Showing results by publisher "-emdashery books-" in Sports

It's the third death that really troubles former champion jump-jockey Sid Halley. He knows the perils of racing all too well, but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds Huw Walker, the new winner of the Triumph Hurdle and Halley's friend. Now former friend. Walker was riding one of Lord Enstone's horses in the Hurdle and it was the inimitable owner who invited Halley in the first place.

Quenton Cassidy thought he had left his athletic career far behind as he built a successful professional career in south Florida. But as several personal tragedies and the wear and tear of life began to weigh upon him, he wonders if perhaps he hasn't given up a special part of his life too soon. His return to the world of competitive running is dramatic and revelatory to both the protagonist and the listener, as is his desperate, all-out attempt to make on last Olympic team.

Allergic to group activities of any kind, all her life Serenata has run, swum and cycled on her lonesome. But now that she's hit 60, all that physical activity has destroyed her knees. As she contemplates surgery with dread, her previously sedentary husband, Remington, recently and ignominiously redundant, chooses this precise moment to discover exercise. Which should be good for his health, right? Yet as he joins the cult of fitness that seems increasingly to consume the whole of the Western world, her once-modest husband burgeons into an unbearable narcissist.

Winner of the British Book Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007.
Neely Crenshaw was once star quarterback for Messina High School's football team. Afterwards his life went nowhere. But now the man who molded him, Coach Eddie Rake, is dying and Neely returns to Messina.

Not too long ago, Max Best was stuck in a dead-end job, trudging from one day to the next and mourning the fact that his burning love of soccer was getting buried in a landslide of cold statistics and intangible tactics. Then, after saving an old man from a mugging, he was "cursed" with the ability to instantly ascertain a soccer player's attributes on sight and use that knowledge to upgrade his own skills. Now he's making a name for himself as an amateur team manager, but it's not enough for him to ditch his dud of a job.

The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first - and some would say still the best - novel ever written about baseball. In it Malamud, usually appreciated for his unerring portrayals of postwar Jewish life, took on very different material - the story of a superbly gifted "natural" at play in the fields of the old daylight baseball era - and invested it with the hardscrabble poetry, at once grand and altogether believable, that runs through all his best work.

Cooper Reeves was the boy-next-door. Every milestone, every memory of my youth was entangled with his. We were inseparable...until college. It wasn't his friends, girls, or even sports that came between us - it was me. Tired of being in the friend zone, I finally made a move. Turns out it was the wrong one. Cooper walked away to play his first year of professional football and left me behind with a broken heart.

The move to World Cup Academy of Gymnastics is the greatest challenge Adrianna has encountered. Punished for Coach Kova’s overwhelming desires, she’s reeling with resentment while she sits out the first meet of the season. As Adrianna fights to regain her focus, he pushes her body to the extreme, leaving her mentally and physically exhausted.

Whitney is the one girl on campus who’s always been on my radar. But she’s not a puck bunny working her way through the Hellcat team roster, so I’ve made it a point to steer clear. After college, I’ll be headed to the NHL. I’m a free agent with a ton of options. I’m not interested in being tied down. Well…that’s not altogether true, but you get where I’m going with this.

I'm naturally gifted on the field and between the sheets. With flashy cars and enough media attention to put the royal family to shame, I'm the definition of most eligible bachelor. Every man wants to be me, and every woman wants to tame me. Until Camila. The moment I lay eyes on her, I know I have to have her. She wants to keep me at arm's length. I want her naked in my bed. She says I'm bad news. I have three weeks to prove her wrong.

Recent graduate Hayley Carter is thrilled to be working for a non-profit organization in Washington, DC. Having spent a lot of her life in the background due to family circumstances, Hayley is eager to step up and be heard. With romance on the shelf, it's time to focus on herself and new career. Armed with a workbook to help her improve on a personal and professional level, Hayley is ready to become a better version of who she already is. But will a baseball player for the Washington Soaring Eagles challenge her thoughts on not only dating, but the person she thinks she needs to be?

There are few people who infuriate me more than pretty boy basketball player Luke Bantempelli. He’s all too aware there isn’t a girl on campus he can’t charm out of her skirt with nothing but a smile. So when one accidental kiss in a haunted house has us hooking up in secret, I know I’m losing my damn mind. Catching feelings will only lead to heartbreak, and I refuse to fall for the guy I’ve sworn to loathe for the rest of my life.

Mount Panorama in Bathurst, Australia, was the track that made his father a legend. Now, Bill Watson must overcome more than just his own fears as he and his family face adversity and sudden loss. A tale of rising again and again, this multigenerational story of heroism, love, and loss takes listeners on an edge-of-your-seat journey into the world of auto racing, the family we meet along the way, and the trials we must navigate...all while racing at 200 mph.

One momentary loss of control has now ruined everything Xavier Cold had going for himself. With his world unraveling fast, he's willing to do anything to save not only his job but his relationship with the only woman he's ever loved. Anna Cortez, still reeling from shock, tries desperately to save the man who's consumed her heart, body, and soul. She'll have to dig deep and find courage she never knew she possessed to help Xavier fight demons from his past.

I was the epitome of control. Cocky. Powerful. Ruthless. Until the day Savvy King swaggered into our world. She defied me at every turn, refusing to yield to my command. Her insolence infuriated me as much as it captivated me, until the battle consumed us. She’s the perfect counterpart to my reign. Except...the ring on her finger belongs to another. People want to play politics with my life - with our lives. That is a mistake. Don't underestimate what I'll do to claim her as mine and secure my queen.

Pro snowboarder Stella Lazarus has always loved her brother's best friend. But the one time she tried to show him, she was shot down faster than you can say "competitor disqualified". Until one blissful night in Tahoe, when Stella finally gets her man. Or does she? In the morning, Stella and Bear wake up to horrible news. The sort that sends them racing back to Vermont, and straight into the arms of guilt and family obligations.

Iris Marshall never wanted to be anything more than what she is—an official for the European League of (American) Football. So, why had she said yes to being a courier for the CIA? She’s not sure, especially when it lands her in an international thriller that has her on the run from a killer. And worse, the person she’s on the run with? Arrogant, bossy, playboy Hudson Bly, a football player and the last person on Earth she wants to go into hiding with.

You are a Coulter. You will be perfect. That's what Echo has been told every day of her life. As the only girl in the Coulter clan, she knows it's her job to be the glue of the family. But with the Olympics looming, the last thing she wants is to follow the rules. She wants to break free, and she knows just the guy to help her. Cole Atkins has no interest in spoiled little rich girls. Besides, he's got the job of a lifetime and just met the girl of his dreams...that is, until she ditches him under the cover of darkness.

He is the man she had once dreamed about, but never dared to love. Now, Cynthia "Foxy" Fox is back in town and she's forced to confront race car driver Lance Matthews and all the old feelings simmering between them. Just as in the world of auto racing, Foxy knows the stakes are high - but so is the prize. Because this time, the only true victory would be love.

All choices have consequences, only sometimes they're...delayed. Cortland Nash fled Dartmouth to avoid being arrested for murder, but his best friend, Ford Delgado, is in danger. Cort returns, prepared to keep his head down, and do whatever it takes to keep Ford breathing, but when he finds a beautiful young woman out in the snow, frozen in fear, his plans change. He needs to make sure she's safe - even if the greatest danger is him.