Chicago Stars Books in Order
Part ofSusan Elizabeth Phillips Books in OrderBrowse the Chicago Stars books by Susan Elizabeth Phillips in order, with story summaries, series background, and suggestions on the best place to begin this football romance saga.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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Publication Order
11 books
It Had to Be You
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
1994
After her domineering father dies, flamboyant heiress Phoebe Somerville unexpectedly inherits the Chicago Stars football team with one brutal condition: win or lose it. To survive the season she must battle stubborn head coach Dan Calebow, the game she hates, and the risk of trusting love again.
Heaven, Texas
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
1995
Buttoned up organizer Gracie Snow has one job: deliver legendary ex wide receiver Bobby Tom Denton home to Heaven, Texas for his first movie role. Instead she ends up remaking his chaotic life, challenging his playboy image, and discovering that a small town can change them both.
Nobody's Baby But Mine
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
1997
Brilliant physicist Jane Darlington wants a baby but fears passing on her isolating genius, so she targets seemingly dim Chicago Stars quarterback Cal Bonner as the perfect father. Her outrageous deception sparks a shotgun marriage, a custody battle, and a tender love between two stubborn opposites.
Dream a Little Dream
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
1998
Down to her last dollars, widowed Rachel Stone limps back to Salvation, North Carolina, the town that despises her late televangelist husband. A job at grim widower Gabe Bonner's failing drive in gives her and her young son a precarious foothold and offers Gabe a second chance at faith and love.
This Heart of Mine
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2001
Children's book creator Molly Somerville has always secretly adored Chicago Stars quarterback Kevin Tucker, her sister's star player. One reckless night upends both their lives and sends them to a remote lakeside camp, where a fragile marriage of convenience slowly turns into the partnership they never planned.
Match Me If You Can
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2005
Determined to save her late grandmother's struggling matchmaking agency, quirky Annabelle Granger vows to land high powered sports agent Heath Champion as a client. As she parades Chicago's most polished women in front of him, their sparring turns playful and Annabelle begins to look like his most unlikely perfect match.
Natural Born Charmer
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2007
On a lonely Colorado highway, Chicago Stars quarterback Dean Robillard brakes for a furious woman in a bedraggled beaver costume. Taking runaway artist Blue Bailey along on his road trip leads them to a Tennessee farmhouse, an eccentric makeshift family, and a romance neither commitment phobe saw coming.
First Star I See Tonight
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2016
Rookie private investigator Piper Dove's first big assignment is to shadow retired Chicago Stars legend Cooper Graham and see if he is hiding anything from a potential investor. When Coop catches her, he hires his not so stealthy stalker to uncover sabotage at his nightclub, turning their wary partnership into something much more dangerous to their hearts.
When Stars Collide
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2021
Backup quarterback Thad Owens and demanding opera star Olivia Shore are paired on a glitzy nationwide tour to promote a luxury watch, and they agree on only one thing: they cannot stand each other. As threatening messages and real danger shadow the trip, their sharp banter and grudging respect deepen into a high profile romance neither planned.
Simply the Best
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2024
Artisan chocolatier Rory Garrett is barely staying afloat when her NFL star brother's glamorous ex turns up dead and suspicion lands close to home. Forced to partner with Brett Rivers, her brother's polished sports agent and the man who once mistook her for a paid escort, she dives into a twisty investigation that melts their mutual distrust into something much sweeter.
And the Crowd Went Wild
by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
2026
After a viral humiliation, former sex symbol Dancy Flynn hides out at the secluded lake house of her earnest high school boyfriend, now Chicago Stars quarterback Clint Garrett. Banished to a converted caboose yet impossible to ignore, she keeps colliding with his tightly controlled life, stirring up old hurts, local drama, and a second chance at love.
Series background & context
The Chicago Stars series imagines what happens when professional football and messy human hearts run straight at each other. Set around a fictional NFL franchise, these books use locker rooms, luxury boxes, and team buses as the backdrop for very personal love stories.
It all begins with an outsider. In It Had to Be You, flamboyant heiress Phoebe Somerville unexpectedly inherits the Chicago Stars and must win a championship to keep the team. She knows almost nothing about football and wants even less to do with head coach Dan Calebow, a gruff former player who sees her as a meddling distraction. Their battle of wills set the tone for the books that followed, blending sports, boardroom politics, past trauma, and sharp humor.
From there the spotlight shifts to the people who make up the wider Stars family. Heaven, Texas follows retired wide receiver Bobby Tom Denton and prim organizer Gracie Snow back to his hometown and into the chaos of movie making. Nobody's Baby But Mine pairs genius physicist Jane Darlington with veteran quarterback Cal Bonner in a baby plan gone gloriously wrong. Dream a Little Dream moves off the field to tell the story of Gabe Bonner, a grief stricken former player whose rundown drive in becomes a refuge for a desperate young mother.
Later novels push past the original roster and into the next generation. In This Heart of Mine, children’s book creator Molly Somerville and reckless quarterback Kevin Tucker are forced into a marriage neither planned and must decide if they can build something real out of one disastrous night. Match Me If You Can drops ambitious matchmaker Annabelle Granger into the path of sports agent Heath Champion. Natural Born Charmer sends quarterback Dean Robillard on a soul searching road trip with runaway artist Blue Bailey in a beaver costume riding shotgun.
The more recent books widen the lens even further. First Star I See Tonight teams rookie private investigator Piper Dove with retired legend Cooper Graham to unmask a saboteur at his new nightclub. When Stars Collide throws backup quarterback Thad Owens together with opera diva Olivia Shore on a glittering but dangerous publicity tour. Simply the Best and And the Crowd Went Wild bring in sports agents, artisan chocolatiers, Hollywood actresses, and a new generation of Stars quarterbacks, all wrestling with fame, family loyalty, and the price of winning.
Although recurring characters weave through the series, each book is written to stand on its own. You can start with whichever premise calls to you and still get a full story. Read in order, though, the Chicago Stars novels offer the pleasure of watching a fictional franchise grow and age, showing that behind every jersey number and highlight reel are people trying to figure out how to love, lose, and begin again.
Edited by
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