10 Best Hockey Romance Books to Read After Off-Campus
Finished Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series and suddenly wondering what you’re supposed to read now?
You’re definitely not out of hockey players yet.
The best hockey romance books combine everything that makes sports romance so addictive: competitive athletes, strong friend groups, locker-room banter, forced proximity, fake dating, enemies-to-lovers tension, and—in many cases—plenty of spice.
If you loved Garrett, Logan, Dean, Tucker, and the entire Briar University crew, these are ten hockey romances and hockey romance book series worth adding to your TBR next.
And if you haven’t finished Briar yet, start with my Off-Campus Series Books in Order: Complete Elle Kennedy Reading Guide & Review before jumping into these recommendations.
Best Hockey Romance Books at a Glance
| Book | Author | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| The Graham Effect | Elle Kennedy | Staying in the Off-Campus universe |
| Icebreaker | Hannah Grace | Hockey + figure skating |
| Collide | Bal Khabra | College hockey + enemies-to-lovers |
| Offside | Avery Keelan | Fake dating + rival hockey teams |
| Consider Me | Becka Mack | Reformed playboy |
| The Fake Out | Stephanie Archer | Fake dating + NHL romance |
| Unsteady | Peyton Corinne | Emotional college hockey romance |
| Him | Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy | M/M friends-to-lovers hockey romance |
| Pucking Around | Emily Rath | Spicy why-choose hockey romance |
| The Year We Fell Down | Sarina Bowen | Friends-to-lovers + emotional depth |
1. The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy
Best for: Off-Campus readers who aren’t ready to leave Briar
This is the most obvious place to go after Off-Campus because you don’t actually have to leave the universe.
The Graham Effect is the first book in Elle Kennedy’s Campus Diaries series and follows Gigi Graham, the daughter of Garrett and Hannah from The Deal.
Gigi has serious hockey ambitions of her own and wants to make the women’s national team. Luke Ryder is the grumpy new co-captain of Briar’s men’s hockey team—and someone she initially has very little patience for.
Naturally, they end up needing each other.
Elle Kennedy officially describes The Graham Effect as the first Campus Diaries book and a spin-off of both Off-Campus and Briar U.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: familiar universe, Briar hockey, Garrett and Hannah connections, enemies-to-lovers energy, banter, and another interconnected friend group.
Series: Campus Diaries
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2. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
Best for: College hockey romance with forced proximity
If you’ve spent any time around hockey romance books, you’ve probably already seen this cover.
Icebreaker follows competitive figure skater Anastasia Allen and hockey captain Nate Hawkins at Maple Hills.
A facilities problem forces the figure skating and hockey teams to share the same rink, meaning Anastasia and Nate suddenly have much more contact than either planned.
Then Anastasia’s skating situation changes, and Nate becomes considerably harder to avoid.
The publisher identifies Icebreaker as Book 1 of the Maple Hills series and says it has sold more than two million copies.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: college setting, hockey-team dynamics, captain hero, forced proximity, competitive athletes, and plenty of romantic tension.
Series: Maple Hills
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3. Collide by Bal Khabra
Best for: College hockey + reverse grumpy/sunshine
Summer Preston does not like hockey.
Unfortunately, her academic future suddenly requires her to work with hockey captain Aiden Crawford.
Summer wants to become a sports psychologist and is extremely focused on her future. Aiden seems considerably more relaxed—which immediately gets on her nerves.
Their forced partnership starts badly.
You can probably guess what happens next.
Collide is the first book in Bal Khabra’s Off the Ice series. Bloomsbury specifically highlights its college setting, forced proximity, he-falls-first dynamic, dual POV, and reverse grumpy/sunshine relationship.
This may be one of the strongest picks if what you loved most about The Deal was watching two people who initially frustrate each other gradually become something completely different.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: college hockey, banter, forced proximity, he falls first, team dynamics, and spice.
Series: Off the Ice
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4. Offside by Avery Keelan
Best for: Fake dating and rival teams
Bailey James gets dumped on her twenty-first birthday.
Her rebound?
Chase Carter.
Unfortunately, Chase isn’t just another hockey player.
He plays for her college’s biggest rival team—and has a reputation of his own.
Soon Bailey and Chase agree to fake date, partly to get under her ex’s skin. But their fake relationship starts becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
Macmillan calls Offside an addictive college hockey romance and explicitly compares it to Hannah Grace and Elle Kennedy. It’s the first book in Avery Keelan’s Rules of the Game series.
If The Deal was your favorite Off-Campus book because of the arrangement-that-turns-real dynamic, put this near the top.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: fake dating, bad-boy hockey player, rival teams, college setting, banter, and spice.
Series: Rules of the Game
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5. Consider Me by Becka Mack
Best for: The player who falls HARD
Carter Beckett is one of professional hockey’s biggest stars.
He’s confident.
He’s successful.
He has absolutely no shortage of women interested in him.
Then he meets Olivia Parker.
Olivia has no intention of becoming another woman impressed by a famous hockey player—which naturally makes Carter even more determined to win her over.
Consider Me is Book 1 in Becka Mack’s Playing for Keeps series. The publisher describes Carter as the ultimate player turned romantic and lists tropes including slow burn, he falls first, reformed playboy, and found family.
Dean fans, this may be your section.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: reformed playboy, he falls first, found family, professional hockey, humor, and plenty of steam.
Series: Playing for Keeps
And if you like Carter’s team, there are several more books waiting for you.
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6. The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer
Best for: Fake dating with an NHL player
Hazel Hartley works as a physiotherapist for the Vancouver Storm.
Her terrible ex is suddenly playing for the same hockey team.
The obvious mature response?
Fake date his rival.
Enter Rory Miller, superstar hockey player, league-leading scorer, notorious flirt—and someone Hazel already knew in high school.
The fake relationship quickly starts feeling suspiciously real.
Penguin Random House describes The Fake Out as a fiery hockey romance centered on fake dating and identifies it as part of Stephanie Archer’s Vancouver Storm series.
This is another great choice if arrangements, teasing, hockey-team friendships, and protective heroes are exactly what you want after Off-Campus.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: fake dating, NHL setting, old acquaintances, protective hero, banter, and spice.
Series: Vancouver Storm
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7. Unsteady by Peyton Corinne
Best for: Hockey romance with heavier emotional themes
Not every hockey romance needs to be primarily light and funny.
Unsteady follows Rhys Koteskiy, a college hockey captain recovering from a serious concussion, and Sadie Brown, a figure skater carrying enormous pressures of her own.
Rhys is physically back—but being back on the ice is much more complicated than everyone realizes.
When Sadie helps him through a panic attack, the relationship between them begins developing into something neither expected.
Simon & Schuster describes Rhys as an NHL legacy and Waterfell University hockey captain struggling with nightmares and panic attacks after his injury.
This is the one I’d choose if the emotional stories underneath the fun were one of your favorite parts of Off-Campus.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: college athletics, hockey captain, figure skater, vulnerability, emotional healing, and romance with more serious weight.
Series: The Undone
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8. Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
Best for: M/M hockey romance and friends-to-lovers
If you want more Elle Kennedy but you’re ready to leave Briar, try Him.
Jamie Canning and Ryan Wesley were once best friends.
Then something happened at hockey camp.
Wes pulled away.
Years later, their college hockey teams are about to face each other at the national championship, giving Wes an opportunity to finally see Jamie again—and deal with feelings that have been there much longer than either of them wants to admit.
Elle Kennedy describes Him, cowritten with Sarina Bowen, as an M/M hockey romance and the first book in the Him series.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: Elle Kennedy’s writing, hockey, longtime friendship, unresolved feelings, college sports, and plenty of chemistry.
Series: Him
If you love Jamie and Wes, their story continues in Us and later Epic.
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9. Pucking Around by Emily Rath
Best for: Readers specifically looking for spicy hockey romance books
This is easily the most unconventional recommendation on the list.
Rachel Price lands a sports-medicine fellowship working with an NHL team.
Unfortunately, one of the players turns out to be the man she had an unforgettable anonymous night with months earlier.
And he’s not the only man complicating her new job.
Pucking Around is a why-choose/poly hockey romance involving Rachel and multiple men connected to the Jacksonville Rays. The publisher describes it as inclusive, poly, kink-friendly, and extremely steamy.
So this is not the one I’d hand to someone looking for a mild sports romance.
It is the one I’d include for people specifically searching Google for spicy hockey romance books.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: professional hockey, team dynamics, found connections, lots of spice, and an interconnected series.
Series: Jacksonville Rays
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10. The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen
Best for: Friends-to-lovers and emotional depth
Corey Callahan thought she was going to start college playing on the women’s hockey team.
Instead, an injury has changed everything.
Across the hall in the accessible dorm room is Adam Hartley, a hockey player temporarily sidelined with broken legs.
The two bond over their injuries, dorm life, video games, and being temporarily separated from the sports that have shaped their identities.
Friendship develops first.
Then things get considerably more complicated.
Sarina Bowen describes The Year We Fell Down as a full-length friends-to-lovers college hockey romance and the first book in her Ivy Years series.
If you appreciated that the Off-Campus books gave their characters actual problems beyond simply figuring out who they wanted to date, this one is worth trying.
Why Off-Campus fans may love it: college hockey, strong friendship foundation, emotional character development, vulnerability, and series potential.
Series: The Ivy Years
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Which Hockey Romance Book Should You Read After Off-Campus?
If you don’t know where to start, use this:
| If you loved… | Read next |
|---|---|
| The Briar University universe | The Graham Effect |
| College sports atmosphere | Icebreaker |
| Enemies-to-lovers tension | Collide |
| Fake dating | Offside |
| Dean-style reformed player energy | Consider Me |
| Fake relationship + NHL | The Fake Out |
| More emotional depth | Unsteady |
| Friends-to-lovers | Him |
| Maximum spice | Pucking Around |
| Emotional college romance | The Year We Fell Down |
What Makes a Good Hockey Romance Book?
For me, hockey itself isn’t enough.
The best hockey romance books give you a world you actually want to stay in.
That usually means a combination of:
- Strong team friendships
- Locker-room banter
- Competitive characters
- Found family
- Emotional storylines outside the romance
- Recurring characters
- Plenty of chemistry
- A couple you genuinely want to root for
That’s one of the reasons Off-Campus works so well. The individual couples change, but Garrett, Logan, Dean, Tucker, and the people around them make Briar University feel like a place you want to keep returning to. Your existing guide similarly highlights the friendships and interconnected characters as one of the series’ strongest elements.
Best Hockey Romance Book Series
If you want more than a single book, several of these open the door to much bigger series:
Campus Diaries — Elle Kennedy
Start with The Graham Effect.
Maple Hills — Hannah Grace
Start with Icebreaker. The publisher lists Icebreaker as Book 1.
Off the Ice — Bal Khabra
Start with Collide.
Rules of the Game — Avery Keelan
Start with Offside.
Playing for Keeps — Becka Mack
Start with Consider Me.
Vancouver Storm — Stephanie Archer
Start with Behind the Net, then continue into The Fake Out and The Wingman.
Jacksonville Rays — Emily Rath
Start with Pucking Around.
Ivy Years — Sarina Bowen
Start with The Year We Fell Down.
Spicy Hockey Romance Books
If you’re specifically looking for spicy hockey romance books, several picks on this list lean considerably hotter.
Pucking Around is the clearest choice if spice is the main attraction; its publisher explicitly positions it as a poly, kink-friendly why-choose romance.
Offside is marketed by its author as a college hockey romance with “lots of spice.”
Consider Me comes from a series Penguin Random House repeatedly describes as sizzling hockey romance.
The Fake Out also lands firmly on the steamier side of contemporary hockey romance.
So if open-door romance is one of the things you liked about Off-Campus, you have plenty of options.
Books Like Off-Campus
If you searched specifically for books like Off-Campus, I’d narrow the list to:
- The Graham Effect — because it actually continues the same universe.
- Collide — for college hockey, banter, forced proximity, and spice.
- Offside — for fake dating and college-hockey drama.
- Icebreaker — for the college athlete setting and hockey-team dynamics.
- Consider Me — for a player who discovers he very much wants a relationship after all.
Those capture the closest combination of hockey + friendship + humor + romance + spice that made the Off-Campus books so bingeable.
What Should You Read Immediately After Off-Campus?
There are actually two answers.
If you want to stay with Elle Kennedy, continue through the Briar universe. Your existing reading guide already lays out the path:
Off-Campus → Briar U → Campus Diaries.
If you want to branch out to a new author while keeping the hockey-romance feeling, I’d start with Icebreaker, Collide, or Consider Me.
And if The Deal specifically was your favorite, Offside should be high on your list because the fake-dating setup gives it a similarly addictive hook.
Final Thoughts
The dangerous thing about finishing Off-Campus is realizing that hockey romance is not a five-book problem.
It’s an entire genre.
There are college hockey romances, NHL romances, fake-dating romances, enemies-to-lovers hockey books, emotional sports romances, queer hockey romances, and books with enough spice to melt the ice entirely.
If you want the easiest transition from Elle Kennedy, start with The Graham Effect.
If you want a completely new hockey romance series, try Icebreaker, Collide, or Consider Me.
And if you somehow haven’t actually finished the original Briar crew yet, head back to my Off-Campus Series Books in Order guide and start with The Deal.
You may want to clear your reading schedule first.
