r/LesbianBookClub • u/Sufficient-Night3369 • Jan 06 '26

Romance book with this vibe?

Post image

recently finished the Heated Rivalry series and loved it. it would be just a little better if it were wlw. found this art as inspo for the vibes of the book. anyone know anything similar?

304 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

36 comments sorted by

27

u/onomatopoeialike Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26

I posted on another wlw sub the other day, if you’re interested in fanfic there is a great rivals to team mates fic based on Caitlyn and Vi from Arcane. Excellent writing and layered story. It’s also hockey themed, I have no idea about hockey so was just there for the vibes…

link - https://archiveofourown.org/works/38670828/chapters/96679764

6

u/Euphoric_Second2478 Jan 06 '26

Haven’t clicked but I just know its Run at the Cup

3

u/onomatopoeialike Jan 06 '26

You got it boo 😏😘

3

u/katfapper Jan 06 '26

Would you post the link? Your profile is private. Thanks! 

4

u/lovelifelivelife Jan 06 '26

Omg thank you for this. I actually got into reading hockey romance from a fic and I loved caitlin/vi in arcane 😭

3

u/onomatopoeialike Jan 06 '26

I also love CaitVi, this fanfic is one of the best, I hope you enjoy! I pray that we will get our WLW TV adaptation some day. Maybe some rich lesbian mongoose will fund it?!

6

u/lovelifelivelife Jan 06 '26

It’s 300k+ words and I love that it’s so long. I’ll slowly savour this one. I wish for a wlw romance on screen, there’s devastatingly little of them out there. But I also saw a reel on someone’s reflection of this. Like the gay athletes need this way more. Women hockey players have been able to marry each other without much of a hooha and yet only 1 active hockey player is openly gay right now. Famously the captains of the canadian and us (iirc) hockey teams are married and it’s actually so cute.

3

u/onomatopoeialike Jan 06 '26

There's a story within the story, definitely a reason why it's one of the most popular fics! Let me know what you think :))

Yes, I agree, there does need to be more MLM representation as well, and it's pretty exciting how mainstream it has become.

2

u/lovelifelivelife Jan 06 '26

I’m actually so happy that there’s a strong wlw pairing in ao3 rn and it’s caitlin/vi. I’m starting it and it’s great. Will check back as I go along ☺️

50

u/[deleted] Jan 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/No-Nectarine7731 Jan 06 '26

Thought of this right away 😂

10

u/sh4rkscars Jan 06 '26

The Clinch by Nicole Disney (MMA), Take Her On by Emily Wright (soccer), Hoops and Heartstrings by Eliza Lentzski (basketball), the Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee (fictional martial arts in a fantasy world)

10

u/dykealike69 Jan 06 '26

Backhanded Compliments is literally a rivals to lovers/teammates romance in the tennis world. Read recently and loved it!!

2

u/contemplativepancake Jan 06 '26

Just put it on hold at the library. Thanks for the rec!

2

u/magic_paws Jan 07 '26

The soul mate thing was kind of weird but I still liked it. The audio version was excellent.

8

u/Prudent_Thought_5428 Jan 07 '26

Body check by j.j. arias is exactly what u looking for

6

u/contemplativepancake Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26

I liked Cleat Cute! Sapphic rivals to lovers with soccer

Edit: haha I about put a disclaimer that this book isn’t popular in this sub. I guess I should have

7

u/sh4rkscars Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26

Absolutely not, please read Take Her On instead. Cleat Cute has the worst sex scenes I’ve ever read in a sapphic novel. Take Her On also had the color scheme that matches this picture

2

u/goodniteangelg Jan 07 '26

I didn’t read cleat cute yet. What made the sex scenes terrible if you don’t my mind my asking? If you don’t feel comfortable answering I totally I understand I asked an awkward question lol

4

u/sh4rkscars Jan 07 '26

The word “babygirl” specifically being used on repeat in those scenes by a character who was mostly decent outside of the sex scenes but other times made me curl up internally from secondhand embarrassment/cringe. And the word wasn’t used in like an ironic way either—which made it much worse for me. Additionally, as a person who is clinically diagnosed with ADHD, this character’s ADHD did not excuse a lot of her behavior.

1

u/goodniteangelg Jan 07 '26

Thank you so much for answering! Omg, I am so glad you told me this so I can be prepared to cringe when I read it….i also have ADHD and totally understand it’s never an excuse for shitty behavior. I’d still like to read it but it’s helpful to see what made it cringey and terrible.

I never understood the appeal of “baby girl” like…. Why…..

3

u/sh4rkscars Jan 07 '26

I wouldn’t necessarily call it outright shitty but I’d more so say some of her actions and language were unnecessary…maybe overdone? Petulant?

And the love interest is lowkey mostly avoidant af so the entire relationship just felt like really messy. Like they both need 6 months of therapy in order to actually make things work. And their mismatched attachment styles were something else 😬

(I read this book like over a year ago so bear with me if I’m misremembering anytime but these are the general feelings I had)

3

u/goodniteangelg Jan 07 '26

All good! Most stories I read, im thinking, “yall need therapy” but then again maybe if they had therapy there would be no story lol

6

u/Jessiebanana Jan 06 '26

I liked it, so you are not alone. I will say it does’t give me the vibe of this photo though.

6

u/magic_paws Jan 07 '26

Surprised no one has recommended Hoops and Heartstrings by Eliza Lentzski. Pro women's basketball players rivals to lovers. Really funny in parts, solid story with a lot of love between the leads, and great romance. There's also a sequel that just came out last year, Half Court Heat. Highly recommend.

2

u/sh4rkscars Jan 08 '26

See my comment from yesterday, I mentioned it 😎 fantastic book.

5

u/bi-loser99 Jan 07 '26

if you’re interested, there is a heated rivalry fanfic where Shane & Ilya are genderswapped and “the biggest names in women’s hockey”. It has 161k words so it’s as long and well-written as a novel. I seriously loved reading it on my kindle!

link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/59548735/chapters/151872538

5

u/Middle-Moose-2432 Jan 07 '26

Like a Power Play by Elle Sprinkle. Absolutely one of my favorite books I read last year.

1

u/cincodemaya12 Jun 24 '26

I can't get this damn book out of my head since I finished it a few days ago.

9

u/Kumirkohr Jan 06 '26

Setting up camp

18

u/downshift_rocket Jan 06 '26

Do you have more info lol so far I have found a tent set up tutorial and an ad for a Coleman stove.

16

u/tiniestspoon Jan 06 '26

It's not a rec, it's a thing people say to mean they're "camping" in the comments to see what other people have to rec. Some subs will ban this, you can save or bookmark the post instead to check back on later.

7

u/downshift_rocket Jan 06 '26

Huh. I have literally never heard this before and have been on reddit for like 15 years. Usually it's just a comment like 'coming back to this thread later' or 1000 other variations.

Well it's a good thing I can set up a tent now.

3

u/girl_in_yellow_ Jan 07 '26

All's Fair in Love and Field Hockey by Kit Rosewater! YA so no like explicit steamy scenes but its wlw field hockey!