Elle Kennedy Books in Order: Off-Campus, Briar U & Campus Diaries (2026)
If you’re searching for Elle Kennedy books in order, odds are you just met Garrett Graham and Hannah Wells, on the page or on Prime Video, and you need the rest of Briar immediately. Good news: there’s a lot of it. Kennedy’s college hockey world runs across three connected series, Off-Campus, Briar U and Campus Diaries, plus an MM duology co-written with Sarina Bowen and a beach-town series that trades the rink for the sand.
Below is the complete reading order with a spoiler-free hook for every book, a quick read on each series’ vibe and heat, the latest on the Off Campus show and a shelf of hotter picks for when you run out of Briar.
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Elle Kennedy Books in Order: Where to Start
Start with The Deal. It’s book one of Off-Campus, it’s the story season one of Off Campus adapts and it’s still the best introduction to Kennedy’s voice: banter first, feelings second, then both at once.
From there, read the three Briar series in publication order: Off-Campus (five books), Briar U (four) and Campus Diaries (three). Him and Us, the duology Kennedy wrote with Sarina Bowen, sits outside the Briar world, so slot it in whenever you want an MM detour. Avalon Bay is a separate series entirely.
The Off-Campus Series in Order
- The Deal (2015): Music major Hannah Wells agrees to tutor Briar’s star hockey player Garrett Graham if he’ll pose as her date and help her catch another guy’s eye. Fake date, very real problem.
- The Mistake (2015): Garrett’s teammate John Logan gets one shot with freshman Grace Ivers and blows it. Winning her back takes the whole book.
- The Score (2016): Briar’s resident playboy, Dean Di Laurentis, and Hannah’s best friend, Allie Hayes, try to keep a post-breakup fling casual. They’re also the couple at the center of the show’s second season.
- The Goal (2016): Laid-back John Tucker and fiercely ambitious Sabrina James find out that a no-strings fling can come with life-changing strings.
- The Legacy (2018): A return trip to all four Off-Campus couples a few years down the road. Save it for last.
Off-Campus is Kennedy at her most bingeable. Garrett, Logan, Dean and Tucker share a house, a team and zero boundaries, and each book hands the mic to a different couple while the rest of the crew heckles from the sidelines. Expect dual POV, fake dating, a second chance and friends with benefits, with open-door scenes that land around 3 out of 5 on the chili scale. If you’re reading Elle Kennedy books in order, this is the series everything else builds on, and if The Deal hooked you, our list of books like The Deal has more fake-tutoring hockey reads.
The Briar U Series in Order
- The Chase (2019): Dean’s fashion-loving little sister, Summer Di Laurentis, moves into a house full of hockey players and straight into a standoff with quiet, tattooed Colin Fitzgerald.
- The Risk (2019): Brenna Jensen, daughter of Briar’s hockey coach, gets tangled up with Jake Connelly, captain of rival Harvard.
- The Play (2019): Briar captain Hunter Davenport swears off sex for the season, then meets Demi Davis, who makes the vow very hard to keep.
- The Dare (2020): A sorority dare sends Taylor Marsh after hockey player Conor Edwards, Briar’s resident charmer, and the dare turns into something neither of them planned.
Briar U picks up after the original crew graduates, with a new generation of players, a few familiar faces and bigger tropes to match: a rival captain, a celibacy vow and a dare. The tone stays warm and funny, and the heat holds steady at open door. Read them in order, because the friend group carries over from book to book.
Campus Diaries in Order
- The Graham Effect: Gigi Graham, Garrett and Hannah’s hockey-playing daughter, is chasing a spot on Team USA and strikes a bargain with Luke Ryder, the brooding captain of a rival program forced to merge with Briar’s.
- The Dixon Rule: Book two keeps the next generation in the spotlight with a brand-new Briar couple.
- The Charlie Method: Book three adds another next-generation romance to the Campus Diaries shelf.
Campus Diaries brings a new generation to Briar, led by Garrett and Hannah’s daughter, and it’s a treat for longtime readers: a famous last name, legacy pressure and parents who used to be the leads. Each book stands on its own, but you’ll catch more of the in-jokes if you’ve read Off-Campus first. Our guide to books like The Graham Effect has ten rival-athlete reads for after.
Him and Us With Sarina Bowen
- Him (2015): Ryan Wesley and Jamie Canning were best friends at hockey camp until one night ended the friendship. Years later they spend a summer coaching at that same camp, and Wes has been in love with Jamie the whole time.
- Us (2016): Wes and Jamie try to make a real relationship work through Wes’s rookie NHL season in Toronto.
Him and Us live outside the Briar world, and they’re the place to go if you want Kennedy’s hockey banter in an MM romance. Him is a friends-to-lovers slow burn with a bi awakening and real heat; Us is the cozier sequel about building a life together when one of you plays in the NHL. Our list of books like Him has six MM hockey and jock-awakening romances in the same key.
Avalon Bay in Order
Want Kennedy without the hockey? Avalon Bay is her beach-town series, a separate world from Briar where rich college students and the locals don’t mix. Read the three books in order:
- Good Girl Complex: A rich college girl and a local with every reason to resent her kind kick off the series.
- Bad Girl Reputation: Book two stays in Avalon Bay with a new couple.
- The Summer Girl: Book three brings one more summer romance to the beach town.
Off Campus on Prime Video and What’s Next
Prime Video’s Off Campus brought The Deal to the screen in season one, and season two will center Dean and Allie, the couple from The Score. That makes book three your head start on the next season. Our guide to what to read after Off Campus has the full post-show TBR.
One fun crossover: Off Campus cast member Josh Heuston is also set to star in the film adaptation of Lauren Asher’s Throttled. If you like reading the book before the screen version arrives, our Lauren Asher books in order guide covers Dirty Air and everything after it.
Finished every Briar book? Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker is the natural next college hockey read, and Wildfire continues her Maple Hills series with a summer-camp twist. Our list of books like Wildfire picks up from there.
Read Next: Hotter Picks From Fractal Enigma
Kennedy keeps the door open and the heat measured. If you want the same campus loyalty, locker-room banter and team-house chaos with the dial turned up, these Fractal Enigma reads pick up where Briar leaves off. Three stay on campus, and the rest take hockey romance into the pros and the rec league across MF, MM and sapphic pairings.
The Blurred Playbook — Rowan Black
Blackwood hockey player Jax Donovan has one job before draft day: stay eligible and stay out of trouble. Instead he’s failing Econ and has just punched a rival player in front of the media. Analytics genius Sadie Sinclair, the coach’s niece, offers a deal: she tutors him and they fake-date in public to fix his image, no feelings allowed. If The Deal is your comfort read, this is its hotter cousin. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Heat: Scorching 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Fake Dating, Tutor Romance, Grumpy/Sunshine, Dyslexia Rep, Coach’s Niece
Start reading The Blurred Playbook →
The Rebound Rule — Rowan Black
Margot has a plan: graduate top of her class, get into a PhD program and never let a man distract her. Then one party, one unforgettable night and one note on a pillow later, her new job as an athletic tutor hands her the exact basketball player she swore she’d never see again. Cam is one bad grade from losing his scholarship and his NBA shot, and the library stacks get very quiet. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Heat: Scorching 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: One Night Stand, Tutor Romance, Golden Retriever Hero, Opposites Attract, STEM Heroine
Start reading The Rebound Rule →
Chill & Drill — Rowan Black
Falconer University shooting guard Ty Maddox is four months from the NBA draft and suddenly can’t sink a shot. Lane Vance, the team’s lead video analyst, has spent three years watching him from the booth and spots the flaw nobody else can see. Their private film sessions break a zero-tolerance rule that could cost them both everything. It’s the pick for Him and Us fans who want MM college sports with the door wide open.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Forbidden Romance, Secret Relationship, Competence Kink, Forced Proximity, Hurt/Comfort, Praise Kink, He Falls First
Overtime Minutes — Chase Power
NHL captain Marcus Vale keeps everything locked down, his career and his heart included. Rookie Theo Cross walks into his locker room and refuses to look away, and after a brutal overtime loss and an almost-kiss in the dark, they make a deal: overtime only, after hours, when nobody’s watching. The rule was never going to hold. Free with Kindle Unlimited.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Teammates to Lovers, Captain/Rookie, Forced Proximity, Slow Burn, Touch Starved, Grumpy/Sunshine, Only Soft For You, Praise Kink
Start reading Overtime Minutes →
Power Play, Pretty Girl — Aurora North
Traded to Seattle at the deadline, Sarah Patterson loses her sublet on her first night, and her new captain, six-time All-Star Jamie Chen, has a spare room. It’s only six weeks. Then one early morning over two cups of coffee, Sarah looks across the kitchen island at her captain and realizes she has been asleep for twenty-six years. A slow-burn sapphic awakening for anyone who loved Gigi Graham’s drive and wants women’s hockey at full heat.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Bi-Awakening, Forced Proximity, Captain/Teammate, Praise Kink, Slow Burn, Only One Bed, Coming Out, Found Family
Start reading Power Play, Pretty Girl →
Hockey Season Homewreckers — Chase Power
Cocky forward Theo Kline and calm, devastating defenseman Jasper Okafor play on the same fall rec-league team and swear their post-game hookups won’t touch the hockey. Then jealousy over shifts and goals spills onto the ice, their teammates notice and the coach issues an ultimatum. It’s the Off-Campus hockey-house energy all grown up, with a found family that refuses to let them self-destruct.
Heat: Inferno 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Tropes: Teammates to Lovers, Friends with Benefits, Rivals on Same Team, Found Family, Forced Proximity, Secret Relationship, Coming Out, Locker Room Tension
Start reading Hockey Season Homewreckers →
FAQ: Elle Kennedy Reading Order
Where should I start with Elle Kennedy?
Start with The Deal, the first Off-Campus book. It introduces Briar University, the hockey team and the friend group the next two series build on, and it’s the story season one of Off Campus adapts.
What order should I read the Briar books in?
Read Off-Campus first (The Deal, The Mistake, The Score, The Goal and The Legacy), then Briar U (The Chase, The Risk, The Play and The Dare), then Campus Diaries (The Graham Effect, The Dixon Rule and The Charlie Method). That’s the full list of Elle Kennedy books in order for the Briar world. Him and Us can go anywhere in the queue.
Can you read Elle Kennedy’s books as standalones?
Yes. Each book follows its own couple to a happy ending, so there are no cliffhangers to worry about. Reading in order still pays off, because the cameos and running jokes build, and The Legacy only works once you know all four Off-Campus couples.
How spicy are Elle Kennedy’s books?
They’re open door, landing around 3 out of 5 on our chili scale, with the banter and friendships doing as much work as the bedroom scenes. Our romance spice levels guide explains how we rate heat, and every Fractal Enigma pick above runs hotter, from Scorching to Inferno.
What’s next for Off Campus?
Season two of Prime Video’s Off Campus will center Dean and Allie, so The Score is the book to read next if you want their story before the show gets there.
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