Steamy hockey romances are having a bit of a moment. Off Campus has fans falling for the hunky stars of the new show, and Heated Rivalry is still incredibly popular months after the first season swept the nation.
Both television shows were adapted from romance novels, with Heated Rivalry based on the Game Changer series of M/M books — the term for love stories between two men — by Rachel Reid.
The popularity of Heated Rivalry and Reid’s whole series has created a demand for more gay hockey romance novels, but most are written by heterosexual women, which means that for LGBTQ+ fans looking for books that come from a shared experience, there aren’t many options.
That’s where queer and nonbinary author Ari Baran comes in. Baran, a Jewish die-hard hockey fan and Philadelphia native, just released the cover art for their upcoming book Unsportsmanlike Conduct, the fifth novel in their spicy Penalty Box series of M/M hockey romances.
Cover art for 'Unsportsmanlike Conduct' by Ari Baran.
Harlequin
Each book in the series tells a new story of two male hockey players falling in love, and don’t shy away from queer sex scenes. There are currently four books available to read, with Unsportsmanlike Conduct set to release early next year.
The series comes from Heated Rivalry publisher Harlequin and even has the seal of approval from Reid, who called it a “bold hockey romance that hits like a slap shot."
And if you’re worried about how erotic the series is or how spicy the upcoming book will be, fear not. On social media, Baran has promised that the upcoming book will feature light sado-masochism, “freak4freak,” praise kink representation, and a blowjob made better by a lack of teeth from hockey.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct follows bad-boy defenseman Leo Cohen, who joins the Edmonton Skyhawks as his last chance to realize his dreams, only to be saddled with a babysitter in the form of superstar golden boy Devon Fraser, the homegrown generational defenseman tasked with keeping Leo on a leash.
“Leo doesn’t want an obnoxious babysitter, especially not one who’s the league’s golden child. But as they get to know each other, they discover similarities under the surface,” the official synopsis reads. “Soon, animosity becomes passion, then friendship, until suddenly, they’re facing something even more dangerous. With everything to lose, it’s unclear what could be more devastating: losing the season, or losing their hearts.”
The four other books in the Penalty Box series — Game Misconduct, Delay of Game, Home Ice Advantage, and Goaltender Interference — are all spicy romance novels with fan-favorite tropes like hurt/comfort, enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance, and grumpy/sunshine, so the newest entry in the series is sure to satisfy as well. And each novel is getting a brand new cover art to celebrate the release of the upcoming book.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct will be released on March 30, 2027, but you can preorder it today.
