Queer Sports Romance & Sporty Comics For Lovers Of Heated Rivalry
- Proud Geek
- 8 hours ago
- 9 min read
Obsessed with Heated Rivalry? Love a queer sports romance and want to read more? Whether you're after erotic romance or sugar-sweet graphic novels, we've got you covered. From magical girl softball leagues to fast-paced graphic novels and rivals-to-lovers hockey romance, here are 15 queer and sporty books like Heated Rivalry.
Rachel Reid
Hockey & Romance
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading age: 18+
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?
Emily Erdos & Deya Munis
Skating & Romance - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Men, Queer Cast
Reading age: 14+
Enter the high-stakes world of battle skating in this rivals-to-lovers romance based on the spectacularly popular webcomic.
Emile is an up-and-coming rookie in battle skating, a sport that combines the grace of figure skating with the high-impact sparring of martial arts. Just as he is gearing up to fight in his next duel at the championships, there’s a change in the lineup! To his horror, he’ll have to face off against reigning champion Radu, the best battle skater in the world (and Emile’s longtime skating idol). There’s no way he can win!
During a pivotal moment in their match, however, Emile discovers Radu’s most closely guarded secret…and it’s a bloody one. This could destroy Radu’s career for good, but when feelings start to develop between them both on and off the rink, will this rivalry turn into something more...?
Ngozi Ukazu & Mad Rupert
Softball & Art School - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Women, Queer Cast
Reading age: 14+
Molly Bauer loves her hometown of Peachtree, North Carolina. And her favourite part about her town is the prestigious art school, Peachtree Institute of Collegiate Arts. On the first day of attending this school of her dreams, the spunky freshman - buoyed on the native Peachtreeian Full Ride Scholarship - discovers her scholarship is defunct.
Rather than take out loans her parents can't afford, she uncovers a lesser-known scholarship in the PICA financial-aid policy book. If she and a dozen other art students can win a single game at the varsity level, they'll all be retroactively qualified for a PICA athletic scholarship. It's a softball scheme for the ages.
Carli J. Corson
Hockey, Figure Skating & Romance
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading age: 14+
Charlie Porter is a force to be reckoned with, both on and off the hockey rink. When she accidentally starts a brawl after a game, she's suspended from school, meaning no hockey this season - and no chance to play in front of college scouts.
Alexa Goldstein's pairs skating partner was hurt in the fight, and with only four months until their next competition, pickings for a replacement are slim. So she strikes a deal with Charlie - skate with her at the competition well enough to place, and her Olympian mother will use her formidable connections to get Charlie in front of scouts at D1 schools, even without her team.
It seems impossible, and not just because Charlie has never figure skated before. Where Charlie is powerful, Alexa is elegant; where Charlie is quick to blow up, Alexa is cold as ice. But as the frostiness between them starts to thaw, they begin to wonder if they've found a partner for more than just skating.
Ollie Hicks & Emma Oosterhous
Softball, Magical Girls & Romance - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Women, Non-Binary
Reading age: 18+
A queer magical girl/sports romance where the balls are fast, the smooches are spicy, and the girls... well... magical.
In this queer graphic novel that’s equal parts romance, softball, and magical girl drama, Mickey Monsoon and Astra Maxima are best friends... and maybe more.
That is, until Astra unceremoniously dumps Mickey to become a softball wunderkind at a private girl’s school in Switzerland. Years later, Mickey is the hotshot pitcher for the Belle City Broads, and their team is poised to sweep the league this season. But Micky is thrown off their game when Astra shows up to catch for the Gaiety Gals, the Broads’ fiercest rival. Astra is flirty, arrogant, and reckless on the field - everything the rule-abiding Mickey hates.
Bree D. Wolf
Motorsport & Paranormal Romance - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading age: 10+
Ken Takamoto is a wannabe racer stuck at home for the summer, with only his mother for company. Dante Willow is a ghost stuck in the car he crashed while racing his rival twenty years ago.
When they meet by chance, Ken has the answer to both their problems - enter the local racing league, Hex Americana, and win the annual Grand Prix. If they win, Dante can pass on to the afterlife and Ken can keep Dante's fixed-up car to go anywhere he wants. What starts as a simple plan becomes a wild summer full of witches, gnomes, feelings, magical chickens, and more as they prepare for the big race.
Will Ken and Dante finish first? Can they even make it to the finish line? And more importantly, what happens when this racing duo blooms into something more?!
Kate Cochrane
Hockey & Romance
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading age: 18+
Cut from the US women’s hockey team right before her third chance at gold, Natalie Carpenter is scrambling for a plan that’ll help her avoid moving back home. The answer: a guest-hosting gig on Wake Up, USA’s winter games coverage. Her cohost: Darcy LaCroix, Nat’s ex-girlfriend, one-time college teammate turned adversary.
Since leaving Team Canada, Darcy has worked hard to make a name in broadcasting. If her big break requires sharing screen time with the former cocky freshman who turned her world upside down, so be it. At this point, there’s nothing between them except history.
But audiences disagree. #PuckingHotties is trending hard, and Nat and Darcy agree to lean into it - for ratings, obviously. It’s not like Nat can forget the way Darcy broke her heart or their bitter team rivalry.
Between working, traveling together and that irresistible spark, it’s getting hard to separate what’s real and what’s for the camera. Because somewhere underneath everything that went wrong is the sneaking suspicion that nothing will ever feel quite this right again.
LD Lapinski & Logan Hanning
Skateboarding & Self-Discovery - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Non-Binary
Reading age: 12+
A poignant LGBTQ+ graphic novel about self-discovery, skateboarding and finding your true community of friends, perfect for fans of Heartstopper. What happens when your two worlds collide . . .
At school, Elliot gets bullied for being 'different to other girls', whereas at the skate park, everyone welcomes Elliot - presuming they're male - but neither label feels right.
As Eliot's love of skateboarding and friendships grow, their worlds collide at a sports expo where the school netball team and skate crew are competing. Can Elliot find the courage to share what they've learned about non-binary identity? Will best friend Jess or the skateboarding crew accept Elliot for who they are? And what about Ryan, the skater who Elliot has been feeling increasingly close to?
KT Hoffman
Baseball & Romance
Queer Rep: Trans Men, Queer Men
Reading age: 18+
The pressure cooker of minor league baseball leads to major chemistry in this exhilarating, sexy, and triumphant rivals-to-lovers debut romance.
Hope is familiar territory for Gene Ionescu. He has always loved baseball, a sport made for underdogs and optimists like him. He also loves his team, the minor league Beaverton Beavers, and, for the most part, he loves the career he’s built. As the first openly trans player in professional baseball, Gene has nearly everything he’s ever let himself dream of - that is, until Luis Estrada, Gene’s former teammate and current rival, gets traded to the Beavers, destroying the careful equilibrium of Gene’s life.
Gene and Luis can’t manage a civil conversation off the field or a competent play on it, but in the close confines of dugout benches and roadie buses, they begrudgingly rediscover a comfortable rhythm. As the two grow closer, the tension between them turns electric, and their chemistry spills past the confines of the stadium.
Josie Campbell & Alessio Zonno
Dystopian Sports Leagues - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Cast
Reading age: 14+
Mad Max meets dodgeball in this wild, dystopian sports graphic novel full of colour, violence and personal heroes set in a post-apocalyptic America.
18-year-old Trini will do anything to compete in her favourite sport, Screaming Pain Ball, alongside her longtime hero Skull-Crusher! But she can’t do it alone, and a gaggle of misfits is just what she needs to cross the American wastes and battle in Queen Mob’s deadly tournament.
With Trini’s dreams of being just like Skull-Crusher on the line, do she and her friends have what it takes to win a coveted spot on their team?
Carly Usdin & Noah Hayes
Basketball & Friendship - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Women, Queer Cast
Reading age: 14+
When Charlie transfers to the Georgia O’Keeffe College of Arts and Subtle Dramatics, she struggles to find her feet, but winds up exactly where she belongs... in the school’s (terrible) basketball team!
Charlie was determined to leave sports behind when she transferred to the Georgia O’Keeffe College for Arts and Subtle Dramatics, but perky and very cute barely-a-basketball-team captain Liv has other ideas!
With a ragtag crew, a persistent streak, and the future of the whole league on the line, Charlie and the Avant-Guards must come together to figure out who they are on-and-off the court! Charming and hilarious characters with a lot of heart shoot their shots until the final buzzer in this hit series about love, teamwork, and basketball!
Victoria Zeller
American Football & High School
Queer Rep: Trans Women
Reading age: 14+
Grace Woodhouse has left a lot behind. She used to have a great friend group, an amazing girlfriend, and a right foot set to earn her a Division I football scholarship - before she came out as trans. As senior year begins, Grace is struggling to find her place in early transition, new social circles, and a life without football.
But when her skills as the best kicker in the state prove to be vital, her old teammates beg her to come out of retirement, dragging her back into a sport - into a way of life - she thought had turned its back on her forever. When a chance meeting cracks the door to college football back open, she has to decide how much of herself she's willing to give up for the game she loves.
CS Pacat & Johanna The Mad
Fencing, Rivals & Romance - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Men, Queer Cast
Reading age: 12+
Nicholas Cox is determined to prove himself in the world of competitive fencing, and earn his place alongside fencing legends like the dad he never knew, but things get more complicated when he’s up against his golden-boy half-brother, as well as sullen fencing prodigy, Seiji Katayama.
Nicholas, the illegitimate son of a retired fencing champion, is a scrappy fencing wunderkind, and dreams of getting the chance and the training to actually compete. After getting accepted to the prodigious Kings Row private school, Nicholas is thrust into a cut-throat world, and finds himself facing not only his golden-boy half-brother, but the unbeatable, mysterious Seiji Katayama...
Through clashes, rivalries, and romance between teammates, Nicholas and the boys of Kings Row will discover there’s much more to fencing than just foils and lunges.
Fell Hound
Motorcycles, Jousting & Romance - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Women
Reading age: 14+
Fight Club meets 90's yuri anime on motorbikes: to win back her girlfriend, Avery Sakai will need to compete in her school's violent underground extracurricular... a motorcycle jousting competition known as Seismic Ironclash Roulette!
Fate brutally separated Avery Sakai from her girlfriend Nico Xing, but acceptance at Bridleham Academy might be just the thing to bring them back together.
As it turns out though, Nico's extracurriculars are the last thing Avery expected… Now to win a chance at love, Avery will need to throw herself into the violent but captivating world of the motorcycle jousting fight club known as the Seismic Ironclash Roulette!
Ed Luce
Ex-Wrestlers & Cats - Graphic Novel
Queer Rep: Queer Men
Reading age: 18+
Oaf is a large, hirsute, scary-looking ex-wrestler who lives in San Francisco with his adorable kitties and listens to a lot of Morrissey.
The book follows Oaf's search for love in the big city, especially his pursuit of Eiffel, the lead singer of the black metal / queercore / progressive disco grindcore band Ejaculoid. Luce weaves between the friends, associates, enemies, ex-lovers and pasts of both men into the story of their courtship.
A romantic comedy at its core, Wuvable Oaf recalls elements of comics as diverse as Scott Pilgrim, Love and Rockets, and Archie, set against the background of San Francisco's queer community and music scene.
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