Sports romances in general, but hockey romances specifically, have taken the book world by storm over the last year or two! I don’t know how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I don’t care about hockey at all, but I love hockey romances!”. If this is you, keep scrolling because I have a list you won’t want to miss.
One complaint people had at the beginning of the hockey romance craze was that they are often pretty spicy, which is not everyone’s cup of tea. Thankfully, sweet romance authors saw the opportunity there and responded! Now there are tons of sweet, clean hockey stories for readers who prefer that to enjoy.
My list is in two parts: books that I’ve read and verified to be cute, clean hockey-themed romances that I personally endorse, and a sort of TBR of hockey books that I haven’t gotten to yet but that I believe to be cute and clean. Hopefully you’ll find a book or three from each list to add to your own TBR!
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My Favorite Hockey Romances:
Just Don’t Fall and Absolutely Not in Love
These books are the first and last in the seven-book Sweater Weather Series. The rest of the books in the series are great, but not hockey-themed, so I’m focusing on these two here. They each follow one player on the Appies hockey team based in the small-ish town of Harvest Hollow. They were such a favorite with readers that the authors decided to continue writing about the Appies independent of the original series.
A Groom of One’s Own and Romancing the Grump
Speaking of the Appies…these two books continue the Appie love and I believe there are at least two more team member’s stories pending. A Groom of One’s Own is a marriage of convenience done really well, and Romancing the Grump is a grumpy/sunshine that’s a lot of fun.
This hockey romance is a marriage of convenience story that takes place at Christmas time! If you like this trope along with family drama (her family is really the worst) and ‘only one bed’, then you’ll love this story.
Annah Conwell is one of my absolute favorite sweet rom-com writers! She is so funny and includes just the right amount of chemistry. This is an enemies to lovers romance about Sutton, who gets hired as a physical therapist on the NHL hockey team where her high school rival Shaw is now a star player. Loved this one!
My Phony Valentine and My Lucky Charm
I can’t say enough good things about these rom-coms (or Courtney Walsh in general). My Phony Valentine is a fake dating romance with one of the very best meet-cutes I’ve ever read, and My Lucky Charm is an excellent grumpy-sunshine romance. Both are heavy on the hockey and humor and I believe there is one more coming in this series, which I’m super pumped for!
Desire or Defense and Flirtation or Faceoff and Betrothal or Breakaway
Everybody is talking about Leah Brunner’s D.C. Eagles series, and if they’re not, they should be! Desire and Defense is a grumpy/sunshine single-parent romance, Flirtation or Faceoff is an enemies-to-lovers story, and Betrothal or Breakaway is a marriage of convenience romance.
My Hockey Romance TBR:
Cross Check Crush is the second of seven books in the Dating a Denver Dragon series, but I’m going to start with this one because they are all billed as standalone and this one sounds the most interesting to me. I’m a sucker for a good fake-dating romance! If I like it, I’ll probably read the other six as well.
The premise for this book sounds so fun! A dating contest where she’s paired with her nemesis for a nice enemies-to-lovers romp? Sign me up! And the fact that he’s a hockey player is just the cherry on top.
The description makes this book sound hilarious, and I love the fact that she’s a figure skater, so they are both comfortable on the ice! Looking forward to picking this one up soon.