Nella isn’t your typical college student, bound by a contract she signed before she understood what it meant. Tied by rules set by others. Firm in a rule set for herself, a rule to protect her heart. No jocks. Carter doesn’t make keeping her rule easy, but she’s determined not to break it. Carter refuses to let women get the best of him. He’s seen the fallout and learned that you can’t trust anyone. Giving someone his entire heart is not an option. Nella has captured his interest, something about her is familiar, but he keeps himself at a distance. An online friendship, identities unknown, has Nella and Carter unwittingly trusting each other. Secrets are uncovered, identities revealed.
Kip Carmichael is no pretty boy.He's a rough. Dirty. Giant. Hair so unruly, and a beard so thick, his friends on the team call him Sasquatch.The first time Sasquatch lays eyes on Theodora "Teddy" Johnson across the keg at a party one night on Jock Row, she'd been relegated to the sidelines by her jock hungry "friends."Week-after-week, he watches beautiful but bashful Teddy getting overshadowed, and overlooked. Sasquatch finally broad shoulders his way through the crowd, offering to to be her hairy godmother. But the minute their eyes meet? He's a goner.Teaching her the RULES for winning a jock will be the easy part. Not falling in love with her is going to be a losing game.
Scarlett is always the sensible one: The sober driver. The planner. The one holding your hair back while you're worshiping the porcelain gods. Week-after-week, she visits Jock Row with her friends-the universities hottest party scene and breeding ground for student athletes. And if keeping her friends out of trouble, and guys out of their pants, was a sport, she'd be the star athlete. Being a well known jock-blocker gets her noticed for all the wrong reasons; just like that, she's banned from Jock Row. NO GUY WANTS A GIRL AROUND WHO KEEPS THEIR JOCK FRIENDS FROM GETTING LAID. "Rowdy" Wade is the hot shot short-stop for the universities baseball team-and the unlucky bastard who drew the short straw: keep little Miss Goody Two-Shoes out of the Baseball House. But week-after-week Scarlett returns, determined to get inside.
It starts in a suburban backyard with Darren Keefe and his older brother, sons of a fierce and gutsy single mother. The endless glow of summer, the bottomless fury of contest. All the love and hatred in two small bodies poured into the rules of a made-up game. Darren has two big talents: cricket and trouble. No surprise that he becomes an Australian sporting star of the bad-boy variety—one of those men who’s always got away with things and just keeps getting. Until the day we meet him, middle aged, in the boot of a car. Gagged, cable-tied, a bullet in his knee. Everything pointing towards a shallow grave. The Rules of Backyard Cricket is a novel of suspense in the tradition of Peter Temple’s Truth. With glorious writing harnessed to a gripping narrative, it observes celebrity, masculinity—humanity—with clear-eyed lyricism and exhilarating narrative drive. Jock Serong’s first novel, Quota, won the 2015 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. The Rules of Backyard Cricket was shortlisted for the 2017 Victorian Premier’s Award for Fiction, and was a finalist in the 2017 Mystery Writers of America Edgar Awards and the 2017 Indie Book Awards. On the Java Ridge won the Colin Roderick Award and the international Staunch Book Prize in 2018. Jock lives with his family on Victoria’s far west coast. ‘The Rules of Backyard Cricket by Jock Serong, while classified as ‘crime’, is a compelling literary novel dissecting toxic sporting culture and its fallout.’ Paddy O’Reilly, Australian Book Review, 2016 Books of the Year ‘The Rules of Backyard Cricket got the thumbs up from everyone.’ Favourite Fiction for 2016, Avenue Bookstore ‘My favourite reading experience of the year (and I don’t even like cricket).’ Heather Taylor Johnson, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading ‘Blow me down if I didn’t hang on every word.’ Clare Wright, Best Books of 2016, Australian ‘One of the great novels written about sport...Delicious. It’s the top read of the summer.’ Stuff NZ ‘A deeply interesting novel about sibling rivalry, family, masculinity, and the game of cricket...Serong is a talented storyteller, and he brings this unusual world to life.’ Booklist ‘Merges my childhood dreamscape of hot days and sporting ambition with a page-turning thriller set within the rot of professional sport. Beautifully Melbourne. Get on it!’ Tony Wilson ‘Readers who have fallen in love with Australian mysteries, thrillers and crime novels have a whole world to discover with fantastic authors bringing the southern hemisphere to life...As in the UK, cricket is a national passion in Australia and Jock Serong delves into the murky world of professional sportsmen.’ Jane Harper, Daily Mail
EAT. SLEEP. FOOTBALL.Those are Jackson Jennings, Jr's three mantras . His entire life, he's been a trained athlete with only one end-game: the Pro's. No girls. No parties. No alcohol. EAT. SLEEP. FOOTBALL.Repeat. Every Friday night, Triple J cruises the strip on campus, bored, lonely and conditioned not to party. But the night he meets Charlotte Edmonds on the side of the road, he wonders if his three mantras will ever be enough. BIG. DUMB. JOCK.Charlie has no time for Jackson's antics. Not when he's stealing her food or teases her to no end, making her tingle in all the right places. But if she's ever going to have a boyfriend, she'd choose one who isn't a Neanderthal. One with manners and actual time to spend with her. Not a hulking man-child who cruises the strip at night, in his Big. Dumb. Truck.
Joined by a living boy whose family has recently moved into the house she haunts, Dahlia, a 12-year-old ghost, tries to solve the mystery of her own death while fending off an unscrupulous ghosthunter.
Dean Arkin’s life is a mess. Ever since his brother died and his girlfriend left, he’s determined to fill the void with meaningless sex. Sleeping around is easy, and Dean has become an expert at leaving feelings at the door. Until her. Ripley Price. She’s smart, beautiful, and completely immune to Dean’s charms; his reputation as a player preceding him. Ripley Price has finally removed herself from her smothering parents. They mean well, but she’s always fought for her independence and being at Parkland University is one more step in the right direction. People have always tried to save Ripley, thinking she needs a hero when all she wants is an equal partner. Dean intrigues her, but his reputation as a player is a turnoff. Ripley isn’t willing to sacrifice her newfound freedom, especially not for a guy who goes through women like she changes socks. Ripley may want to keep her distance, but Dean never backs down from a challenge and he’s out to win.
Book 1: The No Asshole Rule A broken girl. The boy next door. An introduction gone wrong. Andie has one rule she lives by, no a$$holes. She doesn’t befriend them and she certainly doesn’t date them. Upon transferring universities, she’s irritated to discover her neighbor is not only an a$$hole, but one she’s attracted to. Lucas doesn’t want any distractions, but the sexy, distant woman across the hall intrigues him in a way he can’t resist. His determination to show her he’s not like the others whittles away until they give in to their attraction. As Andie struggles with demons from her past, will she allow herself to trust the man she’s grown to love? And will Lucas be able handle the secrets she bears? Both will need to decide what is worth fighting for. Book 2: The No Bad Boy Rule Six years ago, a positive pregnancy test destroyed Ava. Her goals, her relationship, the entire way she viewed her future. From the rubble, a rule was created: No bad boys. In their wake is chaos and destruction, something she could no longer risk. Ava has been happy with this rule, until now. The bad boy across the hall makes her want to abandon it. Those hazel eyes piercing her, as though they can read her mind. That gentle smile as he interacts with her son. Dax awakens something in her that she’s never felt before. Will she regret opening her heart to another bad boy? Dax is determined to earn back the respect he lost for himself years ago and create a future he can be proud of. He’s spent his life breaking rules and now he has a rigid set of rules to live by. Ava is a distraction he doesn’t need. Nothing like the women from his past, everything about her from her adorable son to the paint constantly covering her hands reminds him of why he needs to focus. He knows the look in her eyes, he fights the urge to give in to that look. He doesn’t deserve it, at least not yet. Will Dax ever feel like he’s earned it, or will a call from his past cause him to push her away for good? Book 3: The No Player Rule Nella Anderson isn’t your typical college student. She has a secret, one she can never share. With secrets come rules. Rules set by others. Rules set by herself. Nella’s rule is simple. No jocks. Carter Jacobs doesn’t make keeping her rule easy, but she’s determined not to break it. Carter refuses to let women get the best of him. He’s seen the fallout and learned early on that you can’t fully trust anyone. Giving someone his entire heart is not an option. Nella has captured his interest, but he keeps himself at a distance. An online friendship, identities unknown, has Nella and Carter unwittingly trusting each other. Secrets are uncovered, identities revealed.
I knew something was wrong the second she walked in the door tonight; I just couldn't put my finger on what it was. Same hair color. Same legs. Same face. Except...I look harder. At the small dimple beneath her lip that wasn't there the last time we went out. And her laugh-that laugh isn't as loud. This isn't the girl I've gone out with the past few weeks. It's her twin sister, and they've switched places on me. Only I'm not quite ready to let them switch back.
How do you raise amazing children? How do you teach them to be kind and honest, insightful and inquisitive, athletic and curious, loving and thoughtful? How do you give your child the courage to be a good sport, a good sibling, a good friend, a good person? When Tom Sturges became a father, he wanted to be the greatest father who ever walked the earth. “I wanted to be so much more than a casual observer of my son’s life as it went by me.” So Sturges asked a lot of questions. He picked up ideas, advice, and tips from parents, grandparents, even rock stars and sports legends–anyone who had unique insights to share. The result is this practical, inspiring “rule book” for raising healthy, happy, safe, cherished children. Philosophical, sensible, and empowering, these 76 ideas subscribe to a simple premise: It is impossible to respect a child too much, but it is worth the effort to try. The rules are organized into seven fields, arranged by subject, and will help parents, mentors, coaches, and anyone who has children, to deal with an array of situations in a kind, respectful, and encouraging way. • EVERYDAY: Let your children feel welcome and loved from the first moment he or she walks into a room. “Smile When You See Him” (rule #4) and leave no doubt that, at that moment, your child is the most important person in your world. • COMMUNICATING: Since yelling parents intimidate, and a calm tone inspires, “When You Get Upset, Whisper” (rule #22) –and make sure your message is heard. • MANNERS MATTERS: Follow “The Bill Walton Rule,” (rule #34) and if you can’t be on time, be early. • NO LOST CHILDREN: When a family or group travels together, obey “The Caboose Rule” (rule #43) by assigning an adult or older child to keep up the rear–and ensure that no little ones lag behind. • DISCIPLINES AND PUNISHMENTS: “The 10-Second Rule” (rule #49) prescribes the minimum amount of time you should wait before thinking about punishing your child for that D in English. • PAIN HAPPENS, NOW WHAT?: After your child experiences a little cut, bump, or scrape, say “Squeeze My Hand as Much as It Hurts” (rule #62); it is remarkable how their being able to “show” you will help to ease his or her pain. • PLAY SPORTS, PERIOD: When your children accomplish something great in their sports, using “The ESPN Rule,” (rule #67) tell the story in intimate detail and fill them with the belief that they can do it again and again.
