This Rec League was sent in by Kim. Thanks, Kim!
I’d love to see a Rec League about celebrity crush romances—where one MC is the celeb crush of the other MC, who is just a regular person. Strongly prefer MM, but I know that may be too niche. I’m really interested specifically in preexisting celeb crushes, not just “one character is a celebrity” plots. Open to actor crushes, sports, music, etc.
This request is brought to you by Cait Nary’s LUCKY BOUNCE (I have worn out the virtual spine of my ebook copy re-reading it).
Amanda: Any pairings are welcome!
Shana: Fan Service by Rosie Danan fits but is m/f. The heroine has longtime crush on an actor who turns into a werewolf.
Elyse: Stars in Your Eyes by Karen Callender ( A | BN | K ): Hollywood bad boy and a up and coming star
Darkhearts by James L Sutter. Ex-best friend is now a major pop star.
If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales ( A | BN | K | AB ) – members of a boy band (YA).
The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich ( A | BN | K | AB ) (stretching celeb to include Royals).
The Charm Offensive by Alison Cochrun – reality TV. ( A | BN | K )
Tara: I can think of two f/f romances that fit the bill. Tempting Olivia ( A ) is about a very famous actor who needs a divorce lawyer and hires someone who’s had a crush on her for years.
I also recently finished Make or Break by E. J. Noyes ( A | BN | K | AB ), which has one of the lead actors on a police drama and the key makeup artist falling for each other. They’ve had mutual crushes for years and finally act on it.
What celebrity crush romances would you recommend?
Lisa Henry’s STAR CROSSED trilogy focuses on celebrity/regular person MM romances. NOT UNTIL NOAH is famous actor/teacher; BECAUSE OF BEN is flamboyant rock star/closeted fundamentalist Christian (yeah, it’s a stretch); ONLY FOR OLLIE is motorbike racing/massage therapist.
I guess none of those fit your “pre-existing celebrity crush” request, sorry.
Starstruck by L.A. Witt might fit – m/m contemporary. It’s about co-stars on a hit TV show about werewolves. The younger star had a huge crush on the older star before the show. It’s been a long time since I read it, so I don’t remember the details, but Carrie S wrote a glowing review.
Olivia Dade’s SPOILER ALERT is kind of a reverse version, with a MF pairing where the FMC is a fan of the show the MFC stars in, but thinks he’s pretty but dumb and the least interesting cast member. They meet and she discovers the real person behind the actor’s golden retriever persona.
Mariana Zapata’s Kulti is a M/F sports romance that has a crush on the soccer star hero as part of the heroine’s backstory. It’s more of an antagonistic feeling when the story starts though, so it might not fit the vibe you are looking for.
I believe that ROLE MODEL by Rachel Reid fits — MM hockey where the nonceleb is the team social media manager. The celeb player is newly traded to the team and it’s a redemption story for his character who appeared briefly in previous books as a sidekick to a bully/abuser.
TW for homophobia and instances where sexual assault survivors are not believed. This book was my entry to Rachel Reid’s Game Changer series so I have a soft spot for it. (But I’ve read reviews from others who found it harder to get past the previous behavior.)
None other than the appropriately titled Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift. When author Emmy Ellison’s romantic best seller is auctioned for a movie, her secret celebrity crush accepts the starring role. Bonus, the actor is the inspiration for the romantic hero in her book. Really fun reads last year.
Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman fits this category also.
M/F romance Meet Cute – Helena Hunting – The MMC is a former child star that the FMC had a huge crush on. The book starts out kind of ridiculously with her falling on him accidently several times. It gets better after that.
Superfan by Sarina Bowen fits (except it’s m/f). It’s technically a hockey romance, because the hockey player meets this singer/songwriter (think tswift) before either of them are famous, and he has followed her career the whole way. He finally gets his (second) chance after lots of teasing from his teammates.
Prodigal Son by Sara Cate is an mm between a country star and a pastor who has been a superfan for years. Big content notes for religious trauma and conversion therapy (and the long-term effects, including suicidality), homophobia, and all kinds of abuse (not between the main characters). It’s also the fourth book in a series and the series itself is super hit and miss (for me, anyway). I think you could read it as a standalone and the romance would still be pretty decent, but there is a lot of background that you’d miss. But I loved it, despite all these hefty content warnings.
Chloe Liese, “Everything for You”. M/m soccer. They are teammates now, but the older was the younger one’s idol.
Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James, “Winging It” is a similar setup, but hockey.
“Pucking Strong” (8/25), the 4th title in the Jacksonville Rays professional hockey series (by Emily Rath) seems like it fits the criteria. Caveat: I haven’t read anything in the series yet (I’m in the library-request line for this and the first book), so all info here is second-hand, based on reading a lot of reviews.
M/M; leads originally occur in a previous title set six years before: Henrik is the Swedish star of the team. Teddy is the young trainer/physical therapist(?) for the team who silently worships Henrik.
In “Pucking Stong”, a family tragedy causes Henrik to go back to Sweden to take on the parenting and recovery of his injured five-year-old niece. I think Teddy – now back with the team after finishing medical school – goes along because he’s offering his medical support (wrapped in a big fat six-year-old blanket of still-silent adoration).
Surprise! Complications arise! The Swedish government actually cares about the health and well-being of its country’s children (instead of trying to get rid of them, they actually look out for and hold tight to them; how compassionate! how novel!) and won’t let Henrik take his niece back with him to Florida because of his peripatetic work schedule and lack of a second parental figure to care for the child when Henrik’s long season is occurring, often keeping him from home. So Teddy surprises them both by offering a – everyone shout it out loud in unison – MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE!! Sweden, being Sweden, is cool with a M/M marriage (Florida being Florida… well, I wonder if that’s addressed in the book or just hand-waved away; anyone know the answer?). Annnnd we’re off and skating… for a total of 540 pages.
My library system catalog has a cornucopia of TW/CWs (IDK where it came from: the author? reviews?). Deep breath; here goes:
“This book contains themes that may be distressing to readers, including death of a family member (off-page), traumatic grief/loss, and brief thoughts of suicidal ideation. A child is injured (off-page) and experiences physical pain/distress as they heal (on page). A family struggles from the effects of a parent living with dementia. A character briefly suffers from night terrors. As an interracial gay couple, the main characters encounter homophobia and racism, this includes microaggressions, like dirty looks and rude comments. A main character is demisexual and struggles to give voice to that. As he works through owning this label for himself, he experiences moments of frustration, even self-loathing. More than once, he refers to himself as “broken,” With better education, he comes to understand that sexuality is a spectrum, and he accepts himself for who he is. Aside from the above, this book contains detailed explicit sex scenes that include elements of oral sex, anal sex, rimming, choking, edging, cum play, toy play, impact play, and public sex”.
FWIW, I feel pretty confident that this is the initial appearance of the terms “rimming” and “cum play” in my library system’s catalog.
One last thing: I’ve been wondering about this for a while. Has anyone read anything about any NHL, CHL, etc, &/or college hockey players’ reactions to the prevalence and popularity of MM hockey romances? TIA.
Thank you!! <3
I have listed under celebrity in Calibre. So both M/M and F/M
RECKLESS HEARTS By Jax Calder. (M/M) Younger brother of best friend kind of thing.
THE PROBLEM WITH PERFECT By Stover (M/M) has the twin of a star posing as the missing star and falling for the media director.
GIDEON BY Lily Morton. Title character is famous actor who is in the closet per his agent. The repression has him acting out and he nearly dies from his antics. He falls for Eli the home health aid worker. This author has several famous/not famous M/M stories.
ROCK-N-SOUL by Lauren Sattersby (M/M). This was a wild premise. Rock star Chris dies in a hotel room and begins to haunt room service delivery guy Tyler who found his body. Chris insists Tyler help him with some unfinished business. Tyler has a smart mouth and this was more lighthearted than expected.
EXPOSED TO YOU By Beth Kery. Excellent story about a makeup artist helping her uncle on a big budget movie set. When the star of the movie comes in for a makeup touch up she doesn’t recognize him in his costume and shenanigans ensue.
THE HOLLYWOOD MARRIAGE BARGAIN By Lila Monroe has a celebrity and small town handy woman.
THE SEAT FILLER By Sariah Wilson. A “seat filler” at an awards show sits next to a famous celebrity and off we go.
LIFE’S TOO SHORT By Abby Jimenez has a famous youtuber whose sister drops off her kid and bails She then falls for her neighbor who helps her out.
GOING TOO FAR By Abby Glines has older Rock Star falling for younger woman who lives in the building he owns.
THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA BY Elizabeth O’Roark about a famous female musician who goes on a trip with her boyfriends family and falls for the brother instead.
FAMOUS IN A SMALL TOWN By Kylie Scott. Famous celebrity hiding out in small town and meets cute neighbor.
FAKE also by Kylie Scott. Super famous celebrity with a bad reputation needs to rehabilitate his image and chooses waitress Norah to help him do so.
FAMOUS By Jenny Holiday. Female superstar with a iffy rep runs away to small Iowa town. INFAMOUS by same author is M/M version with famous musician hooking up with pediatrician.
DEAR ENEMY By Kristen Callihan. He’s a famous star that used to date her sister (and made her life miserable). He’s pissed about something the sister stole and the FMC intercepts the message and hopes to fix everything before the star goes to the police.
ELIAS by Sabrina Paige. She’s super famous and as the cameras follow her around on her wedding day, they find her husband-to-be getting it on with the future brides sister. Humiliated, she runs and meets war vet Elias to help her out.
HOLLYWOOD DIRT BY Alessandra Tore. Hunky celebrity in the news for the wrong reasons heads to small town in Georgia for an important indie film. She is the small town girl helping the town cope.
THE UNIDENTIFIED REDHEAD By Alice Clayton. He’s a Brit super-hunk who falls for the decade older titled character. They try to keep the relationship under wraps.
These aren’t all I have on file. Especially if they involve Rock Band celebrities which feature prominently in multiple books by KYLIE SCOTT, KARINA BLISS, KRISTEN CALLIHAN, JAMIE SHAW and more.
For more M/M authors in this trope try JOSH LANYON (famous author celebrities), LILY MORTON (famous models). ANNA ZABO (Musicians).