Sports Romance Books

The third in the New York Times bestselling Maple Hills series follows fan-favorite Henry and a bookish fellow student who come up with a plan to help them both overcome their respective challenges in a difficult year.

When his procrastination lands him in a difficult class with his least favorite professor, Henry Turner knows he’s going to have to work extra hard to survive his junior year of college. And now with his new title of captain for the hockey team—which he didn’t even want—Henry absolutely cannot fail. Enter Halle Jacobs, a fellow junior who finds herself befriended by Henry when he accidentally crashes her book club.

Halle may not have the romantic pursuits of her favorite fictional leads, but she’s an academic superstar, and as soon as she hears about Henry’s problems with his class reading material, she offers to help. Too bad being a private tutor isn’t exactly ideal given her own studies, job, book club, and the novel she’s trying to write. But new experiences are the key to beating her writer’s block, and Henry’s promising to be the one to give them to her.

They just need to stick to their rule book.

Oh, and not fall in love.

Hannah

Maddox Lovelace. The captivating football player I met in college.

The one I only knew for a week. A week that was… life-changing.

Until my phone rang, and I had no choice but to go home.

I left Maddox a letter, putting my feelings on paper, giving him my number, hoping he’d call.

But he didn’t call.

He never called.

He got drafted into the professional league and lived like a king while I stayed home and struggled to stay afloat.

I may have followed his career, but now that he’s retired from football, I’ve forced myself to stop thinking about him.

And it’s okay that I won’t ever see him again. That week in college was fifteen years ago.

I’m not in love with Maddox anymore.

I might even hate him.

Maddox

Hannah Utley. The name that’s haunted me since my senior year of college.

The girl who caught my attention with her wide eyes and freckled nose.

Who spent one week twisting up my insides until she stole a piece of my heart the night we got locked inside the campus library.

The girl who disappeared without a word.

It’s the name of the girl I’ve been trying to forget for fifteen years.

And it’s the name looking up at me from the résumé in my hand.

Because Hannah Utley works for the company I just purchased.

And that makes her mine. Whether she likes it or not.

Did I think I was going to fall for my coach’s daughter?

The answer would be no.

I’m still unclear on how I got into this predicament in the first place. A year ago, I was a man with one thought on his mind, the redhead I met at a hotel bar. Twelve months later, I found her.

Unfortunately for me, she not only happens to be my very off-limits coach’s daughter, but also . . . my new assistant and roommate.

I don’t even need an assistant, but Coach Wood doesn’t take no for an answer. Add in him writing up tasks for his daughter, Wylie, to complete for me? Well, it’s his own form of sweet torture. We are talking tasks that I would never ask her to do.

Tasks that make her despise me.

Hate me.

That make her utter four words that cause a shiver to crawl up my spine . . . Posey, this is war.

A disgraced soccer exec reluctantly enlists the help of a retired soccer star in coaching a children’s team in this small-town love story in the vein of It Happened One Summer—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.

Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine: wake up at dawn, drive to the Miami Flames FC offices, try her hardest to leave a mark, go home, and repeat.

But her routine is disrupted when a video of her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral. Rather than fire her, the team’s owner—who happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she’s tasked with turning around the struggling local soccer team, the Green Warriors, as a way to redeem herself. Her plans crumble upon discovering that the players wear tutus to practice (impractical), keep pet goats (messy), and are terrified of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-old kids.

To make things worse, also in town is Cameron Caldani, goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. Cam is the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but after one very unfortunate first encounter involving a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he’s also set on running her out of town. But banishment is not an option for Adalyn. Not again. Helping this ragtag children’s team is her road to redemption, and she is playing the long game. With or without Cam’s help.

The last thing event planner Tara Lincoln needs is the jet-set lifestyle of a football pro like Mick Riley; even though their steamy and passionate one-night stand proved that Mick is an all-star-both on the field and in the bedroom.

Tara played the game of love once and lost big, and she doesn’t intend to put herself out there again, especially with a certified heartbreaker. But when Mick sets his mind to win, nothing will stop him. And he has the perfect play in mind to catch this sultry vixen.

In this highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Better Than the Movies, Wes and Liz struggle to balance their feelings for each other with the growing pains of being a college student.

For a few beautiful months, Wes had his dream girl: strong-willed girl-next-door Liz. But right as the two were about to set off to UCLA to start their freshman year together, tragedy struck. Wes was left dealing with the fallout, which ultimately meant losing Liz in the process.

Flash forward months and months later and Wes and Liz find themselves in college, together. In a healthier place now, Wes knows he broke Liz’s heart when he ended things, but he is determined to make her fall back in love with him.

Wes knows Liz better than anyone, and he has a foolproof plan to win her back with the rom-com worthy big gestures she loves. Only…Liz will have none of it. Wes has to scheme like a rom-com hero to figure out how to see her. Even worse, Liz has a new friend…a guy friend.

Still, Wes won’t give up, adapting his clever plans and going hard to get Liz’s attention and win back her affection. But after his best efforts get him nowhere, Wes is left wondering if their relationship is really over for good.

GRITTY. RAW. A LITTLE EDGIER THAN THE AVERAGE HOCKEY ROM-COM

I don’t want Casey Alderchuck, but I don’t want anyone else to have him either.

My hook-up for the night wasn’t supposed to be my long-time hockey rival, but here he is. I’m too worked up to let him go home without having a taste. One little bite of that smart mouth is mine for the taking after how many times he’s broken my nose.

How was I supposed to know that I’d crave Alderchuck with the desperation of a starved man?

I’m always one bad day from an explosion, but since I hooked up with Alderchuck, my body’s constantly on fire. I’m thinking about things I haven’t in a long time. He’s dredged years of buried torment to the surface.

The cure? Alderchuck. My poison is my cure. How poetic.

At least he can’t keep his hands off me and our burning hatred is mutual. The flavor’s gotta wear off at some point, and that’s when we’ll go our separate ways. Until then, I’ll come up with every way imaginable to wreck him from the inside out. Use him up till there’s nothing left.

But I’m nothing if not territorial and protective. My instincts decide that Casey Alderchuck is mine and they pull him closer. My damn heart’s a traitor, too, trying to break the locks I put around it to let him inside. But I can’t let it win. Loving people like I would love Casey means risking the fragile sanity I’ve worked so hard to preserve.

Breakneck Hockey is a rivals-to-lovers story with some hurt-comfort, along with other vibes, like; I Can Hurt Him but You Can’t, Major Jealousy, Just Because I Say I Don’t Want Him, Doesn’t Mean You Can Have Him, Possessiveness Galore, a Morally Gray MC and, as always in this series, Found Family.

The stakes this season have never been higher…

Josie Bancroft may be single, but she is definitely not ready to mingle. All she wants to do post-breakup is focus on herself. A simple task, but as a marketing manager for McAllister Racing, she spends every race weekend alongside the charismatic Formula 1 driver, Theo Walker. With his iceberg-melting smile and abs sharper than a cheese grater, he’s a distraction she shouldn’t entertain but can’t seem to ignore.

Theo has mastered two things in life: winning races and wooing women. But this season, both are being put to the test. His team’s new owner is threatening his hard-earned seat, and the one woman he wants has placed him in the friend zone, despite the fact that their attraction is hotter than his car’s engine.

As Josie embraces her independence and Theo struggles to cement his place within the racing world, they’ll have to decide if they want to fuel the flames of their friendship or forever wonder what could have been.

Drive Me Wild is a spicy Formula 1 romantic comedy with heart, heat, humor, and a guaranteed HEA. This is the second book in the Drive Me series and can be read as a standalone.

Tropes/themes:

• friends to lovers
• formula 1 sports romance
• slow burn with open-door spice
• forced proximity
• workplace romance
• dual POV
• golden retriever MMC

For as long as I can remember, Lachlan West has been my brother’s best friend and the love of my life. Trouble is, he kissed me four years ago and then never spoke to me again.

I was doing great pretending he doesn’t exist until I was assigned to write an article about former college athletes and I learn that the sexy single-dad is my first interview.

Determined to wow my editor with an amazing sportsball piece. (Have I mentioned I know nothing about sports?) I head to Ember Falls, ready to face my fears—and the man I love.

The grumpy quarterback turned fireman wants nothing to do with me or my article. Yet, somehow I persuade him to let me follow him around for a few weeks, and even if he said yes just to get rid of me, I’ll take it.

But the longer I stay in his small town, the more complicated our story gets. The boundaries we set fall to the ground—along with our clothes.

He holds me like I matter, touches me like I’m cherished and kisses me like he loves me.

We both know I have to leave Ember Falls, and he’ll never follow—I only wish I could write a different ending to our story.

He’s a grumpy, retired kicker who says he only breaks things. I’m a thirty-year-old virgin with something he can break (and I don’t mean my heart)…

How does one get to be a thirty-year-old virgin?

In my case, start with being risk-averse and cautious, focused on building your career, then inherit your 12-year-old, special-needs brother. Done!

Zane Bradford appeared at the perfect time.

He takes my brother to equine therapy, he gives me rides to work, and he rescues me when I collapse in the shower. (Yes, he saw me naked.)

He says he only breaks things, but I only see him fixing everything. Heck, his job is as a repair man.

This grumpy, angry god with lean muscles, silky dark hair, and ice blue eyes has taken himself out of the game.

But massage therapy is my job, and I’m ready to play.

Rachel Wells is ruining everything.

She walks into my workplace and argues with me, talks back, defends herself.

She gives me romance books to “improve my mood,” and insists on massage therapy to ease my pain.

Chronic pain isn’t my problem-she is, with her bright green eyes and sassy attitude.

Then she tells me she’s never been kissed. (What’s wrong with the men in Birmingham?)

The more she tempts me, the more I feel my resolve weakening.

She wants to play, but I’m not going to break.

(THE WAY WE PLAY is a small-town, grumpy-sunshine, sports romance with close proximity, enemies-to-lovers vibes, and a virgin FMC, and an over-protective alpha hero. No cheating. No cliffhanger. No third-act breakup.)