It is summer lovin’ time, as the kids at Rydell High would say. And oh boy, is it. Amazon Prime has rocketed to early-summer success with Off Campus, an adaptation of the first book in Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus series, The Deal.

Most women I know, including my sister and two cousins, have devoured the show in ravenous delight. “It really hits the spot for me,” reads one message in the group chat. “I finished it on the plane and also loved it. I cried too lol,” reads another.

I confess I did not contribute much to this conversation bar an answer to the question, “Is it girly or will Jack like it?” My response: “I think it’s girly.”

Critical insight, I know. Here “girly” is not an assessment on quality – where “girliness” is used as a derisory term based on stereotypical associations with frivolity and vapidness – but rather the show’s intended audience. With its focus on female desire and autonomy, coupled with emotionally literate men, the Off Campus television show and novels are the perfect antidote to the horrors of modern dating, offering a nostalgic reminder of the idealised headiness of university and the rush that comes with falling in love.

As highlighted in the first book-to-screen column, a screen adaptation’s success cross-pollinates into the publishing industry. “The author to keep an eye on here is Elle Kennedy,” wrote charts editor Alex Call in his weekly charts column. “The author of the Off-Campus series has seen her 2015 novel The Deal (Piatkus) make it to the 20th place in the Official UK Top 50, following the success of the TV adaptation on Amazon Prime.” Kennedy is selling well across all formats – physical, audiobook and e-book – and her total sales across the Off-Campus series sit at more than 110,882 copies through NielsenIQ BookScan. The highest seller by some margin is The Deal, perhaps an indicator that avid viewers have decided to pick up the first book.

There is an interesting commonality between many of the in-vogue book-to-screen adaptations. Amazon’s Off Campus arrives hot off the heels of HBO’s Heated Rivalry, adapted from the first two novels in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series. While Heated Rivalry is not set at either a university or high school, both shows feature ice hockey players. And now Netflix – likely looking for their own sports-romance success story – have  announced their planned adaptation of Grace’s Icebreaker (Simon & Schuster), a college-set romance between competitive figure skater Anastasia Allen and ice hockey player Nate Hawkins. 

But why now? Kennedy’s The Deal was originally published in 2015, the first book in Reid’s series was released in 2019 and Hannah Grace’s Icebreaker hit shelves in 2023. Production timelines notwithstanding, why now are these sports romances – some published nearly a decade ago – experiencing a second wind? 

What I am dubbing the ‘swoony trifecta’ – sex, romance and sports – is catnip for the largely female, online book community

Two things are causing this bracing breeze: BookTok and a social media-literate generation. What I am dubbing the ‘swoony trifecta’ – sex, romance and sports – is catnip for the largely female, online book community.

In these shows, the swoony trifecta is enlivened by nostalgic, aestheticised set design and a gently predictable plot. BookTok has given female creators a space to talk about romance – a genre often maligned by mainstream media – and, in doing so, the spotlight has shifted.

The publishing industry was pretty quick to react to this change, but the screen industries are only just catching up, meaning that those first on the scene reap the largest reward. All the elements are there – the swoony trifecta, enlivened by nostalgic, aestheticised set design and gently predictable plot.

It is no coincidence that the novels from which the shows are adapted were written by women. These shows are about the female gaze – even Heated Rivalry, a show about gay hockey players, attracted women in droves. Audiences are seeking stories that front caring relationships, defined by their intimacy and communication. The predilection toward winter sports – namely ice hockey – gives the stories some edge, a very different ice and fire to George RR Martin’s A Game of Thrones.

The brutal physicality of ice hockey brings into relief the male characters’ emotional tenderness while sexual tension and fiery romantic chemistry contrasts with the unforgiving ice rink, a crisp, cool arena circumscribed by competition and performance.

The modern dating scene is bleak. Apps are gamifying human connection and, for women, safety while dating is always a concern, especially against a backdrop of increasingly anti-feminist and chauvinistic rhetoric. It is not a big leap to see that these shows, and the books, offer an escape not only from the world, but what it is like to be a woman in this world.

Set in the real world, these stories are not fantasy, but elements of them, to some, will feel aspirational, if not fantastical. And they are coveted for this aspiration. Safe spaces for open communication, intimacy and a fulfilling communicative romantic relationship can – right now – feel entirely out of reach, especially to those stuck in the hamster wheel of dating. 
Off Campus and Heated Rivalry create safe spaces to dream, not of extreme wealth or professional success, but of a partnership, a feeling of safety and value. Bring on more girly shows.

Read the previous book to screen column, featuring The Other Bennet Sister.