“Your soul is my favorite in this entire world.”
The Cheat Sheet is a 2021 sports romance book by Sarah Adams. The story centres around Bree Camden, who is hopelessly in love with her best friend and star quarterback heartthrob, Nathan Donelson. She knows that her feelings for him aren’t reciprocated, so she’s stuck existing in the friendzone. That is until a drunken evening leads to the pair having to pose as a couple for three weeks until the Super Bowl. But, what will their friendship look like once the ruse has come to a close? And why does it seem like Nathan is fighting for something other than a return to the friendzone? If you love sports romance, fake dating and friends-to-lovers stories, join us at What We Reading for the best books like The Cheat Sheet!
Betting On You (Betting On You #1) – Lynn Painter
Kicking off our list of the best books like The Cheat Sheet is Lynn Painter’s contemporary romance read, Betting on You. When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel water park, she’s less than impressed to see an old acquaintance is one of her new coworkers. She met Charlie a year ago on a flight, and his constant cynicism didn’t mix well with her careful, well-behaved temperament.
Now, the pair are still polar opposites. But, unlike before, Bailey actually begins to look forward to catching up with Charlie, gossiping about the hotel, its guests and coworkers, especially two who keep flirting with each other. They place a bet on whether this cosy pair will get together or not. To make things more complicated, Bailey and Charlie begin fake dating to avoid the annoying pleasantries of Bailey’s mother and new boyfriend. What the two of them don’t realise is that they’re both struggling to keep their growing feelings for each other buried, terrified of their fake dating ruse becoming a reality.
Icebreaker (Maple Hills #1) – Hannah Grace
Anastasia Allen has worked her entire life for a shot at Team USA. And it appears like all of her hard work has paid off when she gets a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills, landing a place on their competitive figure skating team. Nothing is going to stand in her way. Not even the captain of the hockey team, Nate Hawkins.
Nate’s focus as team captain is on keeping his team on the ice. Which is difficult when a mix-up with the facilities means they are forced to share the rink with the skating team. It soon becomes clear that Anastasia cannot stand him. But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an uncertain future, she may have to look to Nate as a way of taking her shot. A slow-burning college romance book similar to The Cheat Sheet, Hannah Grace’s Maple Hills series needs to be on your TBR list if you love Sarah Adam’s stories.
Check Out The Best Books Like Icebreaker
The Long Game (The Long Game #1) – Elena Armas
Adalyn Reyes has spent years perfecting her daily routine. Wake up at dawn, commute to the Miami Flames FC offices, do all she can to leave a mark, and go home. Rinse and repeat. But when a video featuring her in an altercation with the team’s mascot goes viral, she is sent to the middle of nowhere in North Carolina to turn around the fortunes of a struggling local side, the Green Warriors as a way of redeeming herself. Her plans begin to crumble, however, when she discovers that the players wear tutus to practice, keep pet goats, are terrified of Adalyn, and are only nine years old.
Making things more complicated is Cameron Caldani, a local goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat of a mystery. He’s the perfect candidate to help Adalyn, but a messy first encounter leaves him dead set on running her out of town. But Adalyn isn’t about to run away again. She’s determined to turn around the fortunes of this ragtag children’s team, with or without Cam’s help.
Fangirl Down (Big Shots #1) -Tessa Bailey
Wells Whitaker was once the hottest rising star in the world of golf. But, lately, all he has had to show for himself is a killer hangover, a collection of broken clubs and one remaining fan. No matter how badly he plays, the beautiful redhead is always there on the sidelines. When he finally quits in a blaze of glory and his fangirl goes home, he realises he has made the biggest mistake of his life.
Josephine Doyle believed in his gorgeous and grumpy golfer when he didn’t believe in himself. But when he throws in the towel, she questions whether this faith was misplaced. When he turns up at her door asking her to be his caddy, she has to accept. As they travel together, spending days on the green and nights in hotel rooms, sparks fly. But Wells is technically Josephine’s boss and an athlete falling for his fangirl would be too crazy to be real, right? Another one of the best sports romance books like The Cheat Sheet, Tessa Bailey’s Fangirl Down is the perfect follow-up for anyone looking for a grumpy/sunshine read.
Funny Story – Emily Henry
Daphne always loved the way her fiance Peter told the story of how they met. He was really good at telling it. Right up until the moment he realised he was in love with his friend, Petra. Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family and a job as children’s librarian that barely pays the bills, she is forced to propose becoming room-mates with the only person who can understand her predicament, Petra’s ex-boyfriend, Miles Nowak.
Scruffy and chaotic, Miles is the complete opposite of buttoned-up and practical Daphne. The two roommates largely avoid one another. Until one drunken evening when they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. A plan that involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer together. Thankfully, it’s all just for show. There’s no way Daphne would allow herself to start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancee’s new fiance’s ex. One of the best Emily Henry books, Funny Story is perfect for any fans of The Cheat Sheet looking for another forced-proximity, slow-burning, fake relationship tale.
Check Out The Best Books Like Funny Story
The Paradise Problem – Christina Lauren
Another one of the best fake relationship books like The Cheat Sheet comes from Christina Lauren in their 2024 romance read, The Paradise Problem. Anna Green thought she was marrying Liam ‘West’ Weston for access to subsidised housing while at UCLA. As far as she knew, once the graduation caps were tossed, they would both go their separate ways. Three years on, Anna is a struggling artist while West is a Stanford professor. He has no interest in his family’s heartless corporation. What he is interested in, however, is his one-hundred-million-dollar inheritance.
But, thanks to an antiquated clause in his grandfather’s will, Liam will only see his fortune once he has been married for five years. Just when it looks like he might be on the home stretch, his family ask to see his mysterious spouse. With nowhere else to turn, he has to enlist his unpolished, not-so-ex-wife. Yet, to Liam’s surprise, his fears quickly shift from whether Anna can play her part to whether he wants to allow the toxic world of wealth to corrupt someone as pure and honest as her. Soon enough, he is asking whether the price tag on his flimsy cover story is worth losing the true love that began with a lie.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
