Most Read Sports Romance Books

Hannah Wells has worked hard to leave a painful past behind and build a steady life at Briar University. She has good grades, a plan, and a hopeless crush on a boy who barely notices her. What she does not have is any idea how to get his attention—until she winds up tangled with the last person she would ever choose. Garrett Graham is the star of the college hockey team, a golden boy whose future depends on keeping his grades up. When he fails a midterm badly enough to threaten his spot on the roster, he needs a tutor, and Hannah is the only one who can save him. She refuses, so he proposes a deal: she coaches him through the class, and in return he pretends to date her to make her crush jealous. What starts as a transaction turns into something neither planned. As fake dates blur into real feelings, Hannah has to decide whether to trust Garrett with the parts of herself she has kept hidden. The first book in the Off-Campus series, The Deal is a warm, funny new-adult sports romance about two people who agree not to fall for each other and fail spectacularly.

• fake dating

Rhett Eaton lives for three things: riding bulls, raising hell, and doing exactly as he pleases. When a viral outburst threatens to derail his rodeo career, his team hires a professional fixer to keep him in line — enter Summer Hamilton, a polished PR rep with zero patience for cowboys, rodeos, or babysitting an overgrown troublemaker. The problem is that they’re now stuck with each other for the entire season. He thinks rules are made to be broken; she practically wrote the rulebook. But somewhere between forced road trips, staged smiles, and late-night honesty, the line between can’t-stand-you and can’t-stop-thinking-about-you starts to blur. The first Chestnut Springs novel kicks off the series with a grumpy-sunshine, opposites-attract romance set in the world of the Eaton family ranch.

• grumpy sunshine
• forced proximity

John Logan has always been the dependable one—the Briar University hockey player who holds his team together and quietly holds up a family falling apart at home. He is not looking for anything serious the night he meets Grace Ivers, and their first encounter goes about as badly as a one-night stand can. But he cannot stop thinking about her, and when he decides he wants a real chance, he discovers that a first impression this bad is not easy to undo. Grace has spent her freshman year finding her footing and has no interest in being anyone's second choice, least of all a cocky athlete who already blew it. As Logan sets out to prove he has changed, he is also wrestling with pressures he hides from everyone: a struggling father, an uncertain future, and feelings for his best friend's girl that complicate everything. The second book in Elle Kennedy's Off-Campus series, The Mistake is a steamy, emotional new-adult sports romance about second chances, growing up, and earning back the trust you carelessly threw away.

• second chance

Star striker Asher Donovan isn't supposed to want Scarlett DuBois—she's the sister of his rival-turned-teammate, and every reason to stay away only pulls him closer. A forbidden, high-heat sports romance; the first of Ana Huang's Premier League-set Gods of the Game series.

• forbidden love

Stanford diver Scarlett Vandermeer is rebuilding her career after an injury and has no room for distractions — until swim captain Lukas Blomqvist pulls her into an arrangement that starts as convenience and turns into something neither of them planned. Set against the pressure of Olympic qualification, Deep End pairs Ali Hazelwood's trademark banter with an unusually frank, consensual kink storyline.

When shy, anxious Shannon Lynch transfers to the prestigious Tommen College in Cork, she is used to being invisible — and to protecting herself from a home life defined by abuse and a family barely holding together. The last thing she expects is to be noticed by Johnny Kavanagh, the school's golden boy and a rugby prodigy destined for stardom. But Johnny sees the girl with the midnight-blue eyes, and slowly, patiently, he begins to earn her trust. As Shannon learns what safety and gentleness can feel like, and Johnny faces the pressures and injuries threatening his future, the two build something fragile and real against the odds. The first book in Chloe Walsh's beloved Boys of Tommen series is an emotional, slow-burn Irish romance about trauma, tenderness, and found family. Content note: it deals frankly with domestic abuse.

Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov are the two best hockey players of their generation, and everyone knows their rivalry. Shane, the disciplined captain of the Montreal team, is private and driven; Ilya, the brash captain in Boston, is the self-proclaimed king of the ice and the only man who can get under Shane's skin. On camera they are perfect enemies. Off it, they have been carrying on a secret relationship for years — one that neither can afford to make public. As the seasons pass and the stakes on the ice climb toward a championship that pits them directly against each other, the cost of secrecy grows harder to bear. What began as a purely physical arrangement has quietly become something neither of them knows how to give up. The second book in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, Heated Rivalry is a steamy, slow-burning rivals-to-lovers romance about ambition, identity, and the impossible math of loving the person you're supposed to beat.

• rivals
• forbidden love
• slow burn

Maya Alatorre has just graduated and decides to spend the Formula 1 season traveling with her brother Santiago, a rising star on the grid. What she doesn't plan for is Noah Slade — the son of an F1 legend, a ruthless champion, and her brother's fiercest rival. Grumpy, guarded, and shaped by a toxic upbringing, Noah is exactly the kind of man Maya should stay away from. Their chemistry is immediate and inconvenient. What begins as a secret, no-strings arrangement steadily deepens into feelings neither of them is prepared to handle, complicated by Noah's playboy reputation, the pressures of the championship, and Maya's loyalty to her brother. When the danger of the sport catches up with them, both are forced to decide what they're willing to risk. Throttled is Lauren Asher's debut and the first book in the Dirty Air series, a steamy contemporary sports romance set against the glamour and speed of the Formula 1 circuit.

• forbidden love
• rivals

Evan Zanders is the NHL's most notorious playboy, known for burning through one-night stands and clashing with authority. Stevie Shay takes a job as flight attendant for his team hoping for a fresh start, and instead finds herself sparring with Zanders on every flight. A team fraternization policy puts her job on the line if anything develops between them, but the friction between the two slowly gives way to something neither expected as the season wears on.

• enemies to lovers
• forced proximity
• forbidden love
• workplace romance

Driven pre-law student Sabrina has no room in her plans for a hockey player—until one night with kind-hearted Tucker leaves her facing an unplanned pregnancy. As they navigate family baggage and clashing futures, they weigh whether an accident can become something real. Book four of the Off-Campus series.

Figure skater Jasmine Santos is partnerless and nearly out of time when her lifelong rival, champion Ivan Lukov, offers to skate with her for one season. Grinding through brutal training alongside the man she's always loathed, Jasmine finds the line between enemy and something more starting to blur. A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers sports romance.

• enemies to lovers
• rivals
• slow burn

Hockey player and unrepentant playboy Dean strikes a no-strings deal with Allie, a theater major nursing a breakup—only to find there's a real person under his reputation, and that letting her see it is the scariest thing he's done. Book three of the Off-Campus series: a funny, steamy new-adult sports romance.

Scott Hunter is the captain and star center of the New York Admirals — famous, wealthy, and stuck in the worst slump of his career. When he wanders into a Manhattan smoothie shop, the grad student behind the counter, Kip Grady, makes him a drink and a little conversation, and something clicks. Scott starts coming back, ostensibly for the smoothies, and the two fall into an easy, electric connection. The problem is that Scott isn't out, and professional hockey is not a forgiving place for a gay superstar. As his feelings for Kip deepen, Scott has to weigh a career built on a carefully guarded image against the first relationship that has ever made him want to stop hiding. The first book in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series, Game Changer is a warm, low-angst M/M sports romance about visibility, self-acceptance, and the quiet courage it takes to be seen.

• slow burn

Rugby prodigy Johnny Kavanagh and anxious, traumatized Shannon Lynch fight to hold on to the fragile safety they've found together, as an injury threatens Johnny's future and Shannon's dangerous home life closes in. The emotional, slow-burn second novel in Chloe Walsh's Boys of Tommen series.

NBA star Ryan Shay needs to convince his team's GM he has a work-life balance, and who better to help than his sister's best friend, Indy Ivers, who just moved in? They strike a deal to fake a relationship, but with Indy living under his roof and sharing his bed, the lines between real and pretend quickly blur. Ryan finds himself drawn to Indy's warmth, while Indy is navigating her own complicated feelings, especially with her ex-boyfriend attending an upcoming wedding.

• fake dating
• forced proximity
• grumpy sunshine

On the eve of her wedding, Sloane Winthrop discovers her fiance's betrayal and runs to her lifelong best friend, NHL goalie Jasper Gervais, who has quietly loved her for years. Stuck together on an impulsive getaway, the safe distance of friendship gets harder to hold. Book three of Chestnut Springs.

• friends to lovers
• slow burn

Bull rider and unrepentant charmer Theo Silva has one reckless night with Winnie Hamilton, a woman clawing free of a toxic marriage and estranged from her sister. When the fallout has lasting consequences and Theo goes quiet, Winnie assumes he's gone for good, until an injury drops him right back into Chestnut Springs. Book four.

• second chance

Arianna has always believed first loves last forever, with her whole future built around the boy she's loved for years, until that certainty collapses. Then Noah Riley, the magnetic golden boy of Avix University's football world, refuses to let her hide from what she feels. The steamy first book in Meagan Brandy's Boys of Avix new-adult college romance series.

Hallie Hart thought she'd left her first love and first heartbreak, hockey player Rio DeLuca, firmly in the past. But when her dream interior design internship lands her in Chicago, she's shocked to discover her new neighbor is Rio himself. To make matters worse, her big project is renovating his house. Forced to work together, they must confront their painful history and the feelings they both tried to forget.

• second chance
• forced proximity

Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha rise from nothing to the top of competitive ice dance on the strength of a chemistry audiences can't look away from. A shocking moment at the Olympic Games ends their partnership and turns them into a mystery the public can't stop picking apart — until an unauthorized documentary drags it all back into the light.

• forbidden love
• multiple povs
• betrayal

Book one of Nora Sakavic's All for the Game. Neil Josten has spent his life on the run — but the invented sport of Exy is the one thing he can't give up. When Coach Wymack recruits him to the Palmetto State Foxes, a scholarship team of misfits and survivors, Neil is pulled in by the game and its dangerous teammates. A dark, fast, character-driven sports thriller.

• found family
• secret identity
• morally grey

Liam Zander is Formula 1's charming golden boy — all easy smiles and effortless talent, and privately convinced he's a fraud one bad season away from being found out. Sophie Mitchell is exactly the temptation he can't afford: sharp, creative, and tied to a rival team, which makes her strictly off-limits with his contract renewal on the line. Unable to leave well enough alone, Liam proposes a bargain instead of a friendship: one season, one bucket list, no strings. Sophie, who has spent years shelving her own ambitions to fit her father's plans, agrees to let Liam help her check off every reckless item she never allowed herself. What begins as a low-stakes arrangement steadily turns into something neither of them planned for. The second book in Lauren Asher's Dirty Air series, Collided is a steamy, banter-heavy Formula 1 romance about chasing freedom, defying expectations, and the risk of falling for the one person you were supposed to resist. Like the rest of the series, it reads as an interconnected standalone within the same racing world.