This list of compiled of recommendations I received on Twitter during this year #rombklove event. I have grouped together romances featuring sports that are not very popular and some rather popular in real life but conspicuously missing from romance novels.

My personal recommendations for romance romances presenting less popular sports or offering an unusual take on a popular sport, are listed in this earlier post.

Note 1: The inclusion of books/authors on the list here is not an endorsement on my part unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Note 2: The titles link to the Goodreads page for the book. The Amazon links are affiliate.

Water sports 

Level Hands / Love Me Like a Rock / Hard Candy by Amy Jo Cousins, m/m romances, rowing. Amazon - Read and Loved

Stroke to His Cox, m/m romance short story by JL Merrow, rowing. Amazon

Swift River series by Kristina Mathews, whitewater raft guides. Amazon

Wavehouse by Alice Kaltman, YA, surfing. Amazon

Hot Holiday Nights by Jaci Burton, m/f romance, surfing. Amazon

Pacific Blue series by Lorelie Brown, m/f romance, surfing. Amazon

Sparks Like Ours by Melissa Brayden, f/f romance, surfing. Amazon



Renegades series by Rebecca Yarros, m/f romances with X Games athletes. Amazon

Lessons in Gravity and Leaving Everest by Megan Westfield, m/f romances, rock climbing. Amazon

Gravity series by Sarina Bowen, skiers/snowboarders. Amazon - Read and enjoyed

Heartstruck by Angeli E. Dumatol. Arnis (Filipino martial art), YA contemporary m/f. Both MC and LI train and compete in the sport. Amazon



A Fighting Chance by Shannon Stacey (novella). Amazon

Knock Out by Michele Mannon, m/m contemporary. Amazon

Dirty Boxing by Harper St George and Tara Waytt, m/f erotic romance, MMA.  Amazon

Showing Him the Ropes by Christa Tomlinson (m/m professional wrestling). Amazon

The Secret Heart by Erin Satie. This historical has a hero that is a bare-knuckle boxer. Amazon (It's free at the time of posting)

Submission Moves by Camilla Sisco is set in the US with an MMA fighter for a hero. Amazon

Below the Belt by Sarah Mayberry, m/f romance, heroine is a boxer. Amazon

Making Him Sweat, Taking Him Down, Driving Her Wild by by Cara McKenna writing as Meg Maguire about boxers. Amazon 

Willing Victim by Cara McKenna, m/f romance, hero is an MMA fighter. Amazon

Bad Neighbor by Molly O'Keefe, m/f romance. Amazon - Read and enjoyed

In Her Corner by Vicki Essex, m/f romance with MMA fighter heroine and her coach is the hero. Amazon

Memphis by Ginger Scott's is about a boxer who trains at the heroine's dad's gym. Amazon

Champion’s Heart by Piper Huguley is a Great Depression Era historical romance with black characters, including a boxer hero. Amazon

Love on the Run by Zuri Day, female track and field Olympic & collegiate athlete and  male sports management agent. Amazon

Winning Ruby Heart by Jennifer Lohmann. Heroine is a disgraced Olympic athlete who takes up running ultra marathons. Amazon

Love at First Run by Angel C. Aquino, m/f romance, #romanceclass. Amazon

The University of Gatica series by Lexy Timms, track and field heroines. Amazon (Free at the time of posting)

There's Something About Sweetie by Sandyha Menon. Sweetie is a fat girl who runs track, her LI Ashish plays basketball. Amazon

Fast Track series by Erin McCarthy, m/f romances, MCs are NASCAR drivers. Amazon

Ride with Me by Ruthie Knox m/f romance about a long distance cyclist. Amazon - currently not available for purchase

Holeshot by M.A. Parker, m/f romance, motocross. Amazon

Cat by Freya North about a sports reporter covering Le Tour de France. Amazon - only used copies

Hard Driving series by Audra North, race car drivers. Amazon



Clang by E. Davies, m/m contemporary romance. Amazon

The Master Will Appear by L.A. Witt, m/m romance. Amazon

Introducing Mr. Winterbourn by Joanna Chambers, m/m historical romance, both MCs are fencers. Amazon

Lord Carew's Bride by Mary Balogh, m/f historical romance. Amazon - only used copies available

Heart Duel by Robin D. Owens, m/f paranormal romance. Amazon

A Rational Arrangement by L. Rowyn, fantasy polyamory mmf romance. Amazon



Game of Love by Ara Gregorian, m/f romance. Amazon

After Wimbledon by Jennifer Gilby Roberts, m/f romance . Amazon

Courting Carlyn by Melissa Chambers, m/f romance. Amazon



Once Upon a Player by Agay Llanera, m/f romance, college volleyball. Amazon

Playing with Seduction by Reese Ryan, heroine is a volleyball player. Amazon

The Cowboy Meets His Match by Sarah Mayberry, which features a female saddle bronc rider.  Amazon

Act Your Age by Eve Dangerfied. The heroine’s on a roller derby team. Amazon

Pride, Prejudice, and Curling Rocks by Andrea Brokaw, YA retelling of Pride and Prejudice, curling. Amazon

Settle the Score / Hustle Play by Tara Frejas is a duology of two short stories featuring a female basketball player & a male cheer squad member. Amazon

Settling the Score by R.S. Gray, m/f romance, heroine is a football player, hero is a swimmer adn they meet at the summer Olympics. Amazon

Romancing the Kicker by Catherine Lane, f/f romance about the first female kicker in NFL. Amazon

I haven't read any pirate romances, well except Peter Darling by Austin Chant which is a trans retelling of Peter Pan and which I absolutely love. Here is what my Twitter friends came up with when I ask for romances with pirate MCs. Some are older historicals (which might have some problematic aspects). There are also somemore recent romances across different subgenres (queer retellings, steampunk).

Historical Pirate Romances

Best gay Pirate/Sailor Romances

Pirate/Swashbuckling Romances

____________

Personal recommendations

Glitterland by Alexis Hall, m/m contemporary romance, one of my favourites by this author and one of my favourite romances in general. One of the MCs, Ash (A. A. Winters) is a writer. Review

Wanted, A Gentleman by KJ Charles - (m/m historical romance) Teo publishes The Matrimonial Advertiser and also writes Gothic romances, including erotic ones, under a pen name. Review

Unfit to Print by KJ Charles, another historical m/m romance, this time one of the MCs writes and sell pornogrpagic materials. Review

One and Only by Jenny Holiday, m/f romance, the heroine is YA Fantasy writer as heroine. It's light-hearted and fun. Review

Real Kind of Love by Sara Rider, lovely contemporary romance centered around introverted heroine who is an audiobook narrator. Review

There has been a lot of talk about diversity in romance and based on the list of RITA 2018 finalists it seems that the lack of diversity is especially glaring with regard to historical romance. While there is an abundance of white, UK-set, aristo-focused, cishet historical romances, there are very few romances that present the stories of common people, queer people, people in time periods and places other than Victorian England.

I have read some diverse historicals though not nearly enough, and loved them all. I tried to collect my recommendations in a list and added more diverse historicals suggested by romance Twitter.

The list is divided in two - my personal favourites followed authors recommended by other romance readers on Twitter. You can find reviews of my recommendations on the blog. 

My recommendations 

(Title links to first book in the series, it's Amazon affiliates link)

KJ Charles - Author of historical and paranormal queer romances, there is the occasional aristo but most of her MCs are common people, some are POC (An Unseen Attraction - one MC is half-Indian; Wanted, A Gentleman - one MC is a Black freed slave)

My favourite series of hers is Society of Gentlemen and my most favourite book is The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal - historical romance with paranromal/horror elements about a ghost hunter and his partner in crime and in love

Cat Sebastian - Author of historical queer romances. I've only read It Takes Two to Tumble about a sea captain and an vicar coming together raising his kids. Her latest release is on my TBR list, Unmasked by a Marquess, m/enby romance. The Turner series is another m/m historical romances series.

Joanna Chambers - Author of m/m historical romance, my favourite is the Enlightenment series. A Gathering Storm is m/m romance with one MC who is a scientist and the other is a land steward and half-Romani.

Sandra Schwab - Author of historical romances, both m/f and m/m. The Return of the Earl is a m/m romance between a reluctant new earl and his stablemaster. She also has a series of m/f romances, Eagle's Honor, set in Roman times.

Tess Bowery - Author of Treading the Boards, a series of queer historical romances - m/m, f/f/m, m/genederfluid MC (both are Black)

Alyssa Cole - WOC author of The Loyal League, as series of m/f romances set during the Civil War featuring characters of colour

Molly O'Keefe - author of Into the Wild, a series of historical romances set in the aftermath of the Civil War in the US

Rose Lerner - author of Lively St. Lemeston series of historical romances about common people, book 2, True Pretenses, has Jewish hero. My favourite is book 3, Listen to the Moon about a valet and maid finding happiness together.

EE Ottoman - trans author of The Doctor's Discretion, historical romance with one trans MC and one Black MC set in late 19c New York. Next in the series will be another trans romance.

Recommended on Twitter 

Hamilton's Batallion - anthology of m/m, m/f Jewish and f/f historical romance novellas by Rose Lerner, Alyssa Cole and Courtney Milan

Lydia San Andres - author of m/f historical romance series set in the Caribbean islands, A Summer for Scandal (currently on sale for $1.99)

Jeannie Lin - WOC author of Tang Dynasty, series of historical romances set in China

Mia West - author of queer historical series about the court of King Arthur, Sons of Britain

Elizabeth Kingston - author of Welsh Blade, m/f series of Medieval romances

Jennifer Hallock - author of Sugar Sun series of m/f historical romance set in the Philippines with characters of colour

Mimi Milan - WOC author of The Jericho Resistance series of m/f sweet historical romances with Mexican American characters

Piper Huguley - WOC author of inspirational m/f historical romances with Black MCs, Home to Milford College series

Beverly Jenkins - WOC author of many historical romance series with Black MCs, Old West series

Vanessa Riley - WOC author of Regency romances with Black and mixed race characters, Advertisements for Love series

Decades: A Journey of African American Romance is a series of historical and contemporary romances with Black MCs

I admit I haven' read as many romances with older MCs as I would have like. In my defence there doesn't seem to be that many out there, age gap with one MC being in their 40s-50s seems to be much more common trope in romance. I recently read two stories with older MCs which I absolutely adored and this gave me the idea to compile this list. These were Olivia Dade's Cover Me and Rube Lang's The Long Run in Rogue Anthology. As usual for my What to read posts, I asked for more recs on Twitter and not surprisingly romance twitter delivered.

Romances with older MCs

Sun-Kissed (Snow Queen #2) by Laura Florand. It's part of the Amour et Chocolate series but works well on its own. it's a lovely, tender romance with MCs in their 50s. Review

The 'Burg and The Colorado Mountains series by Kristen Ashley, in fact most of her romances feature MCs in their late 30s, early 40s and older. I have love/hate relationship with KA books. They are addictive, absolutely cracktastic but also problematic on many levels. I do however appreciate her focus on older MCs, giving her men and women a chance at love/family. Review of At Peace (The 'Burg #2)

Rogue Acts, Ruby Lang's The Long Run and Olivia Dade's Cover Me, two short stories, my first by these authors but quite good, made me want to read more of their work.  

A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles. This is my favourite book by KJ Charles, together with Simon Feximal (it could also be included here, though the MCs are younger at the beginning of the book but we follow them through a couple of decades of them being together). Seditious Affair is part of the ... series and need to be read in order, BDSM romance between a seditious publisher and a man of law, frought with tension and a hard-won, at times seemingly impossible HEA. Review

Autumn by Cole McCade, mm romance, part of Crow City series but can be read as standalone. Two older MCs, one disabled who just discovers he is bi, the other - gentle, weird in love with his ex brother-in-law forever). Review

Dear Mona Lisa by Al Steward and Claire Davis- contemporary m/m, one MC has synesthesia (which the first time reading something like that for me). It's very moving and emotional, made it into my list of best reads of 2017. CW for homophobia, death of a newborn. 

Age Gap 

For Real by Alexis Hall, Rita award winning BDSM m/m romance, with young inexperienced dominant and an older, slightly jaded submissive. Review

Glitterland by Alexis Hall, older grumpy writer with bipolar disorder and depression gets together with a young "glitter pirate" model from Essex. Review

Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins, holiday m/m romance, older reclusive MC falls for a travelling fairs glass artists. very moving, very real and touching. Review

Magic Mansion by Jordan Castillo Price, contemporary romance with a touch of magic. Two magicians at a reality show, one MC is over 60, the other is around 40. Review

Pretty Face by Lucy Parker, fun romcom set at the London theatre scene, she is TV series actress know for her roles of silly bombshells, he is critically acclaimed stage director looking with scorn on TV production. They are forced to work together and to everyone's surprise, including their own, they fall hard for each other. Review

Peter Darling by Austin Chant - queer retelling of Peter Pan, m/m with a trans lead. It's beautiful, imaginative and very emotional short read! One of the best books I read in 2017. Review

Romances with Older MCs

Fast Women by Jenny Crusie, m/f romance, chicklit, divorce  female MC

Scandalous Lovers by Robin Schone, erotic m/f romance, widowed female MC

Midlife Crisis by Audra North, LAMBDA nominated m/m contemporary romance, divorced bi POC MC, 

Twice in a Lifetime by Jodie Griffin, contemporary bi f/f romance, both MCs in their 50s

Late Fall by Noelle Adams, with MCs in their 70s and an assisted living home

1. Amour et Chocolat series by Laura Florand. It is this mf romance series that prompted me to seek more recs for foodie romances and to write this post. The heroes in these are top French chefs, making the most delicious deserts and food plays a really central role in their stories. So much focus is placed on preparing the food, and them consuming it and the joy it brings people, the primal expression of caring for someone by feeding them and making them sigh in pleasure/sensory overload. I love all the books but Dom and Patrick are definitely my favourite heroes.

2. Paris Nights is another mf foodie series of Laura Florand, this time it's about women chefs and here the focus is more on their struggles to reach top professional level and how to balance or even find room at all for personal connections (and love, bedsides the one for food making) in their lives. These are more topical, touching on some political issues (terrorism, racial prejudice). My review of Trust Me (book 3)

3. Afternoon Delight by Anne Calhoun, a mf erotic novella where the heroine owns a food truck and hero is paramedic. Rich, sensual, lots of focus on making food and the delight it brings eating it/feeding it to someone. My review

4. A Taste of Honey by Rose Lerner, another mf erotic novella, this one is set in Victorian times. A confectioner and his shop assistant. Shy, virgin hero and slightly less experienced but equally shy heroine overcome their what holds them back and explore carnal pleasure. Beautifully written with  focus on desserts so much that it made me crave all the sweets while reading it. My review

5. Beard Science by Penny Reid, mf romcom, where the heroine is a baker (in fact an undisputed local competition winner, know as the Banana Cake Queen!) and hero is mechanic (and overall smartass weirdo) Not what I expected from Cletus but such a powerful story about the choices we make, the assumptions, the guilt and responsibility and finding oneself. My review

Here are the foodie romance people on Twitter recommended when I asked:

1. Delicious Desires series by Sabrina Sol, mf romance series with MCs who are chefs, bakers, restaurateurs. I saw mixed reviews of the series on GR but it got recommended to me by friends on Twitter

2. Ruby by Jeffe Kennedy, book 3 in erotic BDSM romance series, can be read as standalone

3. Small Change by Parrish, mf (heroine is bi) romance, hero owns a sandwich shop.

4. Chef's Table by Lynn Charles, mm romance where a driven top chef meets local short order cook and they fall in love

5. The Sucre Coeur series by Lissa Reed, queer series (mm and ff romances) with MCs in the food business - bakers, baker owner, pastry shop decorator. Mixed reviews on GR

6. The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal, mf romance/women's fiction

7. Trust with a Chaser (May-December) and Tender with a Twist (kinky, BDSM), mm series by Annabeth Albert, MCs that co-own a tavern, one of them is a chef

8. Team Phison by Chace Verity, May-December mm romance, both MCs in work in the food industry

9. Idlewild by Jude Sierra, mm romance is also set in the food industry, one MC own a restaurant and hire the other MC to work in his kitchen

10. Tied Score by Elia Winters, mf romance, hero owns a bakery

11. Under the Knife by Laurin Kelly, mm romance set at reality TV cookery contest with 2 competitors falling for each other

12. Mourning Jack by S. A. Meade, mm romance, the narrator is a chef

13. If I Should Stumble by Claire Davies and Al Stewart, mm romance where one the MC's is a baker, the other a refugee

14. Hudson Valley series by Alice Clayton, mf romcom

15. Bittersweet by Sarina Bowen, mf romance, hero is a farmer and cider maker, heroine is a chef. it's not my favourite in the True North series but lots of friends love it

Here is the history behind this post. A few weeks ago I finished Beard in Mind, a romantic comedy (though a bit more serious that the rest of the series, I still feel it's a romcom) by Penny Reid. The heroine has OCD and I found the portrayal of her dealing with it and the way it affected her and all her relationships (with friends, family, lovers) very moving and powerful. The road to her HEA was not easy but it was particularly satisfying to see her get there in the end (my review). Prompted by this amazing book I decided to do a post with recommendations for romances with neurodivergent characters similar to my posts on crossover series and romances set around the world. I'll start with some personal recommendations and then move on the ones I got when I asked my friends on twitter for their favourite romances with neuroatypical characters. 

Just a few quick notes before I proceed with the lists themselves.

1/ All the books in this post include nuerodivergent characters, some of whom we see dealing with severe cases of mental illness, their stories might raise triggers for some readers. Please, read  the authors' notes/trigger warning for any book you are interested in reading before picking it up.

2/ I want to express my gratitude to Corey Alexander (@TGStoneButch) who helped me with the correct terminology in the field of mental illness and neurodivesity in general. It's a complicated field and I am not an expert in it by any means, so Corey's input has been invaluable. Any mistakes are my own only.

3/ Disclaimer: I use Amazon affiliates links on my blog and in this post to support my reading/book blogging. I have also included links to my reviews of the books I have read. 

1. Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers #5) by Penny Reid, mf romcom where the heroine has OCD. My review (it can be read as standalone but works better if you read the previous books first). My review

2. Hate to Want You by  Alisha Rai, mf where the heroine has depression. It's my first book by this author and I absolutely loved it. My review

3. Glitterland by Alexis Hall, mm romance, one of the MCs has bi-polar disorder and depression. It was my first time reading about a bipolar character in romance and I was blown away by the book as a whole. My review

4. Curio and the Curios Vignettes by Cara McKenna, mf romance, the hero has agarophobia. I love Cara McKenna's books and this is one her best in my opinion. Tender and passionate love story of a French male prostitute and an American museum worker who comes to him a virgin at 28yo.

5. An Unseen Attraction (Sins of the Cities #1) by KJ Charles, mm historical, one of the MCs is dyspraxic (possibly on the autistic spectre). It's a lovely, tender story about kindness and being oneself and two people coming together. My review

6. Mnevermind series by Jordan Castillo Price - mm speculative fiction/romance. One of the MCs is on the autism spectre. The series follows the same couple and book 2 is told entirely from the POV of the autistic character. Very powerful and moving. My review

7. Strong Signal by Santino Hassell and Megan Erickosn, contemporary mm romance, one of the MCs has anxiety and agarophobia. My review

8. Trade Me by Courtney Millan, mf romance, hero has eating disorder. It was my first time reading about a man dealing with eating disorder. My review



Here are the recommendations I got when I asked Twitter.





1. Broken by Nicola Haken, mm romance

I have been meaning to do a post with recommendations for romances (contemporary) set outside the US for a while now. It turned out I haven't read many like that and most of the ones I have read were set in the UK. So in order to be more inclusive and for purely selfish reasons of finding more romances set around the world for me to read, I asked romance Twitter for recs and they literally showered me with suggestions. So many new books to add to my TBR list!

I'm starting with my own favourites first, contemporary romances set outside the US which I have read and enjoyed a lot. Then I will proceed with all Twitter recs. Hope you will find something new and interesting for you to read

Twitter recommendations

1. Killing Time by Cindy Gerard, mf romantic suspense
2. The Path by Ariel Tachna, mm about falling in love on the Inca Trail in Peru