Cinnamon Roll Athletes
Nice guys seem to finish... a LOT (wink)
I have no particularly specific affinity for athletes, and generally speaking the nicer a hero is the less I’m interested. That said, every once in a while a book sneaks in with enough other stuff I find interesting or intriguing that I give it a shot. I’ll never gravitate towards unproblematic kings naturally, because I thrive on conflict (cough daddy issues cough WE GET IT BRI MOVE ON), but every once in a while it’s an amusing fantasy to entertain. And these three books have particularly unproblematic jocks, so if you’re into that sort of thing, I got you covered.
Against The Clock by Brittany Kelley. The first in a series, available on KU, this book has a fantastic meet-cute that drew me in instantly, despite my sports hero preference not being football characters at all. Daniel is a quarterback nearing the end of his career (the best time for a sports romance- what comes after sports?? It’s such a unique kind of career in that there’s an endpoint when you’re still young enough to need to find a second act) who literally crashes into Kelsey, a reporter, in diving for a catch.
Things escalate pretty quickly from here- Daniel falls pretty much immediately, but Kelsey is hesitant for a lot of reasons. She hates football, and the story she’s working on about the ethical and misogynistic exploitation of cheerleaders in the league could destroy the thing he loves forever. It’ll certainly make it difficult to maintain a public relationship with her, especially after fans online start shipping them and are more aware of her than she could have ever imagined.
But Daniel, a guy who basically does nothing wrong ever at any point in the book and just wants his gal happy, is willing to risk it, if she can only meet him halfway. For cinnamon roll heroes, I think this pairing works for me because I find Kelsey reasonably interesting in her own right, and she has enough conflict for the both of them without feeling annoying for being a holdout.
Rating: 4.25/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
The Playing Game by Ainsley Booth. Two years ago, despite how much she hates hockey for what it did to her family (hashtag daddy issues, you don’t have to squint very hard to figure out why), Harper had a steamy one-night-stand with Kieran, an NHL legend. Then she left without telling him her name, giving him a way to contact her, or providing hope they’ll see each other again. She has no intention of seeing him again.
But then she’s in the stands for her city’s new expansion team and he sees her instantly, and sets his intention to not only figure out her identity, but to claim her the way he’d hoped to all those years ago. And considering that both these dummies haven’t been with anyone else since, despite Harper fully not expecting to see him again and Keiran not knowing how he’d ever find her, I feel pretty confident in their happy ending.
Like Against The Clock, the heroine in this sports romance hates the sport her beloved plays (though in Harper’s case it’s personal, unlike for Kelsey, who has professional objections), and the hero is patient yet insistent, doing the absolute Most to convince her to trust him. This book is dirty enough that the cinnamon roll nature of Keiran can be overlooked if it’s not ordinarily your bag (because it very much isn’t mine).
Rating: 4.5/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Wildfire by Hannah Grace. This is a new adult BookTok pick, which is probably enough for most of you to reject it out of hand. That’s fair. But for a breezy beach read that hits the soft spots for a cozy Hallmark movie, I definitely recommend it.
In another one-night-stand turned forced-proximity situation, Aurora (book lover, future bookstore owner, from a rich family who treats her like a photo opp) and Russ (hockey player, estranged from his gambling addict father) spend a steamy night together before the summer begins. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on your perspective, they’re both camp counselors for a summer camp Aurora attended back in the day, and there’s NO staff fraternization allowed. Not that Aurora expected or wanted a second go-around, especially because she vows to stop acting out and attention-seeking (daddy issues), though Russ definitely wanted a shot but is afraid to push her and appear like a creep.
This book is a big ol’ miscommunication trope that, despite the book calling itself out for that (Aurora is a romance lover), is still a little annoying. Remembering these kids are under 22 is helpful, but good lord. Use your damn words. Russ is a little thick and in his own head, but like the other two guys in this roundup so far, he’s a softy who is always respectful and always earnest in his immediate heart-eyes-emoji for Aurora. If you want a daddy issues book (god help me, I do) with summer vibes that’s relatively low-conflict but with enough character stakes to keep it interesting anyways, this is your book.
Rating: 4/5
How hot? 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Next week, I’ll be recommending books with hidden identity characters and their unwitting (or witting) partners in confusion!
What should I be reading next? Let me know in the comments!
"The nicer a hero is the less I’m interested." AMEN lol! I usually gravitate toward alphas over cinnamon rolls as a reader, but I can't seem to write truly bad boys. I'd say my next novel with a rock climber MMC is the sweetest hero I've ever written. I need to see more adventure sports in romance!