Best Hockey and Sports Romance Books to Read Next

Hockey and Sports Romance Books turn a high-stakes season into a love story. Rivalries, locker rooms, injuries, trades and public attention give two people plenty of reasons to fight the attraction. Hockey has also become the most visible corner of the genre. Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus books and Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker have all been picked up for television, which has sent a new wave of readers looking for what to read next.

This guide covers hockey first, then college hockey, spicy and closed-door options, the Elle Kennedy books, and romances set in other sports. Enemies-to-lovers picks are limited to books where the conflict is real, not just a bit of banter. If you want the trope across all genres, see our [more enemies-to-lovers romance recommendations] .

Heat levels in this guide come from publisher copy or the cited reviewer, and are noted only where there is something to base them on. Check content notes before you buy.

Quick picks

Best Hockey and Sports Romance Books

Pucked by Helena Hunting. The first book in the Pucked series and a standalone, according to the Jeeves Reads list that surfaced it. Violet Hall already has a low opinion of hockey players, thanks to a famous NHL stepbrother. Then she spends a night with captain Alex Waters and finds he keeps calling. The conflict is her fear that the media picture of him is the real one. Choose it if you want a funny, flirty NHL romance where one night turns into persistence.

Consider Me by Becka Mack. Book one of the Playing for Keeps series, described by its publisher as interconnected standalones. The hero is the NHL’s resident bad boy and the heroine has zero interest. It is less enemies-to-lovers than a slow thaw. Choose it if you like a playboy who has to earn trust.

Hard to Handle by K. Bromberg. A standalone second-chance romance. A sports agent has to sign the star player who once broke her heart, and the Stanley Cup chase puts a clock on everything. Choose it for a professional-boundaries setup with history.

Sin Bin by Teagan Hunter. A standalone age-gap, forbidden hockey romcom. The hero is near the end of his NHL career and the heroine is the team’s social media manager and the assistant coach’s niece. Choose it for off-limits tension with a lighter tone.

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid. Covered in the enemies-to-lovers section below. It is also the book most readers will meet first through the television adaptation.

Best hockey romance books with enemies-to-lovers

These books have an actual antagonism that drives the plot. Characters who simply bicker, or who meet badly and warm up in a chapter, are left out.

Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid (Game Changers #2). Two rival captains, Shane Hollander of Montreal and Ilya Rozanov of Boston, are public enemies and secret lovers. The central conflict is concealment: they compete fiercely on the ice and have to keep a private relationship out of the press. The publisher calls it an enemies-to-lovers hockey romance, and the rivalry is the engine, not a flavor. It is an adult M/M romance. It is book two of Game Changers, and the series has seven books listed, so start with Game Changer if you want full context. Choose it for high-stakes rivalry and a slow, guarded relationship.

The Risk by Elle Kennedy (Briar U #2). Brenna Jensen is the daughter of Briar’s head hockey coach, and she will not sleep with the enemy. Jake Connelly, Harvard’s star forward, is exactly that: arrogant, annoying, and from a rival team. The publisher describes it as enemies-to-lovers and adds a fake-dating arrangement tied to an internship. Choose it for team loyalty set against attraction, with banter.

The Golden Goal by Annah Conwell (More Than a Game #1). A clean, closed-door romance. Sutton is a physical therapist who joins a professional team where her brother’s best friend, Shaw, plays. Their history is childhood rivalry and teenage sabotage, and as adults they have to work together. According to No Spice Books, the series is interconnected. Choose it if you want rivals-to-lovers with no explicit scenes.

Holiday Hostilities by Katie Bailey (Cyclones Christmas #2). A closed-door seasonal hockey romance that No Spice Books tags enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity. The trope label is the only support found, so confirm the premise before you commit. Choose it if you want an enemies-to-lovers hockey read with a Christmas setting.

A note on Icebreaker. Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker has a hostile start. Anastasia Allen “clearly can’t stand” hockey captain Nate Hawkins when the two teams are forced to share a rink. It is better described as forced proximity with reluctant rivals than as a deep, ongoing enemies-to-lovers story, so it is covered in the college section.

Best college hockey romance books

College hockey romance leans on dorms, parties, graduation timelines, team houses and the question of whether a player will go pro. Professional hockey romance leans on contracts, trades, publicity and an athlete’s late-career window. If you want the first, start here.

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace (Maple Hills #1). Anastasia Allen, a competitive figure skater aiming for Team USA, has to share a rink with hockey captain Nate Hawkins after a facilities problem. The setup mixes figure skating and hockey, which makes it distinct from most college hockey romances. Retailer copy describes it as sexy. Choose it for a new-adult romance with a skater heroine and a team-supportive hero. The series continues with Wildfire and Daydream, which retailers list as books two and three, and one report says book two is not hockey-centered. Netflix has announced a series adaptation (see the FAQ).

The Deal by Elle Kennedy (Off Campus #1). Garrett Graham, captain of Briar University’s hockey team, and Hannah Wells. A reader guide describes the setup as fake dating with a reformed player. It is the book the Prime Video series is based on. Choose it for the classic college hockey house setting. More on reading order below.

The Risk by Elle Kennedy. Also a college hockey book, with the rival-team conflict described above.

All that Glitters by Annah Conwell (RomCom University #2). No Spice Books tags it college, enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers and childhood friends, with no heat. Those tags are the only support found, so treat the premise as unconfirmed. Choose it if you want a college hockey romance without explicit content.

Spicy hockey romance books

Not every hockey romance is explicit. The books below signal heat in publisher copy or reviewer commentary.

• Off Campus (The Deal, The Mistake, The Score, The Goal). One reviewer calls the series open-door and explicit throughout. Treat that as a single-source description and check content notes.
• Consider Me. The publisher describes the series as mature hockey romance with lots of heat.
• Sin Bin. Publisher copy promises “lots of steam.”
• Pucked. The publisher blurb is openly sexual in tone and the book is an adult romance.
• Heated Rivalry. Adult M/M with secret hookups as the starting point. The exact heat level was not confirmed from a publisher statement.
• Icebreaker. Retailer commentary calls it sexy and describes couples spending as much time in bed as on the ice.

If you want little or no explicit content

No Spice Books maintains a large closed-door hockey collection. It says every title is closed door at most. Titles to start with include The Golden Goal, Breaking the Ice by Whitney Dineen (Love on Thin Ice #1), Her Goal by Ellie Hall (Love in Hockey Town #3), Penalties and Proposals by Anne Kemp (Love on Thin Ice #7) and Perfectly Complicated Christmas Romance by Grace Worthington (Perfect Crush Hockey Romance #4). Trope labels for several of these come from the site’s own tags and should be confirmed.

Hockey romance books by Elle Kennedy

Elle Kennedy has three hockey series in one connected universe, set around Briar University.

Off Campus. The original quartet is The Deal, The Mistake, The Score and The Goal, with The Legacy as a later book of stories about all four couples. Read in publication order. The books are interconnected, and later ones reference earlier couples.

Briar U. Four spinoffs: The Chase, The Risk, The Play and The Dare. According to Elle Kennedy’s publisher descriptions, each is a standalone. Reader guides recommend finishing Off Campus first, but one guide notes you can technically start at Briar U.

Campus Diaries. The Graham Effect, The Dixon Rule and The Charlie Method, which follow the next generation. A separate standalone, Love Song, was published in 2026. One source reports that her next Briar-world novel, Bad Idea, is set for November 6, 2026.

Which one is for you?

• The Deal if you want to start at the beginning or watch the show first.
• The Chase if you like opposites-attract: Summer DiLaurentis moves in with tattooed, video-gaming Colin Fitzgerald, who has made it clear he is not interested.
• The Risk if you want the series’ clearest enemies-to-lovers pick.
• The Dare if you want a different tone. The publisher premise is a dare to seduce a hockey player.

The Prime Video series based on Off Campus premiered May 13, 2026 and has been renewed for a second season.

Best non-hockey sports romance books

Other sports change the mood. Team sports bring locker-room dynamics, individual sports bring training and performance pressure, and rodeo brings a small-town edge.

The Right Move by Liz Tomforde (basketball). Chicago’s new NBA captain Ryan Shay ends up with his sister’s best friend Indy as a roommate, then they pretend to date to help his image and her wedding plans. The blurb leans on fake dating, forced proximity and a hero who says he does not believe in love. Choose it for a roommate-to-lovers feel in a pro basketball setting. Series placement was not verified.

Flawless by Elsie Silver (bull riding). Book one of the five-book Chestnut Springs series. Rhett Eaton is the golden boy of bull riding and Summer Hamilton, his agent’s daughter, is sent to supervise him. The UK edition describes the line between enemies and something more blurring, but the main dynamics are opposites, forced proximity and a boss’s-daughter boundary, so it is not listed as enemies-to-lovers. Choose it for a small-town cowboy tone.

Jock Blocked by Pippa Grant (baseball). A standalone, feel-good rom-com about a superstitious fan trying to stop a new player from losing his V-card, which she believes will wreck the team’s luck. Choose it for humor and a lighter read.

The Change Up by Meghan Quinn (baseball). A best-friends-to-lovers romance where a baseball player’s roommate is the woman he is falling for. Choose it for friends-to-lovers.

I Promise You by Ilsa Madden-Mills (college football). A bonfire kiss, a quarterback with something to prove, and a heroine who retaliates in the grocery store. It is playful antagonism, not enemies-to-lovers in the strict sense. Choose it for a competitive, banter-driven college romance.

Wildcat by Max Monroe (football). A flight attendant and a star quarterback. The conflict is fame and the world watching. Choose it for a celebrity romance.

I did not find a verified golf title that fit the brief, so golf is left out.

Best sports romance books with enemies-to-lovers

Everything for You by Chloe Liese (soccer). The publisher calls it an enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, age-gap sports romance. Gavin Hayes is a demanding veteran captain and Oliver Bergman is the upbeat rising star who has gotten on his last nerve for two years. When their coach makes them co-captains and ties the roles to ending their enmity, they are forced to work together. Both leads carry real, serious baggage, including anxiety and chronic pain. It is a standalone, but the fifth in the Bergman family series. Choose it for grumpy/sunshine teammates and a slow burn.

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey (softball). Book four in the Big Shots series. A hockey player, Robbie Corrigan, coaches Division I softball player Skylar Paige in a story described as enemies-to-lovers with a coach angle. Choose it if you want that coaching dynamic. Check whether the book reads as a standalone, since earlier Big Shots books feature other sports. This was supported by one source.

How to choose your next sports romance

• By sport. Hockey has the biggest selection and the most series. For something different, try basketball (The Right Move), soccer (Everything for You), baseball (Jock Blocked), football (Wildcat) or bull riding (Flawless).
• College versus professional. Pick college for house parties, graduation deadlines and the draft hanging over everyone (Off Campus, Briar U, Icebreaker). Pick professional for contracts, publicity and career windows (Heated Rivalry, Hard to Handle, Sin Bin).
• Enemies-to-lovers versus other tropes. If you want real hostility, start with Heated Rivalry, The Risk or Everything for You. For fake dating, try The Deal or The Right Move. For forbidden tension, try Sin Bin.
• Explicit versus closed-door. Off Campus and Consider Me skew explicit. No Spice Books lists closed-door hockey romances if you want none.
• Standalone versus series. Pucked, Hard to Handle, Sin Bin and Jock Blocked are described as standalones. Off Campus is a connected series, and Briar U books are described as standalones in the same world. Game Changers is a long series, so start with Game Changer.
• Angst and tension. Heated Rivalry carries high stakes and secrecy. Pucked and Jock Blocked are lighter. If you want a darker take on the same trope, see our [dark romance enemies-to-lovers list] [DARK ROMANCE ARTICLE URL PLACEHOLDER].

Frequently asked questions

What are the best hockey romance books?

There is no single answer, but the most discussed starting points are Heated Rivalry (Rachel Reid), The Deal and The Risk (Elle Kennedy), Icebreaker (Hannah Grace) and Pucked (Helena Hunting). Pick based on setting, trope and heat level using the table above.

Which hockey romance books feature enemies-to-lovers?

Heated Rivalry and The Risk have a clear, plot-driving antagonism. The Golden Goal offers a clean rivals-to-lovers version. Everything for You is the pick outside hockey.

What are some spicy hockey romance books?

Off Campus, Consider Me, Sin Bin, Pucked and Icebreaker all signal heat in publisher or reviewer descriptions. Check content notes for any title.

What are the best college hockey romance books?

Off Campus and Briar U by Elle Kennedy, and Icebreaker by Hannah Grace. For a closed-door option, All that Glitters by Annah Conwell is tagged college by No Spice Books.

Which hockey romance books has Elle Kennedy written?

Off Campus (The Deal, The Mistake, The Score, The Goal, plus The Legacy), Briar U (The Chase, The Risk, The Play, The Dare), Campus Diaries (The Graham Effect, The Dixon Rule, The Charlie Method) and the 2026 standalone Love Song. Read Off Campus first if you want the full web of characters.

What are some good sports romance books that are not about hockey?

The Right Move (basketball), Everything for You (soccer), Flawless (bull riding), Jock Blocked and The Change Up (baseball), Wildcat (football) and Pitcher Perfect (softball).

Are there hockey romance books with little or no explicit content?

Yes. No Spice Books curates closed-door hockey romances, including The Golden Goal, Her Goal and Penalties and Proposals. Many are small-town or holiday stories.

Are any hockey romance books adapted for Netflix?

One is in development. Netflix announced in June 2026 a series based on Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker, with Amanda Lasher as showrunner. As of the sources checked, no release date had been announced. Other hockey romance adaptations are on other services: Heated Rivalry streams on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the US, and Off Campus is on Prime Video. Check current listings before you plan a watch.

Conclusion

Start with the setting you want: college for house parties and graduation stakes, professional for contracts and public attention. Then choose the trope, heat and how many books you want to commit to. Heated Rivalry and The Risk deliver the strongest hockey enmity, Icebreaker and Off Campus suit college readers, and closed-door picks like The Golden Goal keep things sweet. For more on the trope, browse our [more enemies-to-lovers romance recommendations].

Nisbah

Hi, I’m Nisbah – a blogger with over 2 years of experience creating content and a fantasy enthusiast who loves exploring magical worlds, fantasy books, captivating stories, and unforgettable characters. I share book recommendations, reviews, fantasy insights, and story discussions and creating guides to help readers discover their next great adventure.