Tag Archives: Sports Romance

Clean Point — Meg Jones

“And just like that, the enemy of my enemy was my new teammate.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5+ stars
Spicy Meter: 5 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Touches on tough topics like abusive parents and coaches, mentions intentional and secret drugging, and verbal and sexual abuse. Mentions disordered eating due to training. Contains explicit sexual content.

“Clean Point” follows Scottie Sinclair, as she teams up with her father’s (and ex-coach’s) rival, Nico Kotas, to play doubles. Scottie is just coming back from a two-year ban from playing tennis due to a doping scandal, while Nico is coming back from an injury—either way, both of them have something to prove. What neither had expected was that, through this agreement, they’d be finding their match on and off the court.

How can this be my favorite book of 2025 when this year’s barely even started? But oh well, it is. Told in a consistently dynamic pace, “Clean Point” had me absolutely hooked. I could NOT get enough of Scottie and Nico. Their banter, their competitiveness, their flirtiness? I was done for. And then their personal developments? Both as individuals and as a team? This sports romance had it all, I swear.

If you’re a fan of sports romances or perhaps are looking to dabble into one that isn’t filled with technicisms, then “Clean Point” is for you. Beyond that tho, if you’re just looking for a romance book that ALSO HAS A PLOT *gasps*, then “Clean Point” is what you’re looking for, search no further.

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ARC — Time to Shine — Rach Reid

“It’s just hockey. (…) And we’re good at hockey. If they wanted us to go out there and do, like, opera, I’d be fucked. But hockey? Pfft. No problem.”

Genre: Sports Romance, LGBTQIA+
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Spicy Meter: 2 fire emojis
Content Warnings: Touches on heavy subjects like death, drug use, and mental illness. Describes a car crash. Contains explicit sexual content.

Good ol’ queer and winter-y hockey romances are few and far between, so I was extremely excited when I saw this book come up in my feed. “Time To Shine” follows Landon Stackhouse, a hockey goalie that’s just been called in to a Calgary professional team, and Casey Hicks, the team’s superstar young winger. Landon is a bit shy and reserved, and everyone seems to catch up on that except Casey. He treats Landon like an old friend, and when Landon is looking for a place to stay and Casey has just bought a huge house with a bunch of extra room, it only made sense they’d be housemates, right?

This book was the literal representation of the “and they were roommates” meme about queer people in the 1800s.

Even if you’re not a fan of hockey or perhaps don’t even know how hockey works, you can still quite enjoy “Time to Shine”. Take it from me, as I’ve only seen hockey because of the vibes and know absolutely nothing about the rules that go into it, yet this book had me hooked.

If you’re looking for a queer hockey romance with some close proximity trope sprinkled in, then look no further—“Time to Shine” is just for you.

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ARC provided by NetGalley and Carina Press in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: September 26, 2023

Head Over Heels — Hannah Orenstein

Genre: Sports Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses mental health, eating disorders, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse.

“Head Over Heels” follows retired gymnast Avery Abrams, who almost made it to the Olympics—but didn’t due to an injury just weeks before the world-class event. Seven years later, after dealing with a rough breakup and moving back in with her parents in her hometown, she is offered the opportunity to help train a rising gymnastics star who is set to make it to the Olympics herself. What she could not fathom was that she’d be training this new gymnast alongside one of her childhood crushes. Will she let herself fall in love again and will she ever come to peace with her past? I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out.

I honestly thoroughly enjoyed this book, it took quite a few turns I wasn’t expecting. Yes, it’s a romance book, but at the same time it’s so much more than that. There are so many important and relevant topics addressed in this book, like eating disorders and abuse within the sports community, and how Olympic athletes lack the resources to work on their mental and sometimes even physical health.

I would recommend this book to anyone who ever dreamed of going to the Olympics (even if they didn’t practice an Olympic sport) or just anyone who’s up for an interesting romance book that’ll tackle more than just sexual tension and romantic relationships.

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