Red Zone Rivals
A high-spice, college sports romance series that follows the football players of North Boston University and the girls who can’t help but fall for them.
1. FAIR CATCH by Kandi Steiner
SYNOPSIS
As if things aren’t already tough enough as the only girl on a college football team, Coach had to go and assign Zeke Collins as my roommate.
A cocky kick returner and my brother’s best friend who should have been ripped of that title years ago, he’s as infuriating as he is undeniably sexy. I hate him, and for good reason — reason I won’t ever let him forget.
He thinks because we grew up together that it’s his role to protect me, but all he does is get in my way, make me look weak, and piss me off more.
I tell him I can handle myself, and I’m hell-bent on getting that point across to him and the rest of the nation watching the only girl in collegiate football.
The pressure doesn’t get to me. The scrutiny? I’m ready for. But sharing very thin walls with Zeke Collins? I wasn’t prepared for that. And the more we’re forced together, the harder it is to distinguish that pencil-thin line between hating him… and wanting him.
2. BLIND SIDE by Kandi Steiner
SYNOPSIS
Clay Johnson has the abs of Adonis and the deadly smirk of the devil, himself. There’s hardly a day he’s not headline material during football season, and never a day he isn’t a bullseye target for every girl on campus. He used to be the easiest of all the players for me to wrangle as the Public Relations Coordinator, but after a nasty breakup with his high school sweetheart, he’s a mess. And a complete pain in my ass.
We meet to discuss his behavior and review media relations standards. But when he witnesses how I fall to pieces in front of my guitar-toting crush, his wheels start turning. And he cooks up this absurd plan.
He helps me get noticed. I help him make his ex jealous. All by pretending to be in a relationship.
What he doesn’t realize is that this bookworm is a virgin, and far from versed in seducing a musician. So, to sweeten the deal, I convince him to help me—not just to get my crush’s attention, but to knock his socks off once I have it. But the more I come unraveled at the hands of Clay Johnson, the more trouble I have discerning what’s fake and what’s undoubtedly real—particularly, the way my heart flutters every time that breathtaking man touches me.
We set the rules. We put the safeguards in place. But they say rules are meant to be broken. They probably should have added that hearts are, too.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. QUARTERBACK SNEAK by Kandi Steiner
SYNOPSIS
Quarterback Holden Moore can have any girl he wants. Except me: the coach’s daughter.
With piercing green eyes, herculean biceps, and irresistible dimples, Holden is the number one target for every girl on campus. But according to his teammates, football is the only love of his life. He’s their leader, their QB1 and team captain who is all business and no play.
But when I’m with him? Mr. Serious isn’t serious at all. He loves to push my buttons, to pin me with those sexy eyes of his and tease me until I bite back.
I remind him I’m off limits. He can’t have me, and I don’t want him — or anyone else, for that matter. I’m here for one reason: to show my father I’m more than his greatest disappointment.
But when an old injury flares up and I’m forced to work with Holden every day as his athletic trainer, his attempts to get under my skin start becoming harder to resist.
We can’t give in, no matter how much the air crackles between us when we’re close. I’m the coach’s daughter, and if Holden Moore wants to go pro, he’s got to play by daddy’s rules. Otherwise, he’ll be off the team. And he’s not the only one with something to lose.
4. HAIL MARY by Kandi Steiner
SYNOPSIS
Leo F*cking Hernandez. North Boston University’s star running back, notorious bachelor, and number one on my people I would murder if I could get away with it list. And now? He’s my new roommate.
I used to think I loved him. But that was before I hated him. He doesn’t remember who I am, or how he made my life miserable for years. And before I unknowingly moved across the street from him, I couldn’t have cared less. I was living my life despite him and what happened that summer, chasing my dream of becoming a tattoo artist.
‘The Pit’, as the university so gracefully nicknamed the house he lives in with three other football players, has served as nothing more than a pain in my ass and a constant reminder of the boy who broke my heart. Watching him parade his one-night-stands in and out of it never helped, either. But with rent this cheap and so close to the tattoo shop, I’ve learned to ignore him — no matter how he’s tried to get under my skin.
At least, until this summer. Because when a water and mold disaster leaves me with no choice but to vacate my house, I have nowhere to go. And Leo Hernandez offers me a deal I can’t refuse. Live at The Pit with him and the guys, free of charge, until my landlord fixes this mess.
Ignoring him was easy when I lived across the street, but in the same house, with him shirtless half the time and watching me with his cocky grin and searing gaze? It’s impossible. Still, I have to try. I have to push him away, even when he makes it infuriatingly difficult to do so.
He’s broken my heart once. I won’t let him do it again.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. FALSE START by Kandi Steiner
SYNOPSIS
Kyle Robbins: Seattle’s rookie tight end and the first boy to break my heart. Oh, did I mention he’s also my new client... and fake boyfriend? I thought I left Kyle and our complicated past behind me, but when he saunters up as my new client at a house showing, I’m quickly reminded how much he still haunts me. I try to walk away, but the stubborn jerk isn’t having it. In fact, he doubles down on working with me, as if our tragic history doesn’t exist at all.
The commission from working with him is the key to a new life for me and my son. It’s worth putting up with the cocky athlete long enough to find him a house. But when Kyle sees the bruises left by my darling ex-husband, he thinks he can save me—and suddenly, he’s interested in much more than just being a client. Before I know it, I’m wrangled into a scheme so crazy it just might work. Kyle pretends to be my fake boyfriend so he can keep my ex in line until I get the commission from this house sale and get the hell out of Seattle for good.
But with a past as thick with chemistry and tension as ours is, it’s not long before those fake touches feel all too real. Every brush of his hand against my back has me spinning back to that night. Every kiss has me dizzy with the love I felt at eighteen. And every day that passes without me finding him a house has me wondering how much longer I can survive this game we’re playing.
Fake-dating each other was supposed to be for my safety. But I can’t help thinking my heart is more at risk now than ever before.