Sports romances have never been hotter and one of the most fun series out there is the Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly.
Reilly originally self-published these before they were picked up by Avon. Since then, the books have been re-releasing and honestly, it's been an utter delight to dive into this series and fall in love with the Callahan family.
Sadly, Reilly shared on her website that the series is now complete with 4 books. The 4 books are as follows: First Down, Breakaway, Stealing Home, and Wicked Serve. Each book follows one of the Callahan siblings as they're getting their very own romance.
While I did enjoy all of these books and love them for making me feel less slumpy, it's always fun to go back and rank books after finishing them. In particular, this series has been so fun and steamy that I'm dying to talk about all of the books.
Let's rank the Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly.
4. Breakaway
Coming in at the #4 spot, I'm putting Breakaway. This is a romance between Cooper Callahan, the hockey-playing brother, and his coach's daughter, Penny. These two meet as Cooper is tasked with helping kids learn how to play hockey. At the time, Penny is looking to check off her sex bucket list and feel more confident in herself so they end up in a friends-with-benefits situation.
While this book was just as steamy and fun as the others, I didn't fall in love with it as I did the others. I did love seeing Cooper have a romance and watching Penny's growth as a character. Overall though, this felt like it suffered from second-book syndrome.
3. Stealing Home
Sliding into the #3 spot is Stealing Home. This is Sebastian's story and his romance with Penny's best friend: Mia. We've seen these two in the previous books and frankly, I never imagined they would end up getting together. However, that's what made this book as good as these two couldn't be more opposite but it just worked. Plus the chemistry they had was just undeniable.
While the other books tackle heavy topics, this one feels the heaviest as Mia is dealing with family expectations and trying to break the mold of who they know her as. Sebastian was adopted by the Callahan's after losing his parents and he's been dealing with some grief and trauma related to that but these two make it work. Once again, this isn't my favorite of the series, but it's still a good one.
2. Wicked Serve
Since this is a title I recently reviewed, I won't go into much detail about this. However, this one immediately went up a lot higher on my list. First is because we've all been waiting for Izzy's book and Grace Reilly did not disappoint. She focused so much on Izzy's character and gave her a believable romance.
Additionally, I think Nikolai was a good pick for her as I don't think she would've worked well with anyone else. While this book was another heavy read, Grace Reilly handled it all with care and made me even more excited to see what she does next.
1. First Down
Coming in at the top spot is none other than Book 1: First Down. Maybe it's because this book got me out of a slump or because I just love a football romance, but I adored this. This one follows James Callahan who is the big man on campus aka hotshot quarterback and it's following his relationship with Bex. These two agree to fake date as a way for him to pay back a favor to her and for her to keep her obnoxious ex-boyfriend away from her.
Eventually, the feelings between them became real and this book just stole my heart. This is another one I've reviewed and highly recommend for those craving some Taylor x Travis vibes as this one fits the bill. Plus we get to see these two grow in their relationship and become so much more in the next books so this one just holds a special place in my heart.
The entire Beyond the Play series by Grace Reilly is out now in paperback, audiobook, and ebook which is available via Kindle Unlimited.
How would you rank the Beyond the Play series? Let us know!