I’ve been wondering lately what is it about sports romances that makes them so hot for us, readers (and us, writers!).
Exciting circumstances are definitely a plus. Put your characters at the Olympics*, World Cup, World Championship, Wimbledon, or even Nationals, and the stakes are high already! Readers love to root for their favorites. We want them to win – the other guy’s heart, most of all, but not only that.
But I think the most important thing is who the character is. What does it tell us about a person when we know they are professional athletes?
They are persistent and hard-working. They spend hours upon hours, day after day, for years, preparing their bodies for the challenges of competing. They push their limits, they don’t give up, they try again and again.
They are willing to make sacrifices for something they really want. “I’m sorry, I don’t have time for sleeping in/that party everyone goes to/marathoning The West Wing again, because I have practice”. They’re committed.
And, on a shallow note, but let’s be honest here: professional athletes are usually pretty hot. They are fit, they are in shape, they are dreamy.
So when we know someone is persistent, hard-working, willing to make sacrifices for things they care about, and also dreamy? The question from the start turns into: How can you not find this hot?
What about you? What do you like about sports romances? What have I missed? Tell me in a comment bellow.
Two people who comment on this post will get a copy of my Winter Olympics story, Running Off the Edge, on the day of the premiere, February 7th.
Edited February 7th: The winners of the giveaway are Kimberly T and Laurie T. Congratulations! I will send you the e-book shortly. 🙂
* I did put my characters at the Olympics, 2014 Winter Olympics to be exact. 😉 If you like sports romances and figure skating, I hope you’ll check out Running Off the Edge.
Here’s the blurb:
After the knee injury, Liam O’Connor, the former gold medalist, is no longer able to compete at the Olympics. He’s in Sochi as an assistant coach for another male figure skater and hopes to avoid Eric Lanney as much as possible.
Meanwhile Eric is back to compete for gold in pair skating, but is that the only thing that will be important to him? Maybe when the former lovers meet again in Russia, they will both learn that a gold medal isn’t the greatest prize you can win at the Winter Olympics.
The story comes out on February 7th from MLR Press.
You can read the first chapter here: First Chapter of Running Off the Edge
Below there is the list of all the writers participating in our Sports Romances Blog Hop. Check them out, there are some great stories and giveaways waiting for you!
1. Cassandra Carr
2. Jami Davenport
3. N Kuhn
4. Liz Matis
5. VL Locey
7. Michel Prince
8. Jean Joachim
9. Kate Willoughby
10. Lily Harlem
11. Donna Gallagher
12. Normandie Alleman
13. Keira Andrews
14. Melanie Ting
15. Raw Talent Series
16. Bianca Sommerland
17. Suzan Butler
18. Megan Linden
