Showing results for "The Rural" in Sports

From the moment I step on the plane from New York to South Carolina, I go from Mark Abbott, hated quarterback, to Mark Hainley, unassuming small-town boy on his way to a tiny beach town and a private resort for a two-week escape all alone. At least, that's the plan. Until I sit down next to football-oblivious and possibly crazy Frannie Baker on my flight. Her beauty makes me look twice, but it's everything else about her that draws me in. From her fear of flying to her comforting herself with Eminem lyrics to her love of books, I can't help but want to know more.

Dylan Davenport has always been the responsible one, but he's bitten off more than he can chew. Looking out for his sisters. Running the family ranch. Managing his restaurant as head chef. And raising his six-year-old daughter on his own. Poppy Golightly was eighteen years old when she left Aster Springs to get over her crush on her best friend's brother. Now she's back with a broken heart, an empty bank account, and an eternal optimism that her true love is out there somewhere.

I was supposed to be attending a friend's birthday party, not used as bait to lure out the elusive Holden Hayes. Holden was the last thing I needed. My life was already spiraling, a slow-moving head-on collision that you couldn't swerve to avoid. In hindsight, so was his. Neither of us was looking for a relationship, but that is precisely what we found. An instant, all-consuming, soul-deep connection that few people ever find.

Everyone knows who Caleb Kelley is. I'm at the top of my game, known all around Colorado and beyond for not only my elite skills in professional hockey but also my family's ranching heritage. For this reason, I trust very few people as I'm used to strangers and so-called friends trying to get close to us for a piece of fame. But when I receive a letter from a woman I slept with years ago, letting me know I'm a father, I implicitly trust her. Emily Russo is forever ingrained in my memory and is the exception to every rule.

My trip to Nashville for my sister's bachelorette trip was going to be my weekend to let go. I was starting my last year of college and I finally felt like I had a plan for my life. I wanted one weekend of freedom. My plan was to drink some whiskey, sing karaoke, and ride that mechanical bull. But after meeting a sexy stranger, the bull took the backseat, and I went on a different kind of ride.

Ava Decker has hated me for just as many years as I've spent loving her. I made a mistake pretending our night together never happened. For pretending I forgot. But we were young, and I was getting ready to leave for college with big plans for the future. I had no plans to return to our small town in Colorado anytime soon, and Ava never wanted to leave. That alone was enough to keep me away from her while we both grew up. And yet, I never forgot about her and what she means to me.

I don't think anyone would've chosen to be a single dad before their driver's license even arrived in the mail, but that was the curveball that life threw at me. While my classmates were partying it up at football games and prom, I was dealing with ear infections and learning how to be the best kind of dad like my father was to me. I all but gave up on trusting a woman again and finding love as I had more important responsibilities: being a proud girl dad to Josie, helping my family out on their ranch, and starting my own construction business.

I've sworn off dating football players. After my last relationship ended disastrously, I've given up on love entirely. Determined to start over fresh, somewhere far from Rixton, Tennessee, I impulsively transferred to Braysen University. The Carver twins were like brothers to me growing up. So, when they offer me a place to live until a dorm room frees up, I accept. Reed Hendrix is as irresistible as he is off-limits. Sleeping in the room next to him could complicate things. Not only because my brother warned Reed to stay away from me but also because falling for him would break my own rule.

When his former hockey coach passes away, Declan Cadell is shocked to learn the man left him a cattle ranch. Well, not exactly. He's got one little hurdle to jump first. He has to win a trivia contest against the man's estranged daughter. Oh, and there's a caveat: he's only in the running if he lives and works with the spoiled princess who blew off one of the greatest men he's ever known. As if it wasn't hurtful enough that Seraphina Crutchley's biological father replaced her with a bunch of sweaty hockey boys, now he's forcing her to vie for her inheritance with one of them.

My high school sweetheart, the boy who shattered my heart, is back in our small town, and there will be no avoiding him for the next two weeks. Only there is nothing boyish about Miguel Fernandez. The NFL's best rookie defensive end is even more wickedly handsome than he was four years ago—tall, with abs for days, all that unruly hair, and eyes so dark they swallow you whole. And that's exactly what he's doing every time our paths cross.

Australian rugby pro Cole Hauser has had enough of speculations about his future post-injury. So when a football buddy puts his house in America at Cole's disposal, he jumps at the chance for some peace and anonymity. The plan is perfect—until he discovers he's roomies with a woman who knows how to wield a nail gun and her kid.

Crystal Malloy owns the beauty salon in Mystic Creek, Oregon. It took years of work to stand on her own after a difficult upbringing and to turn her fledgling enterprise into a successful business. There's never been much time for romance, but when a handsome, friendly man stops in to her salon - he's traveling through town on business - she's immediately taken with him.

For five years, Cecilia Morgan’s entire existence has revolved around playing personal assistant to self-centered former NFL quarterback Wade Carter. But just when she finally gives her notice, his father’s health fails, and Wade whisks her back to his hometown. CC will stay for his dad - for now - even if that means ignoring how sexy her boss is starting to look in his Wranglers. Wade can’t imagine his life without his “left tackle.” She’s the only person who can tell him “no” and strangely, it’s his favorite quality.