Inspirational Indies: 10 Non-Traditionally Published Romances

The C*ck Down the Block by Amy Award

Look, I’ve had it bad for the girl with all the curves next door forever. She turned me down in high school and since I’m not a total douchecanoe, I lusted after her all by myself in my shower, and we stayed just friends for years.

Now she’s the adorkable librarian next door and I’m the star quarterback of the best pro football team in the league.
So when she asks me to be her fake date to her all-girls school reunion I am totally down to show her off to the mean girls who bullied her back then so they can see just how incredible she is.
I’ll be the best boyfriend they’ve ever seen. The best fake boyfriend that is.

Until I find out from her slightly-stalkery classmates that she still has her v-card. I don’t see how that is even possible. Not with how sexy and sweet she is. Could it be because she knows she belongs with me?

This curvy girl and football quarterback sports romance has a baddie plus-size woman who knows her own worth and a Bridgertons-meets-American-Football family you’ll wish you were a part of.

Nero by S.J. Tilly

Payton

Running away from home at 17 wasn’t easy. Let’s face it though, nothing before, or in the ten years since, has ever been easy for me.

And I’m doing okay. Sorta. I just need to keep scraping by, living under the radar. Staying out of people’s way, off people’s minds.

So when a man walks through my open patio door, stepping boldly into my home, and my life, I should be scared. Frightened. Terrified.

But I must be more broken than I realized, because I’m none of those things.

I’m intrigued.

And I’m wondering if the way to take control of my life is by giving in to him.

Nero

The first time I took a man’s life, I knew there’d be no going back. No normal existence in the cards for me.

So instead of walking away, I climbed a mountain of bodies, and created my own destiny. By forming The Alliance.

And I was fine with that. Content enough to carry on.

Until I stepped through those open doors, and into her life.

I should’ve walked away. Should’ve gone right back out the door I came through. But I didn’t.

And now her life is in danger.

But that’s the thing about being a bad man. I’ll happily paint the streets red to protect what’s mine.

And Payton is mine. Whether she knows it or not.

The Penalty Box by Odette Stone 

He’s a professional hockey player that lives on the edge. I prefer to play life by the rules.

I’m the personal assistant at a sports agency that no one notices.

Unless they need coffee.

I don’t like sports and I like professional athletes even less.

I’m indifferent to the mostly male clientele, except for one.

Mica “the savage” Petrov.

When it comes to wild antics, Mica is the biggest offender of them all.

He’s reckless, wild and carelessly charming.

I’m mortified that I find him attractive.

But it doesn’t matter because the guy hasn’t taken a second look at me.

Not once. In two years.

Mica’s career jeopardizing situation requires drastic measures to be taken to keep him in the game.

He’s got money, I’ve got debt and my boss has a crazy idea.

Which is how I found myself stepping up to save him from himself.

But at what cost?

How long can I keep fighting my attraction?

What ghosts from his past is he brawling with?

All I know is that I need to defend my heart before this big defenseman steals it away.

Can we win this game? Or is it too late for either of us? 

Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer 

Aspiring musician Pippa Hartley’s done with heartbreak. Her new gig? Personal assistant to Jamie Streicher, the surly hockey player she had a crush on in high school.

The job is supposed to be a breeze, but nothing about the intimidatingly hot Jamie is easy. He’s grouchy, he’s demanding, and he doesn’t even remember her. Keeping things professional will be no problem.

Beneath his surliness, though, Jamie is surprisingly sweet and protective. He pretends to be her boyfriend to make her ex jealous. He encourages her in music and tells her she’s beautiful. He buys her expensive gifts that make her feel seen. And when he learns her ex was bad in bed, Jamie’s competitive nature flares. Turns out, Jamie remembers exactly who Pippa is, and that high school crush she had? The feeling was mutual.

Falling for Jamie can only lead to heartbreak . . . but it might be worth it.

Under Construction by Kate Cole 

Avery has had enough.

Two years into the rehabilitation of the historic Taylor Building—a project plagued by delays and cost overruns—she’d like nothing more than to see the back of the site trailer, and pesky Project Manager Kent Armstrong.

Avery is a no-frills team player who knows her way around a mortar shack and is determined to chip her way through the patriarchal barriers of heritage stone masonry.

Kent is a buttoned-up budget boy with a stony facade. Impossible to please, he’s a cost, scope, and schedule junkie who thinks he knows best and never seems to listen to his expert mason.

When Kent and Avery meet steel toe to steel toe on the scaffold, tempers flare and egos clash. Will she crack his hard exterior? Or will the fissures she hides beneath her carefully honed exterior undermine her own footings?

Sometimes there’s more to people—and projects—than meets the eye.

Love Quest by Camilla Isley

As epic meet-cutes go, travel photographer, Winter Knowles thinks finding a gorgeous naked man outside her Thailand villa is pretty perfect. But then she discovers the naked heartthrob is none other than Dr Logan Spencer, her gruff standoffish (but sexy as hell) jungle expedition leader.

Dr Logan is on the mission of a lifetime. There’s a lost city of gold to discover and he doesn’t need any distractions – especially not the stubborn, sassy beautiful photographer type! His reputation is on the line.

These arch rivals get off on the wrong foot. But when the heat rises in the jungle, Winter and Logan are forced together in the face of danger. Is trusting someone with your life the best meet-cute of all?

Wish You Were Here by Jess K. Hardy 

She thought she could forget him. He’ll never stop trying to prove she shouldn’t.

Davis Thompson had never been so happy or so in love as she was with Kevin Lowes. Until his relapse shattered their world. After finding him at his lowest, in a moment that will haunt her forever, she’s convinced he’d not only chosen drugs over her. But he’d chosen another woman too. Now she’s trying to rebuild her life, wanting desperately to move on and figure out who she is and what she wants without him. There’s only one Kev is returning to Bluebird Basin.

After a brutal rebab stay, Kev is determined to recommit to his recovery and win back the only woman he’s ever loved. But when he realizes the depth of the pain he caused and the secrets Davis has kept to protect him from himself, he wonders if it’s too late. More broken than he’s ever been, Kev finds unexpected healing while working with a wild mustang whose invisible scars match his.

But Bluebird Basin is a small ski hill, and as Kev and Davis continually cross paths, old wounds reopen and sparks reignite. Davis doesn’t know if she can trust Kev again. And Kev must confront his darkest fears and deepest regrets if he wants to prove to her that a second chance with him is worth fighting for. 

Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark

Celibacy is a bad look for a matchmaker.

Especially a matchmaker who works at the kind of paranormal bathhouse that would have grandmothers clutching their pearls.

A worse look is a matchmaker experiencing a crisis of confidence.

I am that matchmaker.

We need raw magic, desperately.

And now a mysterious man walks into my office, offering me the exact solution I need.

The problem is that he wants to be matched… with me.

Matching doesn’t work for me; I found that out the hard way.

The Kraken

I saw her and the creature inside me wanted.

She doesn’t want a relationship. She says that the most we can have are the three nights she promised me, but the dark part of myself isn’t going to let the woman who snared its attention go.

I found her. I hunted her. She’s mine.

Secret Puck by Rebecca Jenshak 

Secretly hooking up with the team captain’s sister was a bad idea.

In my defense, the first time I saw her I didn’t know who she was.

Kind, gorgeous, a little naïve. Ginny brightened my world from day one.

I knew I was no good for her. She was just out of a relationship and I had a reputation for having a new girl in my bed every weekend.

I tried to do the right thing. Honest.

I’m the one who insisted we should be just friends.

That lasted about as long as you’d expect.

But Ginny? She’s the best – best friend, best everything.

So yeah, hooking up with the team captain’s sister wasn’t a great idea.

Would I do it again?

In a heartbeat.

Bananapants by Penny Reid 

Estranged childhood friends unexpectedly reunite under bizarre circumstances and bicker their way to love in this bonkers romantic comedy.

Ava Archer misses her best childhood friend most especially during the month of April. Ask any tax attorney, it’s a lonely, grueling time of year. Luckily, Ava has just received a surprising and delectably absurd offer from her posh doppelgänger at work. She must pretend to be the aforementioned posh co-worker for one night at an extremely fancy party; a party so fancy, there exists absolutely no chance anyone will recognize her or suspect her ruse…

Desmond (Des) Sullivan is a thief. And not the heart-of-gold kind. He’s the steal-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-also-rich-so-he-can-get-paid kind. He does, however, have one firm rule never steal what the target can’t afford to lose. After a brutal falling out with his father, Desmond hasn’t returned to Chicago in over ten years. But when a good friend is swindled and something priceless is stolen, Desmond must return home, both as himself and his thieving alter ego. Infiltrate a dangerous secret society of the world’s most elite billionaires while leveraging his estranged father’s resources and not blowing his cover? Sure. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be a problem if Ava Archer hadn’t just walked into the room, wearing a ridiculous wig, speaking with a preposterous accent, and pretending (badly) to be someone she’s not.