Book picks similar to
Courtside Crush by Kayla Tirrell


young-adult
contemporary
sports
romance

Dare You to Kiss the Quarterback


Lacy Andersen - 2019
    So what if my parents are recently divorced, the captain of the cheerleading team hates me more than tan lines, or that I’ve been forced to wear the school’s smelly mascot costume? Those things I can handle. (Maybe) But if I get to sing my original song at the town’s big centennial event, I’ll be on my way to living the life I’ve always dreamed.But there’s only one problem:Collin thinks-he’s-God’s-gift-to-women Preston.Foster kid. Bad boy. And star quarterback of the Rock Valley High football team.It’s bad enough that the whole school thinks we made out at a party (Nothing happened. Seriously.), but now I’ve been partnered with Collin to perform at the centennial event. If I get it my way, he’ll drop out and we’ll both forget our near-kiss ever happened.But Collin and his cocky half-grin aren’t easy to forget.Neither is the shiver-inducing way he looks at me.I’ve got to keep my eyes on the prize, but being around Collin might just be the distraction that I need. This is a sweet young adult romance in the Rock Valley High series of stand-alone novels.

Jesse and the Ice Princess


Michelle MacQueen - 2020
    At least, that’s what they call her. Robot, Ice Princess… it all means the same thing: she won't lose sight of her figure skating goal no matter what it costs. Even if her dad’s team needs her. Even if the captain of said team learns her biggest secret. That the ice princess has game.And Jesse has to know more. He wants her to teach him, to teach the team how to fix their zero-win record. As those icy walls of hers start to thaw, Jesse realizes he needs her out there on the ice with him, skating next to him where she belongs. But she’s been a figure skater her entire life. How does hockey fit into her life of competitions? Maybe the game isn't the win he needs. After all, hockey is just that--a game. And Charlotte Morrison? She is life. The only problem? She skates on the outside of his world, and he isn't sure how to make her see they belong on the same ice.Beware of Zamboni shenanigans, adorable siblings taking care of each other, lots of hockey playing madness, and a sassy girl who goes after what she wants.

Love at First Fight


Maggie Dallen - 2019
    That's how my senior year goes from predictable to absurd in a heartbeat. This year is supposed to be easy. I've finally scored first chair in band, my college applications are done, and all my friends and I have to do is survive one more year of high school before our real lives can begin. Instead, I find myself in trouble with the principal, humiliated in front of the entire school, and fighting with my neighbor—AKA star quarterback, Prince Charming, and nicest guy on the planet. And that's just on the first day back at school. Trust me, it only gets worse from there. As #GeeksGoneWild trends on social media, my friends and I are the targets of an online witch hunt. But they've picked on the wrong people and retaliation is severe. As the tension escalates, it soon becomes clear that someone needs to step up and put an end to this nonsense. If that means playing nice with the quarterback, I guess that's what I have to do. Now if someone could please tell my heart that this new friendship is just for show. And the kisses...oh, the kisses. Someone please remind me that they don't mean a thing.

My Summer Mistake


Anne-Marie Meyer - 2020
    Dad’s gone. Mom spends more time passed out on the couch than doing anything else. Thankfully, I have school and soccer to keep me distracted. Until Logan Cartwright walks back into my life. He’s acting like his family didn’t ruin mine and confusing me more than ever. I’m supposed to hate him, but he’s nice and everywhere I don’t want him to be.LoganI’m back home in Sweet Mountain, ready to start my life sans my parents. They’re desperately trying to save the business they took from the Davenports and have abandoned me at my grandmother’s house while they come up with a plan. Which is fine with me. When I run into Bella, I’m trying to fight the desire to fix what our parents broke. She’s distant and vulnerable. My protective instincts take control. If only I could get her to trust me, she’d see how much I want to help, not hurt.Dive into My Summer Mistake, the first installment of the BRAND NEW multi-author series, Sweet Mountain High.

The Perfect Play


Britney M. Mills - 2020
    But as he starts hanging out with Penny, his former best friend from next door, he realizes what he’s missed in the three years since they stopped talking. And when they kiss after a party, he starts to see a whole new future for his life. Penny Davis has her sights set on a softball scholarship, hoping to get out of Rosemont as soon as she graduates. Straight A’s, working at the local diner, and practicing her softball skills are the routine. Until she bumps into Jake White in the hall. When he starts paying more attention to her again, after nearly three years of next-door radio silence, she allows herself to hope that what they once had might be there again. But falling in love is easier said than done.

Curveball


Jordan Ford - 2017
    He’s driving her crazy. Will they go down swinging or knock it out of the park?Maddie Barlow thought she had everything figured out. But just six months from high school graduation, her dad moves the family to the crummy small town of Armitage. Just when she’s trying to settle in, her dad pressures the all-boy baseball team to make room for her and her two younger sisters. Between her new classmates and the team’s smooth-talking captain, Maddie has made more enemies than friends…Holden Carter just watched his playoff dreams go up in smoke. He’ll stop at nothing to make sure the trio of daddy’s girls ride the bench all season. Even if that means toying with their emotions. When the fiery Maddie comes to her little sister’s defense, Holden wonders if he’s finally found a worthy opponent.Maddie is determined to squash her instant attraction to the handsome, arrogant team captain… and his advances toward her sister. But just as she’s starting to find out that things aren’t what they seem in Armitage, she falls hard for the dashing Holden. When she’s faced with hurting her sister or abandoning a shot at love, Maddie must decide whose team she’s really on…Curveball is the first standalone book in The Barlow Sisters Trilogy, a series of simmering YA contemporary romances. If you like high-spirited sweet romance, relatable characters, and a dash of mystery, then you’ll love Jordan Ford’s sports romance series.

Wild Cards


Simone Elkeles - 2013
    After getting kicked out of boarding school, bad boy Derek Fitzpatrick has no choice but to live with his ditzy stepmother while his military dad is deployed. Things quickly go from bad to worse when he finds out she plans to move them back to her childhood home in Illinois. Derek’s counting the days before he can be on his own, and the last thing he needs is to get involved with someone else’s family drama. Ashtyn Parker knows one thing for certain--people you care about leave without a backward glance. So when her older sister comes home after abandoning her ten years earlier, with her hot new stepson in tow, Ashtyn wants nothing to do with either of them. Then she comes up with a plan that would finally give her the chance to leave, but it requires trusting Derek—someone she barely knows, someone born to break the rules. Is she willing to put her heart on the line to try and get the future she wants?

Gutter Girl


Lynn Rush - 2021
    And not just any secret—a shocking secret… He writes romance. The kind with swords. And dresses. And kissing.Nobody knows. Not the other kids at Twin River High. Not his overbearing parents. And certainly not the millions of fans who’ve read his book on the writing platform Scribbles. And that’s the way he plans to keep it.Except suddenly one of the other football players grabs his notebook in jest and starts reading a kissing scene out loud…and Jace knows he’s busted.But then McKenna Storm, resident goth girl who avoids the spotlight like a virus, snatches up the notebook and tells everyone she's the author. And lucky for Jace, she later agrees to continue the ruse...for a price.Heck, he'd give her anything not to reveal his secret. But when they start to fall for each other, he knows he'll have to keep the biggest secret of all—his darkest character is based on her…

The Girl You Thought I Was


Rebecca Phillips - 2018
    To everyone she meets, she comes across as sweet, pretty, and put together. But Morgan knows that looks can be deceiving. For over a year, she's shoplifted countless pieces of clothing and makeup. Each time she tells herself it will be the last, and each time it never is.But when she's caught and sentenced to thirty hours of community service, the image Morgan has carefully constructed starts to crumble. She's determined to complete her punishment without her friends discovering the truth about her sticky fingers, but that's easier said than done...Especially once she meets Eli, the charming, handsome nephew of the owner of the charity shop where Morgan is volunteering. Soon, Morgan is faced with an impossible decision: continue to conceal the truth or admit that she's lied to everyone in her life, including the boy she's falling for.

Out of Left Field


Kris Hui Lee - 2018
    It would take a lot more than their goofy antics to keep her from joining them at the neighborhood sandlot to do what she loves best: play ball.An added perk of hanging out at the sandlot? Spending time with Cody Kinski, their high school’s star pitcher and Marnie’s best friend. Sure, he can be stubborn and annoying. He also knows how to make her laugh and respects her skills on the mound. And when he gets nailed in the arm by a bone-fracturing pitch, Marnie becomes the team’s best chance at making it to the playoffs. Except no one told the guys they’re supposed to be on her side. With her own team against her, Marnie begins questioning her abilities. And when fate throws her a curveball, can she play without losing the game, Cody, and her belief in herself?

Ryan's Kiss


Mel Walker - 2019
    That damn kiss. one kiss that not only destroyed our future but ended my ability to believe, to trust, to love.He was my best friend. We should have known better.Three years kept us apart, yet an invisible rope continues to tug at us.  He’s finally returning home and I know it’ll only be a matter of time before we must face each other again. I’m older, stronger, wiser and no longer the starry-eyed girl who followed his every command.He almost destroyed me last time, I won't give him a second chance. I can't.

I Hate You, Fuller James


Kelly Anne Blount - 2020
    It’s just such a cliché.I hate that I’m being forced to tutor you in English and keep it a secret from everyone. Because otherwise it might put our basketball team’s chances at winning State in jeopardy, and even though I hate you, I love basketball.I hate that it seems like you’re keeping a secret from me…and that the more time we spend together, the less I feel like I’m on solid ground. Because I’m starting to realize there’s so much more to you than meets the eye. Underneath it all, you’re real.But what I hate most is that I really don’t hate you at all.

Stealing Home


Becky Wallace - 2019
    If she keeps up her hard work, one day she’ll take over the family business: owning the Buckley Beavers, a minor league baseball team, and become one of the only female General Managers in the sport.But when the newest member of the Beavers, child-phenom Sawyer Campbell, shows up, Ryan’s carefully laid plans are thrown a major curveball. Sawyer is far more charming than the arrogant jocks she usually manages, his ambition rivals her own workaholic nature—and he’s completely out of bounds. Fraternizing is against every rule in the Beaver’s handbook.Then Ryan’s divorced parents butt heads over the future of the Beavers, and her mom plans to sell her shares to a business group known for relocating teams. If this happens, Ryan’s dreams of becoming GM disappear. In a bid to save her future, she partners with Sawyer to use his star power to draw in sponsors who will keep the team in Buckley. But the more time she spends with him, the more impossible it becomes to play by the Beaver’s rules, and she can’t afford a strikeout on the path to her dreams.Full count with two outs, Ryan’s one pitch away from losing the whole ball game.

The Best Friend


Kat Bellemore - 2019
    He’s the best friend. But it wasn’t enough. Alexa Parker’s only goal is to get into the best pre-med program in the country. No big deal. Except that nothing in her life ever goes as planned. If an ice cream machine is going to explode, it will be her pulling the handle.If a cactus is going to be sat on, it will be her butt that will be full of needles.The only thing going right is the fact that her lifelong—and only—friend, Charlie, has stuck by her side through it all. Until Alex realizes she likes him more than a friend, and she manages to mess that up too.

The Bad Boy and the Tomboy


Nicole Nwosu - 2020
    Romance is the last thing on Macy’s mind, until Cedric Cahill ― the one boy she’s ever crushed on ― asks her out on a date.Handsome and charismatic, Cedric’s everything Macy has ever wanted in a boyfriend. There’s just one problem: Cedric’s cousin Sam. Brazen and unapologetic with a bad-boy reputation to match, Sam has an annoying way of constantly showing up in Macy’s life. Something crackles beneath their “just friends” relationship, and soon Macy’s thinking about him in all the ways she shouldn’t ― pushing things too far when she’s around him.As the tension between them escalates, Macy needs to decide if it’s worth risking both a friendship and a relationship to find out where her heart’s loyalties truly lie. Especially when the truth behind Sam’s bad-boy demeanor changes everything between them forever.