Are There Books Like Catch Her If You Can Worth Reading?

If you like the vibe of 'Catch Her If You Can' — the messy, warm-hearted marriage-of-convenience + sports-romance energy with a heroine who runs a burlesque club and a devoted catcher trying to protect her — there are definitely books that scratch similar itches. 'Catch Her If You Can' is a steamy, emotionally grounded contemporary romance by Tessa Bailey that leans on friends-to-lovers and fake-or-functional-marriage beats while keeping things tender under the spice. My first pick for you is one of Tessa Bailey’s own earlier hits, 'Fix Her Up'. It has the small-town, slightly chaotic family dynamics and a sports-adjacent hero (an injured baseball player) who ends up in a fake/pretend relationship that turns very real; Bailey’s blend of humor, heat, and heartfelt growth is very similar to what you’ll get in 'Catch Her If You Can'. If you loved Bailey’s voice and want something with the same kind of banter-and-emotion combo, start here. If the sports-romance angle is a core reason you enjoyed 'Catch Her If You Can', try 'The Deal' by Elle Kennedy for a different flavor: it’s collegiate hockey rather than pro baseball, but it nails the fake-relationship/fake-dating-to-real-feelings arc, plus the team dynamic and tender healing beats. Readers who like athletic heroes with protective instincts and slow-but-satisfying emotional development usually find it a comfort read. For a slower-burn, very protective-married-as-convenience angle, 'The Wall of Winnipeg and Me' by Mariana Zapata is almost legendary in romance circles: it’s long, deliberate, and the payoff is massive if you enjoy broody, powerful athletes who soften only for one person. This one leans hard into marriage-of-convenience and the satisfaction of earned chemistry. Finally, if you want something lighter and rom-com adjacent with a fake-marriage/honeymoon twist and great banter, 'The Unhoneymooners' by Christina Lauren gives the opposite-toned, laugh-heavy route to a fake-couple-turned-real-couple story — it’s breezier but emotionally satisfying in its own way. Personally, I tend to choose between a Bailey re-read when I want heat+heart, a Zapata epic when I crave slow-burn devotion, and an Elle Kennedy book when I want sports-team warmth. All of the above feel like natural companions to 'Catch Her If You Can' depending on whether you want more spice, more slow-burn, or more rom-com laughs. Happy reading — I’ll probably be on page two of one of these tonight.

If you enjoyed 'Catch Her If You Can' and want short, reliable recs, here are three I’d actually hand to a friend in real life: 'Fix Her Up' by Tessa Bailey if you want the same authorial voice and sports-adjacent fake-relationship energy; 'The Deal' by Elle Kennedy if you like athlete-heroes and the transition from pretend to real feelings; and 'The Wall of Winnipeg and Me' by Mariana Zapata if you prefer a marathon slow-burn where every little moment pays off. Each of those books shares at least one core trope with 'Catch Her If You Can' — fake marriage/relationship, sports-world hero, or a heroine with an unusual job and fierce loyalty — so you can pick by which part of Bailey’s book you loved most. 'Fix Her Up' leans into the small-town, witty-romcom side, while 'The Deal' hits the college-hockey camaraderie and 'The Wall of Winnipeg and Me' delivers the long, satisfying slow-burn marriage-of-convenience arc. I found all three comforting in different moods; hope one of them becomes your next favorite.