Football Romances

Football season is in full swing in Texas! So here are 10 football romance book recommendations that are definitely worth the read!

Say You Swear by Meagan Brandy

If she isn't mine in the end, I'll still be hers.
It's torture, but it's true...
My brothers best friend broke my heart, but what happens when his new teammate wants to put it back together?
For years, I've dreamt of what college life could bring and while some things changed, there was always one constant.
It didn't matter how wild I allowed my imagination to run, it always led me to the same place in the end.
It led me to him.
My future was clear, and he was it.
Until suddenly, he wasn't.
Now there's a new man in my life, one who isn't afraid to go after what he wants, and what he wants ... is me.
They say first loves last forever.
What about the second?

The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams

Is it ever too late to leave the friend-zone?

Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.

Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)

Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think me and Nathan belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with...oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that!

Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me.

How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sort-a-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?

Send help.
XO Bree

All My Kisses For You by Monica Murphy

Everyone loves Willow Lancaster, and every girl wants to be her. She’s the perfect student. Stylish, kind to all and always flashing that beautiful smile.

After spending her junior year studying in Europe, she returns to Lancaster Prep, eager to kick off being a senior with her friends and maybe even start something up with her old crush?

But everything has changed. Her supposed best friend is dating her crush, new cliques have formed and everyone is OBSESSED with the new guy on campus.

Rhett Bennett is gorgeous. Lethally charming. Absolutely full of himself. He’s also the star quarterback of the football team and suddenly everyone on campus is a sports fan.

He is everything Willow should never want yet…he’s all she can think about. And when she realizes Rhett might feel the same way about her, she’s desperate to throw away her good girl reputation and do bad things.

Only with him.

Hands Down by Mariana Zapata

Before he was Big Texas, he was Zac the Snack Pack.

Bianca Brannen knows time--mostly--heals all wounds. Including those your once loved ones might have unintentionally given you. (Those just take longer.)

She thinks she’s ready when a call has her walking back into her old friend’s life. Or at least as prepared as possible to see the starting quarterback in the National Football Organization. Before the lights, the fans, and the millions, he’d been a skinny kid with a heart of gold.

Waltzing out of Zac Travis’s life should be easy. Just as easy as he walked out of hers.

Blind Side by Kandi Steiner

The hottest college football safety in the nation just asked me to be his fake girlfriend.
And I just asked him to take my virginity.

Clay Johnson has the abs of Adonis and the deadly smirk of the devil, himself. There’s hardly a day he’s not headline material during football season, and never a day he isn’t a bullseye target for every girl on campus.

He used to be the easiest of all the players for me to wrangle as the Public Relations Coordinator, but after a nasty breakup with his high school sweetheart, he’s a mess. And a complete pain in my ass.

We meet to discuss his behavior and review media relations standards. But when he witnesses how I fall to pieces in front of my guitar-toting crush, his wheels start turning. And he cooks up this absurd plan.

He helps me get noticed.
I help him make his ex jealous.
All by pretending to be in a relationship.

What he doesn’t realize is that this bookworm is a virgin, and far from versed in seducing a musician. So, to sweeten the deal, I convince him to help me — not just to get my crush’s attention, but to knock his socks off once I have it.

But the more I come unraveled at the hands of Clay Johnson, the more trouble I have discerning what’s fake and what’s undoubtedly real — particularly, the way my heart flutters every time that breathtaking man touches me.

We set the rules. We put the safeguards in place.But they say rules are meant to be broken. They probably should have added that hearts are, too.

Against the Clock by Brittany Kelley

I'll never date a football player— but all the veteran quarterback wants? Me.

Daniel
My life’s defined by my long career as a quarterback. I’m determined to have a great season, because I’m not sure how many I have left. But when I slam into gorgeous reporter Kelsey Cole on the sidelines, my focus on the game takes a backseat to my fascination with her. She’s tiny, smart, and fierce, and she makes me feel young again. Only one problem: she hates football—with good reason, too. Still, you don’t become a champion quarterback without learning how to fight for what you want.

Football’s always come first, but Kelsey might be the one to change that.

Kelsey
The last thing I need is to get involved with huge and handsome quarterback Daniel Harrison. Under all those muscles he’s hiding charm and a surprising intellect— an irresistible combination. I can’t deny our chemistry, but I can’t stand what he does for a living. Not to mention, once the internet starts shipping us, the spotlight becomes unbearable.

The fans will hate me even more when they find out I’m writing a piece that could leave the league they love in shambles.

There’s no future for the hot quarterback and I— so why can’t I say goodbye?

The Trade by Ki Stephens

JADE Jennings is tired of her day-to-day life—from the boring, senseless boys at Dayton U to the repetitive beats her editor assigns. She's looking for excitement, novelty, a good story to sink her teeth into, and a boy she can write home about.

She's a driven and ambitious journalist, and she has an innate love for the game of football. She's also the younger sister to an NFL superstar, which means she's not interested in the aimless, student-athletes at her school.

But maybe, for entertainment purposes, she could spend just one night trying them on for size.

THEO Westman-Cooke, aka "West," has one goal in this to be drafted into the NFL. But his coach doesn't support an early declaration, his grades (and scholarship) are slipping, and he only has one more year to make his college career count for something.

Oh, wait.

There is one other thing that West might want—a chance to spend the night with his favorite red-headed cheerleader. When the opportunity suddenly strikes, it's nearly impossible to pass up the perfect trade.

In just a few months, Dayton U's football team is hosting their annual spring banquet. The catch? Players must go home with another teammate's date. To the rest of the team, it's a simple, secret trade. But for Jade and West, it's the night that everything changed.

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

Vanessa Mazur refuses to feel bad for quitting—she knows she’s doing the right thing. The thankless job of personal assistant to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans for her life, and none of them include washing extra-large underwear one more day for a man who could never find it in him to tell her good morning, congratulate her on a job well done, or wish her a happy birthday—even when she was spending it working for him.

The legendary “Wall of Winnipeg” may be adored by thousands, but after two years Van has had enough.

But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door begging her to come back, she’s beyond shocked. Mr. Walled-Off Emotions is actually letting his guard down for once. And she’s even more dumbstruck when he explains that her job description is about to become even more outrageous: something that takes the “personal” in personal assistant to a whole new level.

What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?

First Down by Grace Reilly

Tutoring the star quarterback in exchange for a few fake dates won’t lead to anything more… right?

James

Football is my everything. I live, eat, breathe the sport. But when I transfer to McKee University to escape the distractions that nearly cost me my future in the NFL, I’m faced with another consequence: retake and pass the writing class I failed at my last college or lose any chance I have at making it big. That’s where fellow senior Beckett Wood—gorgeous, stubborn, and just my type—comes in.

She’s the key to my success in this class… but the price of her help is a fake relationship, and I never do things halfway.

Bex

I don’t mess around with athletes—I’ve already learned that lesson—and at first glance, handsome, self-assured James Callahan is no exception. He wants me to help him pass the writing class we’re both stuck taking, but I’m too busy to take on yet another responsibility. But when his teammate—my cheating ex—won’t leave me alone, I realize I need to convince him I’ve moved on… and what better way than by pretending to be with James, who wants nothing to do with a real relationship?

Yet with every fake kiss, James pulls me deeper into a place that thrills and terrifies me. Why does he make me feel alive like no one else has?

And why don’t I want it to end?

Midnight

Kisses by Jeanine

Bennedict

What do a cat, a one-night stand, and a game of Catan all have in common? Love.

Despite being the football coach’s daughter, Greta Sahnoun resents the sport and is furious when her best friend mistakes a football house party for a frat kegger. Instead of mingling inside, Greta seeks solitude in the backyard and, not surprising to anyone that knows her, winds up kissing the jaded stranger outside with her. A little dry humping and a brief exchange about cats later, the two wind up in her apartment for a night of casual, raunchy fun.

Otis Morgan is a Heisman-winning quarterback with a bad knee and a penchant for being in love. He’s a little full of himself and craves recognition, but that’s expected of a collegiate NFL recruit. When Greta refuses to see him again after their night together, it’s no surprise that he takes it hard and says things he shouldn’t, and because the universe is out to get him, Greta overhears. Always one to put people in their place, she wagers a bet with Otis, one that ends with the good kind of choking.

Suddenly, what’s supposed to be a just-one-more-time lapse in judgment turns into a recurring mistake, one they both enjoy immensely. But like all relationships, the two hit an impasse. Greta has never been good with emotions—feeling them, dealing with them, and most of all, surrendering herself to them.

They say love hurts, so maybe it’s a good thing Greta enjoys a little pain.

Written by Carlie Renee