Brigham Vaughn writes LGBTQ+ romance across professional sports, small-town kink, contemporary relationships, paranormal stories, and shared-world holiday series. The largest section of the bibliography is a connected sports universe that stretches from college athletes in the Midwest series to several generations of professional hockey players.
The books are usually written as interconnected standalones. Each central relationship receives a resolution, but later novels revisit teammates, relatives, former lead couples, and events from earlier series.
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That creates two valid ways to read Brigham Vaughn. Readers can begin with the first book of any named series, or they can follow the larger sports continuity from its earliest characters onward.
The Most Important Reading Order
Brigham Vaughn’s official guidance for the core hockey novels is:
- Rules of the Game
- Relationship Goals
- Scoring Chances
The Midwest books occur years earlier and introduce characters who later appear in the hockey world. They are useful background, but they are not required.
The Naughty in Pendleton and Poly in Pendleton books also share this broader universe. Their characters occasionally cross into the sports romances, although their primary focus is small-town kink rather than professional athletics.
For the most complete experience, begin with Bully & Exit. For a direct entry into professional hockey, begin with Road Rules.
Quick Starting Points
- Best complete-universe starting point: Bully & Exit
- Best hockey starting point: Road Rules
- Best small-town kink starting point: Date in a Pinch
- Best recent hockey starting point: Goaltender Interference
- Best co-written series starting point: Wake
- Best standalone starting point: The Ghosts Between Us
The only series that functions as a strict continuing duet is Tidal. Read Wake before Calm.
The Connected Sports Universe in Order
Brigham Vaughn’s sports universe covers several periods and locations. The Midwest novels take place earliest. Rules of the Game then establishes the principal professional hockey continuity, followed by Relationship Goals and Scoring Chances.
A full continuity-first route is:
- The Midwest series
- Naughty in Pendleton and Poly in Pendleton, optional connected branches
- Rules of the Game
- Relationship Goals
- Scoring Chances
Christmas Falls stories can be added separately. They belong to a multi-author holiday setting rather than the principal sports sequence.
The Midwest Books in Order
The Midwest series begins with characters at the end of their college years and follows their friendships into professional life. Sports matter throughout the series, although the first two novels emphasize personal relationships more than competition.
1. Bully & Exit
Bully & Exit (2015): Former college hockey player Nathan reconnects with Caleb, his high school boyfriend, forcing both men to face the bullying, separation, and unfinished feelings that shaped their earlier relationship.
The book introduces the friendship group that later connects with Vaughn’s professional sports universe.
2. Push & Pull
Push & Pull (2016): Former hockey player Brent and fashion-conscious Lowell are sent on an unexpected road trip, where clashing personalities and mutual attraction challenge their assumptions about each other.
Nathan and Caleb remain part of the wider group, so the second book works best after Bully & Exit.
3. Touch & Go
Touch & Go (2019): Injured minor-league baseball player Micah moves in with physical therapist Justin, creating a forced-proximity romance where rehabilitation brings old emotional wounds to the surface.
This installment shifts the series closer to professional sports while continuing the friendships established in the first two books.
4. Advance & Retreat
Advance & Retreat (2020): Competitive swimmer Ian becomes fascinated by Ricky, a hotel manager who performs as a drag queen, bringing athletic ambition, identity, and opposing lifestyles into the final main romance.
The book closes the numbered Midwest sequence while retaining the established social group.
Midwest Bonus Stories
Stairwell Kisses & Umbrellas (collection bonus): Nathan and Caleb receive an additional scene connected to Bully & Exit.
Beer & Lederhosen (collection bonus): Brent and Lowell return for a relationship update following Push & Pull.
Blue Moon & Raspberry Kisses (collection bonus): Micah and Justin receive an extra story linked to Touch & Go.
Tuck & Roll (collection bonus): Ian and Ricky return after Advance & Retreat.
Photographs & Coffee Dates (collection bonus): Irving and Ray take the focus in a shorter relationship story within the Midwest circle.
Pucks & Champions (collection bonus): Characters from the sports-connected group return for an additional athletic and relationship scene.
Road Trips & Swim Meets (collection bonus): The Midwest friends reconnect through travel and Ian’s competitive swimming world.
S’mores & Skinny Dipping (collection bonus): A group trip provides a lighter follow-up to the principal Midwest romances.
Pride & Annoyance (collection bonus): Familiar characters appear in a Pride-centered story mixing celebration with personal friction.
These extras are optional and are primarily available through complete-series collections or author bundles.
Naughty in Pendleton Books in Order
Naughty in Pendleton is set in Pendleton Bay, a fictional Michigan town with an active kink community beneath its quiet exterior.
The novels change lead relationships and can be read individually. Publication order is still useful because friendships, businesses, and established dynamics continue across the town.
1. Date in a Pinch
Date in a Pinch (2021): Inexperienced submissive Neil asks teacher Alexander to pose as his date, beginning a relationship that introduces Pendleton Bay and its consensual dominant-submissive community.
This is the safest starting point for Brigham Vaughn’s small-town kink romances.
2. Embracing His Shame
Embracing His Shame (2021): Jarod and Forrest explore a relationship built around trust, shame kink, and emotional honesty, while the Pendleton community provides support beyond their private dynamic.
The book changes couples but assumes readers are increasingly familiar with the town’s social network.
3. Made to Order
Made to Order (2021): Demanding chef Donovan and former soldier Tyler discover that taking and giving control can meet needs neither man has been able to explain outside a negotiated relationship.
The romance includes a more intense kink dynamic and expands characters introduced around the earlier Pendleton books.
4. Flipping the Switch
Flipping the Switch (2021): Logan, Tony, and Jude form a three-man relationship while working through different needs for control, submission, reassurance, and commitment.
This is a polyamorous romance and should not be mistaken for another two-person couple story.
5. Preston’s Christmas Escape
Preston’s Christmas Escape (2022): Preston returns to the Pendleton world during the holidays and reconnects with Blake, bringing an earlier relationship and long-held feelings into a Christmas second chance.
Preston and Blake later make notable appearances in the broader sports universe.
Naughty in Pendleton Bonus Stories
The Christmas Date (bonus story): Neil and Alexander attend a school holiday event two and a half years after Date in a Pinch, showing how their relationship and kink dynamic have developed.
Showered with Love (bonus story): Jarod and Forrest return several months after Embracing His Shame for a private relationship update.
Showing His Strength (bonus story): Tyler and Donovan revisit their dynamic after Made to Order.
The First Time (bonus prequel): Preston and Blake’s first intimate experience takes place roughly a decade before Preston’s Christmas Escape.
Read each bonus after its associated novel unless it is clearly labeled as a prequel.
Poly in Pendleton Books in Order
Poly in Pendleton shares the same small-town setting as Naughty in Pendleton but focuses specifically on polyamorous relationships.
Three Shots
Three Shots (2021): Reeve, Grant, and Rachael negotiate attraction, jealousy, and belonging as a developing three-person relationship tests what each of them expects from commitment.
The romance is connected to Pendleton Bay but does not require completion of every Naughty in Pendleton book.
Rules of the Game Books in Order
Rules of the Game establishes the main professional hockey continuity. Its players come from the Evanston River Otters and Toronto Fisher Cats, with trades, teammates, coaches, and family relationships carrying from book to book.
Each novel follows a different couple. Read them in order to preserve team changes and established relationship outcomes.
1. Road Rules
Road Rules (2023): Evanston River Otters captain Zane and his best friend Ryan begin a secret road-only arrangement that forces Zane to reconsider his sexuality and the limits of their friendship.
The story originally existed in a shorter form before being expanded into a full novel. The current edition is the correct opening of the series.
2. Bending the Rules
Bending the Rules (2022): Toronto Fisher Cats player Noah and Simon become involved while career pressure, personal expectations, and the rules surrounding professional hockey complicate their connection.
Although its original release preceded the expanded version of Road Rules, the official story order places it second.
3. Changing the Rules
Changing the Rules (2022): Gabriel and Lance face the personal and professional fallout of attraction within the interconnected hockey community, where reputation and team loyalty can influence every private decision.
The book returns attention to the Evanston River Otters and introduces figures who matter in later series.
4. Unwritten Rules
Unwritten Rules (2022): A new hockey couple confronts expectations that were never formally stated but still govern teammates, families, careers, and public relationships.
Earlier players return, making the established sports continuity increasingly important.
5. Rules of Engagement
Rules of Engagement (2022): Anders and Kelly must decide whether their relationship can survive the demands of professional hockey and a future neither can approach casually.
The book moves the series toward its final team and relationship developments.
6. Breaking the Rules
Breaking the Rules (2022): Injured player Trevor becomes involved with Wade, his older agent and a retired player raising a son, while a damaging discovery threatens both their careers and the Evanston organization.
This is the final full-length Rules of the Game novel and completes the main arc involving the River Otters and Fisher Cats.
Rules of the Game Novella
Snowball’s Chance (publication year varies by edition): Shane Hurst and Noel Sutton receive a holiday romance set after the conclusion of the main Rules of the Game series.
The novella introduces a new couple but assumes the professional hockey world is already established.
Rules of the Game Bonus Scenes
Bro-Friends (bonus story): Ryan and Zane appear during the events of Road Rules.
Morning (bonus story): Another quiet relationship moment takes place during Road Rules.
Snowball Fight (bonus story): Zane and Ryan celebrate their first Christmas after the main novel.
Snowy Cabin (bonus story): Noah and Simon return roughly one year after Bending the Rules.
The Christmas Market (bonus story): Gabriel and Lance appear one year after Changing the Rules.
Negative Space (bonus story): Anders and Kelly receive an emotional update during the season following Rules of Engagement.
First Christmas (bonus story): Anders and Kelly spend their first December together after their main book.
The Nightmare Before Christmas (bonus story): Trevor and Wade return during the Christmas following Breaking the Rules.
These extras enrich the couples’ lives but do not contain required series plot.
Relationship Goals Books in Order
Relationship Goals continues the same interconnected hockey universe. The series moves among players, staff, relatives, and people whose lives become tied to the Toronto Fisher Cats and related teams.
The main books follow different couples and provide complete endings.
0.5. What Happens in Vegas
What Happens in Vegas (2023): Dustin and Charlie share an intense encounter before the beginning of The Husband Game, establishing the history behind their later arrangement.
This prequel is optional. New readers can begin with the first full novel and read the novella afterward.
1. The Husband Game
The Husband Game (2023): Hockey player Dustin and Charlie enter a public or practical marriage arrangement that becomes increasingly real as their private feelings outgrow the original plan.
This is the proper full-length introduction to Relationship Goals.
2. The Head Game
The Head Game (2023): Defenseman Nico becomes involved with August after a serious incident places health, trust, and public scrutiny at the center of their relationship.
The book carries forward the Fisher Cats setting while changing central couples.
3. The Waiting Game
The Waiting Game (2024): Jonah and Felix face the pressures surrounding a highly visible engagement, where expectations from fans and the hockey community complicate decisions that should belong to the couple alone.
Returning characters make the broader series connections more noticeable by this point.
4. The Home Game
The Home Game (2024): Hockey player Matty and schoolteacher Antoni begin building an unexpectedly domestic relationship, forcing both men to reconsider what home and family could mean.
The book balances professional sports with parenting, education, and ordinary community life.
5. The Blame Game
The Blame Game (2024): Dominic and Shea become involved while blame, family history, and public attention threaten both their relationship and their positions within the hockey world.
This is the fifth confirmed Relationship Goals novel.
Relationship Goals Bonus Stories
Worry (bonus story): Nico and August receive an additional scene positioned between chapters twenty and twenty-one of The Head Game.
The Date (bonus story): Dom and Shea share a cut scene placed between chapters twenty-eight and twenty-nine of The Blame Game.
In Hiding (bonus story): Dom’s father, Kurt, returns home to his partner Robert during the events of The Blame Game.
Under the Burgundy Sun (bonus story): Dom reunites with his mother immediately after the ending of The Blame Game.
Santa Baby (bonus story): Dustin and Charlie receive a holiday scene set directly after The Husband Game.
The extras should be read after the associated novels, even when their internal placement occurs during the main story.
Scoring Chances Books in Order
Scoring Chances is the newest branch of Brigham Vaughn’s connected hockey universe. It follows players and staff associated with teams including the Boston Harriers.
The official sports reading order places Scoring Chances after Rules of the Game and Relationship Goals.
1. Goaltender Interference
Goaltender Interference (2025): Goaltender Connor O’Shea becomes involved with Jesse Webber, balancing professional hockey, parenting, and a relationship complicated by responsibilities beyond the rink.
This is a valid new-reader starting point, although established sports-universe characters appear.
2. Body Check
Body Check (2025): Boston Harriers general manager Gavin Racine becomes involved with Dakota, forcing him to handle a personal relationship while carrying the pressure of running a professional team.
The book expands the Harriers organization beyond the players on the ice.
3. Slew Foot
Slew Foot (2025): Rafael Moon falls for Mickey Krause despite professional tension and the risks created by attraction inside the tightly connected hockey world.
The romance combines contrasting personalities with the pressure of team loyalties.
4. Delayed Penalty
Delayed Penalty (2025): Ex-con Thad Racine begins rebuilding his life in the Harriers’ social-media department, then falls for assistant captain Graham Pennington despite a workplace rule that could cost him his new career.
Thad’s family connection to the team makes the romance especially important to the developing Harriers continuity.
5. Cheap Shot
Cheap Shot (2026): Harriers enforcer Luke Crawford becomes involved with Sebastian, the vintage-jersey-wearing fan who regularly taunts him from near the penalty box.
The book uses enemies-to-lovers tension, aromantic-spectrum representation, found family, and Luke’s effort to protect the quiet life he has built.
6. Game Misconduct
Game Misconduct (scheduled for August 7, 2026): Longtime rivals Tanner Clayton and Leif Rasmussen take their hostility off the ice, where years of arguments and unresolved attraction become impossible to separate.
As of August 4, 2026, the novel is confirmed but not yet released. It is scheduled to become Scoring Chances book six three days after this article’s update.
Scoring Chances Bonus Stories
The Bus Ride (bonus story): Connor’s son Nolan and his friend Kyler receive a scene set during Goaltender Interference.
The Shrine (bonus story): Connor and Jesse appear between the final chapter and epilogue of Goaltender Interference.
Kiss a Ginger Day (bonus story): Connor, Jesse, and the children return during the January after their main book.
The Dinner (bonus story): Gavin and Dakota receive a domestic scene after Body Check.
The Office (bonus story): Gavin and Dakota return for a private post-novel scene.
Heaven (bonus story): Rafe and Mickey receive an additional story immediately after the epilogue of Slew Foot.
Never Been Better (bonus story): Thad and Graham appear after Delayed Penalty, with Thad reflecting on the life and stability he has built.
The Wedding Date (bonus story): Graham takes Thad to his sister’s wedding during the later chapters of Delayed Penalty.
Love Me Tender (bonus story): Luke surprises Sebastian during the July after Cheap Shot.
Can’t Help Falling in Love (bonus story): Luke returns home to a surprise from Sebastian following Cheap Shot.
These are optional couple updates rather than numbered installments.
The Complete Hockey Reading Order
Readers who want only the central professional hockey novels should use this sequence:
- Road Rules (2023): Zane and Ryan begin the modern hockey continuity.
- Bending the Rules (2022): Noah and Simon expand the world to another team.
- Changing the Rules (2022): Gabriel and Lance continue the interconnected player network.
- Unwritten Rules (2022): Another couple confronts the expectations surrounding professional hockey.
- Rules of Engagement (2022): Anders and Kelly move the series toward its closing events.
- Breaking the Rules (2022): Trevor and Wade complete the original Rules of the Game arc.
- The Husband Game (2023): Dustin and Charlie begin Relationship Goals.
- The Head Game (2023): Nico and August take the lead.
- The Waiting Game (2024): Jonah and Felix face public attention around their engagement.
- The Home Game (2024): Matty and Antoni build an unexpected family life.
- The Blame Game (2024): Dominic and Shea close the current Relationship Goals sequence.
- Goaltender Interference (2025): Connor and Jesse introduce Scoring Chances.
- Body Check (2025): Gavin and Dakota expand the Boston Harriers organization.
- Slew Foot (2025): Rafe and Mickey take over the third romance.
- Delayed Penalty (2025): Thad and Graham risk their positions for a relationship.
- Cheap Shot (2026): Luke and Sebastian move from antagonism into intimacy.
- Game Misconduct (2026): Tanner and Leif turn their long rivalry into the sixth Scoring Chances romance.
The publication years appear out of sequence at the beginning because Road Rules was expanded and released after several books that occur later in the official story order.
Christmas Falls Books by Brigham Vaughn
Christmas Falls is a multi-author holiday setting. Brigham Vaughn contributed one novel to each of its first two seasons.
Scrooge You
Scrooge You (2023): A holiday romance brings a Christmas-resistant character into conflict with someone determined to embrace the season, using the shared town of Christmas Falls as the setting.
The book belongs to the first multi-author Christmas Falls season.
12 Dates of Christmas
12 Dates of Christmas (2024): A holiday dating arrangement unfolds across twelve seasonal encounters, where repeated proximity gives the central couple time to reconsider what began as a festive plan.
The book belongs to the second Christmas Falls season and has a separate featured couple.
The wider Christmas Falls books are written by different authors. Reading every contribution adds town context but is not required for Vaughn’s romances.
The Tidal Universe Books in Order
Brigham Vaughn co-wrote the Tidal universe with K. Evan Coles. It contains the two-part Tidal story followed by the four-book Speakeasy spin-off.
Read the Tidal duet first.
Tidal Duet Books in Order
1. Wake
Wake (2017): Riley confesses that he is bisexual and in love with his married friend Carter, causing a painful break that changes both men’s lives and begins a slow, complicated relationship arc.
The book does not provide the complete resolution. Continue into Calm.
2. Calm
Calm (2017): After Carter’s marriage ends, he and Riley attempt to rebuild their friendship while Carter confronts his attraction to men and Riley tries to protect himself from another rejection.
This volume completes the central Tidal relationship.
Speakeasy Books in Order
Speakeasy is a four-book spin-off from the Tidal universe. The books change couples but retain connected friends, family members, and New York settings.
1. With a Twist
With a Twist (2017): A bartender and a man carrying personal complications begin the first Speakeasy romance, where attraction develops through the intimate social world surrounding the bar.
2. Extra Dirty
Extra Dirty (2018): A new couple enters a relationship shaped by secrets, emotional risk, and the close connections established in the first Speakeasy book.
3. Behind the Stick
Behind the Stick (2019): A bartender’s professional role places him at the center of the third romance, where listening to everyone else’s problems does not prepare him to face his own.
4. Straight Up
Straight Up (2020): The final Speakeasy couple confronts attraction without the distractions and evasions that have protected them, closing the four-book spin-off.
Read these after Wake and Calm for the full Tidal-universe context.
The Peachtree Universe Books in Order
The Peachtree universe contains a trilogy following Russell Bishop and Stephen Parker, plus the connected standalone Trust the Connection.
The central trilogy follows the same couple and should remain in order.
1. Off-Balance
Off-Balance (2020): Marketing employee Russell slips into the life of wealthy chief financial officer Stephen, beginning a relationship complicated by money, independence, grief, and the unequal resources they bring to the partnership.
The novel is a substantially rewritten and expanded version of the earlier Equals and Partners novellas.
2. Love in the Balance
Love in the Balance (2020): Russell and Stephen continue building their relationship while family responsibilities and emotional strain test whether affection can survive the pressures around them.
This is a direct continuation rather than a new-couple standalone.
3. Full Balance
Full Balance (2021): Russell and Stephen confront the final decisions surrounding family, commitment, and the future they have been trying to build together.
The book completes the Peachtree trilogy.
Peachtree Place
Trust the Connection (2021): Evan and Jeremy receive a connected standalone romance set during roughly the same period as Love in the Balance.
Because its events overlap the trilogy, it can be read after Love in the Balance or after completing all three Russell and Stephen books.
Earlier Peachtree Editions
Equals (2014): Russell and Stephen’s relationship originally began in this shorter edition.
Partners (2015): The earlier second installment continued their developing partnership.
Family (2015): Russell and Stephen confronted family changes in the original serialized version of their story.
Husbands (2016): The initial four-part sequence concluded with a commitment-centered installment.
The later Peachtree editions rewrite, expand, and reorganize this material. Readers do not need both versions to follow the same couple’s core story.
Williamsville Inn Books by Brigham Vaughn
Williamsville Inn is a multi-author shared world created with Hank Edwards and other contributors. Brigham Vaughn’s books feature separate couples within the same inn-centered holiday setting.
Snowstorms and Second Chances
Snowstorms and Second Chances (2021): Severe winter weather traps former partners or people with unresolved history near the Williamsville Inn, giving them an unexpected opportunity to repair what went wrong.
The Cupcake Conundrum
The Cupcake Conundrum (2022): A baking problem and the community surrounding the inn bring a new couple together through small-town involvement, attraction, and competing plans.
These books can be read together without completing every Williamsville Inn novel by other authors.
Colors Books in Order
Colors is a separate two-book contemporary romance series.
1. A Brighter Palette
A Brighter Palette (2014): An artistically connected romance explores how grief, identity, and new affection can return color to a life that has become emotionally limited.
Some catalogs and older listings use the misspelling A Brighter Palatte. The current title is generally presented as A Brighter Palette.
2. The Greenest Isle
The Greenest Isle (2015): A second romance moves into a new setting and relationship while retaining the Colors series’ focus on emotional renewal and seeing life differently.
The two novels are connected thematically more than through one continuous couple.
Brigham Vaughn Standalone Books
Baby, It’s Cold Inside
Baby, It’s Cold Inside (2020): Winter forced proximity pushes two men together, turning an inconvenient seasonal situation into a relationship neither expected to pursue.
Bromantic Getaway
Bromantic Getaway (2022): Two friends take a trip intended to remain platonic, only for shared space and emotional intimacy to expose feelings that no longer fit the label of friendship.
Cabin Fever
Cabin Fever (2021): Isolation in a remote cabin intensifies attraction between characters who cannot rely on distance or routine to avoid their growing connection.
Corked
Corked (2018): Wine, travel, or a tasting-centered setting brings two men together while personal expectations complicate what initially appears to be a temporary encounter.
Hot Minutes, Halloween Edition
Hot Minutes, Halloween Edition (2021): A seasonal romance variety collection brings together short Halloween stories rather than adding a numbered novel to another series.
Inked in Blood
Inked in Blood (2019), written with K. Evan Coles: A darker paranormal romance connects tattoos, blood, danger, and attraction in a continuity separate from the contemporary Tidal books.
Seeking Warmth
Seeking Warmth (2015): A character searching for safety and human connection finds both through a relationship that develops from emotional need into genuine commitment.
The Ghosts Between Us
The Ghosts Between Us (2019): Chris returns to a place and relationship shadowed by grief, memory, and possible supernatural activity, creating a romance where emotional healing is inseparable from the ghosts of the past.
The book was intended to open a broader series, but the published novel provides a satisfying central relationship.
Latest Brigham Vaughn Book
As of August 4, 2026, the latest fully released Brigham Vaughn novel is Cheap Shot, published on April 10, 2026.
Cheap Shot (2026): Boston Harriers enforcer Luke Crawford falls for Sebastian, the fan who repeatedly provokes him from beside the penalty box, turning antagonism into an unexpectedly supportive relationship.
Upcoming Brigham Vaughn Book
Game Misconduct is scheduled for August 7, 2026.
Game Misconduct (2026): Boston Harriers player Tanner Clayton and rival Leif Rasmussen carry ten years of on-ice hostility into a relationship charged by old attraction and their inability to stop provoking each other.
The book is Scoring Chances book six. Its release is three days after this article’s August 4 update.
No later title with a firm publication date was reliably confirmed. Future Scoring Chances stories may continue the Boston Harriers world, but unannounced books should not yet be added to the order.
Is There a Chronological Order?
The only meaningful alternate chronology concerns the connected sports universe.
The Midwest books take place years before Road Rules. Characters from Midwest and Pendleton later appear around the hockey series, but those earlier novels are not necessary to understand the professional teams.
For maximum continuity, use this order:
- Midwest
- Naughty in Pendleton
- Poly in Pendleton
- Rules of the Game
- Relationship Goals
- Scoring Chances
For a shorter hockey-only route, omit the first three groups and start with Road Rules.
The Tidal, Peachtree, Colors, Christmas Falls, Williamsville Inn, and standalone books remain separate continuities.
Recommended Brigham Vaughn Reading Order
New readers who want a manageable path should not attempt to read the entire bibliography by publication date.
Begin with Road Rules and complete the six Rules of the Game novels. Continue into Relationship Goals with The Husband Game, then move into Scoring Chances with Goaltender Interference.
After finishing the hockey books, read the Midwest series as a prehistory of several recurring characters. Add the Pendleton books when the small-town kink setting and occasional sports crossovers are of interest.
Read Wake and Calm together, followed by the four Speakeasy books. Keep the Peachtree trilogy in order because Russell and Stephen remain the central couple throughout all three novels.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Brigham Vaughn book should I read first?
Start with Road Rules for professional hockey romance.
Road Rules (2023): Best friends and teammates Zane and Ryan begin a secret arrangement during road games, opening the principal hockey sequence.
Start with Bully & Exit when you want the complete connected sports universe from its earliest period.
Are Brigham Vaughn’s books standalones?
Most named-series books follow different couples and provide complete endings.
The main exceptions are the Tidal duet and Peachtree trilogy. Wake must be followed by Calm, while Off-Balance, Love in the Balance, and Full Balance follow Russell and Stephen continuously.
Are all the hockey series connected?
Yes. Rules of the Game, Relationship Goals, and Scoring Chances share one sports universe.
The author’s recommended sequence begins with Rules of the Game, continues through Relationship Goals, and then reaches Scoring Chances.
Should the Midwest books be read before Road Rules?
They occur earlier and introduce characters who later reappear.
They are not required. Readers primarily interested in professional hockey can begin with Road Rules without confusion.
Is Road Rules really book one even though it was published after other Rules books?
Yes.
The current full-length edition is officially Rules of the Game book one. Its later publication date resulted from an earlier shorter version being expanded and repositioned.
Do the Naughty in Pendleton books connect to hockey?
They share the wider universe and several Pendleton characters appear in the sports romances.
Their central stories focus on kink and small-town relationships, so they remain optional for hockey readers.
Is Three Shots part of Naughty in Pendleton?
It shares Pendleton Bay but is labeled as Poly in Pendleton.
Three Shots (2021): Reeve, Grant, and Rachael build a polyamorous relationship within the same small-town community.
Should What Happens in Vegas be read first?
It is chronologically first for Dustin and Charlie.
New readers may begin with The Husband Game because it is the first full novel and provides the intended series introduction.
Is Scoring Chances complete?
No formal conclusion has been announced.
Six books are confirmed through Game Misconduct, which is scheduled for August 7, 2026.
Where does Delayed Penalty fit?
It is Scoring Chances book four.
Delayed Penalty (2025): Thad risks his new job with the Boston Harriers when he falls for assistant captain Graham.
What is Brigham Vaughn’s newest book?
The newest released novel as of August 4, 2026 is Cheap Shot.
The next release is Game Misconduct on August 7, 2026.
Are Wake and Calm standalones?
No. They form the Tidal duet and follow the same relationship.
Read Wake first and Calm second.
Does Speakeasy come after Tidal?
Yes.
Speakeasy is a four-book spin-off from the universe established in Wake and Calm.
Are the old Equals books different from Peachtree?
They are earlier versions of Russell and Stephen’s story.
The Peachtree trilogy substantially rewrites and expands the material, so new readers should begin with Off-Balance rather than purchasing every earlier edition.
Is Trust the Connection part of the Peachtree trilogy?
It belongs to the same world but follows Evan and Jeremy rather than Russell and Stephen.
Its events overlap Love in the Balance, making that the earliest useful placement.
Are the Christmas Falls books connected to the hockey universe?
No required crossover places them inside the hockey order.
They belong to a multi-author holiday setting and can be read independently.
Are bonus scenes required?
No.
They provide holidays, domestic updates, cut scenes, and additional intimacy after or during the main novels. None replaces a full-length series installment.
Conclusion
Begin with Road Rules for the clearest route into Brigham Vaughn’s interconnected hockey romances. Continue through Rules of the Game, Relationship Goals, and Scoring Chances in that order.
Readers who want every recurring-character connection should start earlier with Bully & Exit, complete the Midwest series, and add the Pendleton books before moving into professional hockey.
Keep Wake and Calm together, follow them with Speakeasy, and read the Peachtree trilogy from Off-Balance through Full Balance. The remaining series and standalones occupy separate continuities and can be chosen independently.
As of August 4, 2026, Cheap Shot is the latest released novel. Game Misconduct, Scoring Chances book six, is scheduled for August 7, 2026.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.