Playing The Part Books in Order

Playing The Part sits in a completely different lane from the Amish fiction also published under the Emma Miller name. This is contemporary sports romance, and the official series setup is clear: it follows a band of hockey players who are not just teammates, but chosen family.

The energy is louder, faster, and much more modern.

The clearest entry point is The Center of Attention, which launches the series with Leah Ashley and Alexander Marino. Leah used to thrive on being seen, then life knocks her out of that role. Xander has long been focused on hockey, loyalty, and building the future he wants. When they reconnect around their best friends' wedding, the story leans into history, attraction, and the question of whether another chance can work when both people have changed.

That setup points to what the series is interested in beyond romance alone. Public identity matters. So do friendship groups, ambition, performance, and the way sports culture can create a ready-made family around a team. The feelings are bigger and more outward than in the Amish books. People talk more, move faster, and live with a different kind of social pressure.

Another contemporary title in this catalog, The List of Things, is not the hockey launch book, but it helps sketch the wider mood around this Emma Miller's work. That novel is built around college life, a football star, rom-com wish fulfillment, and playful emotional risk. Put next to The Center of Attention, it suggests a contemporary style that likes banter, chemistry, and characters testing out who they are in front of other people.

This is found-family romance, not quiet domestic fiction.

If you want a softer, faith-centered Amish story, this is not that. If you want sports, second or third chances, friendship-group dynamics, and characters who feel young, messy, and intensely present, Playing The Part is the place to start.