Liz Tomforde Books in Order: Windy City, The Selfish, and Her Sports Romance Universe
Liz Tomforde has become one of the most recognizable names in contemporary sports romance, particularly through her Chicago-set Windy City books. Her romances combine professional athletes, strong romantic chemistry, found-family relationships, humor, and characters dealing with personal issues alongside their love stories.
The Windy City books can technically be enjoyed as interconnected standalones because each focuses on a different couple. However, reading them in order gives you a much better sense of the growing friend group and the connections between the characters. Tomforde’s earlier Selfish books are separate from this universe, so they are not required before starting Mile High.
Liz Tomforde Books in Publication Order
| # | Book | Year | Series |
| 1 | Becoming Selfish | 2021 | The Selfish #1 |
| 2 | Staying Selfless | 2022 | The Selfish #2 |
| 3 | Mile High | 2022 | Windy City #1 |
| 4 | The Right Move | 2023 | Windy City #2 |
| 5 | Caught Up | 2023 | Windy City #3 |
| 6 | Play Along | 2024 | Windy City #4 |
| 7 | Rewind It Back | 2025 | Windy City #5 |
| 8 | In Her Own League | 2026 | Windy City spin-off #1 |
This is the published reading list through 2026. Cardinal Rule, the first Wilder Woods novel, is upcoming rather than part of the published bibliography.
The Selfish Books in Order
The Selfish is Liz Tomforde’s earlier two-book contemporary romance series. These novels predate Windy City and are not necessary to understand the Chicago sports-romance universe.
1. Becoming Selfish (2021)
Becoming Selfish introduces Eli, a college hockey player whose ambitions are focused on reaching the NHL. His plans become considerably more complicated when the woman he has feelings for is someone he has known for years.
The book combines sports romance with a brother’s-best-friend dynamic and explores the tension between pursuing a career and figuring out what you actually want from a relationship. It was Tomforde’s first published novel and marks the beginning of her career as a romance author.
2. Staying Selfless (2022)
Staying Selfless continues The Selfish story and should be read after Becoming Selfish. The two books were published in 2021 and 2022 respectively, forming a complete two-book sequence.
If you are mainly interested in Tomforde’s Windy City romances, you can skip directly to Mile High. The Selfish books are best treated as an earlier chapter in her bibliography rather than a prerequisite.
Windy City Books in Order
The Windy City series is where Liz Tomforde found her biggest audience. The series follows different romantic couples connected through Chicago’s professional sports world, with hockey, basketball, and baseball all playing important roles.
The author officially numbers the main series from Mile High through Rewind It Back.
1. Mile High (2022)
Mile High introduces Evan Zanders, a famous NHL player with a reputation for being difficult both on and off the ice, and Stevie, a flight attendant who joins the team’s private plane crew.
Their relationship begins with plenty of friction. Stevie has sworn off athletes, while Zanders is exactly the kind of man she should avoid. But spending time together during the team’s travels gradually turns their hostility into something much harder to ignore.
The book also establishes the found-family atmosphere that becomes increasingly important throughout Windy City.
2. The Right Move (2023)
The Right Move shifts from hockey to basketball and follows NBA superstar Ryan Shay and Indy Ivers, his sister’s best friend.
When Indy needs somewhere to stay, she ends up living with Ryan. A fake-dating arrangement seems like the perfect solution to several problems, but living together makes their carefully established boundaries increasingly difficult to maintain. Ryan’s guarded personality and Indy’s romantic outlook create much of the emotional tension at the center of the story.
3. Caught Up (2023)
Caught Up moves into professional baseball with Kai Rhodes, a starting pitcher and single father, and Miller Montgomery, his coach’s daughter.
Kai has a reputation for going through nannies quickly, but Miller is different. She is brought in to help care for his son while also trying to recover creatively after achieving major success as a pastry chef. What begins as a temporary arrangement gradually develops into a relationship neither expected.
This book adds another layer to the Windy City world by making family and parenthood central to the romance.
4. Play Along (2024)
Play Along follows Isaiah Rhodes, a professional baseball shortstop, and Kennedy Kay, the team’s athletic trainer.
After a Las Vegas night leaves them unexpectedly married, the two agree to remain together for a limited period while pretending that the marriage was intentional. Isaiah, however, has already had feelings for Kennedy for years, which makes the arrangement much more complicated than either of them expects.
The book uses the accidental-marriage and forced-proximity tropes while continuing the interconnected baseball storyline established in Caught Up.
5. Rewind It Back (2025)
Rewind It Back brings the main Windy City series to its fifth numbered book with a second-chance romance.
Hallie Hart returns to Chicago for an interior-design opportunity and unexpectedly finds herself living next door to Rio DeLuca, the boy she grew up with and the man who once broke her heart. Even worse, her major renovation project turns out to be Rio’s house.
The childhood-friends-to-lovers history gives this installment a different emotional flavor from some of the earlier books. Rather than meeting for the first time, Hallie and Rio have to confront years of memories, hurt, and feelings that never completely disappeared.
Windy City Spin-Off
In Her Own League (2026)
In Her Own League expands the Windy City universe beyond the original five-book sequence. The author specifically identifies it as a Windy City spin-off, rather than Windy City Book 6.
The story centers on Reese Remington, the first female owner of a Major League Baseball team, and Emmett Montgomery, the team’s field manager. Reese has spent years preparing to prove that she belongs in a traditionally male-dominated environment, while Emmett is a former All-Star who has strong opinions about how the team should be run.
Their professional relationship becomes increasingly complicated as disagreements turn into attraction. Because the story expands the existing sports universe rather than continuing the numbered Windy City sequence, it makes the most sense to read it after the five main books.
What Is the Best Order to Read Liz Tomforde?
For a complete publication-history reading order, go with:
- Becoming Selfish
- Staying Selfless
- Mile High
- The Right Move
- Caught Up
- Play Along
- Rewind It Back
- In Her Own League
For someone discovering Liz Tomforde specifically because of the Windy City series, I would start with Mile High instead:
- Mile High
- The Right Move
- Caught Up
- Play Along
- Rewind It Back
- In Her Own League
The second route is the better choice for most new readers because it gets straight into the interconnected sports-romance world that made Tomforde widely known. The author herself currently presents these five books as the Windy City series and In Her Own League as its spin-off.
Are Liz Tomforde’s Books Connected?
Not all of them.
The Selfish is a separate two-book series and does not need to be read before Windy City. The five numbered Windy City novels share a setting, recurring characters, friendships, and professional sports connections, although each book focuses on its own central couple.
In Her Own League belongs to the same broader universe as a Windy City spin-off. For that reason, reading the five numbered books first provides the richest experience, even though the romance itself has its own central characters.
Why the Windy City Series Feels So Connected
One of Tomforde’s strengths is her use of a growing found-family structure. A character who is the romantic hero in one book can become a friend, teammate, sibling, or supporting character in another.
The professional sports setting also changes from book to book. Mile High centers on NHL hockey, The Right Move moves into NBA basketball, and Caught Up and Play Along focus on professional baseball. This keeps the series from feeling like five versions of exactly the same romance while allowing the larger Chicago world to remain familiar.
Tomforde describes her writing as contemporary romance built around healthy relationships, witty banter, found-family moments, and plenty of steam. Her own professional experience also gives the sports setting an unusual personal connection.
Liz Tomforde’s Real-Life Connection to Mile High
There is a particularly interesting detail behind Mile High. Before becoming a full-time author, Tomforde worked as a flight attendant for an NHL team. Her official biography says that Stevie’s job in Mile High is based on her own former profession.
Tomforde began writing her first novel in 2020 after the hockey season was postponed during the pandemic. That real-world experience helps explain why the private-plane and professional-hockey environment in Mile High feels so central to the story rather than simply functioning as a decorative sports backdrop.
She also played college volleyball and describes herself as a lifelong sports fan, further connecting her personal background with the athletic worlds that dominate her romance novels.
What Comes Next: Wilder Woods
Liz Tomforde is beginning a new four-book series called Wilder Woods, set in Northern California and centered on the Wilder family.
Cardinal Rule (2027)
Cardinal Rule is the first book in Wilder Woods. The author’s current website lists its release date as March 2, 2027, so it should not be counted among Tomforde’s published books as of October 2026.
The new series represents a move away from the Chicago professional-sports setting of Windy City while retaining Tomforde’s focus on romance, family, and interconnected characters.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the first Liz Tomforde book?
Her first published novel is Becoming Selfish, released in 2021 as the first book in The Selfish duology.
What Liz Tomforde book should I read first?
If you want to read her entire bibliography, start with Becoming Selfish. If you are primarily interested in her popular sports romances, start with Mile High, the first Windy City book.
How many Windy City books are there?
There are five numbered Windy City novels: Mile High, The Right Move, Caught Up, Play Along, and Rewind It Back. In Her Own League is a separate Windy City spin-off.
Is In Her Own League Windy City Book 6?
No. Liz Tomforde’s official site identifies In Her Own League as a Windy City spin-off, not Book 6.
Do I have to read Windy City in order?
Not strictly. Each main book centers on a different couple, so the romances can work individually. However, reading from Mile High through Rewind It Back gives you the best experience with the recurring characters and found-family relationships.
What comes after Rewind It Back?
The next published story in the broader Windy City universe is In Her Own League, the spin-off focused on Reese Remington and Emmett Montgomery.
Is Cardinal Rule part of Windy City?
No. Cardinal Rule begins Tomforde’s new Wilder Woods series, which is planned as a four-book series set in Northern California. Its current release date is March 2, 2027.
Final Verdict
For readers who love sports romance, interconnected standalones, found family, banter, and high-heat contemporary romance, Windy City is the obvious place to start with Liz Tomforde. Read Mile High, The Right Move, Caught Up, Play Along, and Rewind It Back in order, then continue into In Her Own League.
If you want the complete journey from Tomforde’s earliest published work, add Becoming Selfish and Staying Selfless before starting Windy City. And with Wilder Woods arriving in 2027, Tomforde’s bibliography is moving into a new setting while keeping the interconnected-romance approach that has become central to her work.
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