"I didn't follow Wyatt Stone to college; I followed my heart. He just happened to be there.
Against the odds, our love has only grown stronger over the last three years. Now Wyatt's entering his final college football season, only a few months away from the pro draft this spring. And despite how hard I tried to deny living the same love story as my parents, it seems I'm destined to become the wife of an NFL quarterback. Forever the cheerleader. Truthfully? I can't imagine life turning out any other way.
However, dreams are temporary. And sometimes, it's the things that happen when we're wide awake that forge our stories. Our love is about to face its toughest test yet, and as badly as my heart wants to hold on to what we were, I'm not so sure it's possible. More importantly, I'm not certain it's the right choice for either of us.
Now, Wyatt... he's a lot like my father. He's stubborn. What we're facing is a whole lot heavier than being down by a touchdown with only seconds to go. But Wyatt doesn't back down from a fight. It's just that this one might not win him the game in the end."
"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. To make matters worse, when my dad retired from the NFL, he decided his second calling was to take over the head coaching gig at my high school, where he had coached my boyfriend for the last three years.
Correction—my ex-boyfriend.
While the fairytale high-school sweetheart story may have worked for my parents, I have other plans. And following a self-absorbed athlete to college is not part of them, no matter how hard my dad tries to push me and my ex together.
Thankfully, a new high school opens and draws a line through the center of our town, sending half of my dad's players to a new team. And apparently, their new quarterback is breaking all of my dad's old state records. It's the ultimate distraction, giving me the chance to land myself a spot on the cheer team at any college that isn't close to home.
But then I met him. Wyatt Stone. The guy my dad considers our enemy. The best quarterback I've ever seen. A complete jerk whom I can't quit thinking about. And running into. And rooting for.
Now, I'm the one who is distracted. And repeating my parents' love story doesn't sound so bad after all.
This is a second-generation novel from The Waiting Series world. Peyton is the daughter of Reed and Nolan.
Tropes include: enemies-to-lovers; forbidden love; fated to fall; famous quarterback dad; football; small town; coming-of-age; bonfires; rivalries; and cheerleading."
"Sutter Mason is sick and tired of ballplayers. And as far as she's concerned, the broken promise the last ace left her with was her final strike.
The problem? Her dad is the coach of the hometown minor league team. And the hot new lefty who just joined the squad? He's her brother's new roommate. This time around, instead of falling for the player, she's going to use him to get what she wants—the perfect case study for her psychology thesis.
No dates. No feelings. Zero extra innings.
Jensen Hawke is laser focused—on proving he's more than just hype, on breaking the league's strikeout record, and on getting called up to the big leagues.
Jensen doesn't do relationships. But his attitude is getting him in trouble. His curveball is a mess. And every time his roommate's sister points out that it's all in his head, he wants to scream.
But when a conversation with her seems to up his game, Jensen decides maybe he's got time for one relationship. So what if Sutter gets him more than anyone ever has. And so what if he's starting to feel things he swore off for good.
In baseball, sometimes all it takes is one play to change the game. And Jensen Hawke and Sutter Mason didn't see each other coming."
"Casey Coffield has a growing list of personal flaws he keeps locked away in his head:
He’s never on time.
His list of IOUs to his best friend is endless.
Money is always short.
Goals are never in reach.
Oh, and he’s decided to add college drop-out to that list, too. He doesn’t really think that last one’s such a bad thing, but his family insists it is, so it stays on the list.
On paper, he’s a zero. But in person, when he’s mixing tracks for a sea of bodies at the hottest clubs and parties, he’s downright irresistible. Just-right stubble on his chin, body of a boxer and a smirk that stimulates all the right nerves—women have never been a problem. They flock to his swagger and fall for his charm…fast.
All except for this one.
Purple hair, gray eyes, a raspy voice and sass, Murphy Sullivan is a little bit country and a little bit rock-n-roll. And her and Casey? They have history. He can’t remember it, but she wrote a song about him—and it’s not exactly a love song. But it is good. Damn good. And uncovering her inspiration just might be the key to solving a few of his shortcomings—not to mention open doors to his own big break in the music industry.
But sometimes dreams get messy when they collide. Sometimes life changes patterns. A past paints the wrong picture and futures get cloudy. The only question that remains is who will you choose when the dust settles—you? Or the girl of your dreams?"
"Morgan Bentley is good at getting attention, except from those she wants it from most. And for a while, the privilege and ease that came along with fame was enough. But as Morgan grew up, being thought of as the pretty face who told the masses what to wear and where to be seen wasn't what she really wanted out of life.
James Fuentes might be the most talented quarterback to ever throw on the Welles Academy field. While the gridiron comes easy to James, though, the classroom is another story. And his big business dreams are riding on his football talent to get his foot in an Ivy League door.
Confident, beautiful, curvy and the literal object of every guy on campus' fantasies, Morgan is impossible to ignore. What starts as innocent flirtation and a crush grows into the only meaningful relationship either of them has.
But being the center of attention—and gossip—comes with risk. Reputation is everything at Welles Academy, and rumors have a way of taking people down. Even the truest of loves might not stand a chance when whispers start to circle. But what good is all that fame and power if you can't use it to satisfy your own heart when it's on the verge of breaking?"
"On the surface, Cameron Hass always seems a bit risky. First to take the dare, last to leave the tracks in the face of an oncoming train, the Boston rebel has always liked to flirt with danger. But underneath, he's terrified. Not about breaking an arm or getting pulled over for driving twice the speed limit, but about the man he's going to become when he graduates from Welles Academy. His role models have never really been much to look up to.
Brooklyn Bennett, on the other hand, always appears to have it together. Every button is done, every hair in the perfect place, every grade not just an A, but an A+. Beautiful, smart, and from political royalty, Brooklyn set her future goals at the age of five, and she's never strayed from the path of following in her parents' diplomatic footsteps.
Until now.
Surviving a terrifying car crash her junior year left Brooklyn questioning a lot of things. Losing her best friend left her feeling alone. But Cameron's always been a good listener. And messy or not, his heart has always been in the right place. Maybe . . . he's been there all along.
But how do chaos and rules go together? And what happens if the rest of the world wants to keep them apart?"
"Theo Rothschild wasn't a bad boy, but he wasn't quite good either. And shy Lily Beachem was content admiring the hottest guy at Welles Academy from the comfort of her quiet corner. Until Lily's best friend, Theo's sister, decided two lonely souls should be together.
And maybe she was right.
Theo and Lily felt something that night they sat awake and talked for hours under the cover of the woods and a blanket of stars. But when tragedy struck their small, elite East Coast boarding school, robbing them of friendships and any hope of a normal life, being alone became the only thing that made sense.
But sometimes the deepest bonds are forged through pain, and for Theo and Lily, holding on to the threads of their connection might do more than ease their broken hearts. It may finally make them whole."
"I've had a crush on my best friend, Alex Mendoza, for years, and I was finally going to tell him how I felt. But instead, I got cold feet. And now he thinks I'm interested in his teammate—my ex.
Of course, being the good friend he is, Alex has offered to make my ex jealous. What's wrong with a little play flirting?
Well, for starters, I'm not playing.
Alex's mom and mine are best friends, soul sisters forged together by growing up in the same small town. They say they didn't plan it, but the fact that Alex and I were born two weeks apart has always felt very much part of their plan. Our birthday parties were always together. First days of school were the same. And when Alex got his own car, the passenger seat was literally labeled with my name—Nikki Thomas. Convenient since we were inseparable.
For most of my life, Alex has been like the big brother I never had. He's always been my protector. And he's always made me feel safe. But somewhere along the way, he started to make me feel other things too.
Now it's his senior baseball season, and he has the talent to go pro. His dreams are all coming together. My life, on the other hand, is falling apart. I know Alex would support me if I told him my secrets. After all, that's what best friends do. But maybe it's my turn to be the protector. And if that means all I can have are a few pretend kisses, then perhaps that will have to be enough.
Unless it turns out Alex has been keeping secrets of his own."
"I was supposed to be bumping shoulders with the best and brightest in chemistry at a London university. Instead, I'm bumping into the shoulder pads of Tiff U's star football player—and I'm his tutor.
I've never had many friends. The only one I thought I could count on ended up stealing my scholarship—and then my boyfriend. Now, instead of spending my fall semester abroad, I'm stuck here in Iowa, with zero funds and even less hope that I'll get to study abroad at all before I graduate this spring.
Even worse? My mentor asked me to take on the impossible—tutoring arrogant running back Logan Ford and helping him finally pass Chem 101. Apparently, the team needs him, and the governing board is cracking down on letting grades slide for athletes. Normally, I'm all for accountability. Except now getting him to pass is my problem. And everyone on campus is looking to me—Rachel Edwards, chemistry genius, bonafide introvert—to get it done.
I'm about to give up before I start. But then I get a crazy idea. What if I can get Logan to be my date for the winter science ball? The one where the honors students compete in a pool for massive cash for the one who lands the hottest hottie on campus. Tiff U athletes have their fun, and we have ours too. It just doesn't get the same attention. Probably because nobody has ever walked into the ball with someone like Logan Ford.
Last year's pool got all the way up to five grand, enough to pay for my semester abroad. But can I really land the running back? And if I ask him to pretend in exchange for passing his class, can I handle the way he looks at me, touches me, makes my insides incinerate like a chemical reaction?
And what happens if I forget that none of it is real?"
"It was supposed to be my year, but then he made a bet that I couldn't refuse…
As a star senior on the Tiff U volleyball team, it's been my goal to come back strong after an injury that nearly took me out of the game. I'm Laney freaking Price, and I'm taking my shot to make it on the new pro women's team, despite the lack of support from my father.
The problem? Cutter McCreary. He is the captain of the Tiff U hockey team, an all-around loveable guy, and a total player. Did I mention a complete thorn in my side since freshman year? Yeah… that guy. His charms don't tempt me.
Until a mix-up with our housing situation forces us into a bit of a predicament. We were both promised a room. The same room.
His proposal? A bet. We split the room in half—for now. Whoever falls in love with the other first has to move out. The winner gets to stay. When strategic glances turn into late-night talks, and fake kisses start to feel real, I'm finding myself without a game plan. And winning suddenly doesn't feel like the only thing that matters."
"Johnny Bishop crashed into my life like a hurricane. Not once, but twice.
The first time, we were teenagers. He was the star quarterback destined to save our small town's high school team. I was the music nerd desperate to shine but always falling short. Until him.
Johnny was good at football, but he was great at music. And when I realized we shared a love of performing, I fell for his charm. I drank in his words and was hypnotized by the way he sang. I was never fully in the spotlight with him, but the way he held onto me and kept me close felt good enough. His star was bright enough for both of us, and his dreams were worth all the risks, even if they were my dreams first.
When he left our town—leaving me in it—the damage in his wake was devastating. I spent a decade trying to piece together my broken heart. A decade trying to avoid his music, a nearly impossible feat considering he was selling out arenas and piling up Grammys. While he tore through city after city, I built a quiet life as a music teacher in my hometown.
I'd made peace with the fact that a now-famous rockstar once held my hand and told me he loved me. But when he shows up unannounced, begging for help, I'm sucked right back into his gravitational pull.
I want to hate him. I want to punish him for turning his back on me. But I can't when he's so broken. And the more time we spend in our present talking about our past, the more I start to wonder if maybe Johnny left to save us all from the storm.
Maybe that story about me and the famous rockstar has a lot more to be told."
"When Dustin Bridges left Camp Verde to try to make it on his own, he left half his heart behind. A life with Hannah Judge was just too dangerous. A mountain of chaos and violence was always aiming for the target on Dustin's back, and that made giving up the only person he ever loved feel necessary.
But impossible isn't a word Dustin believes in. Defying odds is what he's good at. It's how he's survived. And when fate calls him home, he sees it as his chance to take back his girl, to make his heart whole and to put his makeshift family back together.
Just one thing. That family? And more importantly, that girl? They want nothing to do with him.
When Dustin left Hannah without a word, he broke a promise. More than that, he broke a bond. He broke Hannah. The life she saw in her future was gone in a blink, and in its place she grew a heart of stone and a craving for danger.
But isn't danger what Dustin Bridges is really all about?"
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