If there’s one thing about me, it’s that I will devour a good sports romance in one sitting. Hockey, basketball, baseball — if there’s tension, locker-room banter and a reformed playboy, I’m in. Last year I read 22 books, 9,267 pages and my average rating of a book was 4.2 stars on Goodreads. Out of those 22 books, 16 were sports romance books.
I’d like to think I am qualified to speak on this topic.
A lot of my favorites come from the “Windy City” universe because truly, no one is doing interconnected sports romance like Liz Tomforde right now. But beyond the Chicago chaos, these books are the ones I always recommend to everyone.
1. “Rewind It Back” by Liz Tomforde
If second chance romance has one fan, it’s me. If it has no fans, I am no longer here — and this book is exactly why. The emotional history between the characters feels heavy in the best way, and the way past and present collide? Painful. Delicious. Necessary.
“Rewind it Back” is the latest stand-alone book in the “Windy City” series featuring Rio and Hallie. They’re childhood friends with a complicated history. With a dual point of view narrative, this friends-to-lovers book will forever have my heart.
2. “The Score” by Elle Kennedy
“The Score” is the third book in the “Off-Campus” series, which is now being made into a TV series on Prime Video. It follows Dean and Allie as they create an unexpected arrangement and navigate college life. What starts as a mutually-beneficial setup — helping each other achieve personal goals — slowly turns into something real as emotional walls come down.
3. “Play Along” by Liz Tomforde
“Play Along” is the fourth installment of the “Windy City” series that focuses on each character’s journey, but also their found families. Fake dating makes for a perfect book. Followed with banter? And he falls first? It’s chaotic in the best way, just like Isaiah and Kennedy. This one balances rom-com energy with real emotional depth once the walls start coming down. It is great to read a series where all the characters connect and can grow.
4. “Fall with Me” by Becka Mack
If there’s one thing Becka Mack is going to do, it’s give us a hockey man who swears he doesn’t do feelings just to have him fold immediately — and you will not be able to put “Fall With Me” down. Jaxon and Lennon toe the line between friends with benefits and love, and watching Jaxon go from controlled and guarded to fully down bad is the real payoff.
Between the locker-room meddling, teammate cameos and his slow emotional unraveling, the romance feels fun but still vulnerable — the kind where the tough exterior cracks and suddenly he’s honest and all in.
