9 sports romance books perfect for fall football season reading

Sports and romance may not seem like easy bedfellows, but some recent pop culture moments give us reason to think otherwise.
You’ve got the box-office smash “Challengers,” which featured a love triangle on and off the tennis court. And there’s a whole band of Swifties who tuned into football after Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift started dating last fall.
There’s also the rise of the sports romance novel, thanks in part to the NFL’s royal couple and steamy hockey romance TikTok hits like “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace.
Whether you’re into hockey, football, baseball, basketball or another sport, there’s a sports romance story out there for you. While this genre is a year-round read, the changing fall leaves and Saturdays full of football may have you craving college sports stories. 
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In this football romance, Vanessa Mazur is the fed-up personal assistant to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization. Life as a PA is thankless and, behind the scenes, Aiden Graves is not the beloved man the world thinks he is. So she quits. But when Aiden shows up at her door begging, she sees an emotional side of him she didn’t think existed. He’s also got a proposition to turn her job into something a lot more intimate than the original description implies.
Fans of “Ted Lasso” and “A League of Their Own,” might enjoy this rivals-to-lovers story that follows two U.S. Women’s National Team players at odds. At 26, Grace Henderson is a rising star on the team. But when she gets injured, newcomer Phoebe Matthews takes her spot. They don’t expect to become anything more than rivals, let alone “teammates with benefits.” As they train for the World Cup, can Grace and Phoebe balance their on-the-field and off-the-field chemistry? 
This college hockey romance follows two competitive hockey captains. When their cutthroat personalities spill off the rink, the pair come up with a friends-with-benefits bet to see who will fold first: Sam, the playboy who heads the men’s team, or Aderyn, on the women’s team, who is more of a relationship kind of girl.
In this minor league baseball romance, Beaverton Beavers player Gene is proud of the quiet, underdog career he’s built as the first openly trans professional baseball player. But when his former teammate and current rival Luis is traded to the Beavers, it dampens the once-perfect outlook he had. They can’t put their differences aside – on or off the field. After a curveball twist, the pair finds themselves spending more and more time together, realizing the tension between them might be something more than disdain. 
Taylor Swift-Travis Kelce effect?Why sports romance stories are hot right now
From the author of “Before I Let Go” comes a professional basketball series steeped in romance and high-stakes emotions. In “Hook Shot,” a single, divorced dad nearing retirement from his basketball career falls for someone who challenges the promise he made to himself to never trust a woman again. Kenan and Lotus are eleven years apart and complete opposites, but when fate intervenes in New York City, they’ll have no choice but to give it a shot. 
“Fangirl Down” is about a jaded, disgraced professional golfer with one remaining fan – the smiling redhead on the sidelines. But when he dramatically hangs up his golf clubs for good and there’s no one left cheering for him at all, he starts to regret his decision. That’s when he shows up on her doorstep, begging his #1 fan to be his new caddy and help him get back on the green. 
In this hockey romance, an honors student and a jock clash. Summer Preston’s thesis for her sports psychology degree takes her to the rink, a place she usually would stay far away from. Aiden, the captain of the college hockey team only confirms her distaste for the sport. The pair can’t stand each other, but when he becomes the subject of her research project, they’re forced to spend far more time together than they’d like – or so they think. 
“The Cheat Sheet” follows best friends Bree and Nathan, an aspiring ballerina and an NFL player. Bree desperately wants it to be something more, but she’s wary of exiting the friend zone – or even trying to – and ruining their friendship. But when an overly generous gesture causes a rift between the two friends, Bree gets drunk and accidentally spills her darkest secrets to a TMZ reporter. Now, thanks to a viral video, the whole world thinks the pair are actually together. Nathan’s publicist comes up with the perfect fake-dating plan to stir up the tabloids – they’ll just have to see if they can toe the line between pretend feelings and real ones.
This YA baseball romance follows June, the star pitcher of an elite club baseball team who longs to be recruited at the college level, and Ivy, a student umpire who wants to make it big. The pair get off on the wrong foot when Ivy throws June out of a game for grandstanding. Despite the rocky start, they’re drawn to each other. The only problem is the strict rule forbidding umpires and players from dating. Can they follow both their dreams and their hearts?
Taste is subjective, and we’ve got some other genres to recommend. If dragons are your thing, check out books we suggest reading after “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros. If you’re into domestic mysteries, try these titles similar to “Verity” by Colleen Hoover. Or if you want something with lower stakes and loveable characters, see if a “cozy mystery” or “cozy fantasy” book is for you.