The best book to read after Icebreaker depends on what you actually loved about it.
Was it the college hockey setting? The forced rink-sharing setup? Nate’s protective energy? Anastasia having serious athletic goals of her own? The large found-family cast? The open-door spice? Or simply the comfort of spending hundreds of pages inside a friend group where everyone keeps showing up for one another?
That distinction matters because a generic list of hockey romance books can easily send you toward something that shares the sport but not the feeling.
This guide sorts the next reads by the part of Icebreaker you want again.
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Quick picks: what to read after Icebreaker
| If you want… | Try… | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Another college-hockey gateway | The Deal by Elle Kennedy | College hockey, banter, tutoring, and fake dating |
| A figure-skating connection | From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata | Elite skating, rivalry, partnership, and slow burn |
| Professional hockey + cozy team energy | Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer | Grumpy goalie, live-in proximity, adult career reset |
| More Maple Hills | Wildfire or Daydream by Hannah Grace | Same universe, new couples, familiar friend-group comfort |
| More heat | Pucking Around by Emily Rath | Why-choose/poly romance in professional hockey |
| Rivalry and secrecy | Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid | Elite professional rivals and long-running tension |
| A driven hockey-playing heroine | The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy | Women’s hockey and Olympic ambition |
| Sports psychology + campus tension | Collide by Bal Khabra | College sports, academic goals, and proximity |
14 books like Icebreaker to read next
1. The Deal by Elle Kennedy
Read this if: you want college hockey, banter, a practical arrangement that becomes emotional, and a hero whose reputation is not the whole story.
The Deal remains one of the clearest bridges into the larger college-hockey romance shelf. It uses tutoring and fake dating rather than shared rink time, but the emotional machinery is similar: two people who initially need something practical from each other end up seeing beyond public roles and reputations.
View the Kindle edition on Amazon →
2. Behind the Net by Stephanie Archer
Read this if: your favorite part was a hockey hero who becomes unexpectedly safe and caring.
The setting shifts from college to professional hockey. Pippa becomes a live-in assistant to goalie Jamie Streicher, which gives the book forced proximity without repeating Icebreaker‘s exact setup. The adult-career element also makes it a good transition if you want hockey romance that feels a little older.
View Behind the Net on Amazon →
3. The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy
Read this if: Anastasia’s athletic ambition mattered as much to you as the romance. View The Graham Effect on Amazon.
Gigi Graham is a serious hockey player aiming for the women’s national team and Olympic gold. Luke Ryder can help improve part of her game, while she can help him with a coaching opportunity. The relationship therefore develops through two people who both understand elite sport from the inside.
4. Collide by Bal Khabra
Read this if: you want campus sports, forced proximity, and a heroine whose academic or professional interests intersect with athletes rather than disappearing beside them. View Collide on Amazon.
This is another strong same-neighborhood-different-house recommendation. It scratches the college-sports, friction-to-attraction, ensemble-cast itch without simply repeating the Maple Hills formula.
5. Wildfire by Hannah Grace
Read this if: what you really want is to stay in Maple Hills. View Wildfire on Amazon.
The safest answer to an Icebreaker hangover is sometimes not a read-alike at all. Wildfire keeps you inside Hannah Grace’s world while shifting the couple and setting.
6. Daydream by Hannah Grace
Read this if: the friend-group comfort of Maple Hills is the main thing you miss. View Daydream on Amazon.
7. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
Read this if: you want hockey to matter more, the rivalry sharper, and the professional stakes higher. View Heated Rivalry on Amazon.
Shane and Ilya are elite rivals in professional hockey, and secrecy is tied to careers, identity, and the public rivalry around them.
8. Pucking Around by Emily Rath
Read this if: you want the heat turned substantially higher and are open to why-choose romance. View Pucking Around on Amazon.
9. From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
Read this if: the figure-skating side of Icebreaker mattered more than hockey. View From Lukov with Love on Amazon.
This is figure skating rather than hockey romance, but it captures elite-sport discipline, physical partnership, rivalry, and the slow accumulation of trust.
10. Mile High by Liz Tomforde
Read this if: you want adult professional hockey and workplace boundaries. Mile High Kindle edition.
11. Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy
Read this if: you want friends-to-lovers, hockey, and queer romance. Him Kindle edition.
12. The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer
Read this if: you want a flirtier professional-hockey hero and fake dating. The Fake Out Kindle edition.
13. Unsteady by Peyton Corinne
Read this if: you want hockey romance with heavier emotional vulnerability. Unsteady Kindle edition.
14. What We Make Last by Kaia Merren — Fiction Found Here
Read this if: you want to graduate from campus hockey to adult professional stakes without losing found family, heat, or emotionally capable leads.
What We Make Last is not an Icebreaker imitation. Its value as a next read is the contrast: a professional franchise, a preservation architect heroine, and a relationship shaped by adult jobs, timing, and future decisions.
View the Kindle edition on Amazon. You can also explore the Northmere Wardens series page.
Editorial disclosure: Fiction Found Here publishes this title.
Choose by the Icebreaker feeling you want again
For college comfort
Try The Deal, Collide, Wildfire, or Daydream.
For hockey that matters more to the plot
Try Heated Rivalry, The Graham Effect, or Behind the Net.
For a heroine with serious goals of her own
Start with The Graham Effect, From Lukov with Love, or What We Make Last.
For more heat
Try Pucking Around, The Fake Out, or Mile High.
For adult professional stakes
Try Behind the Net, Mile High, Heated Rivalry, or What We Make Last.
How to choose your next Icebreaker read-alike
- Stay in college hockey if the campus setting, friend group, and first-adult-life energy were the main appeal.
- Move to professional hockey if you want contracts, travel, team staff, media pressure, and older career stakes.
- Choose another athlete heroine if Anastasia’s goals mattered as much as Nate’s hockey career.
- Choose figure skating if the rink partnership interested you more than hockey itself.
- Choose by heat level and relationship structure if the romance style mattered more than the sport.
Related hockey romance reading guides
For a broader list, see the best hockey romance books to read in 2026. If you specifically want professional players rather than college hockey, browse professional hockey romance books with adult players. FFH’s Northmere Wardens begins with What We Make Last.
Frequently asked questions
What should I read if I liked Icebreaker?
If the college-hockey setting was the main draw, start with The Deal or The Graham Effect. If you want professional hockey, try Behind the Net or Mile High.
What books continue the Maple Hills world?
Hannah Grace continues the series with Wildfire and Daydream, each following a different couple.
What should I read for more figure skating?
From Lukov with Love is the strongest adjacent choice here if elite figure skating and slow-burn partnership mattered more than hockey itself.
Which choices have adult professional-hockey settings?
Behind the Net, The Fake Out, Mile High, Heated Rivalry, and What We Make Last all move beyond campus-centered stakes.
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