Tag: sports romance

Off Base by Haley Warren

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Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: Contemporary Sports Romance
Length: 324 pages
Author: Haley Warren
Publisher: Simon Maverick
Release Date: June 2nd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He’s trying to find a way out.

She’s trying to find herself.

Miller Colson-Burke has only ever been good at three things: flirting his way out of anything, being the best shortstop in the league, and playing baseball side by side with his best friend, Matt.

Until an accident takes Matt from him forever, leaving him haunted by a memorial banner and a sport he used to love. The only things he’s really interested in being good at now are avoiding the press and figuring out how to run away from a rumour he can’t seem to escape.

Ren Jacobs has spent the last four years building a new life and trying to remember all the reasons to love the person she used to be. But when someone from her past comes along and steals her dream job, she finds it hard to love anything about herself at all.

Thank you to Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

IT GREW ON ME?

I immediately had to have this book because *dinosaurs*. Little did I know there was almost too much dinosaur content? As if the author was trying to make sure I knew that Ren was paleontologist. DON’T WORRY. I got it. She loves dinosaurs. The museum content was good though and I loved how the musuem and baseball team were working together.

Matt, I adored. He was a man broken by grief trying to find pockets of joy. There’s a soft fake dating angle to this that kept sending Matt and Ren into each other’s orbit and I think that worked well. I did like that banter and converations between them too. They were definitely a match.

Buuuut. The third act made me cranky. Which wouldn’t surprise anyone that has read this too. Not to mention there was way too much ex related content. I hate when the ex takes up too much time and overshadows the main romance. Just go away.

This was my first book from Haley Warren and I would read another!

Overall audience notes:

  • Sports romance
  • Language: mild – moderate
  • Romance: 3ish open door
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: loss of a friend, grief depiction, absent parent, gaslighting ex

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Book Review: Pros Don’t (Fall in Love #4) by Leah Dobrinska

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Sports Romance
Length: 327 pages
Author: Leah Dobrinska
Publisher: Self Publishing
Release Date: April 8th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Who says reality TV romance isn’t real?

Holland Bradley is the golf world’s golden boy. Confident and charismatic, when his agent lands him the starring role on Most Eligible Mister, the nation’s longest running reality TV dating show, he doesn’t hesitate. A chance to find love by dating twenty beautiful women and bringing more attention to the sport he loves, while also curing him of the tiny crush he has on his coach? Sounds like a hole in one.

A woman in a male-dominated field, golf coach Mallory Walsh doesn’t have the luxury of sharing Holland’s cavalier attitude. But she’s a pro, so she can set her personal disdain for him aside and keep coaching Holland to tournament victories. The more he wins, the more she’s paid, and the more she can help her parents with their mounting medical bills. Holland’s role on Most Eligible Mister is a distraction he—and she—can’t afford…until one of the show’s producers offers Mallory good money to sign on as a contestant.

Holland and Mallory are whisked away to Cashmere Cove, where a scheming, hometown community is intent on “helping” them fall in love and fame-hungry contestants are determined to keep them apart. The player and coach pair make a pact to keep things professional, but soon the pressure cooker situation has them teaming up to survive. As Holland relies on Mallory for support in dealing with past trauma, and Mallory discovers a good listener and fierce advocate beneath Holland’s flashy façade, everything changes. Can the pair come out on top, or is any real relationship between them as unlikely as an albatross?

Because pros don’t fall in love…do they?

THIS WAS SWEET.

Y’all have heard it before. One of my favorite tropes/situations is a man down BAD. There’s something about Holland pining after Mallory that just hits every time. I loved all of the little sweet moments they got to be together without the crowds and how hard Holland worked to show Mallory he’s different from the first time they met.

The only thing I wasn’t totally into was the bachelor-esque plot line. I have never watched the show for a reason and fought the catty drama to be a bit eye rolling. I wish that Mallory and Holland had a different chance to come together rather than the show being at the fore front. It was a big suspension of reality that he would do that as a pro golfer.

But I will admit that I loved the grand gesture at the end. That’s the kind of sporty ending that makes me loooove sport romances. And this is my second golf romance that overall has been a hit. It’s sweet and heated and swoony. I have loved this series!

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content warnings: bullying (recounted, for a stutter and weight as a child), a parent with a debilitating disease

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Book Review: Heart Check (Varsity #1) by Emily Charlotte

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Rating: ★★★.5
Audience: YA Sports Romance
Length: 304 pages
Author: Emily Charlotte
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: November 18th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A star hockey player and his biggest critic must reexamine their assumptions about each other when forced to work together at an after-school job in this feel-good young adult rom-com debut about breaking the ice—featuring stenciled sprayed edges!

Luke Dawson and Harper Braedon could have been friends. They trade shifts at the same diner, share classes at school, and are driven by their greatest passions: hockey for Dawson and jewelry-making for Harper. But some things aren’t meant to be. Dawson thinks Harper is stuck-up, too good for anything resembling school spirit. Harper thinks Dawson is a self-centered jock, a perfect fit for a hockey team that seems to absorb all the budget away from the arts departments.

When his beloved hockey coach gets fired for misallocation of funds, Dawson is terrified that all his plans for impressing scouts are vanishing before his eyes. A rumor goes around that Harper was the one who got him fired, and suddenly she’s public enemy number one.

But even with their mutual dislike at an all-time high, Harper and Dawson can’t escape splitting shifts forever. Can forced proximity help them find some common ground, or will long-held grudges finally succeed in bringing them both down?

TIS A BIT DRAMATIC.

I feel like I have this fine line when it comes to drama (as do many of us?? maybe?? just me?) where it either works or I roll my eyes repeatedly. Very little in-between. This was in the roll your eyes category. For a while I didn’t mind and it worked for the plot but things spiraled here and there and it felt forced to add plot that was diminishing.

The vibes between Harper and Dawson were good. I liked them together and how they slowly started to figure each other art. The opposites attract trope was just right. And I loved all of the hockey content. I’m always a fan of hockey romances. I wish some of the themes had been more fleshed out like Dawson talking to his dad about pressure, more background on the coach who was fired, why does Harper want to leave so badly?? there were plot holes throughout.

It is decently appropriate for mid-older YA. With light language throughout, some underage drinking and make-outs.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Sports romance
  • Language: mild
  • Romance: make-outs
  • Violence: low

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Book Review: Caught Stealing (Southern Sports Sweethearts #1) by M.J. Padgett

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Rating: ★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 270 pages
Author: M.J. Padgett
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: August 24th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Charlotte Clarke’s life revolves around numbers and facts. But when life throws her a curveball, will she rely on her brain or her heart to guide her?

Love is the last thing on Charlotte’s mind. She’s too busy teaching uninterested high school students mathematics to make time for dating, despite her best friends’ protests that she needs a man. They seem to forget that the breakup with her long-time boyfriend shattered her heart.

When Charlotte’s friends discover a new dating app, they sign her up, surprising her with a list of men interested in stealing her heart. Not wanting to disappoint them, Charlotte chooses the first name on the list, preparing herself for utter humiliation and rejection. What she doesn’t know is the app is a cover for athletes looking for serious love. And one thing Charlotte doesn’t need is another athlete breaking her heart.

Andrew Rossi is sitting out with his second injury of the season. At his age, he’s beginning to worry his career with the Savannah Sharks might be coming to a close. What’s worse is he has no one to share the rest of his life with. Sick of superficial dating and flimsy relationships, Andrew decides to sign up on an elite, super secret athlete dating app. The second his eyes land on a gorgeous, brainy redhead with a deep love for dogs, his heart leaps in with cautious optimism.

The only problem? His sunshiny, sweet date despises athletes.

Keeping his athletic stardom a secret gives Andrew the chance to get to know Charlotte. As the two grow closer, he knows it’s only a matter of time before he has to come clean. But how do you tell a woman you’re falling for that you’re the one thing she hates?

Caught Stealing is a sweet, secret identity baseball romance with light faith elements, a side of comedy, and two show-stealing pups!

This is the first book in the Southern Sports Sweethearts series and the first in the Savannah Sharks baseball mini-series! The books in this series can be read in any order, mixed and matched, and moved around!

THIS DID NOT WORK FOR ME.

I was initially enjoying this one. I’ve been looking for some more baseball romances and was excited to try a new author out. Buuuut, this ended up not clicking on many fronts.

One of my main issues was that the whole plot felt centered around Lottie’s ex. Why the broke up, why she has a hard time trusting, why she STILL has a hard time trusting, him trying to win her back, him trying to win her back AGAIN, and so on and so forth.

And while there were some sweet scenes with Andrew in there and some of the dates were cute, it felt very ordinary. It was missing swoon and heat (even though I admit Andrew had some quotable lines).

I thought the writing was fine and I know this will work for others. I don’t know that I would try another book by this author.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Content warnings: cheating (previous relationship)

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