Book Review: Sparring Partners by Erin Rose

Official Synopsis: When a Gen Z content creator meets a brooding MMA coach, they are the hottest thing on the mat in this forced-proximity, enemies-to-lovers sports romance for fans of Nikki Castle and Elle Kennedy.

Gloves off.

And hands on…

When things get hard, some choose “flight…”

It’s been a year since Lily Parker fled to Chicago, hoping to lose herself among millions of people. Becoming the new content creator for a South Side MMA gym isn’t just a fresh start or a new job—it’s a chance to save the gym and help women protect themselves. But while the gorgeous, scarred and tatted-up MMA coach has marked Lily as an enemy, there’s definitely something spicy between them…

He chooses “fight.”

Kieran Sullivan only knows how to use his fists. His body is a testament to survival and protecting those he loves—and that does not include the gym’s newest employee. But when a video goes viral, Kieran and Lily must play nice in front of the cameras to keep the gym’s fans happy. Now the internet is obsessed with their scorching, will-they-or-won’t-they chemistry.

Sometimes, the only thing that separates love from hate is knowing exactly who your opponent really is.

Lily Parker is finally ready to stop running, at least she thinks she is. When she applies to be the content creator for a South Side MMA gym that needs a bigger online presence she feels like she is perfect for the role, especially having her own social media following. Lily is a year out from leaving behind her 'forever' person, who turned out to be a liar and a cheat. As she tries to figure out who she is without that long relationship, she finds comfort in a group of supportive friends and the strength of those at the gym. That is except for Kieran Sullivan, who seems to hate her on first sight. However, Lily can't deny that he is attractive and his appearance in her videos definitely gets the views to skyrocket.

Kieran has his own rough past and doesn't trust that the gym needs all the attention that Lily is bringing to it. The gym has been his home since he was a teenager, and now he has his own teen brother at home fighting him with every conversation. Kieran learned to fight to keep his family safe and he is determined to do that, especially from the attention. When Lily and Kieran start an online series about self defense, Kieran starts to realize that Lily might have a similar past to him and his siblings, and starts to wonder what she has been running from all this time. Now their videos together are borderline viral, with steamy comments and a lot of people looking to take classes at the gym.

Kieran and Lily also seem to have a connection that is more than just passing glares and grunts, something that they decide to take care of outside of work. But even as both of them are hoping for a no strings connection, their hearts definitely start to take over the situation. Now they are struggling to figure out if they trust each other, while trying to hide their feelings from everyone around them.

This book does have a lot of mentions of past domestic violence and abuse, and does a great job at depicting how two people move through it. Kieran goes for strength, to fight back, whereas Lily went for flight, leaving behind what she knew to start something new. Even with their differences, I enjoyed seeing how much characters moved through their initial hatred into trusting each other with their pasts and futures. Lily and Kieran's strengths definitely fall into different areas and as soon as they start to understand each other you can see how deep their connection is.

Though I never thought I would really enjoy an MMA romance, I think the fighting was really a background for how we learn more about Kieran and it gave a great found family setting to the whole story. We get to see how the gym and the sport brought Kieran some of his closest allies and friends. This book does have a fair amount of spicy scenes as well, mixed in well with the plot and overall vibe of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I actually read though it really fast. I think I liked that the plot was a little more intense then some sports romances usually are and I'm excited to see this subgenre of sports romance grow. Also the overall setting was Chicago, and I really love that.

I rated this book 3.75 out of 5 stars!

Sparring Partners comes out March 31, 2026!

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