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Sarina Bowen writes emotionally grounded romance that often unfolds inside clearly connected story worlds, college campuses, pro sports teams, or tight-knit rural towns. Within each world, characters overlap, friendships continue, and earlier couples are openly referenced.

Because of that, the best experience comes from reading straight through one world at a time, then switching when you’re ready.
How to choose your starting point (no jargon, no guesswork)
- Want college life + first serious love → start with The Ivy Years
- Want professional hockey romance → start with Brooklyn Bruisers
- Want small-town Vermont, family, and healing → start with True North
- Want MM romance with deep emotional payoff → start with Him
Once you start one path, finish it before jumping to another.
The Ivy Years (read in order)
College-set romances with shared classes, dorms, and friendships. Later books assume familiarity with earlier characters.
- The Year We Fell Down: Two injured students form a bond while learning how to live with altered futures.
- The Year We Hid Away: A quiet relationship grows out of shared secrets and cautious trust.
- The Year We Turned Sixteen: A long-buried past resurfaces, forcing a reckoning with identity and regret.
- The Year We Disappeared: Two people hiding in plain sight confront the cost of emotional distance.
Brooklyn Bruisers (read in order)
A professional hockey team romance series where teammates and management recur throughout.
- Rookie Move: A young player and a team executive test boundaries neither intended to cross.
- Hard Hitter: A disciplined athlete struggles to balance control with vulnerability.
- Pipe Dreams: A goalie facing career uncertainty meets someone who challenges his assumptions.
- Superfan: A long-distance connection becomes real under the spotlight of fame.
- Overtime: A second-chance romance unfolds with years of history pressing in.
Brooklyn Series Spin-Offs (read after Brooklyn Bruisers)
These books share the same hockey universe and are best read after the main series.
Brooklyn Outsiders
- Man Hands: Workplace friction turns into reluctant attraction.
- Boy Toy: A younger man challenges a woman determined to stay guarded.
Brooklyn Rebels
- Wilder: A team owner’s son fights expectations while falling for the one person who sees him clearly.
- Sure Shot: Responsibility and desire collide inside a legacy franchise.
True North (read in order)
Set in rural Vermont, this series focuses on family, farming, and emotional rebuilding. Strong continuity, read in order.
- Bittersweet: A former city chef returns home and reconnects with the one person he never truly left behind.
- Steadfast: A newly sober man and a guarded woman build trust slowly and deliberately.
- Keepsake: A woman escaping scandal finds safety and affection where she least expects it.
- Bountiful: A surprise pregnancy reshapes priorities and long-term plans.
- Fireworks: A short, intense romance centered on risk and release.
- Heartland: A widower and a newcomer navigate grief, parenting, and second chances.
Him / Us (with Elle Kennedy) – read in order
A tightly connected MM romance duology. Order matters completely.
- Him: Two former hockey camp friends reunite and confront feelings neither acknowledged before.
- Us: Love deepens as real-world pressure tests commitment and communication.
Standalone novels (read anytime)
These are not tied to the series above and can be read independently.
- The Understatement of the Year: A college romance shaped by secrecy, fear, and eventual courage.
- Goodbye Paradise: Two young adults escape a restrictive upbringing and learn how to choose for themselves.
A calm, spoiler-safe reading plan
If you want one straightforward approach:
- Start with The Ivy Years (college setting, emotional foundation)
- Move to Brooklyn Bruisers, then its spin-offs
- Read True North straight through
- Add Him / Us whenever you want a focused MM romance
- Save standalones for breaks between longer runs
FAQs
Do Sarina Bowen’s books need to be read in order?
Yes, within each setting. Between settings, you can jump freely.
Which series is most emotionally intense?
True North tends to dig deepest into family, recovery, and long-term healing.
Can I start with Him without reading hockey romances first?
Yes. Him explains everything you need, but it hits hardest if you enjoy character-driven growth.
Bottom line
If you want the smoothest experience, pick one setting and read it straight through. Sarina Bowen rewards readers who follow character connections, but she makes it easy to step away and return whenever you’re ready.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.

