Elle Kennedy is often referred to as the original hockey romance novelist, having written several stories set in the world of the sport like 'Off Campus' (pictured, right). Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Prime Video; Liane Hentscher/Prime Logo text A booming hockey romance market seemed like a far-fetched dream for novelist Elle Kennedy when she published her first book about the sport, Body Check, back in 2009.
“Around that time, there weren’t a lot of hockey romances. There was maybe one other series I knew of,” Kennedy tells The Hollywood Reporter from her house in Canada. The author has written at least 18 hockey-centric books, including her co-written titles.
If anyone knows hockey romance, it’s Kennedy.
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She noticed the biggest hockey boom when TikTok, and eventually BookTok, blew up. “BookTalk created so many new readers, and I love it. Everyone should be reading. I don’t care what you’re reading, just read something,” Kennedy says.
She recalls the time, pre-TikTok, when the feeling was that the print market was dead.“ What I actually find the most interesting about TikTok or BookTalk is the paperback aspect of it,” she says.
Watching influencers hold physical books on social media created a want for those viewing the content, Kennedy speculates. “It brought excitement back for the paperback, so I’m almost like, ‘You guys saved print,” she says. “My print sales definitely were impacted by BookTok.”
The writer’s most popular series Off Campus — comprised of The Deal, The Mistake, The Score, The Goal and The Legacy — had popularity long before BookTook but new fans have certainly filtered in, but the series has found legions of new fans on the platform.
The book series follows a college hockey team and the women in their lives at the fictional Briar University. It deals with the typical college woes, but it also digs into some heavier topics. Season one follows the plot of The Deal, centered around Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli), the NHL-bound captain of the college hockey team, and Hannah Wells (Ella Bright), a music student.
Bright as Hannah and Cameli as Garrett in Off Campus. Amazon MGM Studios Despite the popularity of the Off Campus series, the road to the screen has been a long one. Leanna Billings of Billings Productions optioned the series in 2019. “She was a huge fan of the series, and I kind of took a shot on her like, ‘OK, yeah, let’s see,’” Kennedy says. “You go into it with the hopes that something happens, but chances are it won’t. If you think about how long that took from option to screen, it’s so long. You kind think it’s never going to happen”
Seven years later, however, it has happened.
Off Campus premiered on Prime Video last week (May 13) and has already become quite buzzy. “With this project, all the pieces slowly started falling into place. It’s funny how everything moves slow, slow, slow, and then boom, super fast,” she says.
The project went from a years-long development process to the show having a showrunner and studio, to the next month shooting with a full cast. While Kennedy was not involved in the day-to-day of the show, she was able to read each script and hear what the writers envisioned for the show’s arc. “I was trusting their vision,” she says.
The writer was also able to see rough cuts of the entire season before it was released. “It was so surreal. You’re watching and thinking, how is this something that I’m watching right now?” says Kennedy.
Logan (Antonio Cipriano), Garrett (Belmont Cameli), Dean (Stephen Thomas Kalyn), and Tucker (Jalen Thomas Brooks) in Off Campus. Liane Hentscher/Prime Changes when adapting for television are necessary — it’s a different medium — but Kennedy had some bigger picture must-haves. “It wasn’t like I said this particular scene has to be in it. It was more that I need to see the dynamic between the characters,” she says.
Adds Kennedy, “Hannah and Garrett, in the book their relationship, it’s a friendship, right? It’s a very slow burn. They don’t hook up or make out in the first chapter. It was things like this where I said I need to see the slow burn and slow build. I need that dynamic to feel earnest and realistic to the characters. Especially if you’re keeping their backstories, it needs to be that way.”
The dynamic between Hannah and her best friend, Allie, portrayed by Mika Abdalla in the series, was something Kennedy was insistent must be done right, noting that their friendship is “super important” in the novels. The dynamic between Garrett and his teammates, who are the leading men in the other books in the Off Campus books, was also big for the author.
“The way they support each other and step up as a team, I really needed [them] to capture that, the vibes of Briar, and I think the show does that,” she says. “When you watch it, you feel like you’re part of the world. You might not get every scene point by point from the book and that’s hard to do.”
Heated Rivalry, and mainstream spotlight it’s put on this once niche romance genre, has been a big topic throughout Off Campus’ press tour. While Kennedy’s novel came out first and the series has been in development for longer, social media has been quick to compare the two shows. Anyone involved in either production can likely attest that hockey tends to be where the similarities end.
“I’m always in the camp of romance is awesome and I want people to love it and watch it and see how positive and inspiring it can be,” says Kennedy.
The author hasn’t watched the series yet — she’s been on deadline, but swears it’s next on her list.
Kennedy and the Off Campus team at the show’s L.A. premiere in April. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Prime Video Kennedy speaks of a co-writer — presumably Sarina Bowen, with whom she co-wrote a series of gay hockey novels with — who swears by Heated Rivalry and the Rachel Reid book series it’s based on, Game Changers. Her co-writer’s love of Reid’s novels have Kennedy debating whether she should read the books first.
“I’m super happy for Rachel’s books to blow up. She’s having a moment, and that show is having a moment,” the author says. The success of Heated Rivalry, in Kennedy’s eyes, can only be a good thing for Off Campus.
As the cast and crew of Off Campus head off to Vancouver this week to begin filming the show’s second season — production and the studio have yet to confirm which novel season two will be based upon — Kennedy is still in shock at seeing this world she built come to life.
“It’s so cool. Honestly, I don’t have any other words,” Kennedy says. “It’s the coolest thing that’s ever happened.”
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Off Campus is now streaming all episodes on Prime Video.
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