Rachelle Vaughn writes contemporary romance, hockey romance, small-town stories, family sagas, romantic suspense, and shorter erotic fiction. Hockey has remained the most visible thread in her catalog, particularly through the Red Valley Ravens and Bad Boys of Hockey books.
Her bibliography also includes work published under the names Claire Embry, Ainsley Drake, and Shasta Larken. Those names represent different tones and genres, not additional authors whose books must be placed into separate reading plans.
Affiliate Disclosure
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This article may contain affiliate links. If you click one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.
The simplest starting point is Home Ice, Vaughn’s first novel and the opening Red Valley Ravens romance.
Rachelle Vaughn Reading Order at a Glance
Readers can divide the catalog into six main routes:
- Red Valley Ravens, for interconnected hockey romance
- Bad Boys of Hockey, for hockey mixed with romantic suspense
- Queen Bees of Hockeyville, for small-town hockey romance
- Tattooed by Love, for emotional tattoo-shop romances
- Thorne Creek, for family secrets and small-town drama
- Me, for a continuing sequence of erotic short stories
The remaining novels are separate continuities and can be selected independently.
Red Valley Ravens Books in Order
The Red Valley Ravens series was previously listed under the name Razors Ice in some catalogs. The current author website uses Red Valley Ravens.
The nine books focus on different couples connected to the same professional hockey organization and surrounding community. The author describes them as standalones that can be read in any order, but publication order gives the clearest progression through the team.
1. Home Ice
Home Ice (2012): Ally’s ordinary life collides with hockey player Ben Price’s faster, more public world, beginning a romance between two people whose routines and expectations could hardly be more different.
This was Vaughn’s first published novel and remains the most natural entry into her hockey catalog.
2. Fresh Ice
Fresh Ice (2013): Sarah Hammond escapes an abusive uncle and starts over in Red Valley, where backup goaltender Nathan Connors recognizes that she is not the only one trying to outrun a painful past.
The book combines romance with recovery and a more serious external threat than the opening installment.
3. Wild Ice
Wild Ice (2014): Retired hockey player JD Mason isolates himself after tragedy, until free-spirited ornithologist Lauren trespasses onto his property and disrupts the grief-controlled life he has created.
This is a second-chance-at-life romance rather than a return to an earlier relationship.
4. Hot Ice
Hot Ice (2014): Injured hockey veteran Jace McQuaid becomes attracted to massage therapist Violet James, forcing both of them to confront professional boundaries, broken trust, and secrets that could affect their careers.
The romance pairs a recently divorced player with a heroine who has already made a commitment elsewhere.
5. Blind Ice
Blind Ice (2015): Team optometrist Dr. Kate Kapowski finally accepts persistent player Logan Murray’s invitation, only to discover that dating him requires more courage than their teasing exchanges suggested.
The title refers both to Kate’s work and to the risks of trusting someone after divorce.
6. Island Ice
Island Ice (2016): Hockey star Colton Greene becomes stranded on a deserted island with Avery, turning a tropical escape into a survival story where attraction develops far from the team and ordinary life.
This installment temporarily moves the series away from Red Valley and into an isolated adventure setting.
7. Ice Flambé
Ice Flambé (2017): Chef Morgana Rossi reconnects with former high school crush Lucas Leighton after a public scandal, while his traumatic past makes even a supposedly casual encounter emotionally dangerous.
Lucas also appears in shorter companion material, but this novel contains his principal romance.
8. Pure Ice
Pure Ice (2018): Landon Turner balances a demanding job and responsibility for his quadriplegic brother while pursuing an unexpected chance to join his hometown hockey team and a relationship with beauty expert Hannah Heatley.
The book gives a working-class aspiring player, rather than an established star, the central role.
9. Ice Cowboy
Ice Cowboy (2019): Hockey player and cattle rancher Jesse Chaparrel rescues a mysterious traveler after a car accident, then discovers that the woman recovering on his property is carrying secrets of her own.
This is the final confirmed Red Valley Ravens novel and blends hockey romance with a Northern California ranch setting.
Can the Red Valley Ravens Books Stand Alone?
Yes. Each book introduces a different principal couple and resolves its own romance.
Publication order is still preferable because the shared team and community become more familiar across the series. Starting with Home Ice also shows how Vaughn’s hockey world developed from its original couple.
The stable sequence is:
- Home Ice
- Fresh Ice
- Wild Ice
- Hot Ice
- Blind Ice
- Island Ice
- Ice Flambé
- Pure Ice
- Ice Cowboy
Bad Boys of Hockey Books in Order
Bad Boys of Hockey is a three-book romantic suspense series set in the gated community of Harlequin Hills.
Ryan, Gavin, and Charlie are professional hockey players, but the trilogy also contains stalking, murder, hidden motives, and a threat moving through the neighborhood. Publication order matters more here than in Red Valley Ravens because the suspense elements accumulate.
1. Riley’s Rebel
Riley’s Rebel (2017): Security guard Jenna Riley becomes involved with guarded hockey star Ryan Wade after a prowling cougar and a hidden murderer disturb the apparent safety of Harlequin Hills.
The book introduces the community, the three players, and the danger running beneath its wealthy surface.
2. Marlowe’s Maverick
Marlowe’s Maverick (2017): Marin Marlowe arrives in Harlequin Hills while fleeing her past, only to discover that someone is watching her and hockey player Gavin Bozymowski may be her best chance of surviving.
The murder investigation continues while Marin’s history becomes entangled with the current threat.
3. Cooper’s Cougar
Cooper’s Cougar (2017): Team joker Charlie Cooper falls for widowed neighbor Everly Montgomery as another murder shakes the community and her private secrets make trust increasingly difficult.
This book completes both the third central romance and the trilogy’s continuing suspense arc.
The Bad Boys of Hockey Collection
The Bad Boys of Hockey Romance: Books 1 to 3 (2018): This omnibus collects Riley’s Rebel, Marlowe’s Maverick, and Cooper’s Cougar without adding a fourth story.
Readers who own the individual novels do not need the collection for continuity.
Queen Bees of Hockeyville Books in Order
Queen Bees of Hockeyville is a cozy small-town romance series set in Mt. August. It has a lighter community focus than Bad Boys of Hockey.
Only one published installment has been confirmed.
1. Saving Hockeyville
Saving Hockeyville (2023): Lydia tries to protect her small town and care for her hockey-obsessed nephew while a confident player with a soft spot for children becomes increasingly involved in both their lives.
The book combines enemies-to-lovers friction, single-family responsibilities, and an effort to preserve the town’s hockey identity.
No second Queen Bees of Hockeyville novel has been confirmed as of August 4, 2026.
Tattooed by Love Books in Order
Tattooed by Love follows people connected to tattoos, painful histories, and relationships that require them to revisit parts of themselves they would rather leave buried.
The two books focus on different couples but belong to the same tattoo-centered world.
1. Mama’s Ink
Mama’s Ink (2014): Sadie Callahan returns home after receiving news about her estranged mother and runs into tattooed high school sweetheart Jared Ferrara, the man who has no intention of letting her leave again.
The romance is tied to grief, family estrangement, and the stories represented by the tattoos surrounding Mama’s shop.
2. Pixie’s Promise
Pixie’s Promise (2019): A brightly styled, tattooed heroine forms an opposites-attract relationship with a quieter, more technically minded man whose personality contrasts sharply with her own.
The book returns to the Tattooed by Love setting several years after Mama’s Ink.
Thorne Creek Books in Order
Thorne Creek is a small-town family saga built around buried history, estranged relatives, and the possibility that returning home will expose more than anyone intended.
The first two books form the stable central sequence. A later Christmas title is commonly listed as the third installment.
1. Underneath It All
Underneath It All (2016): Estranged siblings Nick and Emily Barrett return to their childhood home after their mother’s death, where Emily discovers a mysterious man living in the guesthouse and evidence that the family’s secrets are far from settled.
This book introduces August Lake, the Barrett family, and the hidden history driving the series.
2. Runnin’ Out of Road
Runnin’ Out of Road (2016): A road-trip romance and a chance encounter with a hitchhiker carry the Thorne Creek family story beyond the house, while old secrets continue shaping the characters’ choices.
Read it after Underneath It All because the wider family context has already been established.
3. Christmas All Over
Christmas All Over (2024): The Thorne Creek world returns for a holiday romance involving familiar family connections, seasonal homecoming, and unresolved emotions resurfacing at Christmas.
This title is commonly cataloged as Thorne Creek book three, although the author’s current suggested series list prominently displays only the first two novels.
The safest placement is after Runnin’ Out of Road.
The Thorne Creek Collection
Thorne Creek Romance: Books 1 to 2 (2018): This collection packages Underneath It All and Runnin’ Out of Road in one edition.
It does not include a new third novel.
Me Short Stories in Order
The Me series is a sequence of erotic short fiction following Ethan and Lana through an evolving relationship and shared fantasies.
Unlike Vaughn’s hockey series, these stories continue with the same central couple. They should be read in order.
The series was published under the Claire Embry name in some editions and catalogs.
1. Watch Me
Watch Me (2012): Ethan and Lana first cross a sexual boundary in the workplace, beginning a relationship built around curiosity, trust, and increasingly adventurous fantasies.
This is the required introduction to the couple.
2. Jingle Me
Jingle Me (2013): Ethan and Lana continue their relationship during Christmas, using the holiday setting to explore who has been naughty, who has been nice, and what each of them wants next.
The story assumes familiarity with their first encounter.
3. Tease Me
Tease Me (2014): The couple takes their experimentation to the Blue Key, where an elevator ride and the private space above it turn teasing into another step in their shared sexual confidence.
Read it after Jingle Me because their trust is already established.
4. Ménage à Me
Ménage à Me (2015): Ethan and Lana invite their friend Lucas into a threesome at the Velvet Rabbit, testing how well their relationship can accommodate another person.
This installment develops an explicitly shared fantasy rather than beginning a new romance.
5. Surprise Me
Surprise Me (2015): Ethan and Lana prepare for an island getaway where planned surprises and mistaken expectations make their latest fantasy less predictable than either intended.
The story continues the same couple’s escalating series of experiences.
6. Please Me
Please Me (2016): Lana plans a birthday fantasy for Ethan at a mountain retreat, where unexpected complications still lead them toward another encounter involving a third partner.
This is the sixth confirmed story and the current endpoint of the sequence.
Me Series Collections
Some of Me: A Romance Short Story Collection (2016): This bundle collects the first five Ethan and Lana stories, from Watch Me through Surprise Me.
It does not replace Please Me, which follows the collected stories.
Rachelle Vaughn Standalone Novels
The books in this section do not belong to Red Valley Ravens, Thorne Creek, or another continuing romance sequence.
Some were released under Vaughn’s alternate pen names to distinguish their tone from her contemporary hockey books.
Submersed
Submersed (2012): Isolated Las Vegas artist Olivia Sharpe hires a male escort after years of avoiding intimacy, beginning a relationship that forces her to confront the traumatic event behind her withdrawal.
The novel has also been published under the name Claire Embry.
Status: Separate continuity
Hockey Gods
Hockey Gods (2014): Nataliya disguises herself as a young man to enter a dangerous tournament on Mt. August, while war veteran Calder answers the same summons and begins a journey through a violent fantasy world shaped around hockey.
The book mixes romantic fantasy, warfare, mythology, and a deadly version of the sport.
It has also been published under the name Ainsley Drake.
Status: Separate fantasy continuity
Falling Awake
Falling Awake (2016): Carli Thornley struggles to hold together the family of her lifelong friend Josh after a terrible accident leaves the young hockey player in a coma.
This is a clean young adult romance about friendship, family secrets, grief, and the difficult choice between waiting and moving forward.
It has also been published under the name Shasta Larken.
Status: Separate continuity
Crush 21
Crush 21 (2020): A woman involved in the music world faces romance, celebrity pressure, and a dangerous obsession connected to the public life of a rock star.
The novel is a standalone rock-star romance with suspense elements.
Status: Separate continuity
Standalone Novella
Rock and a Hard Place
Rock and a Hard Place (2019): A hiking emergency brings a woman and her rescuer together in an isolated setting where physical danger and attraction develop at the same time.
This shorter romance was published under the Claire Embry name in some catalogs.
Status: Optional standalone
Rachelle Vaughn’s Pen Names
Rachelle Vaughn has identified three alternate writing names:
Claire Embry
Claire Embry is associated with Vaughn’s more erotic fiction, including:
- The Me short-story series
- Submersed
- Rock and a Hard Place
These books belong in Vaughn’s bibliography and should not be counted twice when both names appear in retailer records.
Ainsley Drake
Ainsley Drake is the name associated with:
- Hockey Gods
The alternate name distinguishes the fantasy and adventure novel from Vaughn’s contemporary hockey romances.
Shasta Larken
Shasta Larken is the name associated with:
- Falling Awake
This name marks Vaughn’s cleaner young adult romance.
Rachelle Vaughn Books in Publication Order
This list includes the main novels and individually published short works without counting boxed sets as new books.
2012
- Home Ice (2012): Ally falls for hockey player Ben Price despite the distance between their everyday worlds.
- Submersed (2012): An isolated artist hires an escort and begins confronting the trauma behind her withdrawal.
- Watch Me (2012): Ethan and Lana begin an erotic workplace relationship.
2013
- Fresh Ice (2013): A woman escaping abuse meets a goaltender who is also running from his past.
- Jingle Me (2013): Ethan and Lana continue their relationship during Christmas.
2014
- Wild Ice (2014): A grieving retired player is drawn back toward life by a free-spirited ornithologist.
- Hot Ice (2014): An injured hockey veteran falls for the massage therapist treating him.
- Mama’s Ink (2014): A woman returns home and reconnects with her tattooed high school love.
- Hockey Gods (2014): A disguised female warrior enters a deadly fantasy hockey tournament.
- Tease Me (2014): Ethan and Lana bring their increasingly adventurous relationship to the Blue Key.
2015
- Blind Ice (2015): A divorced optometrist accepts the attentions of a persistent Ravens player.
- Ménage à Me (2015): Ethan and Lana invite a trusted friend into their relationship.
- Surprise Me (2015): The couple’s island plans produce an unexpected version of their latest fantasy.
2016
- Island Ice (2016): A hockey player and his companion become stranded on a tropical island.
- Underneath It All (2016): Estranged siblings return home and uncover secrets after their mother’s death.
- Runnin’ Out of Road (2016): A road journey expands the Thorne Creek family saga.
- Falling Awake (2016): A teenager faces grief and uncertainty after her best friend falls into a coma.
- Please Me (2016): Lana prepares a mountain birthday fantasy for Ethan.
2017
- Ice Flambé (2017): A chef and a guarded hockey player reconnect after years apart.
- Riley’s Rebel (2017): A security guard and a hockey star become involved as danger enters Harlequin Hills.
- Marlowe’s Maverick (2017): A woman fleeing her past is protected by a bad-boy player while a killer watches.
- Cooper’s Cougar (2017): A joking hockey player falls for a secretive widow during the trilogy’s final murder investigation.
2018
- Pure Ice (2018): A hardworking caregiver pursues a chance at professional hockey and a new relationship.
2019
- Ice Cowboy (2019): A hockey-playing rancher rescues a woman carrying dangerous secrets.
- Pixie’s Promise (2019): A tattooed heroine and her opposite form an unexpected connection.
- Rock and a Hard Place (2019): A hiking rescue becomes an intimate romance.
2020
- Crush 21 (2020): A rock-star romance becomes complicated by fame and threatening attention.
2023
- Saving Hockeyville (2023): A small-town woman and a hockey player work through conflict, family responsibility, and the future of Hockeyville.
2024
- Christmas All Over (2024): Thorne Creek returns for a holiday romance shaped by family history and homecoming.
Is There a Chronological Reading Order?
No full chronological arrangement is needed.
Most of Vaughn’s series follow different couples, and the author already provides a suggested sequence for Red Valley Ravens. Publication order preserves the gradual expansion of the team and supporting cast without requiring readers to reconstruct a fictional calendar.
The exceptions are straightforward:
- The Me stories follow the same couple and must be read in order.
- Bad Boys of Hockey contains a continuing murder mystery and should be read from book one through book three.
- Thorne Creek should begin with Underneath It All because the family history originates there.
- Boxed sets should not be counted as additional installments.
Recommended Reading Plans
For Hockey Romance Without Suspense
Read the Red Valley Ravens series:
- Home Ice
- Fresh Ice
- Wild Ice
- Hot Ice
- Blind Ice
- Island Ice
- Ice Flambé
- Pure Ice
- Ice Cowboy
This is Vaughn’s longest and most established series.
For Hockey Romance With Mystery
Read:
- Riley’s Rebel
- Marlowe’s Maverick
- Cooper’s Cougar
The trilogy should remain together because the Harlequin Hills danger develops across all three books.
For Small-Town Romance
Read:
- Saving Hockeyville
- Underneath It All
- Runnin’ Out of Road
- Christmas All Over
Queen Bees of Hockeyville and Thorne Creek are separate continuities. This arrangement simply groups Vaughn’s community-centered books by reading mood.
For a Continuing Couple
Read the six Me stories from Watch Me through Please Me.
These are short, explicitly erotic works and differ substantially in tone from Vaughn’s sweeter hockey romances.
For a Single Independent Story
Choose:
- Submersed, for an intimate recovery romance
- Hockey Gods, for fantasy and action
- Falling Awake, for clean young adult romance
- Crush 21, for rock-star romance and suspense
Latest Rachelle Vaughn Book
As of August 4, 2026, the latest confirmed original Rachelle Vaughn title is Christmas All Over (2024), commonly listed as the third Thorne Creek book.
Her author website remained active with new posts during 2026, but no later original novel with a confirmed title and publication date could be verified.
Recent audiobook editions, sales, refreshed covers, and collected editions should not be treated as new stories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Was Rachelle Vaughn’s First Book?
Home Ice was published in 2012 and is identified by Vaughn as her first book.
It begins the Red Valley Ravens series and remains the strongest introduction to her work.
Was Red Valley Ravens Previously Called Razors Ice?
Yes. Older bibliography listings commonly call the series Razors Ice.
The current author website uses Red Valley Ravens, and the suggested nine-book order remains the same.
Do the Red Valley Ravens Books Need to Be Read in Order?
They can be read as standalones because each book has a different central couple.
Following the suggested order is still better for readers who want the team and recurring community to develop naturally.
Are Bad Boys of Hockey and Red Valley Ravens Connected?
Both involve professional hockey players and use the Red Valley setting, but they should be treated as separate series.
Bad Boys of Hockey has its own gated-community cast and a continuing murder mystery.
Must the Bad Boys of Hockey Trilogy Be Read in Order?
Yes. Each romance is distinct, but the danger in Harlequin Hills develops across the trilogy.
Begin with Riley’s Rebel and finish with Cooper’s Cougar.
Is Saving Hockeyville Part of Red Valley Ravens?
It belongs to Queen Bees of Hockeyville, also listed in some catalogs under Mt. August.
It is a separate small-town series opener rather than Red Valley Ravens book ten.
Are Mama’s Ink and Pixie’s Promise Connected?
Yes. Both belong to Tattooed by Love.
They follow different couples, but Mama’s Ink should be read first because it establishes the tattoo-centered setting.
Is Christmas All Over a Thorne Creek Book?
It is commonly listed as Thorne Creek book three.
The current official suggested-order page emphasizes the first two books, so its classification is less consistently displayed than the earlier titles. Reading it after Runnin’ Out of Road is the safest placement.
Who Are Claire Embry, Ainsley Drake, and Shasta Larken?
They are alternate names used by Rachelle Vaughn.
Claire Embry is associated with erotic romance, Ainsley Drake with fantasy adventure, and Shasta Larken with clean young adult romance.
Is Hockey Gods a Regular Sports Romance?
No. It is a fantasy adventure that transforms hockey into a dangerous tournament involving warriors, warring territories, mythology, and survival.
It does not share the contemporary world of Red Valley Ravens.
Do the Me Stories Follow Different Couples?
No. They continue Ethan and Lana’s relationship.
Read them from Watch Me through Please Me rather than selecting them as unrelated standalones.
Are the Boxed Sets New Books?
No. The Bad Boys of Hockey, Thorne Creek, and Me collections repackage previously published stories.
Check the included titles before purchasing a bundle to avoid duplicates.
Conclusion
The best Rachelle Vaughn starting point is Home Ice, followed by the remaining Red Valley Ravens books in their suggested order. That route offers the broadest introduction to her hockey romances while allowing every couple to receive a complete story.
Readers wanting greater danger should choose Riley’s Rebel and complete the Bad Boys of Hockey trilogy. For a different tone, begin with Mama’s Ink, Underneath It All, Submersed, Hockey Gods, or Falling Awake, each of which opens a separate reading path.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.