What to read after Off-Campus (according to your favorite Briar U boys)
- evemrileyauthor
- Aug 14
- 6 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
Here's what to read after you've finished Off-Campus and the entire Briar Universe canon and must look further afield for wholesome college romance and loveable book boyfriends.
Hunter (the charismatic sports captain archetype)
Boyfriend Bargain by Ilsa Madden-mills
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
TROPES: Fake dating, opposites attract, hockey romance, YA
FOR FANS OF: If you love a bit of YA angst with your college romance (as well as plenty of heart and spin-off possibilities), then I would recommend Ilsa Madden-Mills' Boyfriend Bargain!
PLOT: Sugar Ryan dreams of attending law school. She has the smarts, the drive, and the confidence, but the snobbish legal world isn’t accepting of her social background. To ace her interview, she needs an in. Who better to have on her arm than insider and king of college, Zack Morgan?
Like Hunter, Zack Morgan (Z) is ice hockey royalty with no shortage of offers from women. But secretly he is still grieving his high school sweetheart and doesn't want to do the whole hookup thing. Then suddenly he is captivated by someone who looks just like her: a smart, introverted student who seems to pop up wherever he goes.
When Z stumbles into Sugar’s confected meet-cute, he agrees to be her date and to abide by her one condition: no falling in love.
Well... after a handful of sizzling makeouts, Z wants to tear up Sugar’s contract and date her for real. Can Sugar trust someone with Z's reputation, or will a secret from the past break them up?
Like Off-Campus, Boyfriend Bargain is both sexy and full of heart. And, like Off-Campus, there are lots of other characters who desperately need their own book—(yes, I’m talking about you, canoodling roommates Julia and Eric!)
Garrett (the Tortured Hero/Healing Arc)
Upsy Daisy by Chelsie Edwards
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️/5
TROPES: College romance, miscommunication, modern historical romance
FOR FANS OF: If you love a fully fleshed-out college universe to immerse yourself in (and have made your way through Elle Kennedy’s prequels already), then Upsy Daisy by Chelsie Edwards is right up your alley!
PLOT: Upsy Daisy follows the origin story of two characters from Penny Reid’s The Winston Brothers series.
Daisy Payton has just arrived at college and wants to reinvent herself away from the stifling pressure of her rich family. Trevor Boone is in pre-graduation limbo. Like Garrett, he has faced parental loss (through abandonment) and is determined to finally find belonging through success at college.
When Daisy and Trevor meet, there is unexpected and fiery chemistry between the two, but the road to HEA will not be easy. Rather than the 2010s, this book takes us back to the 70s (new fantasy wardrobe loading...). Despite being set 50 years in the past, many of the concerns of college students remain: family expectations, grief, socio-economic divides, racism... these themes are carefully woven into the romantic plot.
There is also a star-studded supporting cast of wonderful girlfriends and family members—it was great to see how those relationships evolved with the MCs' changing stages of life.
Logan (The down-on-his-luck hero)
The Dugout by Meghan Quinn
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
TROPES: mentor dynamic, sports romance, slow burn
FOR FANS OF: If you love a star-studded supporting cast/extended universe, you’ll love The Dugout by Megan Quinn.
PLOT: Like Logan, the path to Carson Stone's sporting success isn't plain sailing. His shoulder injury is threatening to keep him sitting on his ass in the dugout and ruin the rest of his baseball season. He needs help, and fast! There’s only one person who knows more about baseball than he does: Milly Potter, aka The Ball Whisperer.
As the little sister to many baseball-playing brothers, Milly has encyclopedic ball knowledge (a bit like Jules in the Off-Campus adaptation). However, she isn’t top of the class when it comes to romance. It was super real (and hilarious) to see someone so used to the friend role struggle to accept and then communicate her romantic feelings. I’m all for a slick, sexy scene, but blossoming romance IS also awkward and funny, and I like it when a romance book keeps it real.
Reading The Dugout really made me think about the women who spectate, the knowledge we accrue and the friends we make (I owe all my sports knowledge to the soccer moms I met watching my brother; they really know their stuff!)
Shane (the Secret Softie archetype)
Blindsided by Amy Daws
TROPES: friends to FWB to lovers, sports romance, mentor/mentee dynamic
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
FOR FANS OF: If you loved Off-Campus’ friends-to-lovers dynamics and sensitive portrayals of issues many of us face growing up, Amy Daws' Blindsided is perfect for you!
PLOT: Maclay (Mac) Logan and Freya Cook are firm friends who genuinely want the best for one another. So when Freya tells the soccer star that she’s a virgin, he offers to play love coach. Romantic feelings (predictably) follow.
You may or may not recognize Mac as the tattooed Scotsman stealing hearts on BookTok. He’s a gritty midfielder on the soccer field; but off it, like Shane, he’s a perceptive and supportive friend to Freya. He picks up on her negative self-perception and gently challenges it, and he proactively supports her pursuits (romantic and otherwise). Their mutual care for one another sets a great foundation for all the spiciness to come.
I also really enjoyed Freya's characterization as a seamstress with plenty of sass. It feels like she really comes into herself over the course of the book. Like in the Off-Campus adaptation, she’s been through some heavy things, but the story focuses on her healing and self-acceptance.
Dean (The Golden retriever/ Rolled Cabbage Archetype*)
The Lineup by Meghan Quinn
SPICE 🌶️🌶️🌶️ /5
TROPES: secret crush, sports romance, grumpy/sunshine
FOR FANS OF: One of my fave aspects of Off-Campus is how lovely the guys are, particularly in the adaptation. It doesn’t, of course, sugarcoat (Hannah and Garrett are both dealing with a lot), but there’s a safe, cozy feeling when the MMCs are so wholesome. If you're after a similar vibe, look no further than The Lineup by Meghan Quinn.
PLOT: As a college student, Dottie harbored a secret crush on gorgeous baseball jock Jason Orson. Years later, she is Dorothy Domico, successful in business and very much a self-made woman. She “accidentally” donates an infeasibly large sum to baseball player Jason's charity, The Lineup, in an auction to win a date with him.
Probably my favorite part of the book was Jason. The man is so perfect it's actually not fair. His chats with his mates achieve emotional vulnerability rarely seen outside the ladies' room at a bar. Sensitive, funny, and self-assured in the streets; an assertive dirty-talker in the sheets... Is there anything this man cannot do?
Where Jason is open, Dottie flees from closeness with others, afraid of being hurt again. She’s also incredibly smart, savvy, and driven—we love to see it!
*P.S. I'm told that in Japan the "man in the streets, beast in the sheets" archetype is known as "rolled cabbage" because the hero looks like a herbivore but is a secret carnivore. Obsessed with this imagery!
Justin (the Artist archetype)
Skate It Till You Make It by Rufaro Faith Mazarura
SPICE: 🌶️ /5
TROPES: Fake dating, doomed from the start, NYE meet-cute
FOR FANS OF: If you like an opposites-attract storyline, then you’ll love Skate It Till You Make It by Rufaro Faith Mazarura.
PLOT: Ari Shumba has more than achieved her wildest dreams. An unexpected twist of fate sees her reluctantly captaining Great Britain’s women’s ice hockey team. She’ll need all her agility and athletic prowess to juggle that responsibility on top of managing her family and avoiding her ex.
Drew Dlamini is on the rocks: his relationship is over, he’s dropped out of college, and his family is in crisis. He has nothing to lose. So when he realizes he’ll be in London for the Winter Games, he returns to his old dream of being a pro photographer.
The pair meet at a New Year's Eve party, and sparks fly. But they live on different continents and lead wildly different lives. It’ll never work out. So if fake dating will help them get through the winter games, why not give it a go? Fun, flirty and vulnerable, Skate It Till You Make It is well worth a read!
Colin "Fitzy" Fitzgerald (THE HOT NERD)
The Game by Eve M Riley
SPICE: 🌶️🌶️/5
TROPES: Opposites attract, fake dating, sports romance
FOR FANS OF: If you love the banter in Off-Campus, then my book The Game could be for you!
PLOT: Professional tennis player Anna Talanova's boss sets her up with Adam Miller (a struggling techpreneur) as an emergency plus one following her breakup.
Like in Elle Kennedy's The Deal, fake dating has benefits for them both; Anna can escape intrusive questions from journalists, while positive press around their relationship is a marketing boon for Adam's company. As they spend more time together, they start to realize their feelings for one another might not be so fake after all.
However, media storms, Russian gangsters, and a terrifying ex-boyfriend are not going to make it easy for this couple.
What have you been reading after Off-Campus? Do you have a favorite book boyfriend?Drop your ideas below and let's get a brainstorm brewing!
Love, Eve x
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