Romance books come in every available genre and if you haven’t taken the plunge yet, you’re missing out on tons of fantastic books. Sports romance books take the tropes we love from romance books and blend in a certain main character (MC) playing a sport. It can sometimes be the main love interest who is the athlete, the main character, or even both. You can also still have the other fun tropes intertwined like dark romance, grumpy/sunshine, enemies to lovers, second chance romance, or even a ton of angst or a great slow burn (hello Mariana Zapata books).
Hockey romances are having their spotlight in 2023, just pull up TikTok or Instagram and you will find SO many options, but I love all sports. As long as the story + the spice are balanced and it’s well-written, it doesn’t matter which sport it features.
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My Top 10 Sports Romance Books/Series
1. Kulti by Mariana Zapata
Mariana Zapata is the Queen of Slow Burn. She somehow manages to keep the romance going for 500+ pages in her books with the main characters not usually connecting until the last 10-20% of the book! Yet, it’s pure crack in her books! Kulti is one of her best, professional women’s soccer meets a pro-soccer world renowned men’s legend turned coach! You will consume this book!
2. Binding 13 By Chloe Walsh
This is the Boys of Tommen Series, so grab Keeping 13 too. Ireland, prep school, and rugby make these two books addicting. Johnny and Shannon – the purest and most innocent of love stories yet so many more layers are discovered in both of their lives. Check the trigger warnings as there are some (not between min characters but their backgrounds).
3. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
The super popular Booktok sensation lives up to the hype in my opinion. I would say one of the hockey romances to launch a million more you hear about all over social. Nate Hawkins will always live in my top book boyfriends. Rivals (a bit) to lovers with a golden retriever MMC. Hockey meets figure skating – reminded me a bit of The Cutting Edge movie from the 80s. So good!!
4. Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
It may seem weird if you have not ever read a male/male romance but I swear once you do, you will be addicted. The first book “Him” is no exception and has so much angst and love, plus you get the added benefit of hockey romance, friends to enemies to lovers trope, with great writing and spice! This is a two-book series, so you can also grab Us by the same authors with the same MCs, my favorite!
5. From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
Another slow burn by Zapata. I consume every single one of her books. This one is all of my childhood dreams of being obsessed with Olympic figure skating of the 90s! Enemies to lovers but so much more. Love the banter and the strong female MC.
6. Pucking Around by Emily Rath
Ok, this book exploded all over social media in the last few months, and I will warn or excite you depending on your style, it’s like a 5-chili spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ reverse harem or “why choose” with three amazingly hot pro hockey players and a sports doc FMC. It’s also more of a poly relationship with MMF scenes is again, may not be your vibe, but DAMN if it doesn’t hit all of the notes on the spice scale if that is what you are in the mood for. Plus, the writing is great!
7. Mile High by Liz Tomforde
Liz Tomforde is such a great author. She somehow blends a little angst and heavier topics in these two books of her new Windy City series. “Mile High” is a professional hockey player MMC meets the female team jet flight attendant. So much drama and a great love story not following the exact formula of most romance. I love it. “The Right Move” is the second book with some of the side characters in the spotlight. Pro basketball MMC is the best friend’s brother of the FMC, and Ryan is the brother of our main female character, Stevie, from book 1. I cannot WAIT for book 3. These two books are so good, you will devour them.
8. The Deal by Elle Kennedy
“The Deal” has over 500,000 reviews on GoodReads… that’s how popular this college hockey series is. All 4 books of the main four guy friends are perfect. All of the best tropes. The Deal starts with fake dating but has a lot of depth, funny banter, and great side characters. I think part of the Off-Campus Series appeal is how much we love Garrett, Dean, John Logan, and John Tucker… their friendship is so good.
9. Blind Side by Kandi Steiner
Faking dating at its finest. Clay Johnson 🥵 I love this whole series by Kandi Steiner but somehow this one just rises a bit above the rest. I love a college football story too but the banter and sweetness between Clay and Giana is so good. It’s an easy read, you will love it.
10. The Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan
I love every single thing I read by Kennedy Ryan. She is one of my go-to authors, and I was so captivated by her Grip trilogy (music, second chance romance) that I saw the amazing reviews on The Long Shot and…gave it a shot. I knew it was college/pro basketball romance but I didn’t realize the harder topics and heavier reading this one would entail. Check your trigger warnings about domestic abuse (NOT between MCs) but if you are still interested, this is a phenomenal story and I was rooting for them the whole book.
A Last Word on Sports Romance Books
This probably won’t be the last post we share about sports romance books. It happens to be a favorite genre for me. If you’ve already read these or you’re looking for something less spicy, check out Steph’s favorite books of 2022.
