The books Southern indie booksellers are recommending to readers everywhere!

Sports

The Final Score by Lana Ferguson

, , ,
The Final Score by Lana Ferguson
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

Lana Ferguson keeps her readers fed! Be it contemporary, paranormal, omegaverse, or anything else she writes, I will read it. Beyond one title that’s audio only at the moment, I’ve read all the others that I can. The Final Score for the time being is my favorite Lana contemporary. The care that is given to Jack and Abby’s romance is superb. It’s not just the romance, but the attention to detail given to the driving forces in their lives that have molded them into who they are, is done with such intention. I’m hard-pressed to think of another contemporary romance that has dealt with what Jack and Abby do and done it so well. Everything in this book worked for me, and it’ll be one of my go-to summer read recs.

The Final Score by Lana Ferguson, (List Price: $19, Berkley, 9780593953716, July 2026)

Reviewed by Preet, Eagle Eye Book Shop in Decatur, GA

The Final Score by Lana Ferguson Read More »

Pucking Strong by Emily Rath

, , ,
Pucking Strong by Emily Rath
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

Queen Dr. Emily Rath has once again written a beautiful (yet spicy) hockey romance with so much emotional depth, I find myself shocked. I loved this book so so much and I’m so sad that this series is almost over

Pucking Strong by Emily Rath, (List Price: $19.95, Kensington, 9781496752437, August 2025)

Reviewed by Ash Spaulding, Writers Block Bookstore in Winter Park, Florida

Pucking Strong by Emily Rath Read More »

Off Your Game by Susan Renee

, , ,
Off Your Game by Susan Renee
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

Come on. I thought I was off hockey Romance. Who was I kidding? I freaking loved this one. Literally read it in 8 hours. Super quick. Super steamy. Fantastic chemistry. It does have a third act breakup, so keep that in mind. Overall a fun read. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

Off Your Game by Susan Renee, (List Price: $17.99, Page & Vine, 9781964264158, April 2025)

Reviewed by Amy Jones, As the Page Turns in Travelers Rest, South Carolina

Off Your Game by Susan Renee Read More »

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel

, , ,
Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

It would be easy to use boxing similes or metaphors to describe how good this book is (as many a blurb has already done), but to me Headshot is a stunning cubist novel, weaving in and out of the minds of eight young women in a boxing tournament in Reno. In prose as taut as their muscles, we are shown almost simultaneously the fighters’ pasts, presents, and futures, via subtle commentary on social expectations, childhood, and how to hit the person in front of you. Rita Bullwinkel has written a book on boxing as vital as Bryce Courtney or Norman Mailer, because it’s not (just) about the boxing, but about who and what and how to be. Headshot‘s fractured viewpoint reflects and refracts the characters making the fights themselves almost incidental, leaving a short, sharp novel of brutal beauty.

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel, (List Price: $28, Viking, 9780593654101, March 2024)

Reviewed by Doron Klemer, Octavia Books in New Orleans, Louisiana

Headshot by Rita Bullwinkel Read More »

The Striker and the Clock by Georgia Cloepfil

, ,
The Striker and the Clock by Georgia Cloepfil
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

It is hard to explain the exact mixture of nostalgia, joy, and melancholy this book wrung out of me in its short but powerful pages. It is hard to explain the feeling of being an athlete in memory, in learned movements and redirected passion, in stories and instincts and past-tense, but Georgia Cloepfil put into words what bangs around in my heart when I think of soccer. A lyrical and poignant tribute to the beautiful game and the people it turns into players, into teams, into champions, and eventually back into people. Like the game, the ticking clock of turning pages was leading me to an ending I wasn’t sure I wanted to reach yet. Give me one more minute, one more chapter in the environment of the game, in the feeling. But the clock winds down.

The Striker and the Clock by Georgia Cloepfil, (List Price: $27, Riverhead Books, 9780593714881, July 2024)

Reviewed by Morgan Holub, E. Shaver Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

The Striker and the Clock by Georgia Cloepfil Read More »

The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee

, , , , , , ,
The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.
Get the audiobook

In this new romcom m by Karmen Lee, we’ve got BFFs turned rivals meeting again after 10 years when they’re both teaching at the same high school, and sparks are flying! Ava has been teaching at her old high school for several years now, and she’s settled in. But when she discovers that the new teacher is her old best friend who became her biggest bowling team rival, she’s unsettled. Grace is back in her hometown after being dissatisfied with teaching at college and longs for her hometown. But to be honest, she also wants to mend fences with Ava too. But when they both take on the coaching positions of the school’s new bowling team, they find that they’ll definitely have to find a way to get along.

The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee, (List Price: $12.99, Afterglow Books, 9781335041630, May 2024)

Reviewed by Jennifer Jones, Bookmiser in , Georgia

The 7-10 Split by Karmen Lee Read More »

Tea Time by Beth Ferry, Dana Wulfekotte (Illus.)

, , , ,
Tea Time
buy this book

Buy from your local indie.

Frannie and Grandy have a special day planned together but a punny misunderstanding threatens to ruin their day! Young readers and their adults will delight in this adorable book.

Tea Time by Beth Ferry, Dana Wulfekotte (Illus.) (List Price: $17.99, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 9781524741082, 6/1/2021)

Reviewed by Kate Storhoff, Bookmarks in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

Tea Time by Beth Ferry, Dana Wulfekotte (Illus.) Read More »

Scroll to Top