Score with These Sports Romances
With the resurgence of Heated Rivalry, I have had something on my mind that I rarely have before… and that my friends, is sports. Sports and romance to be fair, but sports none-the-less! To feed the insatiable monster inside me that yearns for more sports romances, I have compiled a list of some of my fav titles that serve sexy, sappy (positive connotation), and sporty at the same time!
All of Penny Harrison’s hard work is finally paying off. At 21 years old, she’s a tennis icon in-the-making, with massive sponsorship deals and legendary status on the horizon, if she can just nail the upcoming Grand Slam in Paris. Until then, there’s no room for mistakes.
When she returns to the prestigious Outer Banks Tennis Club to train, though, she comes face to face with the biggest mistake she ever made: Alex Russell. With piercing blue eyes and irresistible charm, the bad boy tennis star is the only guy who ever broke Penny’s heart.
To keep her head in the game—and her mind off Alex—Penny leans on two of the club’s other rising stars. Jasmine Randazzo and Indiana Gaffney are both balancing exploding careers with their own off-the-court romances, and their drama might be enough to keep Penny distracted.
But as days tick down to Paris, Penny seems to always find herself across the court from Alex. She knows that winning it all means laser focus…so why can’t Penny stay away from the one guy who ruins everything?
Gymnast Caroline Kepler has three state balance beam titles, a new trick even most elites can’t do—and chronic, undeniable back pain. While she might never be an Olympian, she has dreams of leveling up to elite, making Nationals, and competing in college. But when one epic face-plant changes all that and Caroline’s back pain goes from chronic to career-ending, her dreams are shattered and her life is flipped upside down.
Enter Alex Zavala, a three-sport athlete who’s both incredibly cute…and her brother’s best friend. He offers to give Caroline a crash course in all the sports she’s missed, and she has an offer for him in return: For every sport Alex teaches her, she’ll play matchmaker for him. Deal done. Caroline “dates” new sports with Alex for the rest of the summer, which is loads more fun than wallowing in despair. Just as Caroline starts to see herself as more than her past athletic successes, she picks up something she didn’t bargain for: a big fat crush on Alex.
Turns out life was way easier when it was just layout-fulls and beam burns.
When soccer star Dru Eason’s longtime crush Kai finally asks her out, she can’t say no. She also can’t say yes. Not when she knows things with him will end just as they have with all of her exes. They’ll date, break up, and in a matter of days he’ll become someone else’s perfect boyfriend.
Because Dru is The Boyfriend Launcher.
To buy time to figure out why this keeps happening, Dru negotiates a no-dating pact with her team for the duration of the playoffs—twenty-four days. Then she asks Winston Portis, one of her best friends, to secretly fake-date her. Maybe after some feedback on what it’s like being her boyfriend, she can take her chance with Kai and keep him far away from the launchpad.
But is twenty-four days enough time to uncover her issues? Or is it just long enough for Dru to wonder: Has she been overlooking the perfect boy, or is she just launching Winston for the next girl? And is she finally brave enough to take a shot at finding out?
Julian Jackson has a short to-do list for his senior year at Crenshaw County High School in Meridien, Texas: football, football, and more football. He knows he’s only got one chance to earn a college scholarship and make it out of his small town, and keeping his head down, his grades up, and his cleats on the field is that one chance. And then Elijah Vance walks back into his life, throwing all of his carefully-laid plans into a tailspin.
Elijah and Julian used to be best friends, maybe even on their way to something more than just friends. But three years ago, Elijah broke into the school to steal money from the coach’s office, and Julian was the one who turned him in. After that, Elijah and his family disappeared without a trace. And now he’s back, sitting at Julian’s grandmother’s kitchen table. But time and distance haven’t erased all of their feelings, and Elijah knows that he finally has a chance to prove to Julian that he’s not the same person he was three years ago. But with secrets still growing between them and an uncertain future barreling towards them, it may be harder to lean on each other than they thought.
In Rosario, Argentina, Camila Hassan lives a double life.
At home, she is a careful daughter, living within her mother’s narrow expectations, in her rising-soccer-star brother’s shadow, and under the abusive rule of her short-tempered father.
On the field, she is La Furia, a powerhouse of skill and talent. When her team qualifies for the South American tournament, Camila gets the chance to see just how far those talents can take her. In her wildest dreams, she’d get an athletic scholarship to a North American university.
But the path ahead isn’t easy. Her parents don’t know about her passion. They wouldn’t allow a girl to play fútbol—and she needs their permission to go any farther. And the boy she once loved is back in town. Since he left, Diego has become an international star, playing in Italy for the renowned team Juventus. Camila doesn’t have time to be distracted by her feelings for him. Things aren’t the same as when he left: she has her own passions and ambitions now, and La Furia cannot be denied. As her life becomes more complicated, Camila is forced to face her secrets and make her way in a world with no place for the dreams and ambition of a girl like her.
Filled with authentic details and the textures of day-to-day life in Argentina, heart-soaring romance, and breathless action on the pitch, Furia is the story of a girl’s journey to make her life her own.
Emile is an up-and-coming rookie in battle skating, a sport that combines the grace of figure skating with the high impact sparring of martial arts. Just as he is gearing up to fight in his next duel at the championships, there’s a change in the lineup! To his horror, he’ll have to face off against reigning champion Radu, the best battle skater in the world (and Emile’s longtime skating idol). There’s no way he can win!
During a pivotal moment in their match, however, Emile discovers Radu’s most closely guarded secret…and it’s a bloody one. This could destroy Radu’s career for good, but when feelings start to develop between them both on and off the rink, will this rivalry turn into something more…?
Based on the WEBTOON hit comic with over forty million views and half a million subscribers, this irresistible story full of heart-pounding romance, breathtaking skate battles, and secrets both good and bad collects episodes 1-36 in a gorgeous print edition that includes a never-before-seen story!
When softball star Liv Rodinsky throws one ill-advised punch during the most important game of the year, she loses her scholarship to her fancy private school, her boyfriend, and her teammates all in one fell swoop. With no other options, Liv is forced to transfer to the nearest public school, Northland, where she’ll have to convince its coach she deserves a spot on the softball team, all while facing both her ex and the teammates of the girl she punched… Every. Single. Day.
Enter Grey, the injured star quarterback with amazing hair and a foolproof plan: If Liv joins the football team and plays with the boys as Grey’s temporary replacement, he’ll make sure she gets a spot on the softball team in the spring. But it will take more than just a flawless spiral for Liv to find acceptance in Northland’s halls, and behind that charismatic smile, Grey may not be so perfect after all.
With lovable characters, an irresistible quarterback love interest, and shocking twists, Throw Like a Girl will have readers engrossed from page one all the way to a touchdown ending.
Please note: Blades of Furry, Furia, It’s All in How You Fall, Sidelined, The Boyfriend Launcher, and Throw Like a Girl are Young Adult titles. Game, Set, Match is a New Adult title.