Books Like Pucking Around — 10 MFM Why Choose Hockey & Polyamorous Romance Reads (2026)
You finished Pucking Around in two sittings. You spent the next week emotionally compromised by Rachel Price and three Jacksonville Rays — the dental student who refuses to choose between Jake Compton, Caleb Sanderson, and Ilmari Kinnunen, the hockey players who refuse to make her choose, the why-choose architecture Emily Rath built that the trad-pub mainstream said wouldn’t work and 800,000 BookTok readers proved it would. You worked through Pucking Wild. You finished Pucking Sweet. Now the question becomes: what fills the one-woman-three-NHL-players shaped hole in your TBR until Rath drops the next Jacksonville Rays entry?
What makes Pucking Around land structurally isn’t the hockey. It’s the specific architecture: a heroine whose competence and ambition are the load-bearing identity element (Rachel is in dental school, not waiting around the rink), three love interests whose careful refusal to compete for her is the structural counterweight to every trad-pub MFM book that resolves the polycule by making one of them lose, Rath’s commitment to the why-choose ending the BookTok mainstream still tried to talk her out of, and the on-page heat that engages the polyamory the trad-pub mass-market shelf has been carefully not writing for forty years. The MFM why-choose shelf has more titles that hit that exact architecture — some Rath-adjacent, some indie KU that runs the polycule at heat ceilings the trad-pub side restrains.
Ten reads below: five trad-pub Emily Rath and Sara Cate MFM comps that anchor the BookTok why-choose shelf, then five indie KU MFM and polyamorous reads from Fractal Enigma — spread across three pen names hitting the hockey, contemporary western, F1, lakeside ménage, and best-friends-share-her architecture at the indie KU inferno register. The trad-pub picks are priced individually on Amazon; the indie picks are free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
What Makes a Great Pucking Around Readalike
The structural criteria that separate “book with a ménage scene” from “actually a great Pucking Around readalike”:
- A genuine why-choose ending — not a love triangle that resolves to one. The polycule has to stay. The whole architectural premise of Pucking Around is that the heroine doesn’t have to choose; books that pretend to be why-choose and then quietly eliminate one of the love interests at the end don’t count.
- A heroine with structural agency — Rachel is in dental school, has a career path, has a life that is structurally hers. The polycule fits around her professional architecture; she doesn’t reorganise her life around the men. The heroine has to be the load-bearing center, not the prize.
- Love interests who don’t compete with each other — Jake, Caleb, and Ilmari respect each other before they respect the situation. The MFM trope only lands when the men’s relationship to each other is structurally stable. Jealousy as a sustained engine kills the architecture.
- On-page polyamory work the architecture earns — not three solo scenes. The trope rewards the actual on-page work of multiple partners in the same room, the careful structural attention to who is touching whom, the heat that engages the architectural setup rather than working around it.
- A professional context the book takes seriously — the NHL schedule, the locker room politics, the architecture of being a professional athlete with public PR exposure. The why-choose dynamic has to fit alongside structural professional pressure, not float free of it.
Each pick below hits at least four of those five. The indie KU picks lift the on-page polyamory work past where the trad-pub MFM shelf calibrates.
5 Trad-Pub Books Like Pucking Around
The BookTok MFM why-choose shelf, ranked by how directly the comp lands on Pucking Around’s specific hockey-polycule architecture. Emily Rath built the Jacksonville Rays lane she defines across three series entries plus an older standalone; Sara Cate covers the Salacious Players’ Club MMF adjacency for readers who want the architecture in a different specific setting. All five available on Amazon at standard trad-pub pricing.
1. Pucking Around — Emily Rath
The book this list is anchored on, and the BookTok romance title that pulled an entire generation of readers into the MFM why-choose hockey lane. Rachel Price is a dental student in Jacksonville with a part-time job working sports medicine for the NHL Rays; the architectural cost of being structurally close to the team is the casual hockey-locker-room attention she has spent two seasons carefully ignoring. Then Jake Compton, Caleb Sanderson, and Ilmari Kinnunen make it impossible to keep ignoring — together, separately, and in combinations Rachel did not believe were structurally available to her. The engine of the book is the gap between Rachel’s careful professional composure and the recognition that the three men are not asking her to choose because they have already decided structurally that she doesn’t have to.
If you’ve somehow landed on this list without having read Pucking Around yet, you’re in the rare position of having Rath’s foundational MFM why-choose hockey romance still in front of you. Read this first; the rest of the list waits. Commit to the entire Jacksonville Rays series — Pucking Wild, Pucking Sweet, and the volumes that continue the arc — for the full architectural payoff. Get Pucking Around on Amazon →
2. Pucking Wild — Emily Rath
Jacksonville Rays Book Two and the catalog entry that runs the why-choose architecture through a different specific dynamic — the one-night bachelor party hookup who discovers the man she spent the night with is her new boss’s brother and the captain of the team her brother just got traded to. Rath runs the structural-prohibition architecture through Tess Tessmacher’s professional positioning, the locker-room politics, and the slow corruption of “this can never happen again” into the recognition that the structural setup she has spent her career building is the architecture that actually requires her to want what she wants.
Where Pucking Around runs the MFM architecture through Rachel’s dental school + three players configuration, Pucking Wild runs it through Tess’s professional-PR + the Jacksonville Rays’ two structurally-opposed brothers + Vodka-Soda Lukas configuration. Same Rath voice, same upper-mainstream BookTok heat calibration, the architectural patience the why-choose trope rewards across a different specific Rays roster. Get Pucking Wild on Amazon →
3. Pucking Sweet — Emily Rath
Jacksonville Rays Book Three and Rath’s pivot into the captain-focused entry that the series has been structurally building toward across two volumes. The dynamic shifts from the player-heavy MFM configurations of the first two books into a different specific architectural setup — the captain whose decade-long professional composure is the structural cover, the woman whose attention requires him to confront the architecture he has spent his entire career building, and the recognition that the polycule the rest of the team has been structurally maintaining around them might require him to surrender control he has never been asked to surrender.
Pucking Sweet runs the captain-focused why-choose architecture at the same upper-mainstream Rath calibration with the structural professional-stakes engine the Jacksonville Rays series has been building. For Pucking Around readers who finished the first two books and want the captain’s structural arc as the next reading commitment. Get Pucking Sweet on Amazon →
4. Mile High — Emily Rath
Rath’s older standalone MFM and the catalog entry that runs the why-choose architecture outside the Jacksonville Rays universe entirely. Three pilots crew a private flight. One flight attendant has spent the last six months carefully not looking too closely at any of them. The structural engine of the book is the gap between Caroline’s careful professional composure across thirty-six months of crew rotations and the three men whose attention requires her to confront the question of whether the architecture of being professionally invisible is the only available shape of her career.
Where Pucking Around runs the why-choose architecture through professional hockey, Mile High runs it through the airline crew configuration with the structural-professional-cost-of-public-architecture engine the trope rewards. Same Rath voice, same upper-mainstream heat calibration, the catalog’s pre-Rays standalone for readers who want Rath’s polycule architecture outside the NHL setting. Get Mile High on Amazon →
5. The Foxe & The Hound — Sara Cate
The cross-author entry. Sara Cate’s Salacious Players’ Club series runs the MMF architecture through a kink club setting with the structural-professional-ethics engine the trad-pub mass-market mainstream MFM shelf doesn’t ship. The Foxe & The Hound is the entry that maps closest to Pucking Around for readers who want the polycule outside the hockey-roster setup — the architecture is the same (one woman, two men, structural commitment from all three), but the specific configuration runs through a kink club + best-friends-share-her dynamic that Cate writes at the upper-mainstream trad-pub heat ceiling.
The Salacious Players’ Club series continues across multiple volumes with different MMF configurations for readers who want to commit to the lane. Heat at upper-mainstream Cate calibration; for Pucking Around readers who want the why-choose architecture in a different specific setting and the cross-author commitment Cate’s catalog enables. Get The Foxe & The Hound on Amazon →
Where Indie KU Lifts the MFM Why Choose Heat Ceiling
The trad-pub MFM why-choose shelf above is calibrated to the BookTok upper-mainstream register. Emily Rath runs the polycule architecture carefully — the why-choose is structurally committed but the on-page polyamory work is calibrated to let the architectural setup lead, and the door closes deliberately at the structural pivot points the trad-pub mass-market MFM shelf has been calibrated for. Sara Cate runs the same upper-mainstream calibration in a kink-club setting. The dynamics are real, the polycule is structurally intact, the architectural patience is the load-bearing work.
The indie Kindle Unlimited MFM shelf doesn’t have those constraints. The why-choose architecture stays load-bearing, the polycule stays structurally committed, but the on-page polyamory work engages the heat the architectural setup has earned. The Vegas hockey-roster MFM with all three players actually in the same room. The lakeside ménage with the architectural patience to put the careful slow corruption of mutual non-involvement on the page. The contemporary western with the bi-awakening and the rancher and the agricultural appraiser and the blizzard. The F1 MFM with the racing-team architecture as the structural cover. The best-friends-share-her with the on-page work the trad-pub mass-market mainstream MFM shelf doesn’t ship.
Five indie KU MFM and polyamorous reads below, from three different Fractal Enigma pen names, hitting the hockey, contemporary western, F1, lakeside ménage, and best-friends-share-her architecture at the indie KU inferno register. All five free with Kindle Unlimited; the individual book page for each title lists current retailers and content warnings.
5 Indie KU MFM Reads from Fractal Enigma
6. Pucking Around in Sin City — Chase Power (MFM Vegas Hockey)
The closest direct comp to Pucking Around’s specific MFM-hockey-three-NHL-players architecture on this list. Las Vegas bachelorette weekend. A bride-to-be whose fiancé just structurally failed every architectural test their five-year engagement has been running. Three Vegas Vipers NHL players in the hotel lobby who recognise her professional unraveling at exactly the moment she has structurally given up on the architecture of her engagement. The structural engine of the book is the gap between the heroine’s careful five-year acceptance of the wrong life and the three players whose attention requires her to confront the question of whether the architecture she has been performing is the only available shape of what she wants.
Where Pucking Around runs the MFM-hockey architecture through Rachel’s dental school + Jacksonville Rays configuration, Pucking Around in Sin City runs the same architecture through the bachelorette-party + Vegas Vipers configuration with the on-page polyamory work the trad-pub Rath calibration restrains. Chase Power writes the MFM dynamic at the indie KU inferno register — the praise kink, size difference, dirty talk, and voyeurism dynamics the trope’s structural setup invites. For Pucking Around readers who want the same MFM-hockey architecture with the heat ceiling lifted past trad-pub upper-mainstream. Read chapter one free →
7. The Shared Foundation — Rowan Black (MFM Lakeside Ménage)
The patient architectural-MFM entry. Two men who have been best friends for fifteen years; one woman who has structurally been the architectural counterweight to both of their lives for the same fifteen years. The lake house is the structural setting. The summer is the structural engine. The slow corruption of “we have always known” into “we have to actually do this now” is the load-bearing work. Rowan Black writes the patient MFM architecture at the indie KU inferno register — the careful on-page polyamory work the architectural setup earns across the entire summer, the structural commitment from all three protagonists, the why-choose ending that doesn’t compromise the polycule.
Where Pucking Around runs the MFM architecture through the hockey-roster + dental-school setup, The Shared Foundation runs the same architecture through the long-friendship + lakeside-summer configuration with the structural patience the trope demands. For Pucking Around readers who came for the patient why-choose architecture and want the indie KU lakeside variant at inferno heat. Read chapter one free →
8. Whispering Pines — Rowan Black (MMF Western Bi Awakening)
The contemporary western MMF variant and the structural inversion of the urban MFM lane for Pucking Around readers who want the architecture in a completely different setting. She is an agricultural appraiser sent to evaluate a contested Montana ranch in the dead of winter. He is the rancher with fifteen years of carefully-not-looking-at his best friend who came to the ranch to say goodbye to the man he has loved for the entire architectural duration of their friendship. The blizzard seals them in together. The structural engine of the book is the gap between three people’s careful adult composure and the architectural impossibility of three days in a ranch house with the rancher whose bi awakening is the structural load-bearing work.
Whispering Pines runs the MMF + bi-awakening + snowed-in + forced-proximity architecture at the indie KU inferno register — the on-page polyamory work the trad-pub MFM mass-market shelf doesn’t ship, the careful slow corruption of mutual non-involvement into the structural commitment all three of them have been refusing to look at directly. For Pucking Around readers who came for the architectural-MFM engine and want the contemporary western bi-awakening variant. Read chapter one free →
9. Built to Hold You Both — Isla Wilde (MFM Best Friends Share Her)
The best-friends-share-her variant and the recommendation for Pucking Around readers who came for the architectural-commitment-from-all-three-protagonists engine and want the contractor + renovation + long-friendship variant. Two contractors who have been best friends since the apprenticeship that taught them the trade. One woman whose renovation project pulls both of them into the structural orbit of her old house, her old life, and the architecture she has been quietly refusing to confront for the better part of a decade. The engine of the book is the gap between her careful adult composure and the recognition that the two men have spent the entire summer structurally committing to her, separately and together, in ways the trade-school architecture neither of them planned to occupy.
Where Pucking Around runs the MFM architecture through the hockey-roster + Rachel configuration, Built to Hold You Both runs the same architecture through the contractor + renovation + best-friends-share-her configuration with the structural-trade-school + long-friendship engine the trope rewards. Isla Wilde writes the MFM dynamic at the indie KU inferno register. For Pucking Around readers who want the why-choose architecture in a blue-collar setting with the heat ceiling lifted. Read chapter one free →
10. Boxed In — Isla Wilde (MFM F1 Racing)
The F1 MFM entry and the recommendation for Pucking Around readers who want the why-choose architecture in a different specific pro-sports setting. F1 motorhome paddock. One driver, one engineer, one mechanic. The architectural cost of being structurally close to the team is the careful professional positioning all four protagonists have been performing across the entire race calendar. The structural engine of the book is the gap between the heroine’s careful career composure and the recognition that the three men have been quietly arranging the entire architecture of the paddock around her for the better part of a season.
Where Pucking Around runs the MFM architecture through Jacksonville Rays hockey, Boxed In runs the same architecture through F1 racing with the structural-paddock + race-calendar engine the trope rewards. Isla Wilde writes the F1 MFM dynamic at the indie KU inferno register — the on-page polyamory work the trad-pub mass-market MFM shelf doesn’t ship even in the currently-hot F1 romance lane. For Pucking Around readers who came for the pro-sports MFM architecture and want the F1 variant. Read chapter one free →
Frequently Asked Questions
What book is most like Pucking Around?
For trad-pub: Pucking Wild by Emily Rath is the structural sequel and the closest direct successor — same Jacksonville Rays universe, different specific MFM configuration. Outside Rath’s catalog: The Foxe & The Hound by Sara Cate (Salacious Players’ Club MMF) is the closest cross-author comp. For indie KU at the inferno register: Pucking Around in Sin City by Chase Power runs the closest structural comp — MFM-Vegas-hockey-three-NHL-players architecture at the heat ceiling the trad-pub Rath register restrains.
Is Pucking Around on Kindle Unlimited?
Emily Rath’s Jacksonville Rays catalog (Pucking Around, Pucking Wild, Pucking Sweet, plus the wider series) is generally NOT on Kindle Unlimited — these are trad-pub Sourcebooks releases at standard pricing. Sara Cate’s Salacious Players’ Club series is also generally not on KU. The five indie KU picks from Fractal Enigma above (Pucking Around in Sin City, The Shared Foundation, Whispering Pines, Built to Hold You Both, Boxed In) are all free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.
What’s the right order to read Emily Rath’s Jacksonville Rays series?
The Jacksonville Rays series reads in order: Pucking Around, Pucking Wild, Pucking Sweet, with additional volumes continuing the arc. Each book follows a different specific MFM configuration inside the same Jacksonville Rays universe, with characters from earlier books appearing as supporting cast in later volumes. New readers should start with Pucking Around (book one); the series rewards reading in order for the architectural payoff across the roster.
Are there spicier books like Pucking Around?
Rath’s heat ceiling sits at upper-mainstream BookTok — the architectural patience is doing the structural work, and the on-page polyamory is calibrated to let the architectural setup lead. Readers who want the same MFM why-choose architecture with the heat ceiling lifted past the trad-pub mass-market level should look indie KU. Pucking Around in Sin City by Chase Power (MFM Vegas hockey, inferno), Whispering Pines by Rowan Black (MMF western bi-awakening, inferno), and Built to Hold You Both by Isla Wilde (MFM best-friends-share-her, inferno) all run the polyamory architecture at on-page registers the trad-pub MFM shelf restrains.
Does Pucking Around have a why-choose ending?
Yes. Pucking Around’s ending is a genuine why-choose HEA — Rachel doesn’t choose between Jake, Caleb, and Ilmari; the polycule stays. This is the structural commitment that distinguishes Pucking Around from love-triangle MF books that pretend to be why-choose and then quietly eliminate one of the love interests at the end. All five Fractal Enigma indie KU picks above are also genuine why-choose HEAs with the polycule structurally intact at the end of each book.
Where do Pucking Around readers go next?
For trad-pub: working through the rest of the Jacksonville Rays series (Pucking Wild, Pucking Sweet, and the volumes that continue the arc) plus Rath’s older standalone MFM (Mile High) covers the catalog. Sara Cate’s Salacious Players’ Club series is the closest cross-author trad-pub MMF commitment. For indie KU at the inferno register: Chase Power‘s MM and MFM hockey catalog (Pucking Around in Sin City), Rowan Black‘s MFM catalog (The Shared Foundation, Whispering Pines), and Isla Wilde‘s MFM catalog (Built to Hold You Both, Boxed In, Close Quarters) are the closest indie comps.
This post contains Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Fractal Enigma earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. The five Fractal Enigma titles link to their book pages on this site where you can read the first chapter free.
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