Recommendations based on "Defensive Zone"

From the bestselling author and TikTok sensation Becka Mack comes the next book in her sizzling hockey romance series about a playboy defenseman and the team photographer who captures his heart. The fourth book in the globally popular Playing for Keeps series that New York Times bestselling author Hannah Grace calls “endlessly sexy and funny.” Jaxon Riley is exceptional at three things: starting fights on the ice, picking up women post-game, and going home to fulfill his role as the world’s best cat dad. Relationships, unfortunately, missed the list. Lennon Hayes is supposed to be on her honeymoon. Instead, she’s alone and single, vacationing next door to a surly tattooed man who ran his date off the resort. When a run-in at the bar results in a night of bickering and cocktails, she finds herself tumbling into bed with the enemy next door, then sneaking out before the sun comes up. Lennon’s plan to start over in a new city is going great, until she starts her new job. The job? The Vancouver Vipers’ new photographer. And the defenseman scowling at her from across the room? The one-night stand she wasn’t supposed to see again. Good thing neither of them are looking for anything serious… Right? Jaxon may not be used to falling, but if he’s going to go, he refuses to go alone. If he falls, he wants Lennon to fall with him.

ShawEver since we met two years ago, Eden Burkehammer has made everything better.The big defenseman sets me at ease. He's a beast on the ice-brutal and physical-but when it's the two of us, he turns to me with these unexpectedly soft brown eyes. This gravelly laugh that makes my whole body smile. And yeah, I might have thrown a glance his way a time or two in the steamed-up locker room showers-you know, just curious.But he's my best friend. My teammate. Roommate.I don't want to mess with that. Just the thought of losing him sends a cold zap the full length of my spine. Besides, I've never gone there with a guy, and he's never given a single hint he has either.Until one morning when I sign for his delivery. An envelope that contains something I never-in my life-would have guessed.And, suddenly, I'm thinking about him in a whole new way.BurkI can't look at Shaw Keenan for too long. When he leans across my truck console, with that whip-quick smile, I get this catch in my throat and focus on the road. Or when he tips his goalie mask up onto his head, hair askew and a flush of adrenaline on his cheeks, I skate back toward the blue line.I don't know why. My head's confused about a lot of stuff. Always has been. But what I do know is that I've never thought about anyone the way I think about him.Especially when he steps through my doorway-in nothing but a pair of thin running shorts and that backwards pink ballcap he always wears-holding a package I ordered on a whim.And he's looking at me in a way he never has before.It's game over after that.Let's Do This is a steamy, low-angst, friends-to-lovers college hockey m/m romance with double first times, a flirty goalie, and a gruff defenseman willing to risk it all for a chance with his best friend. It's a spin-off from Indigo Falls College Series and a standalone.

~ Quinton Dunn ~I had the perfect life.Getting paid millions to play the sport I love and spending most of my nights with all the adoring female fans, what more could I possibly want?I sure as hell didn’t want the baby boy someone dropped on me before running, leaving behind a note saying he’s mine.If that’s true, then I don’t have a freakin’ clue who his mother could be.Until I get the paternity test results, though, the kid’s my responsibility.The sleepless nights with a crying baby have me crashing and burning on the football field, putting my superstar career in jeopardy.And suddenly, the only woman I want hates me with a fiery passion. I knew Callie wasn’t going to be easy to win over. Not when she blames me for her sister’s death.Oh, and if this baby turns out to be my son, Callie’s determined to take him away from me.Somehow I’ll have to find a way to prove to her that there’s more to me than my perfect spiral.

It's hard to resist the past in this steamy, dark hockey romance--an Amazon Top 10 Bestseller from USA Today-bestselling author C.R. Jane. Blake moved to L.A. for a fresh start and to make it big. Now she's waiting tables while her dreams of becoming a model hover just out of reach. She already has her hands full . . . and then her past walks into the room and changes everything. "What's your name, sunshine?" At first Blake doesn't recognize him, but the gorgeous six-foot-four, tattooed pro-hockey player is Ari Lancaster--her first ever crush, the one who got her through the worst time in her life. He's all grown up now, with an unshakeable confidence and the ability to turn her inside out with a single kiss. And he has no intention of letting her go again. Blake knows she should resist, but each time Ari's overwhelming intensity is focused on her, all her best intentions go out the window. There's no denying they're playing in different leagues, but it's only a matter of time before Blake starts to wonder if the completely wrong guy she's falling for . . . is actually the right one. This edition features two brand-new character illustrations, a signed letter from the author, a curated playlist, and a recipe from the story.

Things are heating up for the Sinclair boys! With one already in the NHL, Jayden Sinclair is hoping to be next!This has been the toughest year of my life. I watched my brother go into the draft without me, my mom got divorced, and the weight of my family's issues is heavy on my shoulders. I feel like it's my job to fix everything while working my butt off in school and trying to make my game better. I have to go into the draft. It will give my family the support they need, and it will prove that I'm good enough. But to get there, I have to show I can be the best captain for the Bellevue Bullies. The spot is mine-no one can take it. First though, Jude is making me go on a brother's weekend. Innocent enough, I guess...until I see her. She's the biggest competitor I've ever faced. Not only for my spot but also my heart. It's hard to ignore someone like Baylor Moore. *** I don't lose. I can't. My dad has bred me to be the best in anything I do. I am driven, I am smart, and I am going to be the first woman in the National Hockey League. No two ways about it. I've worked too hard. I've been through too much not to have what I want. I know I can do it. I will make my dad proud, and no one will stand in the way of that. That is, until I let him in. He scares me. He makes me feel. And he could very well be the one person who can make me want more than just to win. We both have the same goal. Victory. But how do you compete against the person you want to win? It's not easy. Love isn't something you can control. It isn't like a puck that can be handled by a stick. No, it has a mind of its own and does what it wants. Neither of us saw it coming, and we really don't know if there is a way to score, especially when you're being Clipped by Love.

 A pace ahead of the play can send you back to the start. And put everything you’ve worked for at risk. Single mother and submissive Rebecca Bower abandoned her career as a sports reporter to become a media consultant with her brother’s hockey team. A failed marriage to a selfish man makes her wary of getting involved with another. Unfortunately, chemistry is hard to deny, and all her hormones are dancing when she gets close to the Cobra’s sniper, Scott Demyan. Zachary Pearce ‘came out’ to the world last season to shift attention away from a teammate. And his one night with Scott Demyan had been unsettling. There could be more there, if only Scott was a different person. Instead, a night of sensual BDSM play with Becky leaves him wanting more, but she thinks he’s gay and questions his interest. It’s been a long time since a woman has attracted him both as a man and a Dom, and he’ll do everything in his power to prove she’s the only one he needs. Or wants. His one time with Scott was a mistake. Scott might have forgotten what happened in his childhood, but the effects linger, and he specializes in drunken one-night stands…until he meets Zach and Becky and sees what he’s missing. But neither one believes Scott can be faithful. Although he’s trying hard to clean up his act to avoid getting kicked off the team, they want more from him. He’s willing to make changes, but the most important one—putting their happiness before his own—means he’ll probably end up alone.

From the New York Times bestselling author of Forever My Girl comes a sports romance with "a hot, complex hero and a gutsy, multidimensional heroine" ( Publishers Weekly, starred review). I've given up everything for the chance to play major league baseball. Everything. Now I'm so close I can practically hear the crowd chanting my name. There's nothing that could take my dream away from me . . . Unless I lose focus. And Ainsley Burke is the most beautiful, distracting woman I've ever met. When I'm with her, I can't think of anything else. But no matter how much I want Ainsley, there's no room for love in my game plan. I can give her a quick tour of the bases, but that's it. Then I have to let her go. If she wants to think I'm a love 'em and leave 'em player, fine. All dreams require sacrifice. I just wish this one didn't mean tearing out my own heart.

Abby Gossman is unstoppable. An Olympic champion, she’s now blazing a trail for women in baseball as the first ever female coach for an MLB team. All of her dreams are coming true, even if one of them has to stay in the shadows. Because if anyone found out she was dating Jake Landon, an All-Star catcher from another team, it would ruin her reputation.But then Jake gets traded to the Longhorns, and just like that the relationship is over. As madly in love with her as he is, he won’t ask Abby to sacrifice her career for him. She matters to him more than anything, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make her happy. Even if it’s killing him not to have her in his arms and in his bed. Even if he wants to throttle any other man who looks at her.It doesn’t matter how hard she tries, Abby can’t seem to stay away from sexy, charming Jake, and before long, they’re sneaking around, desperate for each other. Hot hotel hookups, clandestine meetings after dark, forbidden rendez-vous whenever and wherever they can. Because as much as they’re together, it’s never enough.But what’s in the shadows has a way of coming to light, and when the spotlight shines on their forbidden love, Abby will have to choose between Jake, the man of her dreams, and the career she’s sacrificed everything for. ***Keywords: contemporary romance, sports romance, baseball romance, forbidden romance, steamy romance, baseball, sexy romance, Dallas, Texas, MLB, series, sports romance series, contemporary romance series, modern romance, urban romance, big city romance, Texas romance, wealthy, city romance, smart romance, hot romance, sexy, love, love books, kissing books, emotional, wealthy hero, sassy, strong heroine, captivating romance, swoon, HEA, alpha, summer, secret relationship, star crossed, female coach, forbidden love

Naomi Piccolo is done being underestimated. Chronically overlooked at her marketing firm, landing a consulting gig for a pro hockey team is her chance to prove she belongs in the big leagues-even if she's the shortest person in every boardroom. Garrett Tall doesn't do apologies. Not for his size, not for his ridiculous pre-game rituals, and definitely not for pissing off the fierce little redhead. As the Hartford Whalers' starting goalie, he's paid to be immovable, and he's very good at his job. When Naomi walks into the arena, neither of them is thrilled. She thinks he's a superstitious man-child who smirks instead of speaks. He thinks she's all bark and no bite. Then she accidentally touches his lucky stick. And he wins. Now Garrett is convinced she's his good luck charm-and he's not above asking her to touch his stick again. She finds the whole thing absurd. He finds her protests irrelevant. Suddenly they're bound together by superstition and stubbornness, stuck in each other's orbit with all that friction combusting into something a lot harder to ignore. A sharp, steamy enemies-to-lovers hockey romance novella with banter that hits like a perfectly timed poke check.

Love is a long game... Down-and-out after retiring from cycling to 'get a real job', Leesa Kubicka just wants to forget about her years on the elite team, the races she mostly lost. Just her luck, her first real assignment at the sports marketing agency where she's building a career takes her right back to everything she wanted to leave behind: cycling, the Tour de France and Colin Gallagher, the immature joker who'd enjoyed riling her up with stupid pranks – the guy she'd nearly kissed back in September. Much to her mortification, her job is now to make content with him before and during the Tour de France. His pranks and flirting – and distractingly deep voice – don't make her job any easier, but she's determined to impress her boss and earn the contract extension her bank account desperately needs. Leesa has always been Colin's Achilles heel: beautiful, funny and completely immune to his rough charm. But now she's here to witness the moment that will make or break his young career and all he wants to do is act out with her. It's his last chance to prove he's not just the idiot she thinks he is before she's gone from his life forever. It's time for Colin Gallagher to finally grow up and prove he's worth the support of his team and sponsors – and maybe even Leesa's heart.