Take a look at our recommended queer sports romances to celebrate Pride 2026 – perfect for fans of the show Heated Rivalry! All these books and more are available for free with your library card.
Want more suggested books? Take a look at our recommendations.
First to Finish
Rebecca J. Caffery
Race car driver Johannes Muller is on a hot streak this season and seems destined to claim the championship win – until his performance unexpectedly falters.
Gone is his cool confidence – on the track he can barely qualify, let alone take home the trophy. The team’s race engineer, Caleb Hughes, is determined to get his star driver back in pole position, but soon the sparks flying over the radio are more chemistry than competition.
In a sport where everyone gives it their all at all times, it’s not long before Johannes and Caleb realise that their racing line is leading them towards a collision they won’t be able to walk away from unscathed.
Set Point
Meg Jones
They’re rivals on the court. But off it? The real match is just beginning.
Inés Costa, Spain’s golden girl, hasn’t scored a Grand Slam since her breakout two years ago. Now, injuries and sky-high expectations are breaking her serve.
Enter Chloe Murphy: brash, brilliant, and America’s newest tennis obsession. With her eye on another US Open trophy, she’s not about to rally with a washed-up has-been like Inés – or fall for one.
But when fate forces them to play doubles off the court, the tension is advantage: chemistry. The rallies get longer, the lines blur, and love might just be the ultimate game-changer.
The Perfect Match
Adiba Jaigirdar
After years in corporate London, Dina is now working in her family’s struggling Bangladeshi restaurant. The last thing she expects is to be roped into coaching a football team of disadvantaged amateur players – or to say yes.
Maya is back. She could have had a brilliant career, but it all went – well wrong. Now she’s back home, back in her childhood bedroom. Her only escape is agreeing to coach her old secondary school’s team.
It doesn’t take long for the girls to bump into each other again and for as long as anyone can remember, Dina and Maya were rivals. But will the very game that tore them apart bring them back together?
The Prospects
K.T. Hoffman
Gene Ionescu is content to play in the minor leagues. He’s seen teammates get their big breaks, but as a gay trans man in the world of competitive baseball, he’s unlikely to share the same destiny.
When Gene’s long-time rival, Luis Estrada, is unexpectedly drafted onto Gene’s team, everything changes. Luis is standoffish, talented and inconveniently gorgeous, and – to add insult to injury – his arrival puts Gene’s role on the pitch in jeopardy. This means war.
The two men can barely get through a game together and the whole team suffers. But when Luis surprises Gene with a softer side to his haughty demeanour, Gene offers an olive branch. Soon they discover that their chemistry on the pitch might lead them all the way to the playoffs.
And their chemistry off the pitch, well, that could be enough to change the game for ever.
Game Changer
Rachel Reid
New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pregame rituals very seriously. When a particular smoothie precedes Scott’s breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic – and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.
Kip Grady knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon – and more. What goes on between them is hot, incredible and frequent – but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.
Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career or the public’s image of what a hockey captain should be.
Kip is ready to go all in with Scott – but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?
Cleat Cute
Meryl Wilsner
Grace Henderson has been a star of the US Women’s National Team since she was 16. But when she’s side-lined with an injury at just 26, a bold new upstart, Phoebe Matthews, takes her spot.
Phoebe is everything Grace isn’t – a gregarious jokester who plays with a joy that Grace has lost somewhere along the way. The last thing Grace expects is to become friends-with-benefits with this class clown.
Phoebe has always admired Grace’s skill and was starstruck to be training alongside her idol. But she finds herself looking at Grace as more than a mere teammate. After one daring kiss, she’s hooked. Grace is everything she has been waiting to find.
As the World Cup approaches, the women try to find a way they can play together instead of vying for the same position on the pitch. But as the sparks between them start to ignite, will both players realise they care more about their relationship than making the roster?