Books like 'Force Play'
Readers who enjoyed Force Play by Lo Everett also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
from hate to love baseball sports forced proximity found-family queer dual-pov marriage of convenience friends to lovers grumpy sunshine
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Flaunt by Adriana Locke
Rated: 4.45 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsLooking for a Fake FiancéHave you ever wanted to prove someone wrong so badly that you could taste it?It doesn’t matter if they’re right. The fact that they had the audacity to go there is what counts.Hi. It’s me. I’m that person.The man I’ve been casually seeing told me I’m not “wife material” and I should “lower my expectations... -
All In With Him by Lauren Blakely
Once upon a time all I needed was baseball, friends and extracurricular activities. Then everything changed when Declan Steele stormed into my life and upended all my priorities with his heart, his love, his passion.So my next five-year plan will include this new ground rule—Love big... -
The Best of All by Karla Sorensen
He’s commitment phobic. She believes in happy endings. The twist of fate that binds them is a surprise they never saw coming in a bittersweet romance about instant family—and not-so-instant love.A decade-old animosity is the only thing Liam Davies and Zoe Valentine have in common... -
This Much Is True by Adriana Locke
Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsWhen celebrity Laina Kelley bolted from her small hometown church on her wedding day, she ran to the first place that came to mind—the home of the local farrier, a gorgeous playboy who just so happens to be her first love … and biggest frenemy... -
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All Hail the Underdogs by E.L. Massey
When seventeen-year-old Patrick Roman is offered a scholarship to a top hockey preparatory school, he thinks maybe his notorious bad luck has finally ended. With a hearing for his legal emancipation on the horizon, he dreams of getting scouted and securing a place on a D1 college team. There’s only one Roman has serious beef with his new winger on the team, Damien Bordeaux... -
Dice by Teagan Brooks
Rated: 4.54 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsDaphneMy life took a drastic turn when my husband of three years told me he was leaving me. He’d been having an affair, and the woman had just given birth to his child. To say I was shocked would have been an understatement, but not for the usual reasons. What surprised me was the overwhelming feeling of relief I felt when he said he was leaving... -
Gotta Be Bayou by Erin Nicholas
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsHow do you get over a woman you never should have been, ahem, under in the first place?Just when FBI special agent Spencer Landry had decided to forget about investigative journalist Maxine — Max — Keller and their one hot night together, there's a threat made against her and Spencer's protective instincts get all riled up. Again... -
The Charmer by Layla Hagen
Julian Leblanc's story is a sizzling fake relationship romance set in the heart of New Orleans. She’s too damn hot, but also rude and unprofessional... yet that doesn’t stop me from becoming her fake boyfriend. I pride myself on never doubting my decisions. It’s why my business runs so smoothly... -
Strictly Pretend by Carrie Elks
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsA knight in shining armor? Hardly. More like my worst enemy wrapped in a swoon-worthy tux… When Brooks Salinger saves me from heartbreak at a wedding, I never expect to see him again—let alone find him back in my life, set to destroy my family’s bookstore.But when he offers me a wild deal—pretend to be his girlfriend at a ritzy wedding in exchange for saving the store—I reluctantly agree... -
Hot Heir by Pippa Grant
Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars · 29 ratingsIf I had to pick a bride of convenience, my first choice would NOT be Peach Maloney.My fiftieth choice would NOT be Peach.Top spot on my list of occupational hazards? Yes. Royal pain in the crumpets? Yes.A bride of convenience? No.But I’ve unexpectedly gone from royal bodyguard to monarch, having inherited a crown that was stolen from my family long before my birth... -
Strike Zone by Ginger Walls
WYATT:All my friends are under the impression I’m only at Newhouse to chase women and play baseball. Those are two of my favorite pastimes.The truth is, Newhouse is my chance to save my family’s farm. If I don’t get drafted, we’ll lose everything we’ve been working hard to keep.Then I hear her sing and she’s all I can think about. It’s messing up my game and putting my future in jeopardy... -
Are We There Yet? by Savannah Scott
A vintage VW van. Four friends. A cross-country road trip.It will be the best adventure of my life, if only I can shake the feelings I have for Cameron .Cameron Reeves is as gorgeous as his name makes him sound.He’s about six feet tall, which is the height I always wrote in my ideal man list in my journal. Yes. I have a list of qualities I want in a man... -
Finding Home by Jenn McMahon
Rated: 4.49 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBlair Andrews has spent the better part of her adulthood playing trophy wife to her politician husband in San Francisco. All she knows is her pampered, polished, perfect life.Until it all comes crashing down around her.After hiding out in her sister’s spare bedroom for months to avoid pitying looks on the streets, she decides it’s time to escape city life and learn to stand on her own... -
Sexiled by Mickey Miller
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsMorgan Kennedy:Campus Legend.Ruggedly handsome superstar athlete turned hedge fund manager.My one night stand mistake.And now my boss at my internship.Every staff meeting, I’m taken back to the night I was filled with a need I never knew was possible.Sparks fly between us in the office... -
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Anger Banger by S.M. Shade
The residents of Happy Haven Trailer park have been waiting for this for a long time. The slumlord who abandoned this place and let our homes deteriorate has been court ordered to live here while making repairs. Imagine our surprise when the guy who shows up to move in to the dilapidated trailer across the street isn't the sixty year old man we expected, but his son...Categorized as:
found-family from hate to love grumpy sunshine forced proximity new adult contemporary humor -
Boarded by Carly Marie
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsCourage is following your heart when your brain says run “Boarding, two minutes.” Collin Harringford has delivered the penalty countless times as an enforcer with the Nashville Grizzlies. When life delivers the boarding, he’s forced home to sort out his grandpa’s estate... -
Almost Pretend by Nicole Snow
Opposites attract in this sizzling, feel-good, grumpy sunshine romance about a lively illustrator and the brooding billionaire she literally falls for. Eleanor Lark is an upbeat illustrator plagued by headaches and unruly strawberry-blond hair. After a grueling cross-country flight, she blacks out cold... -
Get Frosted by Amy Aislin
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFor years, Mik has wanted nothing more than to put coal in Rudy Snow's stocking.As former pro hockey players, they’ve been rivals for years. It started in Mik’s rookie season, when a reporter pitted him against his older brother's best friend. Rudy pushes Mik’s buttons like no one else, going out of his way to one-up him at every turn... -
A Christmas Auction: A Marriage Auction Novella by Audrey Carlan
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Audrey Carlan comes a new story in her Marriage Auction series…“’Tis the Season,” some people say, as if the month of December could somehow magically make the world a better place. Fat chance of that happening in Sin City.In my world, nothing is merry and bright. More like dark and dank... -
The One I Need by Chelle Sloan
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsYou’re cordially invited to the wedding of Oliver Price and Izzy McCall…That’s how my wedding invitations should have started. I should know, I’ve had my wedding planned since I was ten. I should’ve been wearing a designer tuxedo, not a tuxedo t-shirt. The wedding should’ve been in a church with family and friends, not in a 1960’s style chapel with Elvis as the officiant... -
On Thin Ice by L.A. Cotton
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsAn emotional and angsty grumpy x sunshine hockey romance from USA Today and WSJ bestselling author L A Cotton. Are you ready to fall in love with a Laker?When Harper Dixon discovers her father is the Lakeshore U Lakers new assistant coach, she wonders if her life can get any worse.Enter Mason Steele.Arrogant. Cold. With enough ice around his heart to freeze anyone who gets too close...Categorized as:
sports dual-pov forced proximity from hate to love grumpy sunshine new adult college angst -
Knock Out by Jiffy Kate
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIn the blink of an eye, Willow Bernard goes from stocking shelves at the Piggly Wiggly to kicking butt at Viking MMA.Willow Bernard has taken a lot of hits in her twenty-two years but always manages to come back swinging. Hoping to fly under the radar for a change, she relocates to Green Valley...Categorized as:
sports grumpy sunshine friends to lovers forced proximity fighters contemporary humor length-long -
Semantic Error 1 by Soori Jeo
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 11 ratingsIs this an Error or Love? Sangwoo Choo is a stickler for rules. So when his classmates free-ride on a group project, he doesn't credit them. But this prevents one senior, Jaeyoung Jang, from graduating. And like oil and water, Sangwoo and Jaeyoung don't mix. Can Sangwoo debug Jaeyoung — a semantic error in his perfect life? This volume collects episodes 01-15 of the webcomic Semantic Error...Categorized as:
queer from hate to love grumpy sunshine forced proximity contemporary bisexual length-long -
Flirting With Forever by Claire Kingsley
He’ll break all her rulesNora Lakes is sophisticated, successful, and happily single. Career problems aside, her life is fine the way it is, thank you very much. Sure, her best friends are all moving into a new season of life—full of husbands and babies and white picket fences. But that’s not what Nora wants. Neither is the gruff, tattooed guy next door. Tattoo artist Dex St... -
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The Day the Jerk Started Falling by Max Monroe
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsMy name is Oliver Arsen, but my mates call me Ollie. I live hard and love harder, and it’s love that usually gets me in the most trouble. According to the greater population, I’m the ultimate jerk. My affection tends to be short-lived—a quality I’ve been assured multiple times by the fairer sex isn’t becoming—and the leaving part of loving and leaving has always come natural... -
Storm by Abbi Glines
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsBriar Falling in love with a man you can’t fully trust isn’t just unwise, it's a constant battle. Storm Kingston had busted into my life, shattering my well-maintained walls. He claimed I was his, promising to fulfill all my dreams. But I had already caught him in a lie that I couldn’t confront him about. To do so would mean the death of an innocent person... -
Falling into Forever by Avery Maxwell
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsWhat’s a brokenhearted romance novelist to do when an interview accidentally turns her into the villain? I’ll tell you one thing—the plan definitely wasn’t to turn to the man who taught me that happily ever afters exist only on the page...Categorized as:
friends to lovers grumpy sunshine forced proximity from hate to love contemporary m-f -
Strike a Chord by K.M. Neuhold
“You want to fake date me?” Music is my life, my band is my heart and soul, and it’s all falling apart before my eyes. A plan hatched from desperation as we both watch our careers burn down around us. Dating my best friend’s twin brother, Paris, who just so happens to be a gay icon at the moment seems like the perfect plan... -
Baiting Burke by Jaclyn Quinn
Burke RussoI don’t do lovey dovey. Watching my four best friends trip and fall into their forever person has been both comical and confusing. When a hurricane hits Coral Pointe Inlet, it throws me into a tailspin I didn’t see coming—with a man who lives to drive me crazy. Jared, the sexy—I mean, the snarky fisherman, has been the bane of my existence for the last three years... -
Impaired Judgement by Youcouldmakealife
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIt’s kind of a shame someone that talented is that big a... -
Side by Side by Nicole Pyland
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsSports Series Book #6. This series is related by a sports theme, not by characters.As teenagers, Belle Elrod and Chandler Wolfe had been chosen to be part of Team USA figure skating’s elite training program. But when something happened, and Belle left the program, they were both left wondering what might have been... -
Britta & the Beach Boy: A Sweet Romantic Comedy by Brittany Larsen
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNo flirting. No kissing. And absolutely, positively, NO falling in love.Those are Britta’s top three conditions (there are a few dozen more) when she agrees to marry Liam “Dex” Dexter, aka the top surfer in the world.He needs American citizenship to achieve his goal of surfing in the Olympics... -
Britta & the Beach Boy by Brittany Larsen
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsNo flirting. No kissing. And absolutely, positively, NO falling in love.Those are Britta’s top three conditions (there are a few dozen more) when she agrees to marry Liam “Dex” Dexter, aka the top surfer in the world.He needs American citizenship to achieve his goal of surfing in the Olympics... -
Charring Bones by Brandy Hynes
Rated: 4.67 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsYou’re either the hunter or the hunted. The lion or the lamb. Bound on an altar. Belts of deceit. Tangerine skies. Taunted by time. Scorch. Stack. Salt. Gage She’s my nightmare. My weakness. My Wicked. Ainsley Morelli was everything I craved, the breath in my lungs, my only home. But she sent me to die, and threw dirt on my grave. That was another life. When she had the upper hand... -
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Enemies in Paradise: A Sweet Romantic Comedy (Love in Paradise Valley) by Brittany Larsen
Paradise is supposed to be my escape from burnout and bad guys, but I’ve already burned bridges with the hottest guy in town.Bear Thomsen and I both want the same thing—his grandpa’s old auto shop. My dream is to rehab it into a bookstore. Bear’s is to tear it down to build a hockey rink... -
Take Two by Stephanie Shea
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBeing in love is Whitney Dimaano’s favorite past time. Though lately, she can’t seem to get it right. She’s tried—she is trying—but it just hasn’t…clicked, and maybe her time would be better spent focusing on all the things that are actually good in her life... -
All We Are by Jessie Walker
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsPride. Will and Waylon have been through hell and back—more than once. But they’re still standing, still loving each other, still embracing their found family. And that’s something Will is stupidly proud of. He’s happier than he’s ever been, and more in love than he ever thought possible. He just hopes he can find a way to make Waylon believe in them as much as he does. Pride... -
All the White Lies We Tell by Garry Michael
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAfter missing out on the chance to represent the United States in the last winter games, Isaac McAllister’s focus was second to none. He spent the past few years away from his family training for this moment. He had a dream, a dream that only came every four years and he would do anything he could to make it happen. Even if it meant breaking hearts along the way... -
Family First by RJ Scott, VL Locey
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsAn injury threatens to end Stan's career. Will he choose to fight for his beloved hockey, or put his family first? Few goalies are as dedicated as Stan Lyamin, known for his resilience on the ice, talking to his pipes, and his love of Elvis. Add in his adoration of his family and his life has been filled with all the things that bring him joy... -
Bram Baxter Marries the Wrong Sister by Latisha Sexton
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFirst comes a lifelong crush, then comes . . . a marriage of convenience to her sister?Marrying Lois Jones was the only future Bram Baxter ever planned for. Until she returns home from Europe with another man’s ring on her finger. Devastated, Bram struggles to envision a different future for himself... -
Making It Count by Nicole Pyland
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSports Series Book #5. This series is related by a sports theme, not by characters.NOTE: The characters of this book are living during the first year of the pandemic.Shay Amos chose Dunbar University because she wanted to play basketball at a smaller school and be the best player on the team... -
Isabelle and the Beast by Marie Soleil
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIt was supposed to be a quick meeting.I’ve been trying to break into acting for years, and now I’m FINALLY up for a lead role in a romcom movie. It’s a huge step up from barista #3, especially considering who’s supposed to play my love interest—Adam Stone... -
Caution by A.K. Evans
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLike every hardworking member of Harper Security Ops, Forrest Hickman takes time away from work to relax and recharge. And he often does that while riding his snowboard on the slopes of his favorite ski resort.He wasn’t sure anything would be better than some time alone to clear his head. That is, until he meets someone to spend his break with... -
Silent Knight by Beth Bolden
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsJeremiah—or Jem, as his friends like to call him—Knight is stuck at a crossroads. Injured and unsure if he’ll be spending another season on the football field, he returns home for the holidays, hoping to lick his wounds in private. Only to be roped into being the mascot and grand marshal of the annual Christmas Falls festival and parade... -
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Beautiful Mistakes by Felice Stevens
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsThe other side of loathing might be lust ...Or love ...WolfDesire: What Wolf struggles with from the moment he sees Spencer Hawkins the first day of college.Fear: Not a word in Wolf’s vocabulary except when it comes to facing his feelings for Spencer.Lust: What he gives in to that changes everything between them. And his life forever... -
Kind of a Sexy Jerk by Lili Valente
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsSo let me get this straight... For the next few days I’ve got myself a grumpy fake husband who’s also kind of my...bodyguard?I guess that’s a better way to spend the weekend than binge-watching reality television, especially since it’s kind of my fault we’re on the run from the mob and I need a protector.Oops... -
Performance in a Leading Role by MadLori
Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSherlock/Watson FanficSherlock Holmes is an Oscar winner in the midst of a career slump. John Watson is an Everyman actor trapped in the rom-com ghetto... -
Love You From Afar by Morgan Paige
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 9 ratingsI always thought a person had to be a ghost to haunt you, but Everett Thompson is very much alive, and to make matters worse, he's my fiancé's brother.For years, I promised myself I would stay away from him. I tried putting as much distance between us as possible, yet here we are on a twelve hour road trip together... -
Love and History by Lane Hayes
The sporty roommate, the professor, and a history lesson…Holden-Ezra might be the most annoying roommate ever. He’s loud, obnoxious, and full of himself. So what if he’s a tall, muscular, tattooed jock? His tendency to strip to his boxers in the kitchen while helping himself to my food isn’t endearing in the slightest. Nope. Ezra has to go...Categorized as:
sports forced proximity friends to lovers from hate to love queer found-family m-m contemporary -
Damaged Defender by Anne Martin
Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars · 15 ratingsOne night with the enemy player next door…now he’s calling me his wife.Seven years ago we shared a night, and the next morning–he didn’t remember. Now I’m a journalist working my way up the news media ladder. When my best friend’s moody brother moves in next door. And now an endless parade of rowdy hockey bros stroll our shared hall.He’s mister tattooed and dangerous...
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