The Way We Play by Tia Louise
He’s a grumpy, retired kicker who says he only breaks things. I’m a thirty-year-old virgin with something he can break (and I don’t mean my heart)…
How does one get to be a thirty-year-old virgin?
In my case, start with being risk-averse and cautious, focused on building your career, then inherit your 12-year-old, special-needs brother. Done!
Zane Bradford appeared at the perfect time.
He takes my brother to equine therapy, he gives me rides to work, and he rescues me when I collapse in the shower. (Yes, he saw me naked.)
He says he only breaks things, but I only see him fixing everything. Heck, his job is as a repair man.
This grumpy, angry god with lean muscles, silky dark hair, and ice blue eyes has taken himself out of the game.
But massage therapy is my job, and I’m ready to play.
Rachel Wells is ruining everything.
She walks into my workplace and argues with me, talks back, defends herself.
She gives me romance books to “improve my mood,” and insists on massage therapy to ease my pain.
Chronic pain isn’t my problem—she is, with her bright green eyes and sassy attitude.
Then she tells me she’s never been kissed. (What’s wrong with the men in Birmingham?)
The more she tempts me, the more I feel my resolve weakening.
She wants to play, but I’m not going to break.
(THE WAY WE PLAY is a small-town, grumpy-sunshine, sports romance with close proximity, enemies-to-lovers vibes, and a virgin FMC, and an over-protective alpha hero. No cheating. No cliffhanger. No third-act breakup.)
Black Sheep by Skye Warren
A vengeful murder charge. A corrupt justice system.
And a circus coming apart at the red-and-white-striped seams.
I’m determined to help Logan find freedom, the same way he helped me. Except his personal demons come out to play in the lonely prison cell. Even if I manage to get him back, he may not be the same man I ran away with.
Secrets surface. Loyalties break. How can love stand a chance?
BLACK SHEEP is the gripping conclusion to the Smoke and Mirrors trilogy. Running away to the circus has never been this dangerous…
The Fake Wedding Project by Pippa Grant
Faking an engagement to my secret high school crush was not on my to-do list when I landed for a short visit home. But when Amanda Anderson announces that she’s my fiancée, I take a leap and play along with the farce.
Why? Because the Capulets and Montagues have nothing on the Andersons and Silvers of Tinsel, Michigan. In the name of bringing peace to our Christmas-themed hometown and ourselves, we’ll play the part of Romeo and Juliet.
If our relatives think we’re in love, they’ll have to end this ridiculous feud. Right? Amanda’s a professional dog walker, and I’m an engineer who loves dogs—how hard could it be to show our families what else we all have in common?
The heat and this town’s infernal holiday cheer are messing with my head, though. And once we start making our fake wedding plans, I can’t seem to keep my heart out of it.
Inheriting Miss Fortune by Lucy Lennox
I came to tiny Majestic, Wyoming, to escape misfortune: the loss of my brother; my parents’ blame for it; the billion-dollar secret that caused it all.
I find peace in my horses, in my friends, in quiet nights alone… and sometimes in remembering a scorching-hot one-night-stand from two years ago.
But everything changes when Tully Bowman, the man behind that unforgettable encounter, turns up in Majestic bringing me the daughter I’ve inherited (along with her multi-million-dollar trust fund).
Just like that, my peace becomes chaos, my quiet nights are filled with little Lellie’s cries for “Daddy,” and the heat between Tully and me becomes more than just a memory.
Because it seems Tully’s planning to stick around… at least until I prove I’m a “suitable father” and not the fortune-hunter Lellie’s grandparents think I am. And the longer we spend together–the more he challenges and provokes me, comforts and calms me–the harder it is to remember why I ever thought one night would be enough.
I’m a bad bet for fatherhood, but if I choose to keep Lellie and raise her as my own, it won’t be for her money. It will be because this precious girl and the man who brought her to me might be the fresh start and new family my heart has been looking for.
And because the best thing that ever happened to me might just be… Inheriting Miss Fortune
Brutal Bargain by Laurelin Paige
Ax Morgan has played many roles in my life: My brother’s best friend. The most notorious member of the Sebastian News Corp executive team. My enemy with benefits.
But my husband?
No thanks.
Our after hours scenes are simply a convenient way for me to blow off steam while I plot my exit from my toxic family’s company.
But when I need a groom so I can claim my inheritance, he presents me with a choice that’s more like blackmail—marry him, or he’ll sabotage me. So between the devil and the deep blue sea, I let the devil put a ring on it.
Turns out this is the role he plays best of all.
The worst part of pretending with Ax is how real it’s starting to feel.
Now my future is in his hands. And if he finds out what I’m planning, he’ll be the one with the impossible choice. Who loses everything—his best friend or his fake wife?
Easton by Riley Hart
Easton
I’m the youngest Swift brother. The one who’s always in trouble and can’t get his life together. I wouldn’t know where to start, and ever since my twin died, I can’t bring myself to care. After my last “situation,” Dad washed his hands of me. And though my brothers should’ve done the same, they stood up for me, fracturing their relationship with him too. He’s a terrible father to all of us, but considering we’re just figuring out how to build a relationship, I don’t want them to lose him because of me.
Officer Archer Thorn won’t stop coming around either. After every screwup, every bad day, Archer’s there to offer a hand. Before I know it, we’re going to dog parks, sharing meals, and Archer seems at home hanging at my place. When he touches me, fills me, all the noise in my head goes quiet. He makes me want more, but he doesn’t know how much that terrifies me, how much I worry that getting better means breaking a promise I made years ago.
Each moment with Archer shows me how good a man he is. For the first time, I actually want to face my trauma and get over my past. Archer makes me see there’s beauty in the world and, more importantly, he makes me want some of it for myself…that is, if I don’t ruin Archer Thorn first.
Home Again by Ginger Scott
Football has been my life. Not that I ever had a choice in the matter. When your dad is a retired, future Hall-of-Fame quarterback, the gridiron tends to weave its way into your DNA.
I always loved the game, but I could do without the spotlight that comes with being Peyton Johnson, the great Reed Johnson’s daughter. To make matters worse, when my dad retired from the NFL, he decided his second calling was to take over the head coaching gig at my high school, where he has coached my boyfriend for the last three years.
Correction—my ex-boyfriend.
While the fairytale high-school sweetheart story may have worked for my parents, I have other plans. And following a self-absorbed athlete to college is not part of them, no matter how hard my dad tries to push me and my ex together.
Thankfully, a new high school opens and draws a line through the center of our town, sending half of my dad’s players to a new team. And apparently, their new quarterback is breaking all of my dad’s old state records. It’s the ultimate distraction, giving me the chance to land myself a spot on the cheer team at any college that isn’t close to home.
But then I meet him. Wyatt Stone. The guy my dad considers our enemy. The best quarterback I’ve ever seen. A complete jerk who I can’t quit thinking about. And running into. And rooting for.
Now, I’m the one who is distracted. And repeating my parents’ love story doesn’t sound so bad after all.
The Player + the Pact by Louise Bay
I hate my boss. Like, loathe him. Two years ago, he semi-broke my heart and he still doesn’t remember who I am. Okay so I was covered in electric blue body paint, and wearing a wig, but is that a good excuse to not remember the girl you said was your destiny?
Now I’m stuck working for the jerk because only he can give me the job I really want—manager of his hotel.
When he needs a fake fiancé for business reasons, there’s an easy solution—blackmail. He has to give me a trial run as hotel manager in return for wearing his ring.
It’s a perfect plan until he remembers when we first met.
Things suddenly shift and now he’s looking at me with eyes that see straight through to the real me, touching me with hands that make me weak and kissing me with a mouth that threatens to do things to me they don’t even talk about in movies.
There’s just one wrinkle. I don’t trust him not to break my heart again.
A standalone marriage pact romance from USA Today bestselling author Louise Bay.
The Downside to Forever by Jillian Liota
Busy Mitchell is moving home to give her daughter a better life. That means accepting help, and she’s never been good at leaning on anyone. Especially not her handsome neighbor, who she had a crush on as a kid. One smile from him and all those pre-teen feelings come rushing back.
Reid Cohen prefers a quiet life of working in his shop and hiking with his dog. He tries not to get too attached to anyone, and definitely doesn’t have space in his life to fall in love again. But when he begins spending time with the beautiful woman next door, his heart says otherwise.
Instead of acting on their mutual attraction, Reid and Busy settle into a friendship they didn’t know they needed. Casual dinners at home, short hikes into the mountains, swimming in the lake…every day is wonderful when you’re spending time with someone you care about.
But true love is once in a lifetime, and despite their best efforts, the two fall hard and fast. When Busy finds out that Reid is harboring a painful secret, she’ll need to prove her love can weather any storm, and that the depth of what they share will last forever.
Secret Love by Willow Aster
Before I moved to the small town of Silver Hills, I would have told you no one.
But the second I meet Henley Ward, I’m swept away.
He is everything I look for in a man: tall, strong and so handsome.
Our instant attraction, spirited banter, and heated glances leave a lasting impression…
Until I see him again.
Like a raging tornado, he storms into the school ready to take on the teacher who has crushed his daughter’s spirit.
The dedication this man has to his three daughters could be the sexiest thing I have ever seen.
Before we know it, we are stealing kisses in his kitchen and secretly getting together any chance we can.
I know I should stay away from Henley so I don’t lose my job, and his focus is on raising the girls and being the best wide receiver in football, but our attraction is intense and the draw between us is too tempting to resist.
I can only hope our secret love will survive when our truth is revealed.
