Books like 'False Start'

Readers who enjoyed False Start by Alison Hendricks also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  romance  small town  mlm  sports  university  lgbtq  enemies-to-lovers  athlete  friends-to-lovers 

  • Marcus & Reagan: Rojo, TX by Cee Bowerman

    Marcus & Reagan: Rojo, TX by Cee Bowerman

    Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Marcus and Reagan have been part of the Texas Knights, Texas Kings, and Tempest family for more than thirty years. They’ve weathered ups and downs and raised their children surrounded by family that may not share their blood but share their hearts.Come to Rojo with Cee Bowerman and attend the wedding we’ve all been waiting for...
  • Busted by Emilia Finn

    Busted by Emilia Finn

    Rated: 4.80 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Daughter of an over protective world-champion fighter, and shielded by dozens of alpha men, Emma Kincaid was locked in an ivory tower many years ago.Too bad she shimmied down water pipes the moment she was old enough to do so. Coercing with the devil twins is as natural as breathing to her, and getting into trouble with them is as easy as falling in love...
  • Pretty It Up: The Donovans by Cee Bowerman

    Pretty It Up: The Donovans by Cee Bowerman

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    DescriptionSometimes love just isn’t enough, or is it?Lana Gold, one of the Donovan triplets, found her one true love in college but lost him when the life he’d dreamed of became reality. Being an outsider looking in and so far away from her family and hometown took its toll on Lana and her marriage until she’d finally had enough and left it all behind...
  • Puck Performance by Alley Ciz

    Puck Performance by Alley Ciz

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    All's fair in love and potatoes. Melody Brightly Broadway Star. Pink hair. A smile that hits me harder than a slap shot. Terrible taste in hockey teams. Full of secrets. The one woman I fail to defend my heart against. Jase Donnelly Defenseman.Charming. Sexy as puck. Makes my hormones give a standing ovation. The one guy I can never be with, but can't stay away from...
  • When You Come Back to Me by Emma Scott

    When You Come Back to Me by Emma Scott

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    At Santa Cruz Central High School, they called them the misfits, the outcasts, the weirdos. But most of us knew them as the Lost Boys...Holden Parish survived his parents' horrific attempts to make him "the perfect son." After a year's stint in a Swiss sanitarium to recover, he has vowed to never let anything--or anyone--trap him again...
  • Untaken Twin by Samantha Christy

    Untaken Twin by Samantha Christy

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    A forbidden romance.There’s only one thing worse than your fiancé dying . . .It's having to look into his face every single day.Or should I say - the face of his twin.So I left.I never knew promises were made. Then broken.And I surely never expected those promises to be about me.When I return to my hometown and see his face, the heartache I’ve been running from is front and center...
  • Strong Enough by Kelly Elliott

    Strong Enough by Kelly Elliott

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    The fourth, and final novel in New York Times bestselling author Kelly Elliott’s Meet Me in Montana series fires up the passion in a story about forgiveness and finding your soul mate.Dirk Littlewood had the world at his feet and a life he claimed to love. He was a world-champion bull rider with plenty of women to keep his nights busy and make his inner loneliness nothing but a delusion...
  • The Worst Wedding Date by Pippa Grant

    The Worst Wedding Date by Pippa Grant

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    He’s a tattooed shirtless bad boy. My best friend’s brother. And the jerk on the other side of my bed.I didn’t know bridesmaid was code for babysitter for the bride’s brother , but if that’s what my best friend needs of me for her dream wedding to go off without a hitch, that’s what I’ll do.Even if Theo Monroe has been a pain in my rear since third grade...
  • Shots Not Taken by Nicole Falls

    Shots Not Taken by Nicole Falls

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    “If there isn’t a risk, is it worth wanting at all?” Starting Forward for the Tennessee Trojans Nikolas Verette hasn’t always lived the golden life. After personal setbacks placed barriers in his path to professional basketball superstardom, he took to approaching life with the motto “you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take”...
  • When Wrecked Meets Ruined by Emery Rose

    When Wrecked Meets Ruined by Emery Rose

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Ridge McCallister. King of the junkyard. God of the gridiron. Cypress Springs’ beloved bad boy. With just a wink and a smile, he has most girls at his beck and call. Good thing I’m immune to his (debatable) charms.Don’t get me wrong, he is beautiful. With the body of a Greek god and the face of a fallen angel, who could resist? Too bad he’s so… Ridge...
  • The Art of Husbandry by Jay Hogan

    The Art of Husbandry by Jay Hogan

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    When life drowns you in lemons, to hell with making lemonade. I wanted to burn the whole world. But eighteen months from the day my life was torn apart, I’m tired of the anger. Tired of the nightmares. Tired of putting one foot in front of the other just trying to survive. Three months on a high country sheep station in the middle of nowhere is exactly the reboot I need. A chance to break free...
  • Perfect Wreckage (The Wrecked Series) by Catherine Cowles

    Perfect Wreckage (The Wrecked Series) by Catherine Cowles

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    My past taught me to play it safe.To stay far away from handsome men who promised it all.My life was good without them. Stable, secure, predictable. But one kiss showed me that I’d been playing it safe for far too long.One night, and all I wanted was more of his wildfire.One challenge and my carefully constructed walls tumbled down...
  • The Fire by May Archer

    The Fire by May Archer

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    JAMIE Parker Hoffstraeder is gorgeous, cocky, and totally irrational. He also broke my heart when he left town eleven years, four months, and twenty-eight days ago. Not that I’m counting. I don’t mind admitting it: I was young. I got burned. I learned my lesson...
  • Old Fashioned by Kandi Steiner

    Old Fashioned by Kandi Steiner

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    The epic finale of the Becker Brothers series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone.It’s a man’s world.When I declared sports medicine as my major and every man narrowed their eyes, that saying proved true. It was true when my ex-husband decided I’d give up my career when our daughter was born...
  • The Varsity Dad Dilemma by Lex Martin

    The Varsity Dad Dilemma by Lex Martin

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    ★ A new sexy, small town sports romance from USA Today bestselling author Lex Martin! ★What’s worse than having Rider Kingston, the star quarterback, give you the big brushoff because he doesn’t want to get serious? You’d probably think living across the street from him where you get a first-hand view of his hookups, right? That’s what I thought...
  • Devil in Disguise by Rosalind James

    Devil in Disguise by Rosalind James

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    The devil doesn’t come with pointy horns and a tail. He comes as everything you’ve ever wished for. When discipline is your life, structure’s a good thing, and Owen Johnson’s got plenty of both. An All-Pro NFL center who’s also a cattle rancher? Yeah, that’s structure. His marriage didn’t work out, but then, he picked the wrong woman. A Wyoming ranch doesn’t look nearly as romantic up close...
    Categorized as:
    athlete  drama  family  sports  university  adult  age-gap  book
  • Wild and Wicked by Mari Carr

    Wild and Wicked by Mari Carr

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    There are worse things than getting trapped in a cabin during a blizzard with her best friend’s big brother, hockey star, Elio!Gianna, queen of to-do lists, clean freak, organizer extraordinaire, has her future all figured out. Dream job at twenty-four, engaged at twenty-six, married at twenty-eight, first baby at thirty. And she’s on her way to achieving that…sort of...
  • Right as Raine by Lucy Lennox

    Right as Raine by Lucy Lennox

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Tiller:As the first openly gay professional football player, I can’t afford to make any mistakes, on or off the field. And the absolute biggest mistake I could make right now would be to fall for Mikey Vining, my best friend, employee and, more importantly, Coach’s baby boy. I might fantasize about Mikey at night-—every night—but actually touching him would be a serious personal foul...
  • Earn Your Extra Credit by Meghan Quinn

    Earn Your Extra Credit by Meghan Quinn

    Rated: 4.26 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    "She went home with someone else that night?" Hearing the disbelief from my best friend's mouth makes the events of my failed date sting that much more. I would like to make it known, I have a lot more swagger than what it seems. I don't normally ask a girl out, have her fail to recognize it's a date, and then give me a high five--as if I'm her wingman--and take off with someone else. No...
  • Someone to Love by Kelly Elliott

    Someone to Love by Kelly Elliott

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The Seaside ChroniclesJanuary 3, 2023On the HookSeasiders,News on the beach is Braxton Bradley has caught the eye of Seaside’s very own darling, Harlee Tilson. Now, this might come as a shock to many of you, since the eldest Bradley sibling has been rumored to have made a vow to never marry. After all, his fishing charter has always been his number one love...
  • Along Comes Trouble by Abby Brooks

    Along Comes Trouble by Abby Brooks

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    From the moment we met, Tessa Morgan pegged me as trouble. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. I’m funny. Easy-going. My years as a high school football star worked wonders on my body as well as my reputation. I’m Colton Carmichael. Everyone likes me. Everyone except Tessa. And believe me, the feeling is mutual...
  • I've Got You by Becca Seymour

    I've Got You by Becca Seymour

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    When a single dad and a newly outed veterinarian meet by chance, it takes red-cheeked conversations, a tentative friendship, and the willingness to put their hearts on the line to show these men they’re made for each other.  Single dad Davis Jackson is busy balancing his coffee shop and being the best dad he can be. That doesn’t mean he’s not lonely...
  • Devil's Own by K.M. Neuhold

    Devil's Own by K.M. Neuhold

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    There’s nothing Devil loves more than giving Angel whatever he wants, especially when it’s what he wants too. The only question is… Does Raven want them?Of course, I’ve noticed Angel and Devil noticing me. I’ve felt their eyes and the deep pulse of their heated wanting...
  • The Problem with Players by Brittainy C. Cherry

    The Problem with Players by Brittainy C. Cherry

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    As a female coach, I’ve always lived by a simple mantra: throw hard, swing for the fences, and never, ever look back--especially when it comes to past flames.So when my ex-boyfriend somehow manages to land the job as my new assistant coach, my life is flipped upside down. The game I thought I'd mastered is now being played with a whole new set of rules.My ex is baseball's all-star Nathan Pierce...
  • Off Key (Whispering Key) by May Archer

    Off Key (Whispering Key) by May Archer

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    I’m about to sing you the saddest song in the universe, and it’s called “The Man of My Dreams Married My Sister.” It’s kinda my theme song. And trust me when I tell you, it’s heavy on the violins.Because the man in question? He’s not just any guy, he’s Rafe freakin’ Goodman. My former best friend. The boy who made my summers on Whispering Key magical...
  • Sundae's Best by Riley Hart

    Sundae's Best by Riley Hart

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Grady Dalton is in a rut. He’s thirty-eight, without a boyfriend, and has yet to find the place that feels like home. The closest he ever got was his best friend, Nathan. But it’s been seven years since he passed, and life isn’t getting easier. That’s how he ends up in Briar County, hoping to grow roots in the place Nathan had loved...
  • Hard Knox by Riley Hart

    Hard Knox by Riley Hart

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    CallumA gay guy walks into a straight bar and notices the hottest man he’s ever seen.Why am I not surprised my life sounds like the beginning of a bad joke? First, my ex cheated on me, and I went running to Havenwood and the mom I have a complicated relationship with. Then, there’s Knox, the gorgeous lumberjack I don’t stand a chance with...
  • Employing Patience by Saxon James

    Employing Patience by Saxon James

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    ArtWhen it comes to regrets, I have none. My life is perfect. I own a bar, work hard, party harder, and smother my niblings in all the love they deserve. I don’t need to settle down, as much as my sister might want me to.But then Joey Manning walks into my office and leaves me all but begging to give him a job … and wanting to give him so much more...
  • Pining by Stephanie Rose

    Pining by Stephanie Rose

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    A slow-burn, friends-to-lovers standalone holiday romanceThe bad guy never gets the girl. In the eyes of the law, I’ve paid for my youthful mistakes but I know I can never undo the damage I’ve caused. When I stepped out of my cell, I vowed to live a good life, make the right choices, and avoid temptation at all costs. Until her. She’s not a choice, she’s a compulsion. A craving...
  • Shaun's Salvation by K.C. Wells

    Shaun's Salvation by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Romance is the last thing Shaun wants, but what if it’s exactly what he needs – and deserves?A selfless son barely holding onShaun doesn’t have much of a life. When he’s not working in the restaurant in Portland, Maine, he’s home looking after his dad, who has dementia...
    Categorized as:
    drama  family  friends-to-lovers  lgbtq  mlm  slow-burn  steamy  adult
  • Calling Cassie by Kat Mizera

    Calling Cassie by Kat Mizera

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Twenty-three-year-old hockey stud Logan Pelletier is having the time of his life as the ultimate bachelor. It’s all about hockey and living it up with his friends. He has no time for love, let alone a relationship. Until a spunky, hockey-playing stripper dances into his life... and his bed.Miss independent Cassidy Reynolds is already 0-2 in the marriage department...
  • Spring Rains by R.J. Scott

    Spring Rains by R.J. Scott

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    When love is on the line, the only way to move forward is to challenge ghosts of the past and find a place to belong.High School Teacher Chris, an amputee since his teens, has wrestled with darkness and emerged victorious. He’s a pillar of strength in the classroom, deflecting his overbearing family by day and yearning for love by night...
  • Side by Side by Nicole Pyland

    Side by Side by Nicole Pyland

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Sports 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...
  • Ember by Emma Renshaw

    Ember by Emma Renshaw

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    One night changed an entire town.Ten years ago, I left Hawk Valley. I never planned to return. Not to the regrets. The bitter memories. The guilt.My baseball career gave me both the excuse and the money I needed to start over. Then my mom called, and I found myself headed back to the one place I swore I wouldn’t step foot again.Meeting Delilah wasn’t part of the plan...
    Categorized as:
    athlete  family  slow-burn  sports  adult  book  children  contemporary
  • Navigating Noah by Jaclyn Quinn

    Navigating Noah by Jaclyn Quinn

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Noah HathawayThe saying 'livin' the dream' is usually said with sarcasm, but I truly am living my dream in Coral Pointe Inlet with my four best friends. Still, as I watch three of them fall in love, my heart aches a little with longing. It doesn't help when Hunter, a man I spent an incredible weekend with, comes back to Coral Pointe--not alone, I might add...
  • Levi's Love by K.C. Wells

    Levi's Love by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Unrequited love hurts like hell Levi Brown has loved Noah White since he was a teenager, but Noah isn’t looking for a relationship. Every time Levi sees him, his heart aches for what it cannot have. Because dear Lord, he wants Noah, in his life, in his bed.Especially in his bed. The only reason Levi is still a virgin is because he was waiting for Noah. Except Noah doesn’t want him...
    Categorized as:
    family  friends-to-lovers  lgbtq  mlm  slow-burn  steamy  adult  angst
  • Frat Bro by Raleigh Ruebins

    Frat Bro by Raleigh Ruebins

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    This fall, I have one simple rule: don't fall in love with my fake boyfriend.I’m awful at following the rules.One minute I was a nobody in a small Colorado town, getting by on contract work, home renovations, and a dumpster fire of a dating life—and then suddenly, my life was on TV...
  • Heartbreaker Handoff by Lex Martin

    Heartbreaker Handoff by Lex Martin

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Billy’s not my baby daddy, but he doesn’t mind pretending to be…I’m a Division 1 cheerleader with hopes of becoming a sports broadcaster. None of my plans for college include getting knocked up by a cheating ex who just got engaged to another girl. When my father finds out I’m pregnant, he goes ballistic...
  • Home Game by Ginger Scott

    Home Game by Ginger Scott

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    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...
  • On the Ropes by Kathryn Nolan

    On the Ropes by Kathryn Nolan

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Summer in the city heats up when the girl who got away moves in next door.Dean “The Machine” is a South Philly legend. Much to the dismay of fans who still hound him, the broody former fighter walked away from his boxing career right before clinching another championship belt...
  • Grinding by Sean Ashcroft

    Grinding by Sean Ashcroft

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Two childhood best friends. One accidental fake engagement. One Labrador puppy. One week to fall in love.When Harvey runs into his childhood best friend—literally—on the way into Otter Bay for his cousin's wedding, he doesn't plan to end up playing the part of the guy's fiancé...
  • Mine to Take by Natasha Madison

    Mine to Take by Natasha Madison

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    When two worlds crossover. From the This Is Series and The Southern Series. Things are supposed to go smoothly on your wedding day. Aren't they? Sofia Barnes I’ve always loved to play dress-up.Creating fake weddings was my childhood pastime.Now it is my dream come true.I’ve finally been handed my first client.But nothing could prepare me for who greeted me when I walked in...
  • Flirting with Disaster by Hailey Shore

    Flirting with Disaster by Hailey Shore

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    There are two things you need to know about First, I am not cool. No, no, don’t let my tuxedo shirt and anklet socks fool you. I’m 26-year-old virgin not cool. I’m carry my cat around in a special backpack not cool.Second, I’m cursed. Every Piedmont woman is. We are doomed to fall in love with men who will break our hearts. So, I’m never going to fall in love.But I wouldn’t mind a little flirting...
  • Perfect Day by Sally Malcolm

    Perfect Day by Sally Malcolm

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    First love conquers all in Perfect Day, a captivating contemporary male/male retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Love doesn’t burn out just because the timing’s wrong. It grows. It never leaves. When Joshua Newton, prodigal son of one of New Milton’s elite, fell in love with ambitious young actor Finn Callaghan, his world finally made sense...
  • Like the Taste of Summer by Kaje Harper

    Like the Taste of Summer by Kaje Harper

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Jack managed to get a scholarship to a small-town college in the middle of the Iowa cornfields, September 1981. It wasn't New York, or California, but he figured it would be better than being home. College would be be a new start in a new place, maybe somewhere he could be himself...
  • Dirty Trick by K.M. Neuhold

    Dirty Trick by K.M. Neuhold

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Can you be friends with benefits with a guy who hates you? What about enemies with benefits instead?My plan to lick every cupcake Boston wants until he realizes I’m his only option might actually work out…Was pretending to sleep with tons of men to keep my crush from hooking up with them a Dirty Trick? Sure. Do I regret it? Not one bit...
  • The Hail Mary by Ginger Scott

    The Hail Mary by Ginger Scott

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Sixteen years is a long time. In a marriage, it’s a milestone. On the gridiron, it’s a miracle. Reed Johnson wants more time for everything, but time is funny that way. It can be cruel. With a body that can’t quite take the hits it used to and a heart tired of being torn in two different directions, Reed is faced with a reality he’s not quite ready for—life without the game...
  • Let Your Hearts Be Light by Fae Quin

    Let Your Hearts Be Light by Fae Quin

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    A stranger is just someone you haven’t been forced to spend Christmas with yet.Baxter: As a 42-year-old single father the last thing I expected before Christmas was for my daughter to sign me up for a community matchmaking event...
  • Blank Canvas by E.M. Lindsey

    Blank Canvas by E.M. Lindsey

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    When a car accident changed the trajectory of his life at fifteen, Sam Braga set out to find his own way in the world. It never occurred to him he’d find home in Fairfield, Colorado, working with a childhood friend at a tattoo shop, and the legal guardian of a gorgeous little girl who was abandoned by her mother at birth. Sam has his life organized exactly the way he needs it...
  • Griff's Place by Riley Hart

    Griff's Place by Riley Hart

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    GRIFFINI always felt I wasn’t wired like my peers, but when my brother, Kellan, gave me three terms—ace, aromantic, and demi—I had possible names for it. Those three words have been on my mind ever since, as has my brother’s best friend, Josh Westbrook. It’s been cool getting to know him and spending time together, just us. He makes me feel something I never thought I’d be able to feel...
False Start by Alison Hendricks
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