Falling by Janisha Boswell
Falling was one of the first hockey romances I read and actually enjoyed. I think I’d read one beforehand and hated it, but Falling was great. While this post is about the fact that it is a sports romance, I loved it for other reasons, as shown in my review:
“One of the best parts of Falling was that the book wasn’t just about sports romance. There were much heavier themes that were handled really well and the characters felt real. You could feel the pressure on Wren to perform well otherwise she’d face the disappointment of her mother. Miles dealing with the loss of his best friend and not even being able to step onto the ice was heartbreaking. There was a surprising amount of depth to most of the characters really and I am actually interested in checking out the other books in this series.”
Anyway, there’s a lot of actual sport happening in this book. You spend a lot of time with Wren and Miles on and off the ice training. This feels quite unusual for a sports romance as it’s usually just the fact that the characters do a sport that makes it a sports romance, but that’s not the case here. Unfortunately, I can’t remember if there’s actual hockey going on but there is a lot of figure skating. I keep calling this book a hockey romance but it’s actually a figure skating romance. Which are definitely my favourite as I skated when I was younger.
If you’re into sports romances that have a lot of depth, I’d recommend checking out Falling. It has it all; figure skating, fake dating and spice – need I say more?
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Synopsis: WREN HACKERLY refuses to quit. Figure skating has always been her life, but when her ex humiliates her on the ice and her career is on the line, she needs a comeback. With her college team’s morale and donations plummeting, she has to find a way to keep people interested.
MILES DAVIS is North University’s golden boy, famed for his hockey skills and movie-star looks. After a team tragedy, he’s the only one still struggling to bounce back, making it hard to even think about hockey when it used to be the only thing on his mind.
After an eventful meet-cute and a bet-turned-date, Wren and Miles form the perfect partnership. His popularity could revive her star status and team support, while her workouts might get him back on the ice. But their fake dating pact reveals more than they expected. Miles’s kind side starts to thaw Wren’s frozen heart, and she finds herself falling for him more each day.
When the line between what’s real and what’s fake begins to blur, will either of them admit to feelings that aren’t just pretend?
The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams
This is the type of sports romance I don’t read very often, American football. Mostly because I know absolutely nothing about the sport – which you can say about most sports but anyway. I adore Sarah Adams, as you’ll all know by now, and while this isn’t my favourite book of hers, I still love it. It was the first book of hers I read so it will always be special to me.
Something else I love is when sports romances have depth. This book, like all of Sarah Adams’ books, is so much more than just a romance (which I do also love). The characters have depth, and the depiction of men in sport was refreshing:
“Nathan’s struggle with his mental health was so refreshing to read. The usual stereotype of football players is that they’re manly men who don’t have feelings, so seeing him open up to Bree about how he’s been feeling broke that stereotype and the whole scene was beautiful. To be fair Nathan in general was nothing like your ‘typical’ football player.”
I think the fact that Nathan and Bree had been friends for so long is what made the romance of this book so lovely. There’s not a lot of sport going on, but you do get a dual POV with some football going on (I think, I read this quite a long time ago now, I’ve literally read hundreds of books since). I highly doubt most of us read sports romances because we’re actually interested in the sport side of things. Right?
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Synopsis: Is it ever too late to leave the friend-zone?
Hi, my name is Bree Camden, and I’m hopelessly in love with my best friend and star quarterback Nathan Donelson (so is half of America, judging by the tabloids and how much the guy dates). The first step is admitting, right? Except, I can never admit it to him because he clearly doesn’t see me that way, and the last thing I want is for things to get weird between us.
Nothing but good old-fashioned, no-touching-the-sexiest-man-alive, platonic friendship for us! Everything is exactly how I like it! Yes. Good. (I’m not crying, I’m just peeling an onion.)
Our friendship is going swimmingly until I accidentally spill my beans to a reporter over too much tequila, and now the world seems to think me and Nathan belong together. Oh, and did I mention we have to date publicly for three weeks until after the Super Bowl because we signed a contract with…oops, forgot I can’t tell anyone about that!
Bottom line is, now my best friend is smudging all the lines and acting very un-platonic, and I’m just trying to keep my body from bursting into flames every time he touches me.
How am I going to make it through three weeks of fake dating Nathan without anything changing between us? Especially when it almost-sort-a-kinda seems like he’s fighting for a completely different outcome?
Send help.
XO Bree
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