Below is the complete list of Ana Huang’s Gods of the Game books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Gods of the Game Books
- The Keeper (2026)
The Keeper is a 2026 release and appears as book #3 in the Gods of the Game series.
About Gods of the Game
Behind the glamour of professional football lies a world of relentless competition, intense public scrutiny, and personal sacrifices that rarely make the headlines. Ana Huang explores this environment in Gods of the Game, a contemporary sports romance trilogy centred on elite players competing in England’s Premier League. Set primarily around the fictional Blackcastle Football Club, the novels combine passionate relationships, professional rivalries, complicated friendships, and the difficulties of maintaining a private life when millions of people are watching.
The series begins with The Striker (2024), introducing Asher Donovan, one of the most celebrated footballers in the world. Exceptionally talented but frequently controversial, Asher has built a reputation for both his extraordinary performances and his difficult personality. His transfer to Blackcastle creates immediate tension because he must now play alongside Vincent DuBois, a longtime rival with whom he shares a bitter history.
Their hostility becomes a serious problem for the club, prompting the team to arrange additional training intended to improve their cooperation. The situation becomes considerably more complicated when Asher discovers that the trainer is Scarlett DuBois, Vincent’s younger sister.
Scarlett is a former professional ballerina whose career was cut short by a devastating injury. Having spent years pursuing an extraordinary level of artistic discipline, she understands the pressures of elite performance but carries unresolved disappointment over the future she lost.
Her connection with Asher creates an immediate conflict. Vincent’s antagonism toward his teammate makes a romantic relationship particularly dangerous, while Scarlett is reluctant to become involved with another professional athlete. Their growing attraction forces both characters to confront the personal consequences of ambition, loyalty, and emotional vulnerability.
Huang uses their contrasting athletic backgrounds to explore the similarities between football and ballet. Both demand physical precision, relentless training, and the willingness to sacrifice ordinary experiences for professional achievement. Scarlett’s struggle to redefine herself after injury provides an emotional counterpoint to Asher’s determination to maintain his position at the highest level of his sport.
The Defender (2025) shifts attention to Vincent DuBois, Blackcastle’s captain and one of football’s most highly paid players. Although his professional career appears remarkably successful, his personal circumstances become complicated when his fame creates a security problem that forces him to change his living arrangements.
Vincent unexpectedly finds himself sharing an apartment with Brooklyn Armstrong, his coach’s daughter and a sports nutritionist seeking a fresh start after leaving California. Their proximity is particularly inconvenient because Brooklyn is also his sister’s best friend.
Accustomed to handling confident, demanding athletes, Brooklyn refuses to be intimidated by Vincent’s reputation. Their conflicting personalities create frequent disagreements, but the attraction developing between them becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
Their relationship introduces a different kind of professional dilemma. Vincent’s position as team captain makes his private behaviour a potential concern for the club, while Brooklyn must consider how becoming romantically involved with one of her father’s players could affect her own career and family relationships.
The trilogy’s third instalment, The Keeper, is scheduled for October 27, 2026. It follows Noah Wilson, a celebrated goalkeeper and single father whose demanding football career leaves him struggling to find suitable childcare for his young daughter.
With the World Cup approaching, Noah reluctantly hires Carina Vu, a determined young woman whose plans to visit Antarctica have been derailed by an unexpected financial setback. Their arrangement places two people with very different priorities in close proximity, introducing a romance complicated by professional obligations, parenthood, and competing personal ambitions.
One of the series’ distinctive characteristics is its focus on different aspects of life surrounding professional sport. Asher’s story examines rivalry and the consequences of an athlete’s public reputation, Vincent’s explores family loyalty and professional boundaries, while Noah’s introduces the responsibilities of single parenthood.
The novels feature separate central couples but share a connected social and sporting environment. Teammates, relatives, and friends recur across the stories, allowing the relationships established in earlier instalments to enrich the wider Blackcastle community.
Gods of the Game also belongs to Huang’s broader fictional universe, which includes the Twisted and Kings of Sin novels. However, its central romances are self-contained, with football providing the distinctive professional setting.
The series has attracted attention beyond publishing, with Amazon MGM Studios developing film adaptations of the novels.
Although its protagonists enjoy fame, wealth, and exceptional professional success, Gods of the Game concentrates on the vulnerabilities concealed beneath those achievements. Huang portrays athletes whose carefully controlled public identities become difficult to maintain when confronted with love, family responsibilities, and personal uncertainty. The result is a romance trilogy in which sporting ambition provides both the glamour and the obstacles, while the characters’ most important decisions take place away from the football pitch.