Fade-to-Black Sports Romance Books for Your TBR
I love a good sports romance book, and if you’re reading this, I’m guessing you do, too! As with all romance subgenres, sports romance novels span all the spice levels. My sweet spot as both a writer and a reader is on the fade-to-black end of closed-door romances. (Click here for more on closed-door romance.)
This level is what BookBlushRomance.com calls “Sex implied off page.” By the way, I love their rating system for both sexual and language content. If you’re not aware of this site, go check it out … after you finish reading this post, of course! I’ll put another link at the bottom to make it handy for you.
Back to the matter at hand—I’m a sports girlie at heart. When I was a teenager and twenty-something, my parents had season tickets to all the professional sports teams in St. Louis. And I now live in Oklahoma City, home of the NBA champion Thunder basketball team. I’m big into watching sports, and I’ve wholeheartedly embraced the sports romance craze.
To commemorate the release of my first hockey romance book, I’ve compiled a list of fade-to-black sports romance novels. I haven’t read all of these, but I’ve read books by each of these authors, so I can vouch for their quality. Please be aware that while the “heat level” is similar in all these books, the language is not. Some contain sparse uses of profanity.
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
The Cheat Sheet is a friends-to-lovers football romance by popular romance author Sarah Adams. Other tropes in this book include fake dating and secret love.
One Amazon reviewer states: “I think my favorite part was the fact that I literally couldn’t stop smiling the whole time I read this book! … I would definitely recommend 100% if you love cute, quirky, sweet, heartwarming love stories! And NO SMUT!”
I love Sarah Adams books and can’t believe I haven’t read this one yet. It’s for sure going on my TBR!
Blocking the Chaos by Dana Wilkerson
Yep, this is a shameless plug of my book. I mean, I want you to put it on your TBR because I love it so much, and I hope you do, too!
Blocking the Chaos is a single dad, best-friends-to-lovers, neurodivergent hockey romance.
The female main character has a type of Sensory Processing Disorder. If you have a neurodivergence (diagnosed or not), I hope you’re able to see a little bit of yourself in Amber’s character.
Other tropes in this book include brother’s best friend, secret child, childhood friends, no third-act breakup, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
If you’ve read my Throwback RomComs series, you’ll recognize some of the people in this book, as this new KC Crew Sports Romance series features the children of the characters in the Throwback series.
Available in Kindle Unlimited.
The Run Option by Annah Conwell
I discovered author Annah Conwell a few months ago, and I’m definitely a fan!
The Run Option is a football romance, and it contains the marriage of convenience trope.
An Amazon reviewer says, “There need to be more stories like this that show that being crazy for each other and the desire that comes out of real committed, sacrificial love is a beautiful, precious thing. The romance between Jason and Willow is the perfect balance of that. The way the tension and sparks are so good without any spice is perfect.”
If that review resonates with you, add The Run Option to your TBR today!
Available in Kindle Unlimited.
Going Overboard by Portia MacIntosh
This book is a cricket romance. No, not the annoying jumping insect, but the sport. Can’t say I’ve ever read cricket romance, but this one is locked and loaded in my Kindle Unlimited library right now.
Going Overboard tropes include fake dating, forced proximity, only one bed, revenge pact, enemies to lovers, and opposites attract. And as the cover shows, it takes place on a cruise ship.
That all sounds like a barrel of fun to me!
Britta & the Beach Boy by Brittany Larsen
I’m currently finishing up Brittany Larsen’s Love in Paradise Valley series, and I can’t wait to jump into this first book in the Love in LA series. Britta & the Beach Boy is a marriage-of-convenience surfing romcom.
“Liam ‘Dex’ Dexter, the world’s hottest surfer, needs American citizenship to qualify for the Olympics. Britta needs enough cash to leave her small-town life behind and finally open her dream coffee shop in LA. Their plan is simple: get married, fake the happily-ever-after, and go their separate ways once their goals are met.”
It currently has a 4.5-star overall rating on Amazon, and one reviewer says, “This book was a lot more than fun and romance, though that is definitely included. In fact, it had a lot more depth; diving into serious topics like grief, acceptance, self confidence, and family issues. It nearly brought me to tears several times.”
Available in Kindle Unlimited.
Season’s Schemings by Katie Bailey
I’m a big Katie Bailey fan, and I loved this book! This is the perfect time of year to read a holiday book, and bonus points since this is also a hockey romance.
Season’s Schemings is another marriage-of-convenience story, which has become a theme among the books in this list. That’s not usually one of my go-to tropes, but I enjoyed this one, so maybe it’ll move up the list.
One Amazon reviewer says, “Both characters were quirky and flawed, but most importantly they were LIKABLE and relatable, too. I rooted for them. I loved them individually, I loved them even more together.”
Available in Kindle Unlimited
And that’s the end of this list!
Tell us in the comments about other fade-to-black sports romance novels you’ve loved.
Here’s the link to bookblushromance.com again.
If you get tired of reading sports romance, check out my Throwback RomComs closed-door romance series. The books are set in the late 1980s, when dating was a whole different ballgame (see what I did there?) before cell phones and the Internet.
