Books like 'The Defende'

Readers who enjoyed The Defende by Gina Azzi also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  sports  new adult  christian  single-father  hockey

  • Full House by Emilia Finn

    Full House by Emilia Finn

    Rated: 4.81 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Miles “Iowa” Walker is a fighter on a mission.He’s determined to win this year’s Stacked Deck tournament. He plans to get his six-year-old daughter out of a bad situation. And if there’s any time and money leftover, he’d love to take her out for ice cream without worrying about the cost or deadly consequences.Miles and his daughter have known only what it’s like to struggle...
  • A Little Tempting by Kelsie Rae

    A Little Tempting by Kelsie Rae

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 33 ratings
    My friend's little sister moved in next door. Dylan Thorne. The one and only. She's cute, in a nerdy wallflower kind of way. She's also off-limits. Or at least that's what my other friend says. Everett's been friends with Dylan's older brother for as long as she's lived. Call it a hunch, but I think he has a thing for Dylan, too, which is why he's warned me to keep my distance...
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  • Pucks, Sticks, and Diapers by Toni Aleo

    Pucks, Sticks, and Diapers by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.47 of 5 stars
    · 21 ratings
    First came love, then came the NHL, then came Baylor and Jayden with a baby carriage...
  • Matchmaker by Ivy Smoak

    Matchmaker by Ivy Smoak

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Matthew Caldwell is NYC's most eligible bachelor.Charming.Gorgeous.Wealthy.Great with kids.Broken.Sixteen years ago he lost everything. He made a vow to never love again. But suddenly everyone in his life is acting like a matchmaker. He can't help but wonder if a broken vow is better than a broken heart.There's just one problem. Only one woman in the city has caught his attention...
  • Power Play by Toni Aleo

    Power Play by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Posey Adler is coming home. After a devastating journey for what she mistakenly thought was true love, she is saying to hell with men and love forever. As the Nashville Assassins’s new assistant coach for special teams, Posey is ready to focus on her job and have the attention on her for a change...
  • We Said Forever by Marie James, T E Black

    We Said Forever by Marie James, T E Black

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Rock bottom. They say the only way to go from there is up, but what is “up” when you’re born into someone else’s rock bottom? At ten, football became my first love. It’s what got me out of the house away from my self-destructive family...
  • Bring It Home by Toni Aleo

    Bring It Home by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Boon Hoenes only has three goals in life. To make Posey Adler his wife, to win the Stanley Cup for the second year in a row, and for Shea Adler to like him.The first, he’s got on lock. The second, he’s well on his way. And the third… Well, two out of three ain’t bad...
  • A Little Jaded by Kelsie Rae

    A Little Jaded by Kelsie Rae

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 29 ratings
    Moving in with the infamous Everett Taylor was not on my bingo card.But, after my ex hit me then left me on the side of the road, I had no one else to call.Everett is bossy and moody and controlling.He’s also my ex’s hockey rival, my new very fake boyfriend.The plan is to keep me safe until my ex gets bored and leaves me alone...
  • ICED by Jacob Chance

    ICED by Jacob Chance

    Rated: 4.37 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    Oliver Ice, one of Boston University’s notorious hockey players, has been on my radar since I slammed into his rock-hard body during my first week of college, three years ago. He helped me to my feet, muttered an apology, and ran off after his girlfriend, dashing my hopes of a happily ever after. Now, he’s the bartender where I work, and this time, very much single...
  • Dirty Toe Drag by Toni Aleo

    Dirty Toe Drag by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 3 of 5
    Open door [?] · 16 ratings
    Stella Brooks is a woman who knows what she wants. From her first glimpse of Paris Fashion Week at the tender age of eleven, she has only ever wanted to be a designer. Hardworking and dedicated, she knows she can make a success of it. Until…she is driven to trade fashion for frosting, a move that makes her soul sing but shakes her confidence in her decision-making to her core...
    Categorized as:
    sports  new adult  hockey  contemporary  open-door  m-f
  • End Game by Toni Aleo

    End Game by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    This is going to be Ryan Justice’s year. It’s his last year of college and his last year as a hockey player for the Bellevue Bullies. He’s making all the plays in preparation for achieving his dream of being drafted into the NHL. This is Sofia Castilleja’s beginning. She is starting her college career as a star member of Bellevue’s brand-new gymnastics team...
    Categorized as:
    sports  new adult  hockey  college  contemporary  m-f
  • PUNCHED by Jacob Chance

    PUNCHED by Jacob Chance

    Rated: 4.46 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Reagan is the one who got away - or should I say the one I drove away? Now, four years later, she’s back to manage the gym where I train. Seeing her everyday is a distraction I can’t afford. I’m so close to achieving the big payoff I’ve been working for. Nothing’s going to keep me from winning this belt - not even her.This is a second chance MMA romance standalone...
  • Drew by Lulu Moore

    Drew by Lulu Moore

    Rated: 4.55 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 10 ratings
    Let me ask you a question.Have you met your soulmate?I did, then promptly lost her. Because what happens in Vegas stays there, right?Wrong.I’d never been the relationship type, but I’ve spent every spare second of the past twelve months wondering what if. What if I hadn’t slept through my alarm? What if I hadn’t lost her number? What if I’d known her name?But I came up blank...
  • 32 Rowan Blvd by Kelsey Kingsley

    32 Rowan Blvd by Kelsey Kingsley

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Get married.Buy a house.Have a baby.That's every girl's dream, isn't it? Well, maybe not every girl, but for Christy Bush, it was.So, when her boyfriend realized he didn't want any of those things, the obvious answer was to set him free and find a man who did...
  • Puck the Holidays: A Vipers Sin Bin Novel by K.D. Miller

    Puck the Holidays: A Vipers Sin Bin Novel by K.D. Miller

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 12 ratings
    A holiday hockey romance that will make you laugh, swoon, clutch your pearls, and believe in holiday magic.Hattie McNamara, a southern girl born and bred, has never seen a hockey game in her life, but when the offer to become the Seattle Vipers’ new Assistant Director of Media and Marketing lands in her lap, she can’t possibly say no...
  • Changing Lines by Toni Aleo

    Changing Lines by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Claire and Jude Sinclair have been living the perfect life for the last ten years. Blissfully in love, professionally successful, happily married… They have everything they want—except a baby to make their family complete...
    Categorized as:
    sports  new adult  hockey  contemporary  m-f
  • The Chase is Over by Toni Aleo

    The Chase is Over by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    You are cordially invited to the wedding of Shelli Adler and Aiden Brooks…Shelli has been planning her wedding to Aiden in her scrapbook since she was old enough to wield a glue stick. And now that day has finally arrived...
  • Red Rocket by Raine Miller, Brit DeMille

    Red Rocket by Raine Miller, Brit DeMille

    Rated: 4.34 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    "Public Relations" is about to take on a whole new meaning for a standout Russian enforcer with a bad reputation and the feisty redhead from the PR department who just might be the one person who can help him shine up his tarnished image in this grumpy/sunshine hockey love story. "They call me 'The Mad Russian' for a reason...
  • If It's Only Love by Lexi Ryan

    If It's Only Love by Lexi Ryan

    Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    From New York Times bestseller Lexi Ryan comes a sexy new standalone romance in the bestselling Boys of Jackson Harbor series. Meet single dad Easton Connor as he leaves the NFL and returns to Jackson Harbor to fight for another chance with the love of his life. *** I don’t regret much. Not my decision to enter the NFL draft before finishing college...
  • A Midwestern Cinderella: A Royal Love Story by Krista Lakes

    A Midwestern Cinderella: A Royal Love Story by Krista Lakes

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 7 ratings
    “I don’t care if you’re not royalty. You’re my princess.”Zoey is hardly what you’d consider princess material. Born in flyover country, she never learned how to curtsy, let alone walk in high heels. And when she literally trips into the arms of a handsome stranger at her friend’s wedding, she thinks she’s finally found love.Freddie Prescott is a charming prankster...
  • The Bro-Code by Melissa Adams

    The Bro-Code by Melissa Adams

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 5 of 5
    Explicit and plentiful [?] · 8 ratings
    I’ve always been the most popular girl on campus. President of the hottest sorority, dating one of the hottest hockey players, but this fall it seems like my luck has run out.When my sorority house is destroyed, I’m forced to move into the frat house with not only most of the sexy-as-hell hockey team.I know I’m in trouble...
  • Delayed Call by Toni Aleo

    Delayed Call by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    Vaughn Johansson is the Nashville Assassins' star player. He's brash, cocky, and talented. And he isn't afraid to let anyone know it. He lives his life on his own terms, never forming romantic attachments, and only allowing his very closest to see his true, caring self. Brie Soledad has the weight of the world on her shoulders...
  • Jude by Kelsie Rae

    Jude by Kelsie Rae

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Jude Williams is sexy. Smart. And did I mention British? When he’s offered the position of assistant coach to an online gaming championship, he’d be a fool to turn it down. Quincy Phillips is a unicorn in the gaming community. Talented. Gorgeous. And...a woman? When she’s invited to the World Championships, she can almost taste the victory on her lips. Until her assistant coach arrives...
  • Scoring Grey by L.A. Ferro

    Scoring Grey by L.A. Ferro

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Eloise Grey wasn't looking for me… but I was looking for her.To be fair, I didn't know she was the girl I'd been obsessed with until it was too late.I was on the fast track to making my NHL dreams a reality with my girl by my side.She was my whole world. My kryptonite... till she got it wrong.I never chose another over her...
  • Breakaway by Kris Butler

    Breakaway by Kris Butler

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    This is book three in the series and will be the last book.Blurb coming soon...
  • Breakaway  (The Rule Book Collection) by A.M. Johnson

    Breakaway (The Rule Book Collection) by A.M. Johnson

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    As Tampa Bay's star center, Mark Carmelo's life was hockey, and after a bitter and public break up, all he wanted to do was focus on the game. Until he saw her. The one that got away. The one he thought he'd never see again. For thirteen years, Stevie West drowned in her lackluster life. Recently divorced from her “roommate” with passionless benefits, she was ready to start over...
    Categorized as:
    christian  sports  hockey  humor  contemporary  athletes
  • Slammed by Victoria Denault

    Slammed by Victoria Denault

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    Not every goalie plays it safe... As a publicist for the San Francisco Thunder hockey team, Dixie Braddock is too busy rescuing the players from trouble to get into any of her own. Except, of course, when it comes to the super hot new goalie...
  • Spiked by Love by Toni Aleo

    Spiked by Love by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Allison Titov and Asher Brooks have been best friends their whole lives. Brought up together as part of the Assassins family, they might as well be related. But... Ally has never felt anything sisterly toward Asher.In love with Asher since she was a teen, Ally has gone pro at keeping her feelings a secret. It’s been easy..
  • Dump and Chase by Toni Aleo

    Dump and Chase by Toni Aleo

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 27 ratings
    Shelli Adler has known what she wanted since she was eleven years old. Aiden Brooks. But Aiden has always had other ideas. After spending the early years of his life without his dad, hockey legend Lucas Brooks, Aiden is determined not to settle for anything less than true love. When he’s ready. Now he’s living the fast life of an NHL bachelor...
  • One Night with the Rebel (Looking to Score) by Kendall Ryan

    One Night with the Rebel (Looking to Score) by Kendall Ryan

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 13 ratings
    She barged into my life and turned everything upside down. We spent one scorching-hot night together, and then she disappeared into the sunset with the golden jock everyone adored. Which makes sense, right? A girl as beautiful and brilliant as Eden Wynn doesn’t end up with a rebel like me.I expected them to live happily ever after, except that's not what happened...
  • Finding Me by Stephanie Rose

    Finding Me by Stephanie Rose

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    I've always been lost . . . Abandoned by a father who didn't want me. Cherished by a stepfather, though I wasn’t his. Shattered by a boy who swore he loved me. But I belonged nowhere, to no one. Then I met Owen, the sweet-talking hockey player who made me love him. He gave me the courage to trust in someone besides myself. He showed me a love I longed for...
  • Pucking Parker by Jillian Quinn

    Pucking Parker by Jillian Quinn

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 4 of 5
    Explicit open door [?] · 18 ratings
    I’m the coach’s daughter. He’s my dad’s favorite player… And completely off-limits. The first time I met Preston Parker, I slammed face first into his wet, chiseled abs. In the men’s locker room, of all places. I did the world’s longest walk of shame in front of dozens of hockey players. As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Mr...
  • Trivial Pursuits by Aven Ellis

    Trivial Pursuits by Aven Ellis

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Landon Holder is exactly the kind of man Livy Adams should stay far away from. The flashy, flirty star defenseman for the Chicago Buffaloes is known for hooking up with women all over Chicago. Livy finds herself attracted to Landy, but his sexy good looks and charm are irrelevant...
  • Boss Girl by Lily Kate

    Boss Girl by Lily Kate

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Good things come in extra-tall, smoking hot stilettos. Things like Jocelyn Jones. Jocelyn “Ice Queen” Jones is the hottest agent in town, and I’m determined to make her mine. My agent, that is. She’s the best at what she does, which is why I’m intent on keeping our relationship strictly platonic, even if the sexual tension between us is thick enough to slice with a skate...
  • Rain Dance by Catherine Gayle

    Rain Dance by Catherine Gayle

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    ***Trigger warning: contains graphic scenes depicting domestic and sexual violence.*** USA Today bestselling author Catherine Gayle presents another novel in the sexy Tulsa Thunderbirds hockey romance series, a spin-off from the Portland Storm series. He's in a drought. No rain. No goals. No women. She has what it takes to quench his thirst...
    Categorized as:
    sports  new adult  hockey  contemporary  m-f  length-short
  • Free Agent by Catherine Gayle

    Free Agent by Catherine Gayle

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    USA Today bestselling author Catherine Gayle presents another novel in the emotional Portland Storm hockey romance series. Can you fall in love when you’ve never loved yourself? Universally misjudged, Blake Kozlow doesn’t let society get under his skin. After all, those misunderstandings have never affected his career...
  • One Good Man by Emma Scott

    One Good Man by Emma Scott

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    It’s spring, 1970. The Vietnam War has been raging for years with no end in sight. Janey Martin, a California college student and aspiring journalist is tired of writing puff pieces about her university men’s sports teams. She wants to be taken seriously as a journalist and as a woman...
  • Catch of a Lifetime by Candee Fick

    Catch of a Lifetime by Candee Fick

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Football is his life, but she thinks athletes can get away with murder. After a tragedy involving a football player destroyed her family, graduate student athletic trainer Cassie Parker moves across the country looking for a fresh start, but a surprise change in financial aid lands her in the middle of her worst nightmare...
  • Two for Charging by Lasairiona E. McMaster

    Two for Charging by Lasairiona E. McMaster

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Dedicated. Driven. Divorced.Coach Elliott Swift is under pressure from all sides. His players are counting on him to return the team to championship success despite his recently graduated star players. His toxic ex-wife dogs his every move, and his sickly, aging parents require constant care...
  • Sean by Sheridan Anne

    Sean by Sheridan Anne

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Sean -I’m a shell of the man I used to be.Three years ago, my world shattered.My wife died the day my daughter was born and she took my soul with her.I’ve never been able to get it back.Not until she came and saved me.Gigi -He came storming into my ER screaming for help.I never thought that moment would define the rest of my life.He’s broken and tortured, but not for long...
  • Timelessly Ours by Roxanne Tully

    Timelessly Ours by Roxanne Tully

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Temptation is strong in this series of three forbidden love stories as key players and one hot coach fall for the sassy, off-limits women of Hollyville. Nicole Some men are just off-limits. Like Royce Collins, (aka "Coach") who's not only seventeen years older than me but has the sweetest little girl I'm in no shape to be around...
  • Love at First Skate by Ellie Hall

    Love at First Skate by Ellie Hall

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    They say love is messy. Turns out friendship is too, especially when you’re stranded in a cabin with your best friend and hearts are on thin ice.TeddyI’ve heard that men and women can’t be friends without it becoming something more. Harlow and I put that theory in the penalty box, thank you very much...
  • The Playmaker by Dakota Madison

    The Playmaker by Dakota Madison

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Kian Kavanagh, Mr. Fire on Ice, has just been called up to play hockey for the NHL's new expansion team in Seattle. Finally playing in the NHL is a dream come true...except for one thing. Kian has to leave Northern Arizona and the love of his life, Taylor Thompson, to pursue his dream. Taylor Thompson thinks she's got life figured out...
  • Overtime by Kat Mizera

    Overtime by Kat Mizera

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    Hotshot hockey star Patrick Graham has been groomed for the pros since before he could walk. Fast forward to his junior year of college, and he’s having the time of his life. What could be better than pucks, partying, and having his pick of campus women? But if Patrick doesn’t buckle down and get his grades up, he could find himself benched for the championships...
  • Single Dad Center by Latisha Sexton

    Single Dad Center by Latisha Sexton

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · Steam rating: 1 of 5
    Glimpses and kisses [?] · 9 ratings
    The Denver Dragon’s captain’s perfect life was ripped to shreds when his wife suddenly passed away two years ago, leaving him a single father to their toddler girl. Since then, Archer Sullivan has taken his grief and anger out on the puck. When he’s not shredding it on the ice, he’s playing princess and having tea parties with his four-year-old daughter, Indigo...
  • The BAHs by Saxon James

    The BAHs by Saxon James

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 9 ratings
    A short featuring Kole and Asher from Line Mates & Study Dates book four of the CU Hockey by Saxon James & Eden...
  • Jonah by Brenda Rothert

    Jonah by Brenda Rothert

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    ReynaI don’t do relationships. A federal agent whose life revolves around rescuing kidnapped children, I’ve got no interest in catching any man who’s not a criminal. So when my new assignment in Chicago requires me to get closer to a VIP Chicago Blaze fan, Blaze goalie Jonah West is the perfect cover. Like me, he’s too focused on his career to make time for love, dates or even hookups...
    Categorized as:
    new adult  sports  hockey  contemporary
  • Flopper by Colleen Charles

    Flopper by Colleen Charles

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The Vegas Venom turn up the heat in this brand new standalone hockey romance series from USA Today Bestselling Author Colleen Charles!As one of the top goalies in hockey I live a sweet Vegas lifestyle: VIP treatment at all the hottest spots in town – ushered past every velvet rope – and all the puck bunnies I can handle...
  • Off-Limits Grumpy Player by Clarissa McKay

    Off-Limits Grumpy Player by Clarissa McKay

    Rated: 4.18 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Two things I’m gonna do at college: land an internship, and lose my virginity.I just didn’t expect it to be with my brother’s best friend.But the way he swings his hockey stick around as the captain of the team has me seeing stars.He may be a bad-tempered hockey player with everyone else, but he’s always had a soft spot for me...
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