I'm guessing from the sports romances I've read and the… uh, three hours of videos I watched yesterday about sports romances, that the appeal of the subgenre for the majority of readers is "hot athlete bf". Which is fair. I know what Alex Morgan looks like.
But I like sports. I run regularly, I did martial arts as a young man, and I'm somewhat active in the NWSL sub's match threads, for example.
So are there any sports romances that are actually about the sports? I mean, college athletes that are too busy to start a serious relationship during the season, cannot eat pizza every day because they have a bunch of dietary requirements, and uh, sports. Like, I read Icebreaker and had this really funny experience when I finished where I couldn't remember if the MMC ever played hockey, or even trained. I'm pretty sure there's mentions of him going to practice or games, but I don't think those ever happen on the page. Even the FMC's figure skating scenes feel like Hannah Grace is trying to wrap them as fast as possible. And I've been told the same is basically true with Elle Kennedy's books.
Again, I'm not judging if the appeal of sports romances begins and ends for you with "hot athlete bf", but are there any that are a bit more about the sport?
by IvankoKostiuk