Avon Gale writes LGBTQ+ romance featuring minor-league hockey players, musicians, artists, coworkers, and characters whose careers place them in unusually close communities. Her best-known work is the Scoring Chances series, followed by the co-written Hat Trick hockey trilogy.
Her catalog is easier to understand when divided by continuity rather than forced into one publication list. Scoring Chances is a connected minor-league hockey world. Hat Trick is a separate hockey series written with Piper Vaughn. Tour Dates follows touring musicians, while Art & Soul currently contains a single tattoo-shop romance.
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The fantasy novels published as Iris Foxglove are not Avon Gale books. Iris Foxglove is the joint pen name used by Avon Gale and Fae Loxley, and that catalog has its own reading orders.
The Short Reading Order
The best introduction to Avon Gale is Breakaway. It begins Scoring Chances and establishes the author’s most developed recurring world.
Use these starting points:
- Breakaway for minor-league hockey.
- Off the Ice for the Hat Trick series.
- The Love Song of Sawyer Bell for touring musicians.
- Permanent Ink for an age-gap tattoo-shop romance.
- Let the Wrong Light In for a darker standalone.
- Heart of the Steal for a self-contained romantic caper.
Only one piece has a strict placement inside another book sequence: Overtime belongs between Power Play and Empty Net.
Scoring Chances Books in Order
Scoring Chances follows players, coaches, and staff across several minor-league hockey teams. Each main novel features a different couple, but trades, team changes, friendships, and previous relationships continue through the series.
The books are interconnected standalones rather than one unresolved romance. Publication order is still strongly recommended, especially from Power Play onward.
1. Breakaway
Breakaway (2015): Socially awkward rookie Lane Courtnall joins the Jacksonville Sea Storm and develops a relationship with older team captain Jared Shore, opening the series through professional hockey, an age gap, and Lane’s struggle to understand life off the ice.
The novel introduces several players who become important in later installments. It is the clearest entry point into the Scoring Chances world.
2. Save of the Game
Save of the Game (2016): Goalie Riley Hunter tries to recover from a painful championship loss while his growing connection with Ethan Kennedy turns friendship and team loyalty into something more personal.
Riley and Ethan appear around the wider Sea Storm cast, making the book more rewarding after Breakaway even though their romance has its own conclusion.
3. Power Play
Power Play (2016): Veteran coach Misha Samarin is forced to work with Max Ashford, a younger coach whose personality and methods challenge both Misha’s professional control and his guarded private life.
The series begins developing a more tightly linked group in this installment. Characters introduced here remain important in Overtime and Empty Net.
3.5. Overtime
Overtime (2016): A short follow-up revisits Misha and Max after Power Play, showing the couple adjusting to their relationship before the events of the next main novel.
This story is optional, but its correct position is after Power Play and before Empty Net. It should not be used as an introduction to the couple.
4. Empty Net
Empty Net (2016): Goaltender Isaac Drake finds stability with a new team and develops a relationship with Laurent St. Savoy, whose own experiences with family pressure and emotional harm give the romance heavier stakes.
Read Power Play first. Misha’s coaching role and the team environment created in book three provide important context for Isaac’s story.
5. Coach’s Challenge
Coach’s Challenge (2017): Spitfires coach Troy Callahan becomes involved with Shane North, a man capable of challenging his authority and the emotional distance he maintains away from hockey.
The original publication appeared in 2017. Some current editions carry a 2019 date, which reflects republication rather than a different fifth book.
Is Scoring Chances Complete?
Five full-length Scoring Chances novels and the Overtime short story have been published.
A later book commonly discussed under the title Offsides was associated with Xavier Matthews, but it was never reliably released. It should not be included as a published sixth novel.
No new Scoring Chances installment had a confirmed title and release date as of August 4, 2026. The existing books can be read as a stable five-novel sequence because each featured couple receives a complete romantic ending.
The Best Scoring Chances Reading Order
Read the series as follows:
- Breakaway (2015): Lane and Jared introduce the Jacksonville Sea Storm.
- Save of the Game (2016): Riley and Ethan take over the central romance.
- Power Play (2016): Misha and Max expand the world through coaching and a new team environment.
- Overtime (2016): An optional short continuation of Misha and Max’s relationship.
- Empty Net (2016): Isaac and Laurent build on characters and circumstances introduced in Power Play.
- Coach’s Challenge (2017): Troy and Shane close the published sequence.
Skipping Overtime will not make Empty Net confusing. Skipping Power Play is more disruptive because its team and coaching relationships continue directly into book four.
Hat Trick Books in Order
Hat Trick is a separate hockey romance series written by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn. It is not a continuation of Scoring Chances.
The trilogy follows different couples connected through professional hockey. Team politics, career movement, and previous relationships carry forward, so the numbered order is preferable.
1. Off the Ice
Off the Ice (2019): NHL player Tristan Holt begins a forbidden relationship with Sebastian Cruz, a professor whose connection to Tristan’s family makes their attraction professionally and personally dangerous.
The romance introduces the central hockey circle and establishes the family relationships that support later books.
2. Goalie Interference
Goalie Interference (2019): Rival goaltenders Ryu Mori and Emmitt Armstrong compete for the same position, turning professional hostility and forced cooperation into an increasingly intimate relationship.
The second book changes couples but remains within the same professional hockey setting.
3. Trade Deadline
Trade Deadline (2020): Hockey player Daniel Bellamy reconnects with Micah Kelly as an approaching trade deadline forces both men to confront the personal cost of careers built around constant movement.
The third romance completes the published Hat Trick trilogy.
Hat Trick Complete Collection
Hat Trick Complete Collection (collection): An omnibus containing Off the Ice, Goalie Interference, and Trade Deadline in their correct order.
The collection does not contain a fourth original novel. Readers who own it already have the full trilogy.
Is Game Misconduct a Hat Trick Book?
Game Misconduct has appeared in some series databases as a possible fourth Hat Trick title.
No completed Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn novel under that title was reliably confirmed as published. It should therefore be treated as an abandoned, provisional, or unissued listing rather than part of the required reading order.
The stable Hat Trick series contains three books.
Tour Dates Books in Order
Tour Dates follows musicians whose romantic relationships develop alongside touring, performance, and the unstable routines of life on the road.
The two novels feature different couples. They share the same broad music world and work best in order, but neither ends on a cliffhanger.
1. The Love Song of Sawyer Bell
The Love Song of Sawyer Bell (2017): Indie musician Vix Vincent reunites with former classmate Sawyer Bell and asks the classically trained violinist to join her band on tour, reviving an attraction neither woman completely left behind.
Some later editions show a 2019 date. The story was originally published in 2017 and subsequently reissued under the same title.
2. The Ballad of Whiskey Jax
The Ballad of Whiskey Jax (2017): Musician Jax and the man drawn into his touring life face the strain of attraction, performance, and personal uncertainty within the same road-tested world.
Like the first book, this novel has appeared in later editions with a newer publication date. It remains Tour Dates book two rather than a separate re-release sequel.
Art & Soul Books in Order
Art & Soul was planned as a connected contemporary romance series by Avon Gale and Piper Vaughn. Only its first book was published.
1. Permanent Ink
Permanent Ink (2017): After an arrest leaves Poe Montgomery needing work and direction, he accepts a job at the tattoo shop owned by Jericho McAslan, his father’s older best friend, and their uneasy connection develops into an age-gap romance.
Some editions are dated 2018. The novel first appeared in 2017.
No second Art & Soul book had been published by August 4, 2026. Permanent Ink resolves its featured romance and can be read without waiting for another installment.
Avon Gale and Roan Parrish Books
Avon Gale co-wrote three distinct works with Roan Parrish. They are not one numbered series and should not be placed into a single continuity unless an edition explicitly states otherwise.
Heart of the Steal
Heart of the Steal (2017): FBI art-crimes agent William Fox falls for Seth, a charming art thief whose illegal activities force William to choose between the rules governing his career and the man disrupting his orderly life.
The novel is a self-contained romantic caper. Its story does not continue into Thrall or Eden.
Thrall
Thrall (2018): When Lucy’s brother disappears while investigating a dating app, Lucy and her companions are pulled into a supernatural mystery involving desire, danger, and forces hidden behind modern technology.
This is a collaborative paranormal story rather than a contemporary hockey or workplace romance. It stands in its own continuity.
Eden
Eden (publication records vary): A speculative or paranormal collaboration that belongs outside Avon Gale’s established contemporary romance series.
Reliable current listings do not consistently display its original publication date or edition history. It should be treated as a separate collaborative work rather than assigned a place after Thrall without clearer confirmation.
Avon Gale Standalone Novels
The following full-length stories do not belong to Scoring Chances, Hat Trick, Tour Dates, or Art & Soul.
Let the Wrong Light In
Let the Wrong Light In (2015): Architect Avery Hales becomes involved with his demanding supervisor, Malin, as workplace power, intense attraction, and a negotiated dominant-submissive relationship complicate their professional lives.
This is a darker and more psychologically intense starting point than Breakaway. It is complete in one volume.
Whiskey Business
Whiskey Business (2016): A man returns to the Kentucky bourbon world and encounters a relationship tangled in family expectations, business pressures, and the history surrounding the distillery.
The book is a self-contained contemporary romance. It is unrelated to The Ballad of Whiskey Jax despite the repeated word “Whiskey.”
Next Season
Next Season (2019): Two men connected through hockey face the uncertainty of what comes after a season ends, where career decisions and emotional commitment cannot be postponed indefinitely.
The story draws on sports-romance themes but is not a numbered Scoring Chances or Hat Trick installment.
Legion: A Love Story
Legion: A Love Story (2019): A speculative romance uses an unconventional identity or consciousness premise to examine intimacy, individuality, and what it means to love a person whose existence does not fit ordinary boundaries.
It is a separate work and should not be grouped with Avon Gale’s contemporary sports romances.
Avon Gale Novellas and Short Stories
These shorter works are independent unless a specific placement is noted.
Old Acquaintance
Old Acquaintance (2015): A holiday reunion gives two men with shared history another opportunity to confront the relationship they left unresolved.
The story originally appeared through a seasonal Advent collection. It can be read independently.
Conversation Hearts
Conversation Hearts (2016): An assassin preparing for a Valentine’s Day assignment encounters Levi, turning a night associated with romance into a darkly comic connection involving danger and unexpected attraction.
The novella is complete on its own and does not belong to a larger assassin series.
Overtime
Overtime (2016): Misha and Max return after Power Play for a short relationship update set before Empty Net.
Unlike the other short works, this story has a fixed series position. Read it as Scoring Chances book 3.5.
Changing on the Fly Contribution
Changing on the Fly: A Hockey Charity Anthology (2016): A multi-author hockey collection includes a contribution by Avon Gale alongside stories from other LGBTQ+ romance writers.
The anthology is optional. It should not be counted as another Scoring Chances novel unless the contents identify a specific series-related short.
Solo Books and Collaborations at a Glance
Avon Gale’s catalog includes three kinds of authorship.
Written by Avon Gale Alone
These include Scoring Chances, Tour Dates, Let the Wrong Light In, Whiskey Business, Next Season, Legion: A Love Story, Old Acquaintance, and Conversation Hearts.
Written with Piper Vaughn
These include the Hat Trick trilogy and Permanent Ink.
Written with Roan Parrish
These include Heart of the Steal, Thrall, and Eden.
Co-written books are still part of Avon Gale’s bibliography, but they should remain under their own series or continuity boundaries.
Complete Avon Gale Publication Order
This list follows original publication years where they could be established. Reissues are not counted as new books.
2015
- Let the Wrong Light In (2015): An architect and his supervisor enter an intense workplace relationship involving power and negotiated submission.
- Breakaway (2015): Rookie Lane Courtnall and captain Jared Shore open the Scoring Chances hockey world.
- Old Acquaintance (2015): A holiday meeting revives a relationship rooted in the past.
2016
- Save of the Game (2016): Goalie Riley Hunter and Ethan Kennedy take over the second Scoring Chances romance.
- Power Play (2016): Coaches Misha Samarin and Max Ashford clash while forming a relationship.
- Overtime (2016): Misha and Max receive a short post-novel continuation.
- Empty Net (2016): Isaac Drake and Laurent St. Savoy face family pressure, emotional harm, and a new hockey season.
- Whiskey Business (2016): A romance unfolds around Kentucky bourbon, family, and business obligations.
- Conversation Hearts (2016): An assassin’s Valentine’s Eve takes an unexpectedly intimate turn.
- Changing on the Fly (2016): A charity anthology includes Avon Gale among several hockey-romance contributors.
2017
- Coach’s Challenge (2017): Coach Troy Callahan and Shane North close the published Scoring Chances sequence.
- The Love Song of Sawyer Bell (2017): Vix Vincent recruits violinist Sawyer Bell for a tour and reopens their shared history.
- The Ballad of Whiskey Jax (2017): A second musician receives a romance within the Tour Dates world.
- Permanent Ink (2017): Poe works for his father’s older best friend, Jericho, at a tattoo shop.
- Heart of the Steal (2017): An FBI art-crimes agent falls for the thief he should be investigating.
2018
- Thrall (2018): A missing-person investigation connected to a dating app reveals a supernatural threat.
2019
- Off the Ice (2019): A hockey player and professor begin the Hat Trick series through a forbidden relationship.
- Goalie Interference (2019): Two rival goaltenders compete for the same role and fall for one another.
- Next Season (2019): Hockey and future career choices frame a self-contained relationship.
- Legion: A Love Story (2019): A speculative premise explores identity and unconventional intimacy.
2020
- Trade Deadline (2020): Daniel and Micah’s relationship unfolds as professional hockey movement threatens their future together.
Eden is not placed in the dated list because reliable records did not consistently confirm its original publication year.
Which Avon Gale Hockey Series Comes First?
Scoring Chances was published first, beginning with Breakaway in 2015.
Hat Trick began in 2019 and was co-written with Piper Vaughn. It occupies a separate continuity, so reading Scoring Chances first is not required.
A reader interested in all of Avon Gale’s hockey romances can use this route:
- Read Scoring Chances from Breakaway through Coach’s Challenge.
- Read Next Season as a separate hockey-themed story.
- Begin Hat Trick with Off the Ice.
- Continue with Goalie Interference.
- Finish with Trade Deadline.
This order reflects publication history rather than one shared fictional timeline.
Recommended Avon Gale Reading Route
A practical introduction begins with the books that best represent each part of the catalog.
Begin with Minor-League Hockey
Read the five Scoring Chances novels, placing Overtime after Power Play. This is Avon Gale’s longest and most cohesive solo series.
Continue with the Co-Written Hockey Trilogy
Move to Hat Trick after Scoring Chances. The setting and characters are separate, but the transition keeps the sports-romance focus.
Change Settings with Tour Dates
Read The Love Song of Sawyer Bell and The Ballad of Whiskey Jax for connected musician romances without hockey continuity.
Add the Strongest Standalones
Read Let the Wrong Light In for workplace power dynamics, Heart of the Steal for an art-crime romance, and Conversation Hearts for a short dark comedy.
Treat Art & Soul as a Single Published Story
Read Permanent Ink as a complete age-gap romance. Do not postpone it while waiting for an unpublished second installment.
Avon Gale and Iris Foxglove
Avon Gale is one half of Iris Foxglove, a shared fantasy pen name created with Fae Loxley.
The Iris Foxglove books include dark LGBTQ+ fantasy, extensive worldbuilding, and natural power-exchange dynamics. They are not continuations of Avon Gale’s contemporary romances.
Readers searching specifically for Avon Gale books should keep the Iris Foxglove catalog separate. Readers following the author’s current fantasy work should begin with the appropriate Iris Foxglove series guide rather than adding those titles after Trade Deadline.
Latest Avon Gale Book
The latest confirmed original contemporary romance published under the Avon Gale name is Trade Deadline, released in 2020.
Trade Deadline (2020): Daniel Bellamy and Micah Kelly confront their relationship while the uncertainty of professional hockey trades makes a shared future difficult to plan.
No new Avon Gale contemporary romance had a reliably confirmed publication date as of August 4, 2026.
Avon Gale has continued writing as part of Iris Foxglove with Fae Loxley. Those fantasy releases belong to a separate joint bibliography and do not change the Avon Gale reading order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What was Avon Gale’s first book?
Let the Wrong Light In and Breakaway were both published in 2015.
Let the Wrong Light In (2015): A workplace relationship develops between architect Avery Hales and his controlling supervisor, Malin.
Breakaway (2015): Rookie hockey player Lane Courtnall joins the Jacksonville Sea Storm and falls for captain Jared Shore.
What Avon Gale book should I read first?
Begin with Breakaway.
It opens Avon Gale’s longest series, introduces the minor-league hockey setting, and provides the strongest foundation for the recurring players and coaches.
Are the Scoring Chances books standalones?
They are interconnected standalones.
Each main book changes couples and resolves its featured romance. Characters, teams, coaches, and previous couples return, so publication order remains preferable.
Where does Overtime fit?
Read Overtime immediately after Power Play and before Empty Net.
It is numbered 3.5 and provides an optional update on Misha and Max.
Should Power Play be read before Empty Net?
Yes.
Empty Net can be understood on its own at a basic level, but its team environment and several important relationships are established in Power Play.
Is Coach’s Challenge from 2017 or 2019?
The original book was published in 2017.
Some later editions carry a 2019 date. Those are reissues of the same fifth Scoring Chances novel.
Was Offsides published?
No reliable record confirms the publication of Offsides.
It was discussed as a possible Scoring Chances story involving Xavier Matthews, but it should not be counted as an available sixth novel.
Are Scoring Chances and Hat Trick connected?
No confirmed shared continuity requires the two series to be combined.
Both involve hockey, but Hat Trick was co-written with Piper Vaughn and begins with a separate cast in Off the Ice.
Are the Hat Trick books standalones?
Each book follows a different couple, but the professional hockey setting and supporting relationships continue.
Read Off the Ice, Goalie Interference, and Trade Deadline in order.
Was Game Misconduct published?
No completed fourth Hat Trick novel under that title was reliably confirmed.
The published Hat Trick sequence remains a three-book series.
How many Tour Dates books are there?
There are two confirmed Tour Dates novels.
The Love Song of Sawyer Bell follows Vix and Sawyer. The Ballad of Whiskey Jax shifts to another musician in the connected touring world.
Why do the Tour Dates publication dates vary?
Both novels were republished in later editions.
The stories originally appeared in 2017, while some audiobook, ebook, and retailer records show 2019 dates.
Is Permanent Ink part of a completed series?
It is the first and only published Art & Soul novel.
Its featured romance is complete, so readers can treat it as a self-contained book even though the series label suggests that more stories were once planned.
Is Heart of the Steal part of a series?
No. It is a standalone collaboration by Avon Gale and Roan Parrish.
Heart of the Steal (2017): An FBI art-crimes agent falls for an art thief, placing professional duty and personal affection in direct conflict.
Are Thrall and Heart of the Steal connected?
No confirmed continuity connects them.
Both were written by Avon Gale and Roan Parrish, but Heart of the Steal is a contemporary art-crime romance, while Thrall uses a supernatural mystery.
Is Next Season a Scoring Chances book?
No. It is a separate hockey-related story.
It should not be inserted between Empty Net and Coach’s Challenge or counted as Scoring Chances book six.
Is Avon Gale still writing?
No new contemporary romance under the Avon Gale name had been announced with a confirmed date as of August 4, 2026.
Avon Gale continues to be associated with the shared fantasy pen name Iris Foxglove, created with Fae Loxley.
Should Iris Foxglove books be added to this order?
No.
Iris Foxglove is a separate joint identity with its own fantasy series, settings, and continuity. Those novels should have a dedicated reading-order guide.
Conclusion
Begin with Breakaway and follow Scoring Chances through Coach’s Challenge. Place Overtime between Power Play and Empty Net, where its relationship update belongs.
Hat Trick forms a separate three-book hockey route beginning with Off the Ice. Tour Dates offers two connected musician romances, while Permanent Ink is the only published Art & Soul book and can be read as a complete story.
For books outside the series, choose Let the Wrong Light In for an intense workplace romance, Heart of the Steal for an art-crime caper, or Conversation Hearts for a shorter and darker comic romance.
The latest confirmed Avon Gale contemporary release remains Trade Deadline. Current fantasy work published as Iris Foxglove belongs to a separate bibliography.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.