I don’t know about you, but I love a good sports romance. From football to hockey, baseball and more, sports romances often play up the tropes for light and sexy reads. Fake relationships, flings, second chances, friends to lovers – they’re all represented here. Sports romances are often interconnected standalones that are part of a series, tied together by a group of teammates who support each other along the way. Or they follow one athlete who stumbles on their path to happily ever after, and the journey is just as fun.
From alpha jockholes to cinnamon roll sweethearts, there’s a hero for everyone on this list – and there are plenty of tropes at play too. Each of these contemporary romance novels was a 4 or 5-star read for me. I’ve included the blurbs, links to my book reviews, and links to Amazon for easy addition to your collection. Happy reading!
I put together a sports-themed list every year around the same time, so links to my other recommendation lists are below!
Blind Pass by Teagan Hunter
What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay there.
I would know. I’m coming home with a brand-new ring on my finger.
My wife? Ryan Bell.
We’re polar opposites.
She’s sunshine and happiness.
I’m grumpy and scarred—literally.
We could get it annulled and no one would be the wiser.
Only problem? We posted about it online, and it’s already making headlines.
I can’t afford to get that kind of attention and tank my career, and Ryan needs my help too.
We make a plan: stay married for one year, play our roles, and divorce amicably at the end. No harm, no foul.
Besides, there’s no way the beauty is going to fall for the beast…
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3GU1lkZ
The Rival by Kendall Ryan
Being stranded in remote Canada with a hottie?
Wasn’t part of my summer plans.
Dump my cheating ex? Check.
Land an amazing job with Boston’s professional hockey franchise? Check.
Fall stupidly in love with hockey’s favorite bad boy? Ugh.
After wasting years of my life with the wrong person, I told myself all I wanted was a little no-strings fun. Enter Alex Braun—a wealthy, handsome, notorious playboy who’s equal parts charming and dangerous as hell to my wounded heart.
After enduring a very public breakup of his own, the sexy player doesn’t want to be anyone’s forever. Too bad he barreled his way into my heart, instead of just my bed.
But this professional athlete knows a thing or two about competing, and he won’t let go so easily.
This romance contains one grumpy, emotionally damaged, but gorgeous-as-hell hockey player, and a whip-smart, hardworking heroine who’s never quite fit in. It should only be read by those who like their men brawny and their romances red-hot!
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3fZdJE9
Decker by Kayley Loring & Connor Crais
#12 Johnny Decker. Star quarterback for the Boston Tomcats. Two-time Super Bowl MVP…a decade ago. Nickname: Decker the Panty Wrecker.
I get tackled for a living by men who are built like rhinos. I could take the wings off a fly with a football from 30 yards away. (I wouldn’t, but I could.) Being a veteran quarterback means I’m a mentally alert, fine-tuned athletic machine who can make split-second decisions.
It’s my job to anticipate what’s going to happen next and adapt. But I couldn’t have anticipated the death of our beloved team owner.
His estranged daughter Hannah Strong is a finance nerd from New York. She knows less than nothing about football. Know what she didn’t anticipate? Inheriting the Boston Tomcats.
She’s stubborn, uptight, infuriating, and wrong about absolutely everything—from pizza to how to run my team. And I don’t want to talk about how good she looks in a skirt. Or daydream about how good she’d look out of it.
Really, I don’t.
I’m not Decker the Panty Wrecker anymore—I’ve changed.
I can’t stop arguing with her.
Or thinking about her.
I thought I had a winning play.
But Hannah Strong changed everything.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3HJpnPK
Hard Fall by Sara Ney
“Hard Fall”
That’s what my mom is always saying: “The bigger you are, the harder you fall.” She’s talking about love—I’ve never been in it myself, but that doesn’t stop me from secretly matchmaking for my friends. Who would suspect me, a world class athlete, of meddling in other people’s love lives? I love Love, especially when it’s not me who’s doing the falling…
“No Thanks.”
That’s what Hollis Westbrooke said when I asked her on a date. Well, propositioned her, actually—but it was all a big joke; one she doesn’t think is funny. My stomach is in knots since I might actually like this girl so the joke is on me. Hollis’s father is my boss—and she doesn’t date players.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall—especially when biggest player is me.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Y8GWo6
The Closer by Kristy Marie
What happens when you strike a deal with baseball’s most talented pitcher? You slip a plastic ring on his finger and say, “I do.”
Quirky meets broody in this laugh-out-loud, romantic comedy from bestselling author, Kristy Marie.
The tattoo down his forearm reads: My power is perfected in weakness.
It inspires bad decisions in everyone who crosses his path.
Not me though, I’ve made worse decisions before breakfast.
Marrying baseball phenom Cooper Lexington for his health insurance… doesn’t even rank Top 5.
But I can’t afford to lose this marriage by falling in love.
You see, I made a promise to myself—one I plan on keeping… even if it ruins us.
The Closer is a full-length stand-alone romantic comedy. It features crossover characters from the bestselling novel, IOU.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3lTvKa9
The Perfect Catch by Meghan Quinn
“Kiss me. Just this once . . . please Walker.”
Those whispered words were my undoing . . .
As the most hated player in baseball, I had two options: either clean up my image or pack my bags. Being traded wasn’t an option which only meant one thing, I had to become compliant.
That’s how I found myself sharing a small bistro table with Kate Chapman, the Chicago Bobbies newest PR Manager. Devastatingly beautiful, vastly intelligent, and incredibly cunning, she knows exactly how to handle my grumpy demeanor.
It was supposed to be simple. Book some PR events, show up, smile for the camera, and be done. But one massive mistake on my end sends me into the trenches with Kate, forcing me to open up to her.
Innocent glances turn into cordial encounters.
Secret touches turn into tempting invitations.
And dangerous nights alone turn into consuming desperation.
I’ve never wanted a woman as much as I want her. And I know she wants me, but there’s a no fraternizing with the players rule. Neither of us can afford to lose our jobs, but we also can’t seem to keep our hands off each other either.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3hENiWN
Dirty Hookup by Mira Lyn Kelly
One look and I know… this chick hates me.
I should walk away, find some puck bunny to gleefully sit on my lap and tell me what a big, hot, hockey stud I am–totally true, BTW. But there’s just something about this feisty redhead I can’t let go. She’s got an edge to her that’s sexy as hell and a smart mouth that’s been tying me up since the night I met her.
She tells me to forget it, we’re not happening. But this isn’t the kind of
woman a guy ever forgets. Especially when the air starts to sizzle and pop every time we get within ten feet of each other. She’s in my head and under my skin, and all I can think about is the way she looked at me that one time. Like she already knew how it could be between us.
I’m not the kind of guy a girl like her takes home… But maybe I want to be.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2xDGlAj
Painting the Lines by Ashley R. King
Amalie Warner wants another shot to prove that she can be a successful writer. After hitting the bestseller’s list nine years ago, she’s lost her spark. Feeling pressure from her father to leave her writing behind and to work for her family’s lucrative hotel business, she’s desperate to find inspiration for her next big idea, something that challenges and excites her, something real.
Enter Julian Smoke, a failed tennis player making a dream run for the US Open. After a chance meeting at a bar, Amalie hates him instantly. He’s cocky and arrogant, but Amalie knows his story could be her big break. Could he be more?
Everyone knows that in tennis, love means zero, but these two are about to change that.
Perfect for fans of The Hating Game and Wimbledon.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2YtDfte
Hard to Love by K. Bromberg
New York Times bestselling author, K. Bromberg, is back with a heartfelt, enemies to lovers romance and a hero who redeems himself to steal your heart . . .
He was the one-night stand that didn’t exactly go as planned. Now he’s standing before me as if he’s never seen me naked, telling my manager he’ll take the job. Reluctantly.
Finn Sanderson.
Sports agent extraordinaire. Handsome as hell. The man who just signed on to control my every move.
Sure, I’m to blame for my recent bad press, but when your whole life has been so regimented, isn’t it normal to want to live it up a little?
But when the partying stops and the grief I’m running from has nowhere else to hide, reality sets in. Turns out, Finn’s the only person I have left to help pick up the pieces. The only person to call.
Staying with him is a temporary thing. But when our fighting turns into laughter and our friendship turns into something more, will I fight for a man who swears he’s hard to love? Or is it wiser to walk away? To follow the plan?
* * *
Offering to help with a client is a way to repay a long overdue IOU to my mentor. Little did I know she was the woman who left my hotel room at four in the morning.
Stevie Lancaster.
Top-seeded US tennis player. Good girl gone bad. The woman currently about to throw her career away. And now my problem.
The compensation to “babysit” her is great, but she isn’t worth my trouble.
But when her world falls apart and she has no one else to turn to, I try to be a good guy by gathering her up and hiding her from the media’s eye.
Now she’s in my house, in my space, and even though I’m enjoying the side benefits of this unexpected arrangement, surely she’s better to leave when the time comes and follow her destiny. Because I’m not the man she needs. Not the man she could love. Right?
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/38POJfm
Loud Mouth by Avery Flynn
I never meant to say a word, not one single word.
But I did.
Now because of something I leaked—without even realizing it—I’ve inadvertently broken up one of the Ice Knights’ most legendary bromances. And worse—I’ve kicked hockey star Ian Petrov’s grumpy level to insane levels of grump.
And what could make it worse? How about the two of us being trapped together in a remote cabin after a massive blizzard. Neither of us can leave. Just us, the snow, his resentment, and OMG sexual tension so thick it would take a snowplow to break through it.
I’ve got to get out of here before I do something even dumber than I’ve already done and kiss the sexy with his misplaced anger and perfect pecs. That would be the worst, the absolute worst. But… would it be terrible if we gave in? Just a little? It’s not like we’re ever going to have to spend time together again.
Until the next morning when we’re told we have to play chummy for the press until this news cycle blows over.
F.M.L.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Bpcbmz
My Lucky #13 by Piper Rayne
Lucky.
The one adjective used to describe my entire hockey career. I prefer to call it hard work, at least I did until my game went to complete crap. I haven’t scored in eight games and the team owner is talking about trading me.
I’ve never believed in superstitions. Never needed one. I suppose I was “lucky” in that way. But now the best way to refer to me is desperate. I’d wear the same socks for an entire year just to be the high-scoring center I used to be.
Imagine my surprise when after spending New Year’s Eve with a woman, I score a hat trick in the next game—that’s three goals in one game for you non-hockey lovers. Now, I have to track her down and bribe her to do it again before every game. Get your mind out of the gutter, I’m not talking about it.
I find her and when I get to know her better, I end up spending more time thinking about her than my game, but she’s made it clear she wants no part of me. She’s going to learn that I didn’t become a professional hockey player without having to fight for what I want.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3hll0in
I Pucking Love You by Pippa Grant
You know those stories where an adorably misunderstood clumsy girl needs a fake date to a wedding so she asks her brother’s best friend and they accidentally fall in love?
I wish that was the kind of life I lead, but it’s not.
I don’t need a date to a wedding. I need a date to a funeral.
Clumsy sometimes fits, but then, that’s true for all of us, right? But adorable? No. Misunderstood? Nope again. I’m just your average girl, standing in front of a funeral invitation, asking it to be a winning lottery ticket instead.
And I don’t have a brother, or a best friend with a brother available, which means I’m stuck with Tyler Jaeger.
Sure, he’s a professional hockey player who also knows advanced calculus, but let’s say we’re not compatible and leave it at that. I should know. I am a matchmaker.
Not a very good one, but that’s beside the point.
I know a mismatch when I see one.
Still, Tyler’s what I’ve got, and I am not going to this funeral solo, so he’s what I’ll take.
After all—what could go wrong at a funeral?
I Pucking Love You is a hilariously wrong romantic comedy about the world’s worst matchmaker, a hockey player with a problem he doesn’t want to talk about, and an awkward date-of-convenience that everyone would prefer to forget. It comes complete with a cat working his way through his nine lives, all the sexy times, fish and chips, and a swoony happily-ever-after.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3dEyT9o
The Lie by Karla Sorensen
Rule number 1 for the team owner’s daughter? Don’t date the players.
Especially not hotheaded tight ends with tattoos and impulse control problems.
That’s why Dominic Walker is completely off my radar. Sort of.
Babysitting the team troublemaker when he’s forced to volunteer for the foundation where I work means I can’t exactly avoid him.
I wish I had though. Because once I get to know Dominic, it’s almost impossible to ignore the feelings he brings out in me.
Pretty soon, I’m breaking all my rules. I just have to hope he doesn’t break my heart in the process.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/3iMBQZE
Replay by Amy Daws
Not all players deserve a second chance… no matter how hot their first chance was.
Football club lawyer, Santino Rossi is known in the locker room as the two-month chump. For years he’s been on a mission to find someone he can share his basil plant with and cure him of his former playboy ways.
Tilly Logan is a fiery, Scottish lass who didn’t bat an eye five years ago when a smoldering Italian pulled her into a nightclub bathroom. He was dark, dangerous, and exactly the good time Tilly was looking for—even if he worked for her over-protective brother’s team.
But a lot has changed and when Tilly returns to London five years later only to find herself trapped in an elevator with the smoldering Italian, it isn’t a happy reunion. Especially because her brother blames Santino for her high tailing it back to Scotland in the first place.
Tilly doesn’t want a replay of past mistakes and reconnecting with Santino is playing with fire.
But if they keep their relationship a secret, it could be worth the burn.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2Q3GA0Z
Sweet Spot by Rebecca Jenshak
A hot-headed college golfer falls for her swing coach in this fun and sexy sports romance.
Lincoln Reeves may be a pro golfer and revered swing coach, but when I meet him, he is just one more person telling me I’m not good enough.
So, I do what any girl in my position would do. I tell him to get lost and take his arrogant, annoying smirk with him. I never expect to see him again. I certainly don’t expect to run into him that same night after one too many tequila shots.
Turns out that he’s kind of a big deal. Okay, fine, a really big deal. In fact, he might be the one person who can take my game to the next level.
Convincing him to help will be difficult.
Not throwing my club at his handsome face when he makes me work harder than I thought humanly possible will be excruciating.
But not falling for him will be the hardest thing of all.
Read the review here
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2THpm8w
Want more sports romance recommendations? Check out my other lists!
15 Superb Sports Romances
15 Sensational Sports Romances
I’ve got lists for plenty of other themes here
Follow Jeeves on social media!
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases
Jeeves Reads Romance 