Is there anything more entertaining than reading about a playboy hero who is in WAY over his head? Used to quick and easy hookups, manwhore or former player heroes are out of their comfort zones when they have to work to get the right girl. Whether they fight their feelings or fall hard and fast, it’s always fun to watch the journey. These guys tend to make the most loving, loyal partners once they settle down, and their backstories often make for compelling, emotional reads. Spicy, sexual tension-filled ones too, lol! So, as much as I like a cinnamon roll hero, sometimes it’s just as enjoyable to read about a cocky playboy who has finally met his match.
The heroes on this list come in a few different varieties. There are the guys who are still actively manwhores when the book begins, and there are those whose reputations linger even after they’ve changed their ways. The tension usually centers around whether or not they’re ready – or even capable – of committing to one girl, and the struggle to get to that place. But chemistry and connection are always at the forefront, with a build in intimacy being the most important thing. These guys will have you absolutely swooning by the end.
Every book on this list has its own unique vibe and scenario. From office romance to brother’s best friend to marriage of convenience, there’s a little something for everyone on this list. They’re all sexy contemporary romance novels that were 4 or 5-star reads for me. I’ve included the blurbs, links to my book reviews, and links to Amazon for easy addition to your collection. Happy reading!
Consider Me by Becka Mack
Carter Beckett is the NHL’s resident bad boy, top player both on the ice and in the bedroom, and quite possibly the sexiest man to ever grace my field of vision. But worst of all? He knows it.
He’s arrogant, self-centered, and the man doesn’t seem to know what a filter is, let alone how to use one. He’s had everything served to him on a silver platter, including endless strings of women, and apparently, I’m up next.
His only problem? I have no intention of falling for his shi—um, charm.
I have the solution to all my sexual frustrations in a drawer at home, and it’s far less complicated than Carter Beckett. Sure, he may be pretty, but he’s also a walking, talking reminder for you to wrap it before you tap it.
But then I start letting my guard down, and he starts showing me pieces of himself I had no intention of seeing. The bricks surrounding me may be tumbling down one by one, but I’m not sold yet, which means for the first time in his life, Carter’s the one begging.
For my time, my trust, for a single chance.
For me to just…consider him.
Consider Me is book #1 in the Playing For Keeps series, a series of interconnected standalone mature hockey romance stories that contain lots of heat, swoon, laughs, and a ride on an emotional rollercoaster!
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xQXGlx
A Deal with the Devil by Elizabeth O’Roark
He might not be the devil, but working under him for six weeks is my idea of hell.
Hayes Flynn is an arrogant jerk known best for his scotch habit and the way he spreads his British “charm” all over Hollywood, never with the same woman twice. He’s the last person I want to work for, except he has a face I can’t look away from, and the longer we’re together, the harder he is to hate. Because under that smug exterior is a heart he doesn’t want to show—one that was badly broken a decade earlier.
A part of me wants to fix it for him before I leave…but can I do it without breaking my own in the process?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oQwXSB
Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
In the follow-up to It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey delivers another deliciously fun rom-com about a former player who accidentally falls for his best friend while trying to help her land a different man…
King crab fisherman Fox Thornton has a reputation as a sexy, carefree flirt. Everyone knows he’s a guaranteed good time—in bed and out—and that’s exactly how he prefers it. Until he meets Hannah Bellinger. She’s immune to his charm and looks, but she seems to enjoy his… personality? And wants to be friends? Bizarre. But he likes her too much to risk a fling, so platonic pals it is.
Now, Hannah’s in town for work, crashing in Fox’s spare bedroom. She knows he’s a notorious ladies’ man, but they’re definitely just friends. In fact, she’s nursing a hopeless crush on a colleague and Fox is just the person to help with her lackluster love life. Armed with a few tips from Westport’s resident Casanova, Hannah sets out to catch her coworker’s eye… yet the more time she spends with Fox, the more she wants him instead. As the line between friendship and flirtation begins to blur, Hannah can’t deny she loves everything about Fox, but she refuses to be another notch on his bedpost.
Living with his best friend should have been easy. Except now she’s walking around in a towel, sleeping right across the hall, and Fox is fantasizing about waking up next to her for the rest of his life and… and… man overboard! He’s fallen for her, hook, line, and sinker. Helping her flirt with another guy is pure torture, but maybe if Fox can tackle his inner demons and show Hannah he’s all in, she’ll choose him instead?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3h7UMRf
Totally Folked by Penny Reid
One unforgettable night leads to an unlikely shared connection, and unlikely connections never go unnoticed by the good folks in Green Valley, Tennessee. . .
Jackson James follows the rules. He has to. He’s a sheriff’s deputy in a super small town with a super big personality. However, strict adherence to the law during the day has been enjoyably balanced by rakish rules at night. Jackson, typically happy to protect and serve (and serve, and serve), starts questioning the value of wayward evenings when getting laid starts to feel more like being waylaid. Could it be that Green Valley’s most eligible—and notorious—bachelor longs for something (and someone) real?
Mega movie star Raquel Ezra follows only one rule: always leave them wanting more. Studio execs, reporters, audiences, fans, lovers—no one can get enough of the smart, savvy, and sexy bombshell. But when “generous offers” begin to feel more like excessive demands, years of always leaving has the elusive starlet longing for something (and perhaps someone) lasting.
When Raquel abruptly returns to the quirky Tennessee hamlet, her path crosses with the delectable deputy with whom she spent one unforgettable night. Unfortunately, scandal and intrigue soon follow. Raquel and Jackson must decide which is more important: following their rules? Or, at long last, finding something real.
TOTALLY FOLKED is a standalone, contemporary romantic comedy novel and book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ddlaa9
Flawless by Elsie Silver
The rules were simple. Keep my hands off his daughter and stay out of trouble.
But now I’m stuck with her. There’s only one bed. And well, rules are made to be broken.
I’m the face of professional bull riding—the golden boy. Or at least I was, until it all blew up in my face. Now my agent says I have to clean up my image, so I’m stuck with his ball-busting daughter for the rest of the season as my “full-time supervision.”
But I don’t need a goddamn babysitter, especially one with skin-tight jeans, a sexy smirk, and a mouth she can’t stop running.
A mouth I can’t stop thinking about.
Because Summer isn’t just another conquest. She sees the man behind the mask, and she doesn’t run—she pulls me closer, even when she shouldn’t.
She says this means nothing.
I say this means everything.
She says there are boundaries we shouldn’t cross. That my reputation can’t take any more hits—and neither can her damaged heart.
I say I’m going to steal it anyway.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3onzLoK
Call Me Crazy by Melanie Harlow
It was the perfect plan.
I needed a wife–temporarily–in order to inherit the family business.
And she needed a favor–the kind that takes nine months to deliver.
We had it all worked out, from the no-touching policy on our wedding night (her rule) to the no-falling-in-love decree (mine). She’d marry me, I’d give her the means to have the baby she’d always wanted, and one year later we’d amicably part ways with no hassle, no demands, and certainly no regrets.
After all, Bianca DeRossi and I are experts at infuriating one another–we’ve been doing it since we were kids. Trouble is, she grew up gorgeous and feisty, and she still knows exactly how to get under my skin.
And that wedding night? Well, it doesn’t exactly go down hands-free.
Then she moves in with me, and I really start to lose my mind. From her sexy little pout to her wicked sense of humor to those meatball sandwiches she makes just because she knows they’re my favorite . . . I find myself wanting to break every rule we put in place.
Our story was never supposed to end with happily ever after.
But call me crazy, I just might be in love with my wife.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3rAMPa7
Screwed Up by Harloe Rae
“He might be wrong, but I’m tired of being right.”
The extreme focus on my career has led to a lonely existence.
I don’t make time for much beyond the hospital walls.
And the pressure is getting to me.
Those who know me best highly recommend I take the edge off by any means necessary.
As it turns out, the new security guard at Bayside Regional is just what the doctor ordered.
Dane Owens is a disaster waiting to happen.
Maybe that’s why I can’t look away.
He plays fast and loose with no intention of slowing down.
Especially when it comes to dating.
We’re polar opposites, which is precisely why this arrangement is temporary.
But there’s plenty to keep us occupied until our expiration date.
All I need is for Dane to follow the rules that long.
Screwed Up is a stand-alone medical romance in the Bayside Heroes series!
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/30oQ7Ft
I Pucking Love You by Pippa Grant
You know those stories where an adorably misunderstood clumsy girl needs a fake date to a wedding so she asks her brother’s best friend and they accidentally fall in love?
I wish that was the kind of life I lead, but it’s not.
I don’t need a date to a wedding. I need a date to a funeral.
Clumsy sometimes fits, but then, that’s true for all of us, right? But adorable? No. Misunderstood? Nope again. I’m just your average girl, standing in front of a funeral invitation, asking it to be a winning lottery ticket instead.
And I don’t have a brother, or a best friend with a brother available, which means I’m stuck with Tyler Jaeger.
Sure, he’s a professional hockey player who also knows advanced calculus, but let’s say we’re not compatible and leave it at that. I should know. I am a matchmaker.
Not a very good one, but that’s beside the point.
I know a mismatch when I see one.
Still, Tyler’s what I’ve got, and I am not going to this funeral solo, so he’s what I’ll take.
After all—what could go wrong at a funeral?
I Pucking Love You is a hilariously wrong romantic comedy about the world’s worst matchmaker, a hockey player with a problem he doesn’t want to talk about, and an awkward date-of-convenience that everyone would prefer to forget. It comes complete with a cat working his way through his nine lives, all the sexy times, fish and chips, and a swoony happily-ever-after.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dEyT9o
Not the Marrying Kind by Kathryn Nolan
He’s the best bad decision she’ll ever make….
Type A attorney Fiona Quinn has one goal left to accomplish before turning 30: A big, fairy-tale wedding. All she needs is a groom. So what if she’s never been in love—or even lust—before? She’s confident she can solve the problem the way she always does, with spreadsheets and an action plan.
When a family emergency brings Max “Bad Boy” Devlin swaggering back into town—with his cocky grin, tattoos, and wanderlust—Fiona has to remind herself that he’s as unsuitable as it gets. Nope. Not happening. No matter how irresistible his invitation is for a night or seven between the sheets. If she can’t tie him down—metaphorically, of course— her pants must stay on.
Max can’t remember the last time a woman turned him down. He’s a guaranteed three-orgasms good time, dammit. So what if he’s not the marrying kind? Those sweaty palms he gets when Fiona agrees to help him save his dad’s punk rock club are just an allergic reaction to her methodical march toward matrimony. Before he hits the road again, he’s going prove to Fiona that life’s more fun when you play, rather than plan.
No one gets hurt when it’s all just fun and games, right?
Author’s Note: A steamy, opposites attract standalone romance featuring a cocky bad boy (with a heart of gold) and a buttoned-up good girl (with a secret wild side). 1-click if you’re into dirty dancing, swoony first kisses from bad boys on motorcycles and hot trysts in supply closets. This book comes with a guaranteed (and very romantic) Happily Ever After.
Read the review here
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3bm0ehh
The Companion Project by Chelsea Curto
WANTED: One very fake date to a very real event.
Henry Dawson is many things—successful, charismatic, good-looking… and, most recently, a liar. A stupid fib to his parents about bringing a date to their anniversary party is causing him to scramble, attempting to fix his mistake.
Emma Burns lives a double life. By day, she’s a Civil Rights attorney. By night, she’s the mastermind behind RB’s Companions. When hired, she platonically accompanies men to social events, whether it’s as a girlfriend, friend or business associate. She does her job well.
After receiving an inquiry from a desperate new client, she agrees to be his girlfriend. What she doesn’t account for is the mystery man to be Henry, the notorious playboy, fellow lawyer and coworker she’s known for years. Communicating under aliases to protect their identities, the pair find themselves captivated by one another, and are shocked when they finally meet face-to-face.
The two might be experts in the courtroom, but they’re hardly professionals when it comes to matters of the heart. Pretending to date is easy. When the lines between real and fake blur, getting what they want becomes way more complicated.
The Companion Project is a steamy romantic comedy featuring coworkers-to-lovers, forced proximity and fake dating. Told through dialogue, emails and text message conversations, you can expect plenty of banter, very spicy scenes, an unstoppable woman and a man willing to change for the person he adores. It is a standalone novel.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EFii4B
The Lawyer by Marni Mann
A sexy, billionaire, Hollywood, stand-alone romance from USA Today best-selling author Marni Mann …
I’m not the type of girl who picks up a man on a rooftop bar.
Not the kind of girl who lets a man’s hands roam my body, discovering I have no panties on.
Never the girl who has hours’ worth of o’s from a smoking-hot one-night stand.
But Dominick makes it so easy to say yes.
His body, his moves, and his oh-so-wicked tongue have me saying it over and over again.
Yes, please.
Yes, more.
Yes, right there.
He worships every inch of my body, and I’m still sore the next morning when I meet him again.
This time, he’s Mr. Dalton, my sister’s cutthroat entertainment lawyer.
And he has a proposition for me.
He wants to make me famous.
Of course, that means sharing a screen with my wildly jealous sister.
It means giving up my career.
It means the whole world will suddenly know everything about me.
Which presents one catastrophic problem—Dominick doesn’t date famous people.
So, do I take a chance at becoming a Hollywood star, or do I pass up the opportunity to be with the man who gave me a taste of forever?
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EgMorr
Those Three Little Words by Meghan Quinn
I knocked up my best friend’s sister.
Figured I would get straight to the point because how it happened is a mere snippet of the story I have to tell. The real meat and potatoes is what happened after.
Let’s start with how she decided to inform me and Pacey the news . . . together. Imagine that nightmare. I was going into what I thought was a hockey marketing meeting and then BAM! I’m going to be a dad and my best friend/teammate is attempting to imprint my face with his fist.
It wasn’t pretty.
Threats were tossed around, friendships were revoked, and then I was marched up to her apartment, suitcases in hand, and forced to live with her so I could take care of her every need. Given how much I’ve pined for the girl, you would think that wouldn’t be a hardship. Wrong.
This is my one shot to win my teammate back. Pacey is the only family I’ve got, so hooking up with his sister isn’t a mistake I can make twice . . . despite the fact that she’s pregnant with my child.
But with every mood swing, every pair of pants that doesn’t fit right, and every late night run to find the perfect donut, I’m finding it harder and harder not to fall for my best friend’s little sister.
Especially when she kisses me…
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3twxyux
Take a Number by Amy Daws
Fake dating the cute owner of a bakery Dean is an investor in sounds kind of messy…but messy can be fun.
Norah Donahue wants bakeries not babies, but her matchmaking mother won’t stop trying to play Cupid.
Dean Moser is a cocky stock market savant whose friends are all settling down, leaving Boulder’s infamous ladies’ man all alone.
When Norah needs a fake date for her parents’ anniversary party, her new silent investor is the perfect guy for the job. It seems like a foolproof plan…
That is until Norah decides to break her biggest rule and lock lips with Dean in the middle of the party to spite her meddling mother.
Turns out that Dean and Norah’s chemistry is sizzling hot, and mixing business with pleasure could turn out to be a recipe for disaster.
Or maybe they can have their cake and eat it too.
Take A Number is a 92,000 word full-length rom com best enjoyed with lots of pastries.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3595H6y
Hard Fall by Sara Ney
“Hard Fall”
That’s what my mom is always saying: “The bigger you are, the harder you fall.” She’s talking about love—I’ve never been in it myself, but that doesn’t stop me from secretly matchmaking for my friends. Who would suspect me, a world class athlete, of meddling in other people’s love lives? I love Love, especially when it’s not me who’s doing the falling…
“No Thanks.”
That’s what Hollis Westbrooke said when I asked her on a date. Well, propositioned her, actually—but it was all a big joke; one she doesn’t think is funny. My stomach is in knots since I might actually like this girl so the joke is on me. Hollis’s father is my boss—and she doesn’t date players.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall—especially when biggest player is me.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Y8GWo6
Otterly Scorched by Tara Sivec
It’s been a lot of years and another lifetime since Dax Trevino was a playboy detective for the Franklin Police Department. He’s been through hell and back, and now he just wants to be left alone, so he can cuddle his otters.
When two of his babies are kidnapped in the middle of the night, and Claws and Effect Pet Detectives are called to the rescue, quiet, broody Dax never expects to be tackled and handcuffed by the only woman he ever regretted being a douchebag to all those years ago.
Harley Blake has spent her entire life taking care of her accident-prone father with a fondness for dead animals, and her forty-year-old brother who refuses to grow up. The last thing she needs is another complication in her life, and Detective Douchebag is at the top of the list.
Dax might not be a cop anymore, and he might have outgrown his one-and-done player status, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to get burned a second time and fall for his charms. The infuriating man already branded a mark on her heart years ago, making sure she’d never forget him. Besides, she has a case to solve for the guy, and this is just business.
But the sarcasm starts flying, there are a gaggle of adorable otters who need to be cuddled, a Bandit Von Trash Panda who just wants to play poker, pot brownies, and squirrels dressed for a wedding… at a funeral. Things are heating up—and not just from the small tree fire after the grenade went off—and this man is suddenly simplifying her life instead of making it worse.
Harley knows she won’t escape this time without being Otterly Scorched.
Read the audiobook review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3IWHnXr
Want more romance recommendations? Check out some of my other lists!
15 Fantastic Forced Proximity Romance Novels
15 Sweet Cinnamon Roll Heroes in Romance Novels
15 Sexy Office Rival Romance Books
15 Sexy Single Mom Romance Novels
15 Sexy Fake Relationship Romance Books
15 Low Angst Romantic Comedy Novels
15 Sexy Single Dad Romance Books
15 (More) Great Grumpy / Sunshine Romance Books
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