Julia Connors Books in Order (Updated August 4, 2026)

Julia Connors writes contemporary sports romance featuring professional hockey players, competitive skiers, snowboarders, figure skaters, and the women whose lives intersect with elite athletics. Her books combine self-contained romantic endings with recurring families, friendships, and professional connections.

Her bibliography currently has two published series. Frozen Hearts introduces the connected character group, while Boston Rebels grows directly from that world. The forthcoming Hartmann Brothers series will continue with characters tied to the Rebels organization.

Readers who want every connection in sequence should begin with On the Edge. Readers interested mainly in professional hockey can start with Center Ice, although that route reveals some developments from Frozen Hearts.

At a Glance

The complete continuity path is:

1. Frozen Hearts
2. Boston Rebels
3. Hartmann Brothers

Within that path, the safest starting point is On the Edge (2022).

Frozen Hearts begins as a winter sports romance series and gradually moves closer to professional hockey. Boston Rebels then centers on a fictional Boston hockey team. Hartmann Brothers will follow the family that owns the Rebels.

All published novels focus on different central couples and provide a romantic resolution. However, returning characters, family developments, jobs, and relationship outcomes make publication order preferable.

Frozen Hearts Books in Order

Frozen Hearts contains four full-length novels and one holiday novella. The early books move among skiing, snowboarding, hockey, and sports management rather than following one team.

1. On the Edge

On the Edge (2022): Former Olympic ski champion Nora Baxter is forced to work as physical therapist for the ex who shattered her trust, reopening a relationship she rebuilt her life to escape.

This is the correct entry point for Julia Connors’s connected fictional world. It introduces the friendships and athletic community that continue through the rest of Frozen Hearts.

2. Out of Bounds

Out of Bounds (2022): After discovering her fiancé’s betrayal, a newly homeless woman moves in with her best friend’s younger brother, a competitive snowboarder whose careless image begins to fall apart under closer inspection.

The book follows a new couple, but familiar relationships and background characters connect it to On the Edge.

3. One Last Shot

One Last Shot (2022): Fourteen years after he disappeared from her life, an NHL star asks his childhood love to pose as his wife so he can adopt his orphaned niece, only for an old legal surprise to make the arrangement more complicated.

This novel brings professional hockey into the foreground and creates important links to the sports agents and families used in later books.

3.5. One Little Favor

One Little Favor (2022): An assistant agrees to help her demanding boss reorganize his office before Christmas, then finds herself caught in a fake relationship that feels increasingly genuine.

This is a holiday novella rather than a full-length main installment. Read it after One Last Shot and before On the Line.

4. On the Line

On the Line (2023): A newly widowed mother must work with her late husband’s former sports agent and executor, the same man who broke her heart years earlier, while disturbing secrets about her marriage come to light.

This book closes the main Frozen Hearts sequence and lays the clearest groundwork for Boston Rebels. Its central sports agent and family connections matter in the later hockey series.

How Closely Connected Is Frozen Hearts?

The four main books form an interconnected romance series rather than one continuous plot.

A different couple leads each installment, but the characters belong to the same extended social and professional network. Later books openly reveal that earlier couples remained together, so reading out of order can remove some uncertainty from their endings.

The series should be treated as Included for readers planning to complete the entire Julia Connors sports romance universe.

One Little Favor is Optional, although it fits naturally between books three and four.

Boston Rebels Books in Order

Boston Rebels follows players, executives, coaches, agents, and family members associated with a fictional professional hockey team. The series is a spin-off from Frozen Hearts, but each romance has its own central conflict and ending.

1. Center Ice

Center Ice (2024): A newly traded hockey player returns to Boston and reconnects with his former college tutor, only to discover that her five-year-old son may also be his.

The secret-child storyline introduces the Rebels team while carrying forward family connections established in On the Line.

1.5. The Trade Up

The Trade Up (2024): A hockey player’s one-night encounter with a reserved, academically minded woman becomes more serious when neither can dismiss the connection afterward.

This free novella takes place between Center Ice and Fake Shot. It can stand alone, but its official placement is after the first Rebels novel.

2. Fake Shot

Fake Shot (2024): A veteran goaltender impulsively claims that his best friend’s younger sister is his fiancée, forcing them to maintain the lie after their kiss attracts public attention.

The book combines a fake engagement with forced proximity and adds more detail to the team’s leadership, friendships, and ownership structure.

3. Cross-Checked

Cross-Checked (2025): The Rebels captain enters a forbidden relationship with the league’s first female general manager, a woman he claims to hate even as their shared history keeps pulling them together.

This installment moves some of the series conflict away from the rink and into team management. It also advances the professional and family arcs surrounding the Rebels organization.

4. Goal Line

Goal Line (2025): The Rebels’ backup goaltender offers marriage to his lifelong best friend, a figure skater hiding a pregnancy that could end her competitive career.

The hero is the youngest heir to the Hartmann fortune and part of the family that owns the team. His role makes this book especially important before the Hartmann Brothers spin-off.

5. Penalty Play

Penalty Play (2026): A no-names vacation fling becomes forbidden overnight when the couple discovers that their parents have married, then becomes unavoidable when they both begin working around the Boston Rebels.

This is the fifth full-length Boston Rebels novel. It continues the Hartmann family material while resolving a separate romance involving injury recovery, workplace proximity, and a secret arrangement.

Are the Boston Rebels Books Standalones?

They are interconnected standalones.

A reader can understand the principal romance in any one book without completing every previous title. However, later installments reveal established couples, team promotions, family ties, and ownership developments from earlier books.

The recommended sequence is:

1. Center Ice
2. The Trade Up
3. Fake Shot
4. Cross-Checked
5. Goal Line
6. Penalty Play

Skipping The Trade Up will not create a major gap. Skipping a full-length novel is more likely to remove context for the recurring cast.

Hartmann Brothers Books in Order

Hartmann Brothers is a forthcoming three-book series about the billionaire brothers of the Hartmann sports dynasty. The family already plays an important role in Boston Rebels because it owns the hockey team.

1. Reckless Secrets

Reckless Secrets (Expected January 12, 2027): The first Hartmann Brothers romance will move a member of the Rebels’ powerful ownership family into the central role, expanding the family conflicts introduced in the hockey books.

This title has been announced but was not yet published as of August 4, 2026. Some preliminary database listings used the title Restless Secrets, but the author’s more recent announcement identifies the book as Reckless Secrets.

The remaining two Hartmann Brothers books have been acquired as part of the planned trilogy, but their titles and publication dates have not been confirmed reliably enough to list.

What Should You Read Before Reckless Secrets?

The minimum preparation is:

1. Center Ice
2. Fake Shot
3. Cross-Checked
4. Goal Line
5. Penalty Play

This route introduces the Boston Rebels and the Hartmann family without requiring every Frozen Hearts romance.

For the fullest context, begin with On the Edge and read all Frozen Hearts and Boston Rebels books in order. That approach provides the complete progression from the original winter sports circle to the Rebels organization and its owners.

Julia Connors Books in Overall Publication Order

This list shows how the books appeared by year rather than separating them by series.

1. On the Edge (2022): A former ski champion must treat the ex responsible for the collapse of her old life.
2. Out of Bounds (2022): A betrayed bride-to-be moves in with an off-limits competitive snowboarder.
3. One Last Shot (2022): An NHL star asks his estranged childhood love to help him create a family for his niece.
4. One Little Favor (2022): A Christmas office project turns an assistant and her boss into an increasingly convincing fake couple.
5. On the Line (2023): A widow reconnects with the sports agent she once loved while uncovering her late husband’s secrets.
6. Center Ice (2024): A traded hockey player learns that his former college fling may have raised his child without him.
7. The Trade Up (2024): A one-night encounter between a hockey player and a bookish woman refuses to remain temporary.
8. Fake Shot (2024): A goalie’s impulsive fake engagement threatens both his career and his relationship with his best friend.
9. Cross-Checked (2025): A team captain and his female general manager cross professional boundaries after years of hostility.
10. Goal Line (2025): A backup goalie marries his figure-skating best friend to protect her future and her secret pregnancy.
11. Penalty Play (2026): Former vacation lovers become stepsiblings and coworkers, making their attempt at a casual secret relationship increasingly dangerous.
12. Reckless Secrets (Expected 2027): The first Hartmann Brothers novel will begin a new trilogy about the family behind the Boston Rebels.

Publication Order Compared With Series Order

For the published books, publication order and the recommended series order are almost identical.

All Frozen Hearts books were released before Boston Rebels began. The only adjustments involve the two novellas:

1. Read One Little Favor after One Last Shot
2. Read The Trade Up after Center Ice

There is no strong reason to create a separate chronological order. The stories move forward naturally through publication order, and no confirmed full-length prequel requires repositioning.

The Recommended Reading Path

A complete reader should use three phases.

Phase One: Meet the Original Character Circle

Read Frozen Hearts from On the Edge through On the Line.

This phase introduces the friends, athletes, family members, and sports professionals from whom the broader world develops.

Phase Two: Follow the Boston Team

Continue with Center Ice, insert The Trade Up, and then read the remaining Boston Rebels novels through Penalty Play.

This keeps the team’s roster, management changes, family relationships, and earlier couples in their intended sequence.

Phase Three: Enter the Hartmann Family Story

Begin Reckless Secrets when it is released, then continue with the later Hartmann Brothers books in publication order.

The new trilogy is expected to emphasize the ownership family rather than simply adding more player romances.

The Fastest Route for Hockey Romance Readers

Readers who are interested primarily in professional hockey can begin here:

1. One Last Shot
2. On the Line
3. Center Ice
4. The Trade Up
5. Fake Shot
6. Cross-Checked
7. Goal Line
8. Penalty Play

One Last Shot provides an early NHL-centered romance. On the Line then establishes important sports-agent and family connections before the Boston Rebels series starts.

Beginning directly with Center Ice is still workable, but some returning relationships will already be settled.

Novellas and Bonus Material

Julia Connors has two confirmed series novellas.

One Little Favor

One Little Favor (2022): A holiday workplace romance traps an assistant with her boss and turns a requested favor into a fake relationship.

Status: Optional

Placement: Frozen Hearts book 3.5, after One Last Shot

The Trade Up

The Trade Up (2024): A hockey player and a quiet, intellectual heroine discover that their one-night encounter carries more emotional weight than expected.

Status: Optional

Placement: Boston Rebels book 1.5, after Center Ice

The author also offers bonus epilogues for the main Frozen Hearts and Boston Rebels novels. These are Optional companion material, not separately numbered books.

Bonus epilogues should be read only after their corresponding novels because they reveal the couple’s later circumstances.

Boxed Sets and Collections

A Frozen Hearts boxed set collects the existing books from that series. It does not add another novel to the reading order.

Boxed sets should be marked Included material in a collected format, not counted as separate installments. Readers who already own the individual novels do not need the collection for continuity.

No separate Julia Connors standalone novel or unrelated anthology contribution could be confirmed as part of her current core bibliography.

Where the Series Boundaries Fall

Frozen Hearts

Included in the main continuity.

The series introduces the original athletes, friends, agents, and families. It is broader than hockey alone.

Boston Rebels

Included and directly connected.

This is a spin-off set around the professional hockey team. It contains returning characters and reveals from Frozen Hearts.

Hartmann Brothers

Included and forthcoming.

This spin-off centers on the family that owns the Boston Rebels. It should follow the hockey series.

Novellas

Optional but correctly placed.

Neither novella is necessary for understanding the next full-length novel, but both belong inside the shared continuity.

Latest Julia Connors Book

As of August 4, 2026, Julia Connors’s latest published book is Penalty Play (2026), the fifth full-length Boston Rebels romance.

The next reliably announced book is Reckless Secrets, scheduled for January 12, 2027. It will begin the Hartmann Brothers trilogy.

Because the title has appeared differently in some early listings, readers may encounter Restless Secrets in older catalogs. The author’s current announcement uses Reckless Secrets, which is the title used in this guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Julia Connors’s First Book?

On the Edge (2022) is Julia Connors’s first published novel.

It begins Frozen Hearts and remains the most complete starting point for her interconnected sports romances.

How Many Julia Connors Books Are Published?

As of August 4, 2026, the core bibliography contains nine full-length published novels and two published novellas.

That total does not count boxed sets, free bonus epilogues, or the unreleased Reckless Secrets.

Does Frozen Hearts Need to Be Read Before Boston Rebels?

It is recommended but not mandatory.

Boston Rebels introduces each central romance clearly, but it also continues family, friendship, and professional connections from Frozen Hearts. Starting with Center Ice means accepting some spoilers about earlier couples.

Is Boston Rebels a Spin-Off?

Yes. Boston Rebels develops from the world established in Frozen Hearts.

On the Line provides the most direct transition because it centers on sports management and characters whose connections carry into the hockey series.

Can Center Ice Be Read First?

Yes. Center Ice explains its main couple, family situation, and team setting well enough to function as an entry point.

The tradeoff is that some characters from Frozen Hearts appear with their earlier outcomes already established.

When Should The Trade Up Be Read?

Read The Trade Up immediately after Center Ice.

It is officially positioned between Boston Rebels books one and two, although its romance can also be understood independently.

Is One Little Favor Required?

No. It is an optional Frozen Hearts holiday novella.

Read it after One Last Shot for the proper character context and before On the Line to preserve publication order.

Are Goal Line and Penalty Play Connected to Hartmann Brothers?

Yes. The Hartmann family owns the Boston Rebels, and Goal Line places a Hartmann heir at the center of the romance.

Penalty Play continues the family and professional network before the dedicated Hartmann Brothers trilogy begins.

Are Julia Connors’s Books About the Same Couple?

No. Each full-length novel follows a different couple.

The continuity comes from recurring friends, relatives, teammates, agents, executives, and team owners rather than one romance continuing through every book.

Is There a Chronological Reading Order?

No alternative chronology is needed.

Publication order already follows the development of the characters and connected sports world. Rearranging the novels would offer little benefit and could reveal established relationships too soon.

What Is the Best Julia Connors Book to Start With?

Start with On the Edge for the complete experience.

Start with Center Ice for a direct entry into the Boston Rebels hockey series, or choose One Last Shot for an NHL romance that also helps bridge the two published series.

Conclusion

The most reliable Julia Connors reading order begins with On the Edge, continues through all four Frozen Hearts novels and One Little Favor, then moves to Center Ice and the Boston Rebels sequence.

Readers focused only on hockey can begin with Center Ice, but the complete route gives more weight to returning characters and family relationships. After Penalty Play, the continuity will continue with Reckless Secrets, the first Hartmann Brothers book, scheduled for January 12, 2027.