do drama, but his life is all about drama once Maximillian Sanders steps foot into his town, his school, and into Amelia’s life. Max is always around, and he is making her smile again. But the boy who once broke her heart isn’t ready to let her go. Older and wiser, Derek isn’t about to let someone take away what he wants, and he wants Amelia.She's set on not believing in him and on not getting her heart broken once again. He is set on showing her wrong.She says she hates him, but maybe the line between past and present, love and hate is thinner than she ever realized.

Game On


Katie McCoy - 2015
    Rumor has it Nathan is going to be drafted to the Major league, and yet he still fits an intense training regime around volunteering at a animal shelter. He's a prodigy with a heart of gold, as American as apple pie and has an ass that deserves a trophy all its own. He may be the country's heartthrob, but Sophie isn't going to fall for that. She just has to remain objective and cover the story. But she didn't bet on Nathan's gorgeous green eyes or the way his arms flex with muscle when he's holding a bat. And she certainly didn't think he'd be witty and smart and caring. Nathan is completely untouchable, but she can't help it if those lingering gazes turn into something more. How could she not fall at the thought of the hottest guy she's ever met devoting his limited free time to saving kittens?When Sophie's scoop turns into Nathan's scandal, Nathan needs her more than ever. With both of their careers on the line will they strike out - or hit a home run?

The Weight of Rain


Mariah Dietz - 2015
    That's all we had.That's all it took. I woke up the next day with his phone number smeared and illegible. When I couldn’t find him, I tried to forget. But in that one night he’d crawled so far under my skin, I couldn’t erase him.Then, he walks back into my life where I least expect him: my job. He’s just like I remember, except for one detail.He goes by a different name.

Breakout Play


Rebel Hart - 2020
    I had my future mapped out… until a knee injury changed all my plans.My life was on the ice but the future I’d been dreaming of was stolen from me.It took me a long time to get over it. Now I live in my old house, under my parent’s roof. It’s not every girl’s dream, that’s for sure. But things could be worse, right?Cue William Hughes, the ruggedly good looking newest player on the Chicago Blackhawks team.He’s my older brother’s best friend… and my new enemy.Having William around is a thorn in my side. He’s going to be on the road a lot playing a sport that I can’t stomach watching because it reminds me of what I lost.Until that thorn turns into something else…Yeah. I’m doomed.

Touchdown: Surprise Baby Romance (Sharks Football Book 3)


Leslie North - 2021
    He’s got his life and career carefully laid out and his focus is entirely on football. But the deaths of his sister and brother-in-law leave him as sole guardian of their triplets, throwing all his plans out the window. If he’s going to make this shift in his life work, he needs a Hail Mary pass. And he finds it with Gillian Collier, the triplet’s aunt, who just happens to stir Max’s blood in a way that’s completely unexpected. And unwelcome—at least at first…The last thing Jill needs in her life is a hot football player whose idea of commitment is going on a second date. She’s been burned by a cheater before and has no interest going down that road again. But she just can’t help falling for Max. He’s kind, intelligent, and the sexiest man she’s ever known. Still, it’s hard to trust a guy who’s happily surrounded with women. Who seems to miss his carefree days as a single guy. Who just might break her heart…

The Sweet Talker


Gina Azzi - 2021
    Until the pregnancy test turns pink.Noah Scotch is revered in Boston, a veritable god on the ice. I’m a nerdy, newly minted college professor who would rather color code my planner than hit the club scene. Noah shouldn’t look at me twice but when he does, I falter. Who can blame me? The sweet talker with the deliciously chiseled abs and sinful chocolate eyes is a force. On and off the ice. One hot and intense night with Noah has me second guessing my lack of a dating life. Friends with benefits? He offers, I dive in headfirst. Growing up in a hockey family, I know better than to get serious with a player. But the more time I spend getting to know Noah, the more my intention to keep things casual rings false. Now, I’ve got a hopeful heart and a baby on the way. I just need to tell Noah. But when I do, will I end up with everything I never knew I wanted? Or on my own?

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.