On Diversifying Sports Romance

An interview with author & event producer Brittany Arreguin

We’re talking about the love of the game today, but first: I’m hosting a year-end sale on my Etsy shop!

From now until Dec. 31, you can grab signed copies of my books for $5 off—that’s 20% off the list price, and you’ll receive exclusive bookmarks and stickers you can’t find anywhere else. Books make wonderful holiday gifts, so order now to get yours before Christmas!

I’m excited to introduce you to author Brittany Arreguin. We’re both local to the Bay Area, and after catching up at the latest Kiss & Tell Literary Salon in Alameda, we knew we had to team up on a collaboration.

So I interviewed her to celebrate the launch of her latest book, Fielded Dreams, and discuss what sports romance means to her. If you’d like the chance to win signed copies of Fielded Dreams and my rock-climbing romance Love on the Rocks, head to Instagram where we’re hosting a joint giveaway!

Now, let’s dive into the full Q&A with Brittany.

(Note: All links, where available, lead to Bookshop.org. If you make a purchase, you’ll support local, independent bookstores, and I’ll earn a small commission as an affiliate. It’s a win-win!)

An Interview with Brittany Arreguin

1. Hi Brittany, tell us about yourself! How would you describe who you are and what you do?

I am in hospitality, born and raised in the Bay Area. I work by day coordinating events. But I have also worked in hotel sales and operations. It’s kind of spurred the premise of my debut and some other exciting books in the future.

2. What got you into the romance genre, and what were the first books that made an impact on you?

From a young age, I loved swoony love stories. (I think I’ve been a romantic at heart for a long time!) I didn’t really read a lot of romance as a child (I was really into fantasy like The Hunger Games, Eragon, and Artemis Fowl), but I love Disney movies, which had a huge impact on me growing up.

3. What are your favorite romance subgenres and tropes, and why?

My favorite trope is second chance. I love the emotional feeling you get when two people find each other again and try another go at things. But I also love a good enemies-to-lovers and, recently, grumpy/sunshine.

4. Let’s talk sports romance. What got you into the subgenre, and would you describe yourself as a sports person?

I got into sports romance when I was starting to read romance again as an adult and read the entirety of Elle Kennedy’s Off Campus/Briar U series and thought that it was so fun. I actually have loved sports for a long time and have a minor in Sport Management.

I credit my love of sports to my dad, who spent Sundays watching football and later coached my brother’s Little League baseball team (where I also volunteered as a scorekeeper.) After writing sports, I’ve fallen back into it, now participating in fantasy football and going to watch baseball and hockey games.

5. Much like the romance genre as a whole, sports romance is overwhelmingly white, both with authors and characters. This is especially true with the rise of hockey romance. How do you think about racial diversity in your work?

I like to think that racial diversity is a requirement of my books and my brand as an author. I started writing romance because I was inspired by the other Mixed-Asian authors who published books I love, and with my love of sports, I thought: why don’t I write the sports romance I want to see (with multiracial characters)?

With hockey already so overwhelmingly white in their player representation, I wanted to especially call out the Asians who professionally play hockey and pave the way for, hopefully, more Asians in the sport.

6. What biases does the publishing industry need to confront to increase the representation of BIPOC sports romance?

I think that we need to confront that the sports industry is not all white. Something that a friend of mine, @carla_is_reading on Instagram, makes a point to call out is that the majority of baseball players around the world aren’t white. A large percentage of them are Latine. But we’re not seeing those romances come to light in publishing. Same thing with basketball. Same thing with football.

If we don’t write and publish and uplift sports romances with marginalized authors, then we’re doing ourselves a disservice by making sports—an industry that is truly so diverse—more white, and I don’t want that to happen. Black folks and people of color go through a lot of hardship to get to where they are, and we need to celebrate the successes those athletes achieve all the time.

7. What else is missing from sports romances that you wanted to address in Fielded Dreams?

I decided with Fielded Dreams to write a book featuring a minor league team, based on a local team near me (the Oakland Ballers). I wanted to call in that minor league teams don’t see the big audiences, don’t see the funding, but they have the community and the intimacy that I feel like a lot of us long for in sports.

I wanted to build off of that in Fielded Dreams to have a character who isn’t the best baseball player but wants to try and achieve that goal and make his way to the Major Leagues.

8. What sports have you not yet read in a romance and would like to see represented more in the genre?

Badminton. But I want to write it, haha. It’s coming soon, hopefully! I tell myself I’ll publish it in time for LA 2028.

Also, more water sports! Swimming, diving. I want a water polo romance because it’s huge here on the West Coast.

9. What sports romances do you find yourself recommending the most, and why?

One of my favorite sports romances is Chelsea Curto’s Face Off, where the female main character is a hockey player on the same team as the male main character. I like those kinds of romances where women are represented as athletes as well.

I also like unconventional sports romances, like Tessa Bailey’s Fangirl Down, which made me really like golf in romance.

10. On this Substack, we like to get grumpy and share our hottest takes. What’s making you grumpy about diversity & inclusion in the publishing industry right now?

Haha, this is great. Right now, I’m grumpy that people are dismissing interracial romances and multiracial authors because we’re not “enough” to write BIPOC romances.

11. Now, let’s end with your moment of sunshine: what have you loved reading, watching, or doing lately?

Recently, I’ve been loving holiday romances (‘tis the damn season) and have been reading like, four holiday romances in a row. Also, small-town & cowboy romances in that same vein.

Watching: Wicked, obviously. I’m a huge theatre kid so the movie was everything I wanted and more.

And doing: writing my upcoming book!

10. What’s next for you? How can people keep in touch with you?

I’m busy working on my next book (which will be a novella centered around the Super Bowl and Lunar New Year—coming early February)!

And you can find me @brittanyarreguinwrites on Instagram & TikTok.

Meet Us Next Year at Love & Tech

If you want to hang out with us, and dozens of other romance authors, you need to attend Brittany’s romance book convention, Love & Tech Book Fest. It will be in Santa Clara, Calif. on Nov. 21-22, 2025.

Tickets are now on sale and include access to a keynote panel, signing sessions, and evening events. Get yours now to reserve your spot!

Check out this amazing lineup of romance authors!

Are there other authors or bookish folks you’d love me to feature in a future interview? Drop your suggestions in the comments below!