Honestly? No, not really. I binged the whole series last year and the later books felt repetitive and lacked the spark of the early ones. The original sports agent and football player dynamics were fresh, but by the time it branched into wine country and movie stars, it lost its cohesive thread. There's no culminating event or finale that justifies the series' length.
It just... peters out. The characters from book one are still around, but their arcs were done ages ago. It doesn't feel like an ending, it feels like the author ran out of steam but the publisher wanted more books. If you're a completionist, you'll finish it, but don't expect a rewarding payoff that recontextualizes everything that came before. It's more of a gradual fade to black.
I think whether the ending feels satisfying hinges entirely on your attachment to the Mick Riley family. The series starts strong with the Mick siblings—Cole, Gavin, Jenna—and their sports management world. As it progresses, it introduces their friends, then their clients, and eventually their kids. The 'ending', such as it is, comes with the later books focusing on that next generation, like Flynn Riley from 'Love After All'.
For me, seeing the children of the original couples find love provided a wonderful sense of full-circle closure. It wasn't a dramatic climax, but a gentle, life-goes-on feeling that suits the family saga aspect. You get the reassurance that the love and community built in the early books endured and created a new generation. If you loved the family vibes, you'll probably find it warm and fulfilling. If you were only there for the initial premise, it might seem like it drifted too far from the core.
It depends on your definition. There's no single book that serves as a series finale. The last few entries just follow the established pattern: a new couple in the broad 'Play-by-Play' universe gets their happy ever after. The universe feels alive and ongoing, not concluded. So it's satisfying in that each individual romance is wrapped up, but the overall series doesn't have a definitive end point. I was fine with that.
The Play-by-Play series by Jaci Burton is one of those long-running romance series that kind of evolves as it goes. I wouldn't say there's a grand, series-finale style 'ending' that ties everything up in a bow, because it's structured more as interconnected standalones within the same sports/entertainment world. The later books do shift focus to a new generation of characters, like the children of the original couples from the early books.
So your satisfaction might depend on what you're looking for. If you want every single character's future neatly wrapped up in a final book, you might be a bit disappointed. But if you're content with seeing the world expand and get periodic check-ins with old favorites in new books, it feels very complete in its own way. I liked seeing how the original couples from, say, 'Changing the Game' were doing as established parents and professionals.
It ends on a note that feels like the door is still open for more stories, which I appreciate because it mirrors how life keeps going. The final book I read, 'Rules of Contact', gave a nice sense of continuity rather than a hard stop.
2026-07-14 16:06:10
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That said, the author does a good job making each couple's story standalone. If you're just in the mood for a hockey romance, you can jump straight to 'Taking a Shot' or 'Playing to Win' and not feel lost. The reading order on her website lists them chronologically, which is probably the 'official' way, but I read them totally out of order based on what my library had available and still enjoyed every single one.
I'd say pick the sport or trope that grabs you first. The baseball ones have a different vibe than the football or hockey books, honestly. Just be prepared to get hooked and want to go back for the ones you missed later.
Oh yeah, for sure they have audiobooks. I listened to the whole series last year during my commute, and I'm pretty sure all the main 'Play-by-Play' books by Jaci Burton are available in audio. They're all on Audible, at least.
I mostly know because I go through audiobooks so fast that I'm always checking for series with a lot of installments. The narrators change a bit throughout the series, which threw me off at first, but you get used to it. I liked the narrator for the early ones—think it was Sophie Eastlake? She had a good rhythm for the sports talk and the steamier scenes.
Honestly, hearing the play-by-play sports metaphors is kind of funny in audio. Makes the locker room talk feel more real, maybe a bit too real sometimes. But if you're into audiobook romance, it's a solid pick. My library had a few of them on the Libby app, which is how I found them initially.