Sports Romance Recommendations
5 Rounds by Nikki Castle
She's a feisty workaholic that hates his guts.
He's an arrogant MMA fighter that can't afford any distractions.
This isn't the kind of fight they're used to...
When Remy is suddenly evicted from her apartment, her best friend offers to let her crash at his house while he's traveling for work. The only problem is, she can't stand his arrogant, self-centered roommate, Tristan.
Now, she has to figure out how to live in the same house with him for ten days while dealing with all the temptation that comes with… including punching Tristan’s smug face in. But when one night strips them of their masks and exposes the truth, they’re forced to reexamine how they really feel about each other.
While Remy struggles with her attraction to this notorious womanizer, Tristan has to decide if his feelings for Remy are worth it, or if they'll just distract him from his longtime goal of becoming a world champion.
Can Tristan and Remy drop their guards long enough to fall in love? Or will old prejudices deliver the final blow?
Jock Reign by Sara Ney
IT’S NOT EASY LIVING IN YOUR BROTHERS SHADOW.
Jack Dryden-Jones is easily the worst rugby player on the field—when he moves to The States to follow in his brothers footsteps, he has no idea how he’d hate the game. He’s so horrible he considers faking an injury to take himself out of the game.
Jack is a quick-witted, comic book loving gentleman—not an athlete.
DO NOT DATE YOUR ROOMMATES CRUSH.
When her roommate brings home a random stranger, Eliza is shocked when he makes himself at home; he’s strapping, strong and watching a movie at the end of her couch as if he belongs there.
It makes her uncomfortable in the best way possible.
But if there is one thing she believes in, it’s GIRL CODE: No girl may date her friend's ex, past crush, or guys who have humiliated/used her. And she most certainly may not date any guy her friend currently fancies...
DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.
Jack and Eliza are two of the good ones—it’s going to take a miracle to keep them apart.
On the Edge by K. Bromberg
Surely this can’t be the only solution to overhaul my tarnished rep – faking a romance with the good girl intern?
But that’s what my agent says. Just a few months of taming my ways—of shedding Formula 1’s party boy image—will land me a lifetime branding deal. One I desperately need.
The key condition?
Pretend I’m madly in love with my new girlfriend. The quiet wallflower who I figured wouldn’t put me in my place. Yeah. This girl is anything but that.
Maddix Hart is defiant and intelligent. Loyal and real. Determined and sexy. And damn it to hell, before I know it, she’s in my head, in our bed . . . and if I’m not careful, she’ll see there’s more to me than the man I show the public. She’ll discover the man I hide from the world. The one who struggles to live up to the unrealistic expectations that should never have been mine.
All I have to do is make sure no one sees the truth behind our farce.
But instead, I let my heart get involved. I begin to believe the lie. And now with everything on the line—the deal, a championship, us—am I willing to risk it all to make her see what the rest of the world believes? That we belong together.
Luxe by Melissa Adams
Rich, powerful, gorgeous- these star football players are every girl’s dream.
And they choose me. The new girl on campus, I find myself swept into the billionaires’ world of wild parties and exclusive events. I’m offered a place at their side, but there’s a price to be paid for the attention. There’s a cost for them too, the Bridgeport Knights’ star players. They are unable to refuse the invitation to an evil secret society, passed down through the generations, and the key to the Luxe room with all its privileges and hazards. And for me, being a “Luxe Girl” is more dangerous than I ever dreamed. One girl after another is targeted, and I know I’m next. Caught up in a web of dark secrets and lies, can I trust my three Knights to protect me?
The One with the Kiss Cam by Cindy Steel
It was just one date.
My friend told me I needed more fun in my life, so I reluctantly said yes. Fun wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. After watching my own mother’s love life implode time and time again it’s only natural that I have a few rules to protect myself.
Actually, it’s just one rule…
Avoid relationships with men so I don’t get attached.
I wasn’t worried. Getting attached has never been a big problem for me. This guy was just a warm body in a chair. I was here for the basketball game. I was absolutely NOT here for my date.
Or the kiss cam.
Or the kiss.
Or the impromptu evening with the one man who seems bent on throwing my tidy world off of its axis.
But when my life takes a nose dive, he’s also the man who seems bent on proving to me that good men do exist, dreams can come true, and sometimes throwing out the rule book is when the magic really starts to happen.
The Hardest Fall by Ella Maise
The first time you meet someone, you make eye contact. You smile, say hello. Should be simple, if you’re anyone but me. The first time I met Dylan Reed, I found myself making eye contact with a different part of his body. You see, I’m very good at being shy, not to mention extremely well-versed in rambling nonsense and, unfortunately, rather highly skilled at making a fool of myself in front of a guy I’m attracted to.
At the time, I knew nothing about him and thought none of what I said would matter since I’d never speak to him again. Turns out, I was very wrong. He was the star wide receiver of the football team, one of the few players expected to make it into the NFL, and I ended up seeing him all over campus.
I might have also propositioned him, run away from him, attacked him with a cooking utensil…and…uh, maybe I shouldn’t tell you all of it. It’s pretty normal stuff, things you’d expect…from me. Eventually, the time came when I couldn’t hide anymore—not that he’d have let me even if I tried.
Before now, he never knew I was secretly watching him. Now that we see each other every day, he knows when I have a hard time looking away. It doesn’t help that I’m not the most subtle person in the world either.
He smiles at me and tells me he finds me fascinating because of my quirks. I can’t even tell him that I think my heart beats differently whenever he’s around.
He thinks we’re going to be best friends. I think I have a big thing for him, and the more I get to know him, the more I don’t care that I’m not allowed to be his friend, let alone fall for him.
The thing is, that’s exactly what I’m doing—what we’re doing, I think.
Falling.
Hard.
Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese
From the moment Willa sat next to Ryder in class, she’s made it clear she hates his guts. Her reason is a mystery, but its outcome suits him fine. Willa Sutter is the feisty, tempting chaos he doesn’t need in his quiet, tidy life. She’s the next generation of women’s soccer. Wild hair. Bee-stung lips. And a temper that makes the devil seem friendly. He’ll leverage her hate as long as possible to keep his distance.
When Willa asked Ryder to borrow his lecture notes, the silent, surly, mountain man ignored her. Ryder Bergman is an arrogant, infuriating flannel-wearing enigma. Mangy beard. Frayed ball cap that hides his eyes. And a stubborn refusal to acknowledge her existence. But Willa’s never backed down from a challenge.
Forced to work together on their final project, Willa and Ryder begin a game of pranks and practical jokes, each determined to come out the champion. But once they catch unexpected feelings, victory begins to mean something else—winning each other’s hearts.
The Faceoff by Cali Melle
After experiencing a nasty break-up during my freshman year, there is one type of guy that I refuse to get involved with.
Anyone from the university’s hockey team.
Hayden King is arrogant, cocky, has a reputation for being a playboy and there isn’t a single thing about him that I like.
One drunken summer night turns into a bad decision with Hayden. One that I swear that I’ll never make again.
But once senior year starts, I can’t seem to get away from him. He’s everywhere I go, everywhere I turn.
He’s under my skin and I find myself making mistake after mistake with him.
We better learn from our mistakes before our hearts get involved…
Eden Finley is as cold as the ice that she skates on.
She’s the best figure skater at Wyncote University and I don’t know how I missed her when I first came here.
After one night with her over the summer, I can’t get her out of my head.
She has a chip on her shoulder, a nasty attitude and she hates my guts.
Which all only makes her more appealing.
I live for the chase, for the challenge.
And Eden Finley has no idea what she’s gotten herself into….
The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer
The best way to get back at my horrible ex? Fake date Rory Miller--my ex's rival, the top scorer in pro hockey, and the arrogant, flirtatious hockey player I tutored in high school.
Faking it is fun and addictive, though, and beneath the bad boy swagger, Rory’s sweet, funny, and protective.
He teaches me to skate and spends way too much money on me.
He sleeps in my bed and convinces me to break my just-one-time hookup rule.
He kisses me like it’s real.
And now I wonder if Rory was ever faking it to begin with.
Night Shift by Annie Crown
Kendall Holiday spends her Friday nights exactly where she wants to be: with her head buried in a spicy romance novel while she works the graveyard shift at her university's library. She knows she could join her friends for a weekend of drunken debauchery and college parties, but she likes her alone time, so she tells herself she isn't hiding when she gets lost in the pages of fictional love stories.
But that all changes when Vincent Knight, captain of the basketball team, turns up with an injured wrist, a sour mood, and a pressing need for poetry recommendations for a class he hates. Vincent is tall, smart-mouthed, and challenges Kendall like no one has before. Suddenly, she's falling headfirst into her very own romance novel—but it takes a lot more truth than tropes to get to a happy ever after in real life.
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?
Rock Bottom Girl by Lucy Score
Downsized, broke, and dumped, 38-year-old Marley sneaks home to her childhood bedroom in the town she couldn’t wait to escape twenty years ago. Not much has changed in Culpepper. The cool kids are still cool. Now they just own car dealerships and live in McMansions next door. Oh, and the whole town is still talking about that Homecoming she ruined her senior year.
Desperate for a new start, Marley accepts a temporary teaching position. Can the girl banned from all future Culpepper High Homecomings keep the losing-est girls soccer team in school history from killing each other and prevent carpal tunnel in a bunch of phone-clutching gym class students?
Maybe with the help of Jake Weston, high school bad boy turned sexy good guy. When the school rumor mill sends Marley to the principal’s office to sign an ethics contract, the tattooed track coach, dog dad, and teacher of the year becomes her new fake boyfriend and alibi—for a price. The Deal: He’ll teach her how to coach if she teaches him how to be in a relationship.
Who knew a fake boyfriend could deliver such real orgasms? But it’s all temporary. The guy. The job. The team. There’s too much history. Rock bottom can’t turn into a foundation for happily ever after. Can it?
Written by Carlie Renee
