Book picks similar to
A Fighting Chance by Shannon Stacey


romance
sports
contemporary
contemporary-romance

In Too Deep


Tracey Alvarez - 2013
    He broke her heart to save his own.As an elite police diver tormented by her father's fatal drowning accident, Piper Harland is forced back to the one place she'd sworn never to return. Her tiny hometown on New Zealand’s isolated Stewart Island hasn’t much changed in the nine years she’s been gone. But she soon comes face to face with everything she ran from — grief, regret, and the scalding pain of a love lost.The one place Ryan "West" Westlake belongs is a hundred feet below Stewart Island’s dangerous waters with one breath of air and only a line to guide him to the surface. Down deep he can forget his mentor’s death. Down deep he can forget the one woman who seared his heart when she left. Only now she’s back, and as it turns out, he hasn’t forgotten a thing.Desire and tempers flare when West and Piper cross paths again. Can they face their past and be together? Two hearts. A second chance. Everything on the line...IN TOO DEEP is the first story in Tracey Alvarez's best-selling Stewart Island books set against the stunning backdrop of Aotearoa, New Zealand. If you like heartwarming, sexy and sweet small town romances with a touch of comedy, you'll love sharing the journey with these authentic men and women struggling to find their special someone.Intended for mature 18+ aged readers who enjoy their feel good romance on the steamier side.

Want


Emma Rider - 2015
    Savage in the bedroom.Powerful. Brutal. Mixed Martial Artist, Ryland “The Savage” Cole doesn’t play by the rules. He wants it. He takes it. And he wants Jade. Professional cuddler Jade has not only been hurt but also deceived by the one she once loved. She’s not going to make a mistake again by giving her heart to a man. Especially since she’s now free. When a motorcycle club threatens her best friend, she puts her life on the line in order to save him, but in order to do that, she must spend every night in Ryland’s arms. Longer synopsis(Paperback): A woman with an extremely odd job attracts all kinds of trouble.Jade’s career choice is unusual. She gets close to her clients for a living—super close—as in, she snuggles in bed with strangers. Professional cuddling isn’t the first job she chooses after getting her degree, but with her tainted record, it’s the first job she finds that’s lucrative. She has been knocked down and set up by guys in her past, but she pops right back up, determined to fight to survive.A playboy MMA fighter on his last tour needs no distractions.The moment Ryland “Savage” Cole lays eyes on knockout Jade, he knows he has to have her. His unexpected attraction is an unwelcome surprise, because he’s vowed to stay away from distractions during his final run, but he wants her. What the Savage wants, he gets. At any cost.When these two souls face off in their own octagon, the sparks cannot be denied.Forced to sign a contract and join Ryland’s team, she becomes his personal bed warmer for her own safety. Jade tries to keep their close contact platonic, but her body betrays her. As in any fight, Ryland doesn’t hold back, using everything he has to win.With the past catching up with her, danger closes in.Fighting to guard her heart and protect them both from her past, Jade is no match for Ryland, who wrestles her into a corner, smashes all her mental walls, and bares her deepest desires. If she submits completely, both their lives could be thrown into peril.

Off the Hook


Laura Drewry - 2016
    Perfect for readers of Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery, the Fishing for Trouble series features three unforgettable brothers—each of whom is a great catch.Major league pitcher Liam O'Donnell knows his best days are probably behind him, but that doesn't mean he's ready to retire and become a fishing guide. Still, after all the time he's spent chasing his dreams, he owes it to his brothers to pull his weight around the lodge. The Buoys is their father's legacy, and they can't let some developer take it from them. The one snag Liam isn't counting on is a blast from the past: his ex-wife.The moment Kate Hadley steps out of the seaplane, she knows this assignment is going to be trickier than she thought. She has to persuade the owners to sell—and one of them is Liam O'Donnell. Ten years ago, she made the biggest mistake of her life when she married Liam during a fling in Vegas. Now he's her only lifeline in the middle of nowhere. Kate's trying to keep things cool, but Liam just reminds her of the scorching few nights they spent together—and tempts her to make new memories that are just as steamy as the old.

Parental Guidance


Avery Flynn - 2019
    Right to someone my mom picks out on some new dating app.Then my salvation walks into the restaurant.Zara Ambrose.The five-foot-nothing redhead with more freckles than inches that I convinced to go on five dates with me for all the world to see.She's got her own reasons for our set up--and her own rules.But somewhere between the couples' obstacle course, wrestling matches with her Great Dane, and fights over mashed potatoes, Zara went from means-to-an-end to something so much more.What happens when you start to fall for the one girl you can't have...on live TV?

Avenged


Jay Crownover - 2017
    Girl is used to sitting by, letting fate deal cruel hand after cruel hand to good people with soft hearts and she’s had enough. Girl thinks it’s time to fight back against fate and against men who aren’t careful with all the precious things a woman in love has to give him. Fate shows girl who’s boss and turns her world and plans upside down without breaking a sweat. Boy meets girl… On the best night of his life when he’s decided that he’s going to make moves to be the man he was always meant to be instead of the man he was trained and conditioned to be. Boy is used to a solitary life, quiet in the woods and knowing the only thing that might be looking for him is trouble and trouble is no longer his stock in trade. Boy thinks it’s time to show trouble who’s boss, even if this trouble has big blue eyes and a body made to make men stupid. Trouble only gets the upper hand if the boy falls prey to its temptation. Trouble turns the boy’s quiet, serene life sideways without any effort. Trouble is fun and fate has a wicked sense of humor when it comes to this boy meeting this girl.

Uncaged Love, Volume 1


J.J. Knight - 2014
    Jo is on the run from her one terrible mistake. When Colt drags Jo from a brawl with street thugs, he recognizes her potential as a female fighter. But as they begin her training, their desire for each other sparks a love affair that could jeopardize them both. Uncaged Love is a five-part series.

Only When It's Us


Chloe Liese - 2020
    Why she hates me, I don't know. What I do know is that Willa is the kind of chaos I don’t need in my tidy life. She’s the next generation of women’s soccer. Wild hair, wilder eyes. Bee-stung lips that should be illegal. And a temper that makes the devil seem friendly. She’s a thorn in my side, a menacing, cantankerous, pain-in-the-ass who’s turned our Business Mathematics course into a goddamn gladiator arena. I'll leave this war zone unscathed, coming out on top…And if I have my way with that crazy-haired, ball-busting hellion, that will be in more than one sense of the word.  Willa Rather than give me the lecture notes I missed like every other instructor I’ve had, my asshole professor tells me to get them from the silent, surly flannel-wearing mountain man sitting next to me in class. Well, I tried. And what did I get from Ryder Bergman? Ignored. What a complete lumbersexual neanderthal. Mangy beard and mangier hair. Frayed ball cap that hides his eyes. And a stubborn refusal to acknowledge my existence. I’ve battled men before, but with Ryder, it's war. I’ll get those notes and crack that Sasquatch nut if it’s the last thing I do, then I’ll have him at my mercy. Victory will have never tasted so sweet. Only When It’s Us is a frenemies-to-lovers, college sports romance about a women’s soccer star and her surly lumberjack lookalike classmate, complete with a matchmaking professor, juvenile pranks, and a smoking slow burn. This standalone is the first in a series of new novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.

Everything After


Jill Santopolo - 2021
    Two choices. One chance to follow her dreams.Emily has come a long way since she lost her two passions fifteen years ago: music, and Rob. She's a psychologist at NYU who helps troubled college students like the one she once was. Together with her caring doctor husband, Ezra, she has a beautiful life. They're happy. They hope to start a family. But when a tragic event in Emily's present too closely echoes her past, and parts of her story that she'd hoped never to share come to light, her perfect life is suddenly upturned. Then Emily hears a song on the radio about the woman who got away. The melody and voice are hauntingly familiar. Could it be? As Emily's past passions come roaring back into her life, she'll find herself asking: Who is she meant to be? Who is she meant to love?

Bitch Slap


J. Kenner - 2017
    I love the way they look. The way they smell. The way they feel. Especially the way they feel. And I’ve pretty much made it my mission to give each and every woman who shares my bed the ride of her life.Then I met her. Bitchy as hell and completely uninterested in me. And damned if I didn’t want her. Crave her. I told myself I only wanted to tame her. That it was all about the challenge. I never expected to break through that ice queen exterior and find the softness underneath. Never expected how wild she’d be between the sheets or the way she’d cry my name with such sincere intensity when I totally rocked her world. Most of all, I never expected to fall for her. But I did.And the question is, now that I know I want her, how the hell do I go about keeping her?

This is Falling


Ginger Scott - 2014
    Then, I had to learn how to survive. Two years, three months and sixteen days had passed since I was the Rowe Stanton from before, since tragedy stole my youth and my heart went along with it. When I left for college, I put a thousand miles between my future and my past. I’d made a choice—I was going to cross back to the other side, to live with the living. I just didn’t know how. And then I met Nate Preeter. An All-American baseball player, Nate wasn’t supposed to notice a ghost-of-a-girl like me. But he did. He shouldn’t want to know my name. But he did. And when he learned my secret and saw the scars it left behind, he was supposed to run. But he didn’t. My heart was dead, and I was never supposed to belong to anyone. But Nate Preeter had me feeling, and he made me want to be his. He showed me everything I was missing. And then he showed me how to fall. *This is a standalone in a three-part series that will focus on different characters. Each book can be read on its own.

A Fighter's Desire: Part One


L.P. Dover - 2014
    If you love sexy, MMA fighters you don't want to miss out on the hardcore, tap out action with my twins, Ryley and Camden. They're ready to get down and dirty on the mat.** The conclusion to their stories will be coming soon in their full length novels.Two is always better than one.What would you do if you were given the chance to spend the night with not one, but two fighters? Would you do it? Could you open yourself up to the pleasures they offered and do exactly what they said in order to pass on to the next round?It was common knowledge that Ryley and Camden Jameson, well-known MMA fighters and identical twins, were just as aggressive and passionate in the bed as they were in the ring. The only problem was that if you didn’t pass their test on the first night, then you didn’t proceed to the next round. They loved a good fight, and that's what they got when they met Ashleigh Warren.Ashleigh knew what was going to happen when the twins approached her with a proposition, and needless to say, she knew exactly how to handle them … or so she thought. The rules had changed, and in order to get them both she had to first spend one night with each and last until they were done with her. It was a proposition she couldn’t refuse, but she knew it wouldn’t be easy to win. However, it was one that she was going to enjoy.

Ain't He Precious?


Juliette Poe - 2017
    It has one stoplight, one bar, and the one-and-only Trixie Mancinkus.Eleven years ago, Trixie graduated Harvard Law, turned down a job offer from one of the most prestigious law firms in Boston, and headed home to Whynot to open her own firm. Not only did she leave behind the big city, but she also left her boyfriend of three years. And just so we’re clear… that would be me.So what am I doing in Whynot at this very moment? It seems Trixie needs help with a legal case and for some insane reason, she called on me for assistance. I’ve been in town for five minutes, and I’m every bit as out of place as I feel. Trixie is all sweet, southern curves to my tailored suits and high-priced haircuts. It’s a culture clash of north versus south and about the only thing we have in common is our physical attraction to each other.But I have a new motto since coming to Whynot: When life hands you lemons, all you need is a little sex and sweet tea to make things better.

Blue By You


Rachel Gibson - 2013
    Yeah, it was hot while it lasted, but then he went off to join the Marines, leaving Blue in New Orleans. She's tried to block him from her mind for good, but nothing can really erase the feeling she had when she was with him.And now he's got the nerve to return—leaner, meaner, and strong enough to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. Blue's a successful businesswoman now, with no time to figure out what went wrong all those years ago. But Kasper knows she's the one woman for him … and now he's got to prove it to her all over again.

Dear Heart, I Hate You


J. Sterling - 2016
    Or for him. Or anything that had to do with Cal Donovan from Boston. Meeting him had been a complete and utter surprise, taking me one hundred percent off guard. I met new people every single day in my line of work and none of them affected me. Wasn’t that the way of things though? You could meet a thousand people and they’d all mean nothing to you. But then you’d meet that one and they suddenly meant everything.

When We Touch


Brenda Novak - 2012
    Olivia Arnold is arranging the festivities ... It's the hardest thing she's ever done ... Because SHE should be marrying Kyle Houseman ... After all ... until fairly recently ... Kyle and Olivia were together ... for more than a year ... But her jealous sister, Noelle ... stole Kyle away ... and now ... Noelle's pregnant ...All their friends in Whiskey Creek know as well as Olivia does that Kyle's making a mistake. His stepbrother, Brandon, knows it, too. But Kyle's determined to go through with it, for his child's sake.Olivia's devastated, but surprisingly Brandon ... the black sheep of the family ... is there to provide comfort and consolation. The intensity between them, both physical and emotional, shows Olivia that maybe Kyle wasn't the right man for her ... But is Brandon!!!?!