Books like 'Playing by Heart'

Readers who enjoyed Playing by Heart by J.B. Salsbury also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  romance  small town  humor  enemies-to-lovers  alpha-mc  celebrity  slow-burn  angst  steamy 

  • Where it all Began: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon) by Lucy Score

    Where it all Began: A Small Town Love Story (Blue Moon) by Lucy Score

    Rated: 4.69 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    “This would be a lot easier if you had a sense of humor.” “This would be a lot easier if you were a man.” Author’s Note: Do NOT read this book until you’ve read at least Blue Moon #3, or even better #4. I’m protecting your reader experience here. I promise...
  • Rewriting the Stars by Claire Kingsley

    Rewriting the Stars by Claire Kingsley

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Firefighter Levi Bailey is used to being alone. Not that he’s lonely. How could he be, with a band of unruly brothers, and their wives and growing families. Maybe he’s the odd man out. The one brother who isn’t destined to be with his soulmate.Besides, he has her.She’s his Juliet, the only woman in the world he can’t ever have. To an outsider, it probably seems crazy...
  • Breaking Even by C.M. Owens

    Breaking Even by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    What happens when one neighbor pisses off the other? They end up in a brutal prank war, of course. But neither of them expects what happens when they can’t break even. Rye Clanton I told myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t—couldn’t—fall in love. I’ve seen what happens, the things they don’t tell you in fairytales. But I never saw Brin Waters coming until she had thoroughly invaded my life...
  • Taming a Maverick by C.M. Owens

    Taming a Maverick by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    SALEM Just some fun. Just one night of reckless, harmless, wild fun. That's what I told myself the night I hooked up with quite possibly the sexiest guy I've ever known. Only, I didn't want to KNOW him. Life is a series of temporary situations, or so it's always been for me...
  • Perfectly Toxic by C.M. Owens

    Perfectly Toxic by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    BELLA New life. New job. New home. New goals... I vowed to make drastic changes and to never fall back into old habits. But then Ethan Noles showed up and blew all my good intentions to hell. I should have stayed away. I shouldn't have played his game. But I did. Now I just hope I don't regret it. ETHAN Bella is the type of girl you can't help but chase, because she doesn't want to be caught...
  • Creed by Cee Bowerman

    Creed by Cee Bowerman

    Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Creed Tempest is content with the solitary life he’s chosen. The only people he needs around are his siblings. He’s got a handful of friends that are important to him, but there’s no special someone to warm his bed. Oddly enough, he’s fine with that. There’s less drama that way, he tells himself.When a beautiful woman and her children move in next door, Creed’s life is turned upside down...
    Categorized as:
    alpha-mc  humor  steamy  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  small-town
  • Crazy Rich Cajuns by Erin Nicholas

    Crazy Rich Cajuns by Erin Nicholas

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    A sexy, small town, opposites attract rom com! He wears suits and ties. He'll one day inherit a fortune. He has a law degree. He shines his shoes, for God's sake. What is she doing attracted to a guy like him? But she is. She so is. She drives air boats on the bayou, drinks and cusses, and gives city boys in suits a hard time just for fun. Why can't he get her out of his mind? But he can't...
  • Identical Disaster by C.M. Owens

    Identical Disaster by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    JAX My life was simple... until Bo Brendon crashed into my lap. Shy girls aren't my thing, yet somehow, she's under my skin and in my head. It's a f*cking nightmare. Yet it's a nightmare I don't want to give up. BOLIVIA (BO) Jax Marshall was an accident. A really sexy, smart, incredibly smooth, hot... accident...
    Categorized as:
    alpha-mc  angst  humor  multi-pov  slow-burn  steamy  adult  book
  • Make Me by C.M. Owens

    Make Me by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    DALE I'm a mature and very pragmatic person, whom others like to call boring. At least I was...until Harley came back into town... What do you do when a girl comes back for some petty revenge against you and seduction is part of her game? You pretend to be a millionaire dom, of course. Yeah...it sounded better in theory...
  • Talk Nerdy to Me by C.M. Owens

    Talk Nerdy to Me by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Despite the fact it seemed like Base Masters was all over Sterling Shore, I'd never really known much about him, aside from random factoids. Things like... he's a semi-estranged cousin of one of my brother's friends, plays guitar in a local band, and he doesn't get mentioned much unless he's on stage. Until..
  • Muses and Melodies by Rebecca Yarros

    Muses and Melodies by Rebecca Yarros

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    If I can keep Hush Note’s leading guitarist, Nixon Winters, on the straight and narrow for the next six months, I’ll finally get my own band to manage—assuming we don’t kill each other first.The egotistical, irritating rock star is fresh out of rehab, but it’s obvious his demons followed him home—and now I’m sleeping down the hall...
  • A Redo by C.M. Owens

    A Redo by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Allie Thrash Wren Prize is the asshole who got me pregnant seven years ago. And gave me a false name. And walked out of the hotel without a backward glance. Sure, I know I wanted to have sex just as much as he did, but I didn't want to be tossed aside like garbage the second it was done. I also wasn't planning to get pregnant...
  • The Last Second Chance by Lucy Score

    The Last Second Chance by Lucy Score

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    What would it take to get one last chance? Joey Greer is done having her heart broken. Eight years ago, after a horrific car accident, Jackson Pierce—her high school sweetheart—abandoned her. Abandoned his family. Abandoned the town they'd both grown up in, and fled to Hollywood. He never looked back, and she never forgot him. Or forgave him...
  • Twisted Twosome by Meghan Quinn

    Twisted Twosome by Meghan Quinn

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Racer McKay is a broody bastard. From the moment I met him, he’s been rude, irritable, and unbearable. And worse? He's broke. A contractor working to remodel my parents pool house for extra cash, he stomps around in those clunky construction boots with his tool belt wrapped around his narrow waist, and a chip on his shoulder. Racer McKay is also infuriatingly . . . sexy as hell...
  • Mourning Wood by Heather M. Orgeron

    Mourning Wood by Heather M. Orgeron

    Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    She’s hard up.He’s just hard…After an ill-fated one-night stand, Wyatt Landry was the last person I ever expected to see again.By design, mind you, as I spent the last two years avoiding him.He was only ever meant to be a good time—a really good time—and now, thanks to one teensy little mistake, he’s back in my life and wielding an entirely different set of tools...
  • Cocked and Loaded by Jordan Marie

    Cocked and Loaded by Jordan Marie

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    When I slap the handcuffs on her
 I’ll be taking her to bed, not jail. 

Getting involved with the wrong woman can destroy your life. 
I had to move back home and lose my position as Detective to get away from one. 
The last thing I need is to repeat my mistake. 
I finally have what I want. 
 Deputy in my home town, surrounded by family and friends— 
Life is good...
  • Desired by Doom by Jamie Begley

    Desired by Doom by Jamie Begley

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    There wasn't anything Arden wouldn't do for her family, even if it meant having to brave The Last Riders in their own clubhouse. There, she found herself thrust out of her comfort zone and seeing things that she was too shy to watch on Pay-Per-View. She needed The Last Riders' help to save her younger brother, but who was going to be the one to save her from them? One thing was for certain..
  • Kade's Game by C.M. Owens

    Kade's Game by C.M. Owens

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    We never go after what we want without circling around it at least a hundred times. Instead, we play games, try to work just the right angle, even when it's not necessary. You've heard Raya's version, and now it's Kade's turn. He had everything mapped out. His life was a series of strategy and games, all of which he was mastering...
  • Hidden Mistake by Lisa Suzanne

    Hidden Mistake by Lisa Suzanne

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The boy next door is back, and so am I.He’s spending his NFL off-season in our small Midwestern town after seven long years away, and I’m in town for different reasons.Memories shift to reality as we find ourselves in the place where we first fell in love. We’re different people now, but I’m falling fast and hard for the man he is now.But he’s married...
    Categorized as:
    alpha-mc  angst  celebrity  multi-pov  slow-burn  steamy  adult  book
  • Loathing a Landon by Ruth Cardello

    Loathing a Landon by Ruth Cardello

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Cooper Landon knows what it’s like to be left behind, lied to, and betrayed. At sixteen, angry and broke, he tried to rob a small-town hardware store. Instead of money, what he got was a good beating and a second chance. Pete Glenford took him in, taught him he wasn’t worthless, welcomed him into his family, and gave him a purpose...
  • The Player by Amelia Shea

    The Player by Amelia Shea

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    A fresh start is exactly what Ivy Collins has in mind when she packs up her truck and makes her move to Ghosttown. The ambitious twenty-five-year-old artist can’t wait to launch her new life, enhance her successful career, rekindle her relationship with her estranged grandfather, and settle into small-town life...
  • Jock Blocked by Pippa Grant

    Jock Blocked by Pippa Grant

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    COMING MAY 19, 2020She can't let him score… Call it superstition, but when a guy bats as hot as Brooks Elliott, you don't mess with what's working. And what's working is him keeping his pants zipped and doing all of his scoring on the field...
  • Good Trouble by Lani Lynn Vale

    Good Trouble by Lani Lynn Vale

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Bain met Diana, a.k.a. Luce, the night before he was set to deploy to Afghanistan.It’s not every day that you take your brother’s girlfriend to prom because he refuses to put out the effort.That night was one of the best nights of his life and the next day, he leaves and doesn’t see her again.But there are letters. Not many, but enough for them to form a connection...
  • One Call Away by Emily Goodwin

    One Call Away by Emily Goodwin

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Chase Henson doesn't play by the rules. He doesn't let himself get attached, doesn't stay in one place long enough to call anywhere home. So when he returns to the small town of Summer Hill for the first time in years, the last thing he expects to find is a reason to stay. Sierra Belmont is lost...
    Categorized as:
    alpha-mc  angst  multi-pov  slow-burn  steamy  adult  book  classics
  • Kiss Me Tonight by Maria Luis

    Kiss Me Tonight by Maria Luis

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    I had it all. The Super Bowl rings. The hot shot TV gig. Then I got fired. Now I’m living in middle-of-nowhere Maine, playing assistant coach to the woman of my nightmares. Did I mention that she and her son are my new neighbors? If you talk to the locals, they’ll tell you Aspen Levi is the queen of high school football...
  • Pit Stop: Baby! by Taryn Quinn

    Pit Stop: Baby! by Taryn Quinn

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    We had the hottest hookup ever. And now, she’s having my baby. I’m a carefree single guy. A successful race car driver who enjoys hitting the track—hard. I don’t do commitments. Hell, I rarely even do repeats. Until I spent the night with a gorgeous, funny woman who rocked my world. No names. No identifying details. Just lots and lots of pleasure...
  • Body and Soul by Lucy Lennox, Sloane Kennedy

    Body and Soul by Lucy Lennox, Sloane Kennedy

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Oz: Escaping the international modeling scene to design my own fashion collection is the first step to shucking my bobble-headed supermodel reputation and proving to the world I’m more than just a pretty face. But the minute I have to accept roadside help from the sexy man next door, I feel like the airhead people think I am...
  • Flirting with the Rock Star Next Door by Nadia Lee

    Flirting with the Rock Star Next Door by Nadia Lee

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    "The obnoxious drummer neighbor I reported for noise pollution? Turns out he’s the biggest rock star in the country! Oops."I write romance because true love doesn’t happen in real life. My parents’ marriage and a string of failed relationships have taught me that.Then Killian Axelrod moves in next door. He’s a rock star, and hot as hell. Wicked blue eyes. A body made for sin. Cocky attitude...
  • Matchmaking a Single Dad by Angela Denise, Angela Casella

    Matchmaking a Single Dad by Angela Denise, Angela Casella

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    They’re all wrong for each other…but sometimes two wrongs do make a right.ColeThe only woman I need in my life is my eight-year-old daughter, Jane. As a widowed brewery owner, I don’t have the time or inclination for anything more serious than a one night stand...
  • A Stolen Suit: An Enemies to Lovers, Revenge Romantic Comedy by Angela Casella

    A Stolen Suit: An Enemies to Lovers, Revenge Romantic Comedy by Angela Casella

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    I hate him...but I also want to touch his abs. Is that normal?GraceMy boss, the famous romance novelist, always said she’d open doors for me when I finished writing my first book. Only I have...and she hasn’t. Worse, I just met her new brand manager, and I know him.Enoch “the Suit” Laskin made my life miserable in business school, right up until he seduced me...
  • Vic Vaughn is Vicious by J.A. Huss

    Vic Vaughn is Vicious by J.A. Huss

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    My name is Vicious. God-given name, I cross my heart.And it fits.I’m a hot-as-f, inked-up tattoo artist at the trendiest shop in the Rocky Mountains.I have the looks, I have the bike, I have the reputation.That means I get the ladies.Sure. There are lots of women out there who hate tattoos. Wouldn’t be caught dead with guys like me. And that’s fine. I’m not looking for girls like that...
  • Riptide by Kathryn Nolan

    Riptide by Kathryn Nolan

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Avery Dacosta never expected to find a protester in front of her office.Especially not now, when she’s this close to achieving a professional milestone years in the making: building a luxury hotel on Playa Vieja, San Diego’s untouched beach paradise.Finn Travis, local surfer and all-around nice guy, never expected to find himself the leader of Playa Vieja’s resistance...
  • Somebody to Love by Wendy Vella

    Somebody to Love by Wendy Vella

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    He was the bad boy no one trustedBailey’s burned out and not sure what leads her back to Ryker Falls, but has a feeling it’s got something to do with closure. Bad boy Joe Trainer was once her soulmate, but she isn’t sure she has a soul anymore. Finding he’s made something of his life is a shock, as he’d been on a one-way trip to hell when she left...
  • Kissing the Rival by Kaylee Ryan

    Kissing the Rival by Kaylee Ryan

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    CharlotteI’m not just kissing the rival… I’m falling for him.Spencer Pennington has always been a shameless flirt, but when it came to being the best in our MBA program, all bets were off, and the competition was on.Fast-forward a few years, and all it takes is a bar at a failed wedding and my silly kiss-rating system to lock lips with the enemy...
  • Garrett's Obsession by Loni Nichole

    Garrett's Obsession by Loni Nichole

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    When it comes to love, this football coach is done playing by the rules.Garrett MarshAs the high school football coach, I'm supposed to play by the rules. Except the rules are standing in the way of the one thing I want…Ciara Sharp. She dropped everything to provide for her brother when their parents died. Now, she's untouchable, or so says the school board. But I'm done listening to reason...
  • 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...
  • Not My Match by Ilsa Madden-Mills

    Not My Match by Ilsa Madden-Mills

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills delivers a smart and sexy romance about a professional football hottie and the girl he’s sworn to never touch.Homeless and heartbreakingly innocent, Giselle Riley walks into my penthouse and chaos follows...
    Categorized as:
    alpha-mc  angst  celebrity  humor  multi-pov  slow-burn  steamy  adult
  • Falling into You: A Falling Stars Stand-Alone Romance by A.L. Jackson

    Falling into You: A Falling Stars Stand-Alone Romance by A.L. Jackson

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Richard Ramsey is the guitarist for the world’s hottest new band.Gifted. Charismatic. Hot as sin.Lend your ear, and he’ll steal your heart.Nah, you can’t have his considering he left it in his hometown years ago.He knows better than going back. But it’s his younger sister’s wedding, and there’s no way he can say no to that...
    Categorized as:
    alpha-mc  angst  celebrity  multi-pov  slow-burn  steamy  abuse  adult
  • Rockstar Baby by Taryn Quinn

    Rockstar Baby by Taryn Quinn

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Snowed in rocker makes unplanned baby with saucy waitress. News at 11. I could see the tabloids now.Yeah, I play guitar and sing occasionally. But my main role is as a producer for other musicians.That's why I came to Crescent Cove—to help rockstar Kellan McGuire with his first solo project.Not to get stuck in a surprise snowstorm with a smart, funny lass with big brown eyes and a very flexible.
  • Crave by Adriana Locke

    Crave by Adriana Locke

    Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Hadley Jacobs is over Machlan Gibson. Sure, she’ll always be a little weak to the dimple in his right cheek and the way his five o’clock shadow makes him ruggedly handsome. But that’s not enough to cover every other thing about him because they all drive her nuts. Like how he won’t admit he’s wrong even when he knows it and how he drives his stupid car a million miles an hour on wet asphalt...
  • Taste by Melanie Harlow

    Taste by Melanie Harlow

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    The last person on earth I want to be stranded with is Gianni Lupo.But thanks to the blizzard of the century, I’m trapped in a roadside motel room with that cocky bastard for two straight days.With one small bed.Some women might thank Mother Nature for delivering a polar vortex that maroons them with six feet of solid muscle, those deep blue eyes, that sexy grin--but not me...
  • See Me After Class by Meghan Quinn

    See Me After Class by Meghan Quinn

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    "Did you have relations with my brother . . ." Good question. I’d like to preface this by saying it was never my intention to ever get involved in a workplace romance, let alone get involved with the most surly, agitating, and pompous man I’ve ever met who just so happens to be my new friend’s brother...
  • Enemies With Benefits by Roxie Noir

    Enemies With Benefits by Roxie Noir

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    I don’t love him. I don’t even like him. I just want him. Eli Loveless was my nemesis from the first day of kindergarten until we graduated high school. Everything I did, he had to do better - and vice versa. The day he left town was the best day of my life. Ten years later, the day he came back was the worst. Now he’s my co-worker. Grown-up Eli Loveless is sexy as sin...
  • Perfect Chance by Molly McLain

    Perfect Chance by Molly McLain

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Kaden McMurray & Carly Walsh are coming to Mason Creek!We shared a single night together. No last names, no strings, no promises. Two months later, chance brings us together again. But this time around, things aren’t nearly as simple. In fact, they’re downright complicated...
  • Cry About It by Maggie C. Gates

    Cry About It by Maggie C. Gates

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    -Joelle-You know what they say about enemies.* Know the enemy* Keep the enemy close* Outsmart the enemy* Make out with the enemyOkay, maybe not that last part. And maybe that’s what got me in trouble with Vaughan Thompson. But in my defense, he started it. That city boy should have known better than to act a fool in these parts.I don't get mad. I get even...
  • Changing Lanes by Maren Lee

    Changing Lanes by Maren Lee

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Lane Bennett is the new hotshot lead public defender of Bounty County. A transplant from Chicago to Montana, Lane ran from the big city to escape a bad breakup, a far-too-stressful job, and all the anxiety issues that came along with it. But kicking ass and taking names as a small town public defender often pits her against the hottie Sheriff's Department deputies...
  • The Right Stuff by Brill Harper

    The Right Stuff by Brill Harper

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    After being cleaned out by her bigamist embezzling husband, socially awkward academic Tru Stanhope finds herself with one remaining asset: a dive bar in the podunk town of  Brazen Bay. Well, half a bar. The other half is owned by the infuriatingly hot Nash McKendrick...
  • Playing Rough by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

    Playing Rough by Cassie-Ann L. Miller

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    ExcerptMinka's lips tremble on a shaky exhale. "You and me are bad for each other, Deck.""And since when have either of us ever settled for what's 'good for us'?" I slide my fingers into her hair. "I'm done playing these games, Minx. If you love me, just let me know..."Blurb to come..
  • Bayou Tonight by Erin Nicholas

    Bayou Tonight by Erin Nicholas

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A prequel to Gotta Be Bayou, book one in the Badges of the Bayou series She’s so not his type. But he’s been thinking about her for almost a year now.He needs to figure out a way to get over her.Though kissing her at their friends’ wedding probably isn’t it…FBI agent Spencer Landry is looking for a sweet, bubbly sunshine at home to balance out all the darkness he sees in his work...
  • I Like Me Better by Susan Renee

    I Like Me Better by Susan Renee

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Sugar and spice and everything nice?No way.She’s sugar and sass and a pain in my...well...you know.It was just supposed to be a two-month leave from my cushy job in Chicago. Stabilize the family bakery business following the death of my father, and then get back to the city. It would have gone flawlessly had I not run smack dab into Hadley Hutton on my first night back...
Playing by Heart by J.B. Salsbury
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