25 Baseball romance books to read that every fan will love

Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey

Madden Donahue, the newest catcher for the Yankees, has been in love with Eve Mitchell since high school, but for some mysterious reason, the burlesque club owner always turns him down. That never stopped him from being her self-appointed protector. Case in point, now that Eve’s sister has left Eve with her two children indefinitely, Madden steps in with a proposition—marry him for the much needed health benefits.

Eve has secretly harbored feelings for Madden all along, but there’s one problem—her best friend Skylar called dibs on him when they were fourteen. Eve has always put their friendship above all else, and she’s not willing to risk losing Skylar over a man. Raised by the local strip club owner, Eve is woefully short on friends and treasures the ones she has. But with Skylar happily paired off, Eve finds herself accepting Madden’s proposal—on the condition that their marriage remains strictly private. She’s not about to let her unique profession and maligned reputation destroy Madden’s shiny new career.

Madden won’t let Eve get away that easily, though. What starts as a marriage of convenience soon ignites into something much hotter, and now it’s up to Madden to convince Eve that their connection is far more than a business arrangement. As the passion builds, can their fake marriage become the real deal?

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them.

Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future.

When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out.

Home Run Heart by Hailey Gardiner

There have only ever been two things that Brooks Alden could say he truly loved: Baseball and Nora Foster, his high school girlfriend.

Returning home in the off-season gives Brooks an opportunity he never thought he’d get again: a second chance encounter with a now-divorced Nora. Suddenly, the hometown he’s avoided for so long becomes a place to make new memories instead of being haunted by the mistakes of their past. They make a bargain that entails spending five Fridays together, sharing new experiences in the hopes that Brooks will discover that there’s more to life than the game, both on and off the field, while also helping Nora cope with the resulting grief of her divorce and the demands of single motherhood.

In this second chance, sweet romantic comedy, Brooks and Nora must find the courage to discover what makes them happy, and learn what it feels like to have your heart hit a home run.

Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey

Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World… whatever that means.

Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite?

Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there’s Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her…

Heavy Hitter by Katie Cotugno

The beloved New York Times bestselling author of Birds of California hits it out of the park with this smart, sexy, thrilling take on the celebrity-athlete story—a funny, sizzling, ripped-from-the-headlines sports romance between an international pop star and a major league baseball player who thought his best days were behind him.

Taylor and Travis. Jennifer and A-Rod. Marilyn and Joe. When a professional athlete and a megawatt star fall in love, the world is obsessed . . .

With four chart-topping albums, Lacey Logan is a superstar whose life no longer feels like her own. Her every move is photographed, videoed, and dissected online, and her carefully curated Instagram feed studied by fans worldwide. To maintain her privacy, Lacey skillfully controls her narrative, showing fans and paparazzi what she wants them to see.

But when Lacey discovers her boyfriend is hiding two devastating secrets—a bad cocaine habit and a pregnant girlfriend—she begins to lose confidence and control of her own story. Then big-shouldered baseball player Jimmy Hodges, a former Rookie of the Year when Lacey was in high school, walks into the bar where she’s venting to a friend. With his shaggy beard and unfashionable button-down, Jimmy is the opposite of the picture-perfect guy Lacey thinks she wants. In a classic tale of opposites attract, soon, sparks fly and inhibitions go out the window when Lacey dares to take some chances.

Lacey and Jimmy are polar opposites. But could this be the forever after they both need?

Caught Up by Liz Tomforde

Kai

I’m a single dad and starting pitcher for Chicago’s MLB team.
I’m stretched too thin, but I don’t want help raising my son.

Each of his previous nannies only lasted a few weeks before I let them go.
Now, my coach is putting his foot down by hiring the one person I can’t fire—his daughter.

Miller Montgomery is the last woman I should fall for. Too wild, too young, and too unattached.

Chicago is just a quick stop for her. I thought I’d be counting down the days until she left, but summer feels too short when I start thinking about forever.


Miller

As a high-end pastry chef who recently won the most prestigious award in my industry, I’m desperate to prove I deserve it. But with a new title comes new pressure, and I can’t create a fresh and inspiring dessert to save my life.

With only two months to get back on track, I should be focusing in the kitchen, but instead, I let my dad talk me into using my time off to nanny for his star player’s kid.

Kai Rhodes forgot how to have fun, and I’m eager to jog his memory. But when he and his son start to feel like home, I have to remind us both that my time in Chicago ends with the summer.

Besides, I’ve always been a runner, and the last thing I want is to get caught.

Homerun Proposal by Maren Moore

The proposal was simple: Score a homerun and take my virginity.

Except, my proposal went to the wrong brother.

It was supposed to go to my best friend, but as fate would have it, it fell into the hands of his infuriatingly hot, irritatingly charming older brother.

Lane Collins is Orleans University’s All-Star baseball captain.

Cocky pitcher. Player on and off the field. The life of every party.

And the same guy I’ve crushed on in secret since we were kids.

He’s always been out of my league.

That is until he signs the dotted line on a proposal that wasn’t meant for him, and offers to teach me… everything.

The one and only condition?

We walk away once everything’s checked off.

Easier said than done when my heart is involved.

Now, it’s a whole new ballgame.

Break The Rules by Julia Jarrett

I have one rule: Never date a baseball player. But when I meet the sexiest single dad to ever play professional ball, that rule becomes impossible to obey.

It’s not easy being a woman working in a male dominated field. Add in the fact that my uncle owns the baseball team I work for, and proving I belong here is a constant battle.

Dating a player was never an option. Not if I wanted to keep a shred of dignity and respect.

Then Ronan Sinclair sits down next to me in first class with his alluring blue eyes and hard-to-resist dimples. To say nothing of his kindness and charm, or his determination to convince me that a steamy vacation fling is what we both need.

So, I give in to temptation, just this once. After all, he plays on the opposite side of the country, and he makes it clear he doesn’t want anything more than a few hot nights under the Hawaiian sun. We’ll leave this tropical paradise with nothing more than memories.

Fate has a different plan, however. My vacation fling has just been traded to the Vancouver Tridents. My team.

Now, Ronan is back in my life, making it clear he’s here not only to play ball…

He’s here to convince me that some rules are meant to be broken.

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey

Boston Bearcats rookie Robbie Corrigan is living the dream. He’s made it to the NHL, his best friend/teammate and fellow “orgasm donor” is his roomie—and the women of Boston love them both. Life is sweet. That is, until he meets Skylar Paige, division 1 softball pitcher, girl least likely to take anyone’s bull…and the one member of the opposite sex immune to his charms. Robbie might be dazzled by the badass pitcher, but Skylar pegs him as a filthy player and wants nothing to do with him.

When he discovers she’s carrying a serious torch for her brother’s best friend, Robbie knows he should just go back to clubbing and whipped cream bikini parties, but he can’t seem to leave Skylar to flounder on her romantic quest to land another man. Nor can he miss out on the opportunity to spend time with her and hopefully redeem himself. Before Robbie knows it, he’s agreed to be Skylar’s fake boyfriend/love coach at an upcoming family wilderness competition where her crush will be in attendance. What could go wrong?

Through a series of contests that require them to trust each other, Robbie and Skylar grow closer and closer until their fake relationship starts to feel like the realest thing they’ve ever known and the sizzling lessons in sensuality burn out of control.

But it’s all just pretend…right?

The Locker Room by Meghan Quinn

Have you heard the rumor around campus about the locker room?If you haven’t, let me enlighten you: Legend has it if you bring a girl into the sacred after-game domain of the baseball locker room, it will end with a walk down the aisle. One rowdy and naked encounter against the lockers with the girl of your dreams will make her your wife. Translation: baseball players are stupidly superstitious and believe the locker room has magical powers. But not all baseball players are superstitious, me included. So when the girl I’ve fallen for brushes me off, I start to question if I need to switch my way of thinking. Maybe it’s time I finally hand out a coveted invitation to the locker room. The only question is, will she accept?

Last Night Was Fun by Holly Michelle

Emmy Jameson lives by three rules: no dating, no sharing personal news at work, and baseball above everything. As the only female data analyst for a professional baseball team, this STEM heroine is constantly trying to prove herself.

Especially when she’s put up for a senior analyst position against her arrogant, infuriating coworker Gabe Olson. Sure, he’s gorgeous and smart and he was a baseball star in college who knows the sport inside and out, but so does Emmy. She is not going to lose to him again. There will be no distractions this summer. Not even her sister’s pending destination wedding in Mexico for which she needs to find a plus one.

But then she receives a text from an unknown number with a simple message: “Last night was fun.” When she strikes up a conversation with the mystery texter, they realize that he was given a fake phone number after a bad date that just so happened to be Emmy’s. Despite her rules, Emmy can’t deny the instant connection she feels and soon finds herself falling for the stranger on the other side of the screen…and inviting him to her sister’s wedding.

Emmy’s world turns upside down when her mystery man turns out to be none other than Gabe Olson. They are left having to travel to the wedding together in a classic case of forced proximity, while trying to sort out which version of their relationship is real: their in-person rivalry or the deep connection they found in their messages.

Out of His League by Caroline Richardson

Gretchen Harper has always been practical. Dependable, solid, predictable. She’s never taken risks, and she’s especially never bought coffee for gorgeous professional athletes in airports. That is, until she meets her favorite baseball player on the worst day of his career.

Being sent to the minor league is just the first of Joshua Malvern’s many worries―he’s got an injury that won’t heal and his entire career and future are on the line. When a beautiful woman offers him coffee, that simple kindness is exactly what he needs to lift him out of his funk. He asks her to join him in first class, not expecting to end up joining her in bed.

What starts as a one night stand ends up holding the promise for so much more. And while stepping out of her comfort zone has never been Gretchen’s style, for a chance at true love she’ll have to decide whether she’ll swing for the fences, even if it means striking out.

The Path to Loving Him by Meghan Quinn

What does one do when they completely blow an interview?
If you’re me, you pick up a one-night stand with the most gorgeous man you’ve ever seen..

That’s right, after a lousy interview that could have changed everything for me, I headed over to the local small town bar to sulk when the one man I shouldn’t want walked in. And when my friend convinced me to take him back to my hotel room, I didn’t think about it, I just did it . . . well, I did him.

It was an unforgettable night, but I didn’t stay for breakfast. Instead, I got out of there and tried not to think about him again.

Everything was fine until I received a call from the interviewer saying I got the job as the assistant baseball coach at Almond Bay High. I’d be working directly under the one and only Ryland Rowley–my one-night stand.

Now, I’m not only working with him but renting the apartment above his garage. And I have to deal with the fact that he’s the man I dream about and can’t have while not letting my attraction get in the way of keeping the harmony between us. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

It should have been, except the plan falls apart when my shower breaks, and night after night I have to slip into his house to use the bathroom only to find him in the kitchen, staring me down with those hungry, single dad eyes.

Stealing Home by Grace Reilly

I should be focusing on my game―not on falling for my gorgeous, grumpy roommate…especially since she’s already left me once.

Sebastian

It’s my final season to prove myself before the MLB draft. The last thing I need is a distraction―and especially not one as tantalizing as Mia di Angelo.

She’s the drop-dead gorgeous STEMinist heroine and astrophysicist-in-training who ditched me the moment I wanted to take us from casual to committed. Yeah. Ouch. But when she needs somewhere to stay for the summer… well, I offer her my place.

Being roommates shouldn’t be so hard. Not distracting at all. Not the least bit challenging…

Mia

I have two goals this summer: get into a study abroad program and get over golden sports hero Sebastian Miller-Callahan.

Doesn’t mean it’s easy to stop thinking about him, but he deserves better than a prickly, career-focused girl like me. Our futures can’t be more different. The last thing I need is to play into a roommates-to-lovers story with the only man who can set my body ablaze.

And all the feelings I’ve tried to pretend I never had? They come rushing back far too strong for either of us to ignore.

The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

The first rule of book club: You don’t talk about book club.

Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott’s marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him. 

Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.

Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville’s top alpha men. With the help of their current read, a steamy Regency titled Courting the Countess, the guys coach Gavin on saving his marriage. But it’ll take a lot more than flowery words and grand gestures for this hapless Romeo to find his inner hero and win back the trust of his wife.

Play Along by Liz Tomforde

Kennedy

I’m the only woman on staff for the Windy City Warriors, and after years of putting up with a sexist lead doctor, I’m desperate to land my dream job with a new team next year. All I have to do is maintain my professional reputation for my final season in Chicago.

But a Las Vegas run-in with the team’s shortstop threatens it all, leaving me with a fuzzy memory and a ring on my left hand.

Now, not only am I legally bound to the most persistent man I’ve ever met, but thanks to Isaiah’s scheme to save my job, I have to pretend the whole thing was a planned elopement and not a drunken mistake.

Isaiah Rhodes is reckless, impulsive, and frustratingly charming. He’s also my brand-new husband.

They got the saying wrong. What happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas… sometimes it follows you right back home.


Isaiah

As the shortstop for Chicago’s professional baseball team, I’ve had my fair share of fun. But that all ended the day Kennedy Kay became a single woman.

I’ve crushed on the team’s athletic trainer for years. I’ve flirted to no avail, so imagine my surprise when I woke up in Sin City with a ring on my finger and my favorite redhead in my bed.

We agree to stay married for one baseball season, just long enough to keep her job safe, but in my mind, I’m using our time together to prove to her I’m husband material.

Kennedy might be reluctant to join in on our game, but it’s one I refuse to lose.

So come on, wife… play along.

Pitcher Us by Mollie Goins

Coming off a World Series win, one of the last things starting pitcher, Will Anderson anticipates is being traded to the Boston Blues.

That and the fact he isn’t being traded alone. Over the past year, his catcher’s little sister was simply that—his teammate’s sister. She was never someone Will should have felt a need to take care of, but with her fiery personality, Will finds himself caught in her blaze.

When Callie Reyer showed up on her brother’s doorstep, she promised herself no more baseball players. All season, she distanced herself from her brother’s teammates. But now, not only is she the Blue’s new team photographer, she’s moved in next door to the team’s pitcher.

When Callie and Will find themselves tiptoeing the line between being friends and wanting more, they must decide whether their relationship is worth risking the jobs they love.

Meet Me Under the Lights by Cassie Miller

High school junior Eliza Crowley is known as the Princess of Fairfield, a farm town in North Carolina that loves two things—tradition and baseball. Although Eliza loves “the game,” her life goal is to become a lighting designer on Broadway. Shaking off her reputation as the rich girl and focusing on her town’s community theater production are what she’s set her sights on this summer, and nothing will stand in her way. That is until Reed Fulton, the grandson of a struggling Fairfield farmer, and ace pitcher of the Fulton Hawks, returns to town.

Reed dreams of putting the catastrophe of last season behind him and leading the Hawks to a championship victory against the Crowley Cardinals. But when his childhood friend turned stranger, Eliza, strolls back into his life, she makes his heart accelerate quicker than his fastball, and he’s not sure he can stay away from the girl he’s supposed to despise.

Small-town summers and baseball draw Reed and Eliza together, even though the Crowleys and the Fultons are determined to run each other out of town. When the families make a deal to settle their thirty-year-long dispute once and for all, Eliza and Reed are stuck in the middle during the most important summer of their lives.

Hashtag Home Run by Kristen Lucero

Hollis Clemmins is back in Houston for one reason only: to run the social media accounts for her father’s new entertainment-first baseball league—the Houston Honky Tonks. Being the daughter of a legendary former major leaguer hasn’t made it easy to step out of his shadow, which is why Hollis promised herself this gig is temporary. One season, and she’s out. No distractions. No complications. No getting attached.

Enter Mason “Fletch” Fletcher. As fan favorite, and star of the Honky Tonks he’s used to winning over entire stadiums. Too bad the boss’s daughter seems immune to his charm. Hollis has no interest in falling for a baseball player, especially not one who thrives on the spotlight she’s so desperately trying to avoid.

She’s set on keeping her heart on the bench. He’s intent on proving she belongs in his world. Because for Fletch, the greatest victory of all would be winning her heart.

In Her Own League by Liz Tomforde

She owns the team. He manages the field. And neither one is playing fair.

As the first female team owner in Major League Baseball, Reese Remington has spent her entire life preparing for this role. With a sharp mind and years of experience working behind the scenes, she’s more than qualified. But the public only sees a woman in a man’s world―not the person who’s earned their place on the field. Under constant scrutiny and pressure to prove herself, Reese can’t afford distractions.

Especially one that comes in the form of the team’s tempting field manager who questions her every decision.

Emmett Montgomery is a former All-Star turned coach who treats his players like family and the field like home. After years of running the team his way, the last thing he wants is a new boss, let alone one who seems ice-cold and laser-focused on business. But forced to spend long hours―and too many away games―side by side, he begins to see the fire beneath Reese’s control, the heart behind her ambition, and the unwavering determination to prove herself.

When heated banter turns into sizzling chemistry, professional boundaries blur and the spark between them becomes impossible to resist. But Reese is constantly reminded of how many people are waiting for her to fail, and the safest move is to keep Emmett at arm’s length―for the sake of the team, the season, and her career.

But keeping their distance is one game neither of them can seem to win.

Wild Pitch by Cat Giraldo

Sierra
Getting called up to the majors was the dream of a lifetime, but pitching in the All Star Game after months of choking on the mound is a beautiful nightmare. Until I meet him in the dug-out. My sports idol. My teenage hero-worship crush. Home Run Derby winner and one of the most sought after players in the league—on and off the field.

I don’t date ballplayers.

Mateo Reyes stares at me from behind home plate and gives me the lifeline I need. But off the diamond?

No game, no rivalry, no fear of failure terrifies me as much as the things he makes me want.

Mateo
Fourteen years of chasing a Series ring, and what do I have to show for it? No ring. No one to call mine while everyone else moves on and settles down around me. An empty house that’s nearly as cold as I am accused of being by every commentator and tabloid.

I may not be as good as I once was, but I am not finished yet.

Every game, my body screams a little louder that I am running out of time. If this season is my last shot to make all I’ve sacrificed mean something, I should resent the midseason trade that brings us a rookie who doesn’t know how to trust herself or her catchers.

When I stare at Sierra Ramirez from behind the plate, resentment is the last thing on my mind.

Left Field Love by C.W. Farnsworth

Lennon Matthews has been looking forward to the end of senior year since the first day of high school. She’s sick of the stares and whispers that follow her around, of balancing staying at the top of her class with all her other responsibilities.

And she’s especially over interacting with Caleb Winters. The town golden boy who refuses to ignore her existence, no matter how hard she tries to remain invisible. The star pitcher with a bright, shiny future in front of him, very different from Lennon’s path after graduation.

But Caleb’s life isn’t as perfect as it appears. His family is fractured beneath the facade and the pressure of high expectations is constant. He had no interest in moving to the small, horse-racing-obsessed town of Landry, Kentucky, and no say in the matter either. And the one girl he’s interested in stubbornly refuses to give him the time of day.

Until persistence finally seems to shift Lennon’s perception of him. But one thing that doesn’t change as graduation creeps closer? Her insistence that their lives are too different for anything serious or lasting between them. Caleb’s professional baseball aspirations are more present than ever, and he hasn’t hidden his desire to leave Landry. Between caring for the only family she has left and managing what’s left of their farm, she’s tied to Landry with no intention of that ever changing.

Lennon has spent years eager to see Caleb leave. She’s the only reason he wants to stay. Together, they’ll have to decide what they’re willing to sacrifice. For themselves…and for each other.

Jock Row by Sara Ney

Scarlett is always the sensible one: The sober driver. The planner. The one holding your hair back while you’re worshiping the porcelain gods. Week-after-week, she visits Jock Row with her friends—the universities hottest party scene and breeding ground for student athletes. And if keeping her friends out of trouble, and guys out of their pants, was a sport, she’d be the star athlete.Being a well known jock-blocker gets her noticed for all the wrong reasons; just like that, she’s banned from Jock Row.

NO GUY WANTS A GIRL AROUND WHO KEEPS THEIR JOCK FRIENDS FROM GETTING LAID.

“Rowdy” Wade is the hot shot short-stop for the universities baseball team—and the unlucky bastard who drew the short straw: keep little Miss Goody Two-Shoes out of the Baseball House. But week-after-week Scarlett returns, determined to get inside.

Finally Home by Holly Crawford

Have you ever loved someone so fiercely you would do anything in your power to make them happy?

Even if it meant watching them love someone else?

It was love at first sight the day I met Wren Reid but a single misstep left me planted firmly in the friend-zone, so I promised her we would be best friends forever. I stood next to her as she married my teammate and I let the idea of her being mine fade away.

Only now she’s back in Charleston; single, staying in my house, wearing my number, and I’m more determined than ever to prove she doesn’t need any man.

But she can have me.

Wild Pitch by Mari Loyal

The best revenge after Hope’s ex boyfriend left her for her now-ex best friend, is to find a better boyfriend. But the problem is that she’s a hopeless tomboy. It works well for her day job as physical therapist of a professional baseball team, but not in the dating circuit.

Cade, a.k.a., the Cowboy, witnesses one of Hope’s failed dates and swoops in to save the damsel in distress. When her annoyance fades, she realizes that the charming Texan could be the solution to her problems, so she throws him a wild pitch by asking him to be her dating coach.

But this Spring Training is Cade’s one shot at becoming the starter pitcher, and he can’t afford to get distracted by Hope of the powerful thighs and unfathomable eyes. So maybe he shouldn’t have agreed to the scheme…