Here are 73 books that The Bombshell Effect fans have personally recommended if you like
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I’m a self-published romance author with a hankering for angst and sports romance. As an international bestselling author myself, I’m addicted to finding the next book that will make my pulse race, my eyes red from reading all night, and my stomach ache with the desperation of wanting to dive into the fictional world an author has created. You can follow all my book reviews on Goodreads, and check out my bestselling sports romances on my website.
Sterling really dove into unmarked territory in her angsty college sports romance, The Perfect Game. Sterling has such an addicting writing style, making the story flow so nicely from both POVs that you might find yourself glued to your Kindle until you finish. The way she leads into every chapter left me saying, "Just one more.." all night until I finished the book.
With over half-a-million copies sold worldwide, come see why readers and author alike call this, "an unforgettable story that will stay with you for years." He's a game she never intended to play. And she's the game changer he never knew he needed.The Perfect Game tells the story of college juniors, Cassie Andrews & Jack Carter. When Cassie meets rising baseball hopeful Jack, she is determined to steer clear of him and his typical cocky attitude. But Jack has other things on his mind... like getting Cassie to give him the time of day. Sometimes life gets ugly before it…
I’ve been a published romance author since 2010, but even before I published my first romance novel, I was an avid reader of the genre. In fact, I started at the very young age of eleven, checking out romance novels from my local public library. Over the years, I’ve read hundreds of books and found the ones that I enjoy the most have the most intriguing heroes who fall hard for the heroine.
I literally could not stop reading this book. To this day, it’s my favorite book by Kennedy Ryan.
It is an achy, angst-ridden novel that I couldn’t put down. Both Iris and August were compelling characters, and when they first met at the bar, their chemistry was undeniable. But Iris was in a relationship, and each time she and August met in the story, I could feel the longing.
The book covers tough subject matter involving domestic violence, and it’s quite graphic. I skipped over the parts that were “too much” and focused on the burgeoning relationship between Iris and August. He showed her in so many ways how much he loved her, and I spent the entire novel rooting for the happily ever after they both deserved.
Now a Top 30 Amazon Bestseller!A FORBIDDEN LOVE SET IN THE EXPLOSIVE WORLD OF THE NBA...Think you know what it's like being a baller's girl?You don't.My fairy tale is upside down.A happily never after.I kissed the prince and he turned into a fraud.I was a fool, and his love - fool's gold.Now there's a new player in the game, August West.One of the NBA's brightest stars.Fine. Forbidden.He wants me. I want him.But my past, my fraudulent prince, just won't let me go*Contains domestic/sexual abuse not involving the hero. Read reviews for guidance.
I’m a self-published romance author with a hankering for angst and sports romance. As an international bestselling author myself, I’m addicted to finding the next book that will make my pulse race, my eyes red from reading all night, and my stomach ache with the desperation of wanting to dive into the fictional world an author has created. You can follow all my book reviews on Goodreads, and check out my bestselling sports romances on my website.
I've never read anything with this style of writing. Ever. It was refreshing and poignant while also having the ability to sucker-punch me right in the chest with angsty goodness. I knew I would be walking into a sports romance, I had heard she could write the schmexiness, but what I didn't know was that Moonshot would be so un-put-downable that I would be a worthless human being until I devoured every last page - and devour I did.
Baseball wasn't supposed to be a game of life and death...
The summer that Chase Stern entered my life, I was seventeen. The daughter of a legend, the Yankees were my family, their stadium my home, their dugout my workplace. My focus was on the game. Chase ... he started out as a distraction. A distraction with sex appeal poured into every inch of his six foot frame. A distraction who played like a god and partied like a devil.
I tried to stay away. I couldn't.
Then, the team started losing.
Women started dying.
And everything in my perfect…
I’m a self-published romance author with a hankering for angst and sports romance. As an international bestselling author myself, I’m addicted to finding the next book that will make my pulse race, my eyes red from reading all night, and my stomach ache with the desperation of wanting to dive into the fictional world an author has created. You can follow all my book reviews on Goodreads, and check out my bestselling sports romances on my website.
This was my first RVD book and I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to read her. Her style is so fun and addicting, I had the hardest time ever putting the book down. Full of angst (hello, love triangle!), humor, and heat – this is one that will get you all up in your feels.
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken kicks off a brand-new series in which romance is a game and love is a touchdown.
Emerson just made her dream come true as a professional cheerleader for her favorite pro football team. But even though the plus-size athlete is breaking down boundaries, she still has to contend with the massive rulebook. Carbs? Nope. Chocolate? Definitely not. Still, Emerson loves her curves, and she'll rock the hell out of this job even if it kills her. Except for one mandate that is easier read than done...
I scored my first touchdown at nine and went on to play quarterback at both the collegiate and professional levels. By twenty-six, I was the head coach of a backwoods high school in Arkansas. My debut novel, Don’t Know Tough, is a football-centric thriller and was named one of the “Best Crime Novels” of 2022 by the New York Times. Afterthat book's publication, I’ve had readers reach out and ask about my favorite football novels, so I was thrilled to get the chance to compile them all into one list. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have.
A philosophy professor during my senior year in college recommended this book to me. I was the university’s quarterback, and also an English major, and for whatever reason he thought this book would be a good fit. Boy, was he right! This is one of the few books that I have actually read in one sitting. Gent’s descriptions of players as cogs in a machine are spot on and highlight the ugly—and often overlooked—side of football.
National Bestseller: The “powerful novel” about the hidden side of pro football, written by a former NFL player (Newsweek). On the field, the men who play football are gladiators, titans, and every other kind of cliché. But when they leave the locker room they are only men. Peter Gent’s classic novel looks at the seedy underbelly of the pro game, chronicling eight days in the life of Phil Elliott, an aging receiver for the Texas team. Running on a mixture of painkillers and cortisone as he tries to keep his fading legs strong, Elliott tries to get every ounce of…
I am an author whose works have spanned several genres, from mysteries (I won an Edgar for Strike Three You’re Dead), to psychology (I coined the word “psychobabble” and wrote a book about it), to humor (Bad Cat andBad Dog were both bestsellers), and, more lately to nonfiction, including Such Good Girls, true story of three Jewish women who survived the Holocaust. I have worked in television as a comedian, writer, and producer, and as a senior editor in the publishing industry, but my first and enduring love is the magic of writing.
In 1949, while still playing for the Chicago Bears, Luckman (and a ghostwriter) penned this appealingly modest account of the quarterback’s early life. Since Luckman left no other writing behind, it’s an invaluable account of a “scrawny runt's" rise to national football celebrity by his 24th birthday. The most moving aspect of the book, for those in the know, is his silence about his father’s murder of Sid’s favorite uncle. Instead, he used a cover story for Dad’s disappearance and then kept his mouth shut for the rest of his life.
I have always loved getting lost in the literary world of romance and happily ever afters. Family, friends, large casts of characters, laugh-out-loud situations, and sexy thrills—the more the better. After years in the corporate world, I found my passion for writing romance. I have over 18 books published, several Best Seller banners, and am currently finishing the next book in the Men of Action series.
I happened upon False Start late one afternoon and stayed up way into the night to finish. The prose has all my favorites—second chances, sports romance, and a narrative that took me back to the beginning of where the love story began. Bryant Hudson is 1000% swoon-worthy with a heart that belongs to only one woman. I fell hard and fast for his charm, and still get tingles thinking of his pursuit to win her back. Hudson + Zhanna = off the charts.
Football, a kitten, and 14 dates. Zhanna Hale THEN My father is a legend. Some call me football royalty, and in my hometown of Louisiana, I suppose I am. His legacy didn’t prepare me for Bryant Hudson. The quarterback. I swore I’d never date football players. Permanently. Yet Bryant had other plans.Three dates and a handful of conversations, I handed him my heart without realizing it. But, Bryant shatters my soul. I’m left picking up the pieces. If only erasing him from my heart was as easy. Bryant Hudson NOW I lost at the only game that matters. And it…
I’m an author who always finds something redeemable in the most chaotic characters. I not only love to write broken characters, but I search them out while reading. There’s something beautiful in their redemption and their growth. It’s simple to fall in love with the easy heroes, the ones that can do no wrong. The ones that make you stop reading because you don’t think you can take it anymore and cause your heart to race in the middle of the night as you devour their story, those are the heroes that I love. They usually end up being the ones you love to hate.
I often wonder what made Sam write a character like Carter Mahoney, but all I can say is I’m so happy she did. This is not the book to go into with sunshine and rainbows on the brain because you will get the exact opposite, but in the best way possible. If you love cruel heroes that make you question your own sanity while reading like I do, this is the perfect read for you.
Senior year was off to a rough start: lube in my locker, panties on my front porch, unimaginative name-calling. See, I got a player suspended from the football team for harassing me, and in my small Texas town, you don't mess with the football players—even if they mess with you first.
I didn't care if it was an unpopular thing to do; I stood up for myself... and in doing so, opened Pandora's Box.
I never dreamed I would attract the attention of locally worshipped star quarterback, Carter Mahoney.…
I grew up a closeted gay in a very straight world. I enjoy reading both true and fictional stories about how others grew up and came out. I decided to write about coming-out and coming-of-age because this mixture of topics just didn’t exist when I was a teen. The books that I have listed here are ones that I feel capture both the realism of what is, what we wished had been, and the hope of what could be—a world where "coming out" wouldn’t be necessary.
I fell deeply for Brian and identified with him. I wasn’t ever a quarterback or a football player, but I was deeply in the closet in high school, all the while pining for other guys. I admired boys like Landon, unafraid to be authentic in the face of bigotry and hate.
This is a coming-out, coming-of-age story quite unlike most out there and certainly not for the faint of heart. Its subject matter is tragic and timely and frames and focuses on the coming-out and shedding of boyhood for both of the main characters. I laughed, I cried, and it was definitely better than Cats!
BrianYou’ll make it out of here, Brian. I swear.I had everything—school quarterback, popular with girls, and my dad was proud of me. I told myself it didn’t matter no one knew the real me. And then I nearly died. Landon saved my life. He’s the bravest guy I know. He came out a few years ago, proud and fierce, and he ran into gunfire to help others. Me, I’m a mess. Can’t even stand to be in a room with the curtains open. But here’s the thing about losing it all: You get a chance to start over and be…
I scored my first touchdown at nine and went on to play quarterback at both the collegiate and professional levels. By twenty-six, I was the head coach of a backwoods high school in Arkansas. My debut novel, Don’t Know Tough, is a football-centric thriller and was named one of the “Best Crime Novels” of 2022 by the New York Times. Afterthat book's publication, I’ve had readers reach out and ask about my favorite football novels, so I was thrilled to get the chance to compile them all into one list. I hope you enjoy these books as much as I have.
A lesser-known DeLillo book, End Zoneis way up there on my list. I read this book when I first started trying to write about football. DeLillo paints a vivid picture of the locker room, the dorm room, and the crazy characters often found inside both. There are also some wild bits about nuclear threats and metaphors about football as war. Perfect for readers looking for a gridiron book with more “literary” leanings.
The second novel by Don DeLillo, author of White Noise (winner of the National Book Award) and The Silence
At Logos College in West Texas, huge young men, vacuum-packed into shoulder pads and shiny helmets, play football with intense passion. During an uncharacteristic winning season, the perplexed and distracted running back Gary Harkness has periodic fits of nuclear glee; he is fueled and shielded by his fear of and fascination with nuclear conflict. Among oddly afflicted and recognizable players, the terminologies of football and nuclear war--the language of end zones--become interchangeable, and their meaning deteriorates as the collegiate year runs…
