Grace Reilly Books in Order (Updated March 25, 2026)

Grace Reilly’s catalog is simple right now: one completed college sports romance series, Beyond the Play, plus one upcoming standalone. That means this is not an author where you need a complicated crossover map or a split continuity guide.

The practical recommendation is to read Beyond the Play in publication order, even though the books are designed as interconnected standalones. Grace Reilly’s own site says they can be enjoyed in any order, but also recommends starting with First Down, which is still the safest entry point for most readers.

Quick answer

Start with First Down.

Then continue through the full Beyond the Play series in order:

1. First Down
2. Breakaway
3. Stealing Home
4. Wicked Serve

After that, treat Yes, Chef as a separate standalone.

What Grace Reilly has published so far

At the moment, Grace Reilly’s backlist is compact and easy to read through. The key thing to know is that Beyond the Play is complete at four books, and the next book on her schedule is not a fifth Beyond the Play novel. It is a separate contemporary romance.

Beyond the Play books in order

This is the main Grace Reilly reading path. All four books are set around McKee University and the Callahan family network, so reading in order gives you the best buildup of side characters, sibling dynamics, and recurring emotional threads.

1. First Down (2022): A secret friends-with-benefits deal between hockey player Cooper Callahan and coach’s daughter Penny turns into a more vulnerable story about trust, agency, and wanting more than either planned.
2. Breakaway (2022): Baseball player Sebastian Miller-Callahan and Mia di Angelo are pushed back together through summer roommate proximity, making this the most obvious second-chance entry in the series.
3. Stealing Home (2023): Hockey transfer Nikolai Abney-Volkov and Isabelle Callahan restart a messy secret connection while dealing with rivalry, family pressure, and the risk of wanting something real.
4. Wicked Serve (2024): The series closes with Izzy Callahan’s story, shifting toward volleyball and a grumpy-sunshine dynamic while paying off the wider Callahan family setup from the earlier books.

Recommended reading order

Even though these are standalone romances at the couple level, this is the best sequence for new readers:

1. First Down
2. Breakaway
3. Stealing Home
4. Wicked Serve

Why this order works: the emotional continuity is cleaner, the Callahan family introductions land the way they are meant to, and Wicked Serve feels more satisfying once you already know the surrounding cast.

Do Grace Reilly books need to be read in order?

Not strictly.

If you only care about one central romance, each Beyond the Play book can stand on its own. But for a first read, publication order is still the better choice because the family and campus connections build naturally from book to book.

This is one of those authors where “standalone” is true, but “in order” is still better.

Upcoming Grace Reilly book

Standalone

Yes, Chef (2026): A grumpy-sunshine contemporary romance about a down-on-his-luck chef and a determined social media maven working together to revive a restaurant, and it is being presented as a standalone rather than a new Beyond the Play entry.

As of March 25, 2026, this is Grace Reilly’s next confirmed release.

Publication order

If you want the simplest full author order, it currently looks like this:

1. First Down (2022)
2. Breakaway (2022)
3. Stealing Home (2023)
4. Wicked Serve (2024)
5. Yes, Chef (2026, upcoming standalone)

Best starting points by reader mood

1. If you want the clearest entry into Grace Reilly’s world, start with First Down.
2. If you want the newest published book first, start with Wicked Serve, but expect to lose some of the family and series buildup.
3. If you want to wait for a fully separate book with no series baggage at all, Yes, Chef is the clean standalone option.

FAQs

What is the best Grace Reilly book to start with?

First Down is still the best starting point because it opens the only completed series and introduces the Callahan-centered world cleanly.

How many Grace Reilly books are in the Beyond the Play series?

There are four books in Beyond the Play.

Is Beyond the Play finished?

Yes. Grace Reilly’s site describes the series as complete.

Is Yes, Chef part of Beyond the Play?

No. It is currently being presented as a separate standalone contemporary romance.

What is Grace Reilly’s newest book?

The newest published Grace Reilly novel is Wicked Serve (2024). The next confirmed release is Yes, Chef, scheduled for July 21, 2026.

Final recommendation

Grace Reilly is refreshingly easy to read in order right now.

Go with:

First Down → Breakaway → Stealing Home → Wicked Serve

Then move to Yes, Chef once it releases if you want her next book without needing another series commitment.