Taking Her Shot

By Naperville Magazine
January 2026 View more Books

By Jeff Banowetz

Taylor LaVonne has read her share of sports romance novels, and she knows the formula pretty well—a woman finds love with a professional athlete. But when LaVonne was considering writing a book of her own, she wanted to flip the script.

“Contemporary romance is a hot-selling part of the market,” she says. “But women’s sports aren’t really touched upon.” As a sports fan herself, the 27-year-old English teacher thought her first novel could capitalize on that gap in the market. Her book, A Shot at Love, follows a WNBA player who starts dating her ex-boyfriend again to help her family through a scandal. LaVonne, a Naperville native who attended Neuqua Valley High School, has been a big fan of the league for years.

She already has two more books planned in her series of romances focused on women athletes, with tennis and flag football next on the list. “I like to read so many different things, but when I decided that women in sports might be my niche, everything fell into place,” she says. “It just felt right. It’s not necessarily about chasing what’s popular—it’s more about finding where you can stand out and carve your own path.”

Photo: Taylor LaVonne