Vowing to never follow her heart again, Meg Fulton keeps men at a safe distance. But retired NFL player Connor McKay manages to crack Meg’s defenses, and she discovers the sports-loving alpha male is much more than a sexy package wrapped in great biceps and a tight rear end. False Start, Book 1 of Marianne Rice’s new romance series will be a welcome addition to your romance library. Ex-NFL player turned high school football coach, Connor McKay is well loved by all … except by the sexy principal who wants to make changes to his athletic program. Intrigued by Meg Fulton’s beauty and intelligence, Connor doesn’t mind going head-to-head with her. When he and Meg are set up on a blind date, he’s finally able to open a crack in Meg’s high emotional wall and see the caring woman inside. What Connor doesn’t expect is that his buddy and ex-teammate is the one responsible for Meg’s wall in the first place. To choose between a one-time brother and the woman he’s fallen hopelessly in love with, Connor will make the riskiest play of his life. Always the misfit growing up, newly hired high school principal Meg Fulton uses a fashionable wardrobe and a sharp tongue to keep men at a safe distance. After a drunken, abusive experience in the back of a Chevy as a naïve teen, she became a single mother with a tough hide…until Connor McKay walks into the picture. She can’t stand him. He’s a sports-loving alpha male––no thanks! Meg has a good reason to hate jocks. Been there, done that, much to her regret. But as her path continues to cross with Connor’s, and attraction heats to a boiling point, Meg learns there’s more to Connor than biceps and a tight rear end. Things are heating up with them, when someone from her past threatens to tear them apart. Meg runs for cover…and from Connor. It will take a leap of love for Meg to shed the scars of her past and let love into her life. Content Notes: Sweet, Contemporary, Sports, Athletes

Emma Fulton never had to worry about much. Socially driven and happily single, she's been blessed with charm, good looks, and a close-knit community. But after a medical emergency, a dollop of family drama, and a series of near-tragic events, she finds she must question who she can trust. Preferring solitude to intimacy, Mason Tucker's relatives make it difficult to escape social gatherings and small talk. When Emma's mother marries into his family, he finds himself reluctantly drawn to the beautiful woman who is his complete opposite. But after helping her through a terrible discovery, Emma begins to break down some of Mason's communication barriers and insecurities. When Emma asks for his assistance in tracking down a secret, Mason tags along in order to keep her safe. Unfortunately, not everyone has Emma's safety in mind when danger waits for the perfect opportunity to strike.

Recovering alcoholic and former party animal, Cole Tucker would be an idiot to start something with his newly-hired right-hand woman. It figures he can’t seem to keep his mitts off the sexy, five-feet-nothing, single mom who can toss a sack of shingles over her shoulder and rewire a house better and faster than him. Her incredible strength and self-confidence—something Cole has pretended to have for years—draws him in. All he has to show for himself is his uncanny use of pick-up lines, a hand-me-down farm and some small-town rental properties. Samantha Chase has no problem accepting her new boss, flaws and all. His simple life is charming and exactly what she hoped to find for herself and her son in the small New Hampshire town. Cole wins her over by befriending her fatherless son and making her laugh again, something she hasn’t done in four years. When she learns about his shady past with the bottle, her heart tells her to forgive, but the painful memories of her past may be too deep to overlook.