Favorite Sports Themed Romances
I love a good sports romance. I love the single minded intensity of professional athletes, and adore when a woman perhaps takes them off their game. So, I decided to make a list of some of my favorites. I’m hoping this list might induce other readers to tell me their favorites, as I’m always looking for romances featuring pro sports of almost any type.
The Deal by Elle Kennedy
I read this book at the behest of Jane, who seriously was more OMGSQUEE than I’ve ever seen her about this book. This book features a college aged hockey player who is failing his philosophy class and the girl in his class who is getting an A. He cajoles and goads her into tutoring him, and while she’s busy resenting him and his high handed ways, they become friends. Here’s what I love about this book: the characters talk like college kids, they behave like college kids, and their relationship begins on a strong foundation of friendship. There is attraction, but mostly these two are friends long before they begin a romantic relationship. And the reasons for this are all excellent. It’s a superbly written book, and one of my favorites of the year.
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Real by Katy Evans
I beta read for Katy Evans. However, this book was published prior to my beta reading relationship with her.
I’m a big fan of MMA fighter romances. In fact, this book is the one that kicked off my glom of the trope. What I love about this book is the stupendous chemistry that Evans infuses between the hero and heroine. I admired how she raised the stakes with each interaction between the couple. Plus, the hero, Remy, is bipolar. It was a fascinating tact to take with a hero. As I stated in my review, I’m not knowledgeable enough about the condition to know if it was portrayed accurately, but it felt very credible to me. The story moves quickly and is highly entertaining. It’s my favorite of the MMA hero romances that I’ve read, and one that I recommend over and over again.
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The Perfect Play by Jaci Burton
This is THAT book, with THAT cover. You remember it. The one that you audibly gasped at when you saw it. And the cover IS awesome. But what’s even better is what’s between the covers, which is a lovely, erotic and sweet romance between a busy single mother and a pro football player. What makes this book one of my favorites? First, Jaci Burton understands football. Too many authors write books with professional athletes in them and they have absolutely no understanding of the sport or anything to do with it. The football is portrayed soundly. Second, the romance is extremely credible. The couple acts like grown-ups through out the story, and the tension between them is real, not contrived. I’ve said before that I think Jaci Burton publishes among the best sports themed romances today, and this novel is a perfect example as to why.
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Flat Out Sexy by Erin McCarthy
Flat Out Sexy has one of my favorite openings ever, where the heroine has just had super hot sex with the hero, who she now realizes is significantly younger than her. Her horrified reaction is hilarious. The story itself is an incredibly fun, sexy romp with a hero who doesn’t take himself too seriously, and a heroine who is way too busy with real life to play around with what she thinks is a playboy superstar athlete. If you’ll forgive the pun, it’s a really fun ride, one that is well researched about the sport of NASCAR and one that I love introducing readers to.
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The Hook-Up by Kristen Callihan
This was my favorite book from last year. I’ve recommended it dozens of times, and have even gifted copies of it to multiple friends. What I love best about it is the “hero in hot pursuit” trope, which is my very favorite. From the moment the hero lays eyes on the heroine, he is in love. He pursues her relentlessly (but not in a creepy way), and given that he’s the star quarterback and past Heisman trophy winner, he’s even more fascinated by the fact that she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. Both characters are eminently likable, and more than that, the romance is rich, adventurous, and so remarkably fulfilling. This is a book that I definitely heaved “the big sigh” at the end of. I wholeheartedly recommend it.
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See Jane Score by Rachel Gibson
Even a decade after its publishing date, See Jane Score is still on my Top 20 Favorite Romances of all times. I recently re-read it, and it holds up as well today as it did the first time I read it. Jane is a reporter who has been assigned to cover the Chinooks hockey team. In particular, she wants a story with Luc Martineau, the Chinooks’ elusive and notably hostile to the press goalie. Luc does everything he can to fight his growing attraction to the reporter who knows absolutely nothing about hockey and is wholly unaware of her sexiness. Gibson books tend to be really funny, and this one is no exception, but what makes the book for me is how much I love Jane. She’s smart, resourceful, takes no crap whatsoever, and is horrified by her attraction to a man who she originally perceives to be a Neanderthal. It’s a truly entertaining book that I love. I highly recommend it for lovers of hockey romances.
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YOUR TURN: Which are your favorite sports romances? Have you tried any of these that you enjoyed?
I’ve read and enjoyed all of these books except for The Hook-Up. (I’m probably the sole person on the planet who didn’t like this story).
I’m really enjoying Sawyer Bennett’s Fury Hockey team series. It’s a more recent sports romance series.
@Sarah: If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t a big fan of The Hook Up either.
Although I don’t read a great deal of M/M or NA, I have to say one of my new favorites is “The Understatement of the Year” by Sarina Bowen. The fact hockey plays a major point of conflict instead of being just window dressing makes it a big plus for me.
I don’t normally read NA, mainly because I’m not a fan of first person, but I did like The Deal a lot. I’m currently obsessed with rugby and New Zealand, thanks to Rosalind James and her Escape to New Zealand series, featuring members of the All Blacks. I also really like Kat Latham’s London Legends series. Although I have only a nodding acquaintance with hockey, Catherine Gayle has a series I like centered around the fictional Portland Storm, and I’ve really enjoyed Kate Willoughby’s In the Zone series as well as Toni Aleo’s Nashville Assassins series. A fan of college football and not a fan of the NFL, I like Julie Branaugh’s Love and Football series despite the NFL setting. I especially like Catching Cameron in that series. And I really like V.K. Sykes Philadelphia Patriots series about baseball–it’s written by Vanessa Kelly and her husband and has an interesting male perspective in many of the situations (my husband coached baseball for many years so I can tell when somebody doesn’t know what they’re talking about).
Jill Shalvis’s “Slow Heat” is a must-read for me. Baseball romance is my favourite sports romance, and this one worked on all the levels it’s supposed to. Smart, sexy, funny – I was hooked from beginning to end.
I loved Allison Parr’s RUSH ME – the hero was a NFL quarterback (also, I know nothing about American football, so can’t vouch for the sports accuracy).
Second Cheryl’s Sarina Bowen rec.
Re your list, I liked the early Erin McCarthy NASCAR books, but the latter were a bit hit or miss for me. I’ve the Kristen Callihan and Elle Kennedy on my to-read list, probably because of recs here!
Oh, and I just checked my own list – if you’re after YA romances, I really liked Julie Cross’s LETTERS TO NOWHERE (gymnastics – pretty sure it was reviewed here) and Miranda Kenneally’s Hundred Oaks series (various sports – each book focuses on a different one).
I echo the sentiments about “The Deal.” One of my besties read it and recommended it. It was the first Elle Kennedy book I read, but it won’t be the last. I don’t normally like NA, but that along with The Hook Up were exceptions for me. I believe Logan’s book is out at the end of the month.
What about Deirdre Martin’s hockey books? I really really enjoyed those!
And this reminds me that I glom-bought all of the Rachel Gibson Chinooks books during the big sale. Time to dig them out and read!
Can people recommend some more books where the female is the sports figure in the story? I read one recently with a female tennis player and then a female figure (pairs) skater. I’m interested in m/f though.
I would love to see this dynamic more often.
Thoughts? Thanks.
@Allison:
Can I echo this comment? I would really love to read more female-athlete centred stories, but I have trouble finding them. I recently bought Love on the Run by Zuri Day after seeing it here (I think), but I couldn’t get past the first few pages. It’s probably not a bad book, I just have a personal turn-off with heroes referring to women as conquests. I’ll probably try it again soon, though, because I want to read about the female track-star heroine.
@Cheryl @Li: I third Understatement of the Year by Sarina Bowen. Loved it!
I also liked The Hook Up.
Also, an old out of print book from the 1990s, One on One by Tabitha King. It’s about two high schoolers who play point guard for their respective basketball teams. I really wish this book would be reissued in digital.
One of my favorite sports themed romances is Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy. I think it’s been recommended here before as a good intro to M/M romances. It’s the story of what happens when an out artsy film festival organizer and a closeted pro Australian Rules football player fall in love. It’s quite funny, and emotional, and has a great cast of secondary characters.
@Allison: Possibly Shelley Laurenston fits. She has some “shifter” books (were-wolves, were-lions and were-bears etc.) The sports aren’t the focus of the books. Two females work as plumbers, but do roller derby. Beast Behaving Badly and the Mane Squeeze. Another plays coed shifter-only hockey, when she isn’t hunting down bad guys (literally). Bear Meets Girl.
A possible warning they have somewhat over the top violence, think cartoonish.
@Allison: Check out Sarina Bowen’s booklist. “The Year We Fell Down” is a NA with a hockey star hero and the heroine a former hockey star herself until she was severely injured. Also, Bowen’s “Shooting from the Stars” features a pro female snowboarder.
I am not a huge sports watcher but The Deal and The Hook Up were both favorites of mine. I think I will also be reading See Jane Score, it sounds great!
I know they’re practically retro by now, but I’m surprised SEP’s Stars books haven’t been mentioned.
@Allison: Miranda Kenneally’s Hundred Oaks series that was mentioned by Li focuses on female athletes. I know of a couple of authors who’ve written about figure skaters – Elizabeth Harmon and Jennifer Comeaux. Meg Maguire (Cara McKenna) has Takedown, which is about a female MMA fighter. It was originally published with another title, so make sure you haven’t read it already. Take Me On by Katie McGarry has a kickboxer heroine.
It’s probably easier to find female athletes in YA and NA.
Some interesting recommendations! Hopefully some I’ll see some more too.
I would love to see something about female golfers or more with tennis players. Wouldn’t something about ‘Serena’ or ‘Maria’ or a hot-shot Asian-American female golfer (Michelle W) be of interest to readers? These women are the superstars/CEOs. It would be cool to read about their fictional struggles and heartbreak.
Love this list! I really enjoyed The Deal, all of Jaci Burton’s Play by Play series and equally Erin McCarthy’s Fast Track series.
@Allison: Allison, Game Play by Lynda Aicher had both female and male athletes as the main characters.
@Allison: also, Nicola Marsh has an NA book Crossing the Line which is about tennis players.
I actually just finished reading Erin McCarthy’s NASCAR series. I really liked the first few, liked the later ones a little bit less but still found them enjoyable. There was only one where I was really not feeling it.
I might give the Jaci Burton one a shot. I really haven’t enjoyed her writing style before but perhaps it was just that particular series that wasn’t doing it for me.
For sports romances not listed, I really love Kat Latham’s London Legends series. It’s wonderful. I’m a big rugby league fan and though it’s not the same, rugby is close enough.
@Allison:
Hi Allison,
I’ve got a tennis book coming out late Spring with a “Serena” type character. It’s about tennis doubles partners who fall in love:
http://wikkidsexycool.com/free-chapter-view/game-set-love/
@Allison: The Julie Cross YA (LETTERS TO NOWHERE) I mentioned has the female as the athlete. She’s written a baseball-centred YA romance as well (WHATEVER LIFE THROWS AT YOU), but the guy is the athlete in this one – I liked this one too.
I agree with Rose that female athletes appear to be more common in YA/NA somehow…
Though having said that, Rebecca Crowley’s written a tennis romance, LOVE IN STRAIGHT SETS, where the female is the tennis player – I’ve the book, but not yet read.
And oh, I also second GeriUpNorth’s M/M romance rec of TIGERS AND DEVILS – I really enjoyed this, plus really strong sports element, I thought.
I’ll shut up now.
There is a mystery series with romantic elements about a female golfer. The first book (of four) is Wicked Slice by Aaron Elkins and Charlotte Elkins. Description: “In this first Lee Ofsted mystery, Lee is a “rabbit” golfer in the Pacific-Western Women’s Pro-Am. She made it into the tournament by the skin of her teeth . . .Then Lee discovers the body of the tour’s star at the bottom of the course lake, and her own problems with golf techniques pale in comparison. Enter Lieutenant Graham Sheldon. He’s charming, handsome, and determined to capture the killer as well as Lee’s heart.”
Any books with female golfers? Preferrably those who play in the LET.
I saw the recommendation here for The Deal, and I wasn’t excited by the blurb, but thought wth. It maybe one of my all time favorite romances–It’s that perfect. I, however, am also in the minority of disliking The Hook-Up–their lurve was just too much for my tastes. But to each their own!
A YA book that I enjoyed (2-3 stars-ish) with a female athlete is Pepped Up by Ali Dean. It’s also a friends-to-lovers trope (my fav!), but it has lots of flaws too.
Another YA mentioned above that I liked was Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally (Hundred Oaks #1). Female QB and friends-to-lovers….. Yeah I liked it. I wasn’t a big fan of the rest of the series though.
Cheers!
@Allison – The Thrill of Victory is an old Sandra Brown romance with a female tennis star and a male sports reporter. I have no idea how well it holds up, but I think I enjoyed it back in the day.
Jill Myles has one about a female ice skater who competes on an Ice Skating with the Stars type show.
Mason Dixon has an f/f about a female boxer / enforcer for a drug lord and an undercover cop posing as a boxer.
@Rose – I’m surprised by the lack SEP love too. I can never remember her titles, but I loved several of her Stars books (and I hated a couple of them with the force of a thousand fiery suns – it was a hit or miss series for me).
I enjoyed Kulti by Mariana Zapata – about a professional f soccer player and the retired m soccer superstar who becomes an assistant coach for her team. Without a lot of personal knowledge, the book seemed to realistically present the daily routine of a professional female athlete, some of the differences b/w playing in the US and abroad, and the gender gap for professional athletes
@kim
I know this is days late (sorry) but there’s a rugby league romance called “The Hooker and the Hermit” by LH Crossway and Penny Reid. And the hooker part in the title refers to a position in rugby league. It’s on my TBR pile so I haven’t read it yet but as a big rugby league fan (I’m a kiwi living in Aussie) it will be interesting to see how it goes :) I think this is based in Britain not Oz or NZ :(