Overall ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ 4.00 Goodreads average, about 690,000 ratings
- ✓ 3.95 on StoryGraph, 3% DNF
- ✓ Below every later Windy City book
- ✓ Length criticised at every star level
Mile High Review: Spice, Length and Who It's For
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Verdict: A warm, steamy hockey romance with a heroine readers feel seen by and a hero who grows up on the page, held back by a 600-page length that even its fans want cut and a third-act breakup that drags.
Best for: Readers who want a plus-size heroine treated as the prize, a playboy hero who goes to therapy and plenty of explicit scenes, and who can forgive a long, repetitive middle and a separation they will see coming.
Heat level: ★★★★★ (5/5, explicit and frequent by reader accounts, with bloggers calling it high steam and some StoryGraph reviewers calling the sex excessive; romance.io's band could not be confirmed)
Rating: ★★★★☆ (3.7/5, a 4.00 Goodreads average across about 690,000 ratings and 3.95 on StoryGraph, pulled down because complaints about the length and the dragged-out breakup come from four-star fans as often as from critics)
Tropes: Enemies to lovers, Workplace romance, Bad boy reformed, Plus-size heroine, Forced proximity on the team plane, Hockey player hero, Found family, Fake public image, Protective twin brother, Third-act breakup.
Mile High is the first book in Liz Tomforde's Windy City series, a long contemporary hockey romance set around a Chicago NHL team, in which Stevie Shay, the newest flight attendant on the Chicago Raptors' private plane, collides with Evan Zanders, the defenseman whose bad-boy reputation is half of what he sells, and finds that the man who irritates her most on every road trip is the one she can't stop thinking about.
It started small and became very big. Tomforde has said she began writing it while working as a flight attendant for a professional hockey team, and it first appeared in June 2022 without a traditional publisher before BookTok carried it. Goodreads now shows a 4.00 average from about 690,000 ratings and about 72,600 written reviews, StoryGraph shows 3.95 from about 24,200 reviews with a 3% DNF rate, and Prime Video has a series adaptation in development. Readers agree on Stevie and Zanders. They disagree on whether the 603 pages earn their length, and that argument is what to understand before you start.
What Is Mile High About?
This is a slow-to-thaw workplace romance between two people who look wrong for each other on paper. Stevie is a flight attendant who would rather be at the senior dog shelter where she volunteers, a curvy woman who has learned to expect less from men, and especially from athletes. Zanders is loud, rich and very aware of his own legend, with an agent who books him photo ops with women to keep the image going. The fun of the first stretch is their sniping in the aisle. The pull of the rest is watching the image crack.
Underneath the banter the book is about worth. Stevie carries her mother's criticism and an ex who treated her as convenient. Zanders carries a mother who left and a father who checked out, and he deals with it in therapy, which readers mention again and again. Tomforde gives both leads friends and family who matter, from Stevie's protective twin Ryan to Zanders' best friend Eli Maddison and his household, and that cast is how the series grows from here.
What Makes This Hockey Romance Work
- Stevie as a plus-size lead: Goodreads reviewers praise the plus-size representation, and a 4-star reader singles out a mirror scene as one of the book's best moments.
- Zanders in therapy: A hero who openly works on his mental health is the trait readers name most after the chemistry, and the author's own site quotes a reader saying just that.
- The banter: Bookbug World calls the chemistry between the leads the book's main hook, and an Audible listener says the two narrators give the banter a real edge.
- The supporting cast: Reviewers warm to the Maddison family and to Ryan, and Book Lovin' Mamas picks out the protective twin brother as a highlight.
- The emotional final stretch: Celine Ling found the middle slow but said the last quarter alone deserved another star, a view several Goodreads reviewers share.
Book Synopsis
Stevie Shay has been a flight attendant for years, and she has just moved to Chicago to share a place with her twin brother Ryan, who plays for the city's basketball team. Her new job puts her on the private plane of the Chicago Raptors, the NHL side, which means long road trips serving drinks to men she has every reason to avoid. Athletes have burned her before. What she really loves is her volunteer work with old dogs at a shelter, and the plane is how she pays for it.
Evan Zanders is the Raptors defenseman who spends a lot of time in the penalty box and seems to enjoy every second of it. He is rich, loud and regularly photographed with a different woman, an image his agent arranges and protects because it sells. From the first flights the two of them rub each other the wrong way, and Stevie makes it clear she is not impressed by him or his reputation.
Road trip by road trip, the fighting changes. Stevie sees the version of Zanders who shows up for his best friend's family and for a mental health charity he cares about, and Zanders finds that the flight attendant who won't flirt back is the only person he wants to talk to. Neither of them is supposed to want this. Stevie knows exactly how athletes see women like her, and Zanders has a reputation, a contract and a carefully kept public face that a real relationship would put at risk.
Our Review
Stevie is why this book has the following it does. Tomforde writes a heroine whose body is part of the story without becoming the whole story, and the readers who call the representation beautiful are describing a romance where the hero's attention never comes with a caveat. A 5-star Goodreads reviewer says the plus-size rep is portrayed beautifully, and a 4.05-star reader praises how thoroughly Stevie's insecurities are explored.
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The second strength is Zanders' turn. He starts out as exactly the playboy the blurb promises and ends up as a man who leans on therapy and changes. The craft reason it works is that the wound is planted early: the mother who left, the father who withdrew, the public image he keeps up on his agent's advice, so the swagger reads as armour long before he drops it. Beware of the Reader gave it 4.5 stars for characters who feel flawed and real, and the found family around him, the Maddisons above all, gives his growth somewhere to land.
Where it struggles is length, and that's the dominant complaint by a distance. The Goodreads edition runs to 603 pages, and reviewers at every star level say it should be shorter: a 4-star reader doesn't want 570-page romances, a 3.5-star reader says 400 pages would do, and a 1.75-star reader wanted 250 pages gone. Behind that come the secondary problems. Reviewers say Stevie's insecurities and Zanders' wealth are restated again and again, Celine Ling calls the middle repetitive, and Book Lovin' Mamas found the opening slow. Then there's Zanders' list of women by city, which several Goodreads reviewers found off-putting enough to lower their rating.
The breakup is the other fault line. The third act separates the leads, and the same 1.75-star reviewer counts more than 120 pages of it. A 3-star Goodreads reader calls it eye-roll territory, Bookbug World says the third act dragged, and Book Lovin' Mamas, at 3.5 stars, thought Zanders handled it immaturely. Even the 4.5-star review at Beware of the Reader admits the breakup was predictable.
Reset one expectation before you start. The packaging sells enemies to lovers, but the hostility is mostly banter and lasts a short while. What the book is really about is two people with old injuries learning they're worth choosing, and the hockey is backdrop. If you want sharp rivals, the opening will satisfy and the rest will feel soft. If you want comfort, healing and a lot of heat, that's the book, and the length is the price.
It also reads differently now that the sequels exist. The later Windy City books score higher on Goodreads, and plenty of readers treat this one as the slightly rough debut that introduced the friend group. That's fair to the book and useful to you: if the style works but the length doesn't, the series improves.
Our honest note: A big-hearted debut with a heroine readers love and a hero who earns his change, buried under a hundred or two pages it didn't need. Read it if you want long, steamy comfort and a plus-size lead; skim the middle if the repetition starts to bite, and know the breakup is coming.
| Element | In Mile High |
|---|---|
| Central relationship | Stevie Shay, a flight attendant on the team plane, and Evan Zanders, a Chicago Raptors defenseman with a manufactured playboy image |
| Core tropes | Enemies to lovers, workplace romance, reformed bad boy, plus-size heroine, found family, third-act breakup |
| Setting | Chicago and the Raptors' private plane across an NHL season of road trips |
| Heat level | 5/5 by reader accounts, explicit and frequent; romance.io's band was not confirmed |
| Series | Windy City #1 of five; a complete couple arc with an HEA, and later books follow other couples in the same friend group |
| Content notes | Fatphobia and body shaming, including internalised body shaming and dysmorphia; panic attacks; suicidal ideation; vomiting; alcohol and drug use; parental abandonment; explicit sex |
How Spicy Is Mile High?
Very. Book Lovin' Mamas calls it off-the-charts steamy, Bookbug World rates the steam high, and StoryGraph reviewers mention the volume of explicit scenes often enough that it reads as a theme rather than a one-off. We couldn't open romance.io to confirm its band, so our 5 comes from that triangulation: the scenes are on the page, detailed and frequent once the leads get together, and the long build means a heavy second half.
Readers split on how much is too much. A 5-star Goodreads reviewer calls the scenes very well written and a 3-star reader agrees on quality, but a 3.5-star reader says they could have been cut and added nothing, and some StoryGraph reviewers call the amount excessive. If the heat is the draw, you'll be happy. If you skim sex scenes, there are enough that skimming will cost you a fair few pages.
Who Should Read This Book?
You'll likely love it if: you want a curvy heroine who is desired without conditions, a hero who goes to therapy and grows on the page, a big found family to settle into, and plenty of explicit scenes over a long, slow read.
You may want to skip it if: a 600-page romance sounds like a chore, third-act breakups make you put a book down, or a hero with a list of women by city is a deal breaker before you even meet him.
In short: a steamy, comforting hockey debut with real heart, best for readers who like long books and weakest for anyone who wants a tight edit.
What Readers Are Actually Saying (October 2026)
In October 2026 Mile High is being read for two reasons at once: as the book that started a five-book series readers rate very highly, and as the source of a Prime Video adaptation that Amazon MGM Studios and Premeditated Productions have in development, with no cast or date announced. Publishers sell it on its TikTok fame, and Hodder's UK edition calls the series a TikTok sensation outright. The book's route is unusual too. Tomforde has said she wrote it while flying with a hockey team, it first came out in 2022 without a traditional publisher, Hodder published it in the UK in 2023, and Entangled issued a paperback with bonus content in October 2025. We could not open Reddit threads or romance.io, and a search turned up no Reddit discussion we could read, so the reader picture here comes from Goodreads, StoryGraph, Audible, Everand and blogs.
Why readers love it: Readers love Stevie and the way Zanders loves her. The plus-size representation is the strength mentioned most in Goodreads reviews, followed closely by a hero whose therapy is part of the plot rather than a line in his backstory. The banter comes next, and an Audible listener credits the two narrators of the 16-hour Tantor audiobook for carrying it. The shelter dogs and the Maddison family get regular affection, and Beware of the Reader says the book deserves its hype for depth beyond its tropes.
What readers argue about and complain about: The complaint is length. It comes up in reviews at 4 stars and at 1.75, and StoryGraph reviewers raise it too, usually alongside repetition: the same insecurities and the same reminders of Zanders' money returning chapter after chapter. The second complaint is the third-act breakup, which readers call predictable at best and immature at worst, and long whichever way they rated. The third is the list Zanders keeps of women in each city, which a 2-star Goodreads reviewer calls disgusting and a reader who did not finish found baffling. Some readers find Stevie written as not like other girls, and at least one Goodreads reviewer reports that a description of the Black heroine's hair was criticised and later edited in the ebook; we could not check the edit ourselves. Not everyone minds the length: one Beware of the Reader post says it read fast enough to finish in two days.
The series question worth asking first: Mile High resolves. Stevie and Zanders get a full happy ending with no cliffhanger, and the four books that follow each centre a different couple from the same circle, starting with Stevie's twin Ryan in The Right Move. The series climbs on Goodreads as it goes: The Right Move sits at 4.38 from about 583,000 ratings, Caught Up at 4.43, Play Along at 4.46 and the 2025 fifth book, Rewind It Back, at 4.43. If this one felt long but you liked the people, the later books are where readers say Tomforde hits her stride.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Mile High spicy?
Yes, very. Bloggers describe the steam as high or off the charts, and StoryGraph reviewers mention the number of explicit scenes often. We rate it 5 out of 5 for explicitness.
Do you need to read Mile High before The Right Move?
It helps but isn't required. Each Windy City book centres a new couple with its own happy ending, but Mile High introduces Stevie's twin Ryan, who leads book two, and the shared friend group.
How long is Mile High?
Long for a romance. The Goodreads edition lists 603 pages and the audiobook runs about 16 hours, and length is the most common complaint from readers.
Does Mile High have a third-act breakup?
Yes. The leads separate in the final act, and many readers, including some who rated it highly, say that stretch runs too long. It ends in a full HEA.
Is Mile High being made into a TV show?
Yes. Prime Video has a Windy City series in development with Amazon MGM Studios and Premeditated Productions. No cast or release date had been announced when we checked.
If You Loved Mile High, Read These Next
For another hockey romance with a big BookTok following and plenty of heat, read Icebreaker, which swaps the NHL for college rinks. For the series that set the template for spicy hockey books, go to The Deal. And for hockey with sharper rivalry and tighter pages, try Heated Rivalry.
Browse more in sports romance, enemies to lovers romance, forced proximity romance and spicy romance.
The Bottom Line
Mile High wants to be a big, warm romance about two people learning they're worth choosing, and most of the time it is. What works: Stevie as a plus-size heroine who is wanted without conditions, Zanders' growth through therapy and a found family readers want to move in with. What doesn't: 603 pages that fans and critics alike want trimmed, repetition through the middle and a third-act breakup that drags. If you have the patience and want the heat, it pays off. If you need a tight edit, start the series and expect the later books to deliver more.
The Eikna Overall Ranking
On the Eikna scale, Mile High ranks as a beloved but overlong series opener, strongest in its plus-size heroine and the hero's growth, constrained by its length and a drawn-out breakup, and best approached as a long comfort read rather than a quick hockey romp.
The Evidence Scorecard
Eight dimensions, each scored out of 5 from the reader and critic evidence above. Overall is anchored on the reader ratings and adjusted for how much the recurring complaints cost the reading experience. Heat describes how explicit the book is; it is not a quality judgement. Every line marked ✓ is a checked finding, including the limits. How we assess books.
Romance ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Chemistry named the main hook by bloggers
- ✓ Banter praised by readers and listeners
- ✓ Long build before the leads get together
- ✓ Breakup stretch called predictable and dragged
Characters ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Plus-size heroine praised across Goodreads
- ✓ Hero's therapy a recurring reader highlight
- ✓ Maddisons and twin Ryan well loved
- ✓ List of women by city repels some
Writing ★★★☆☆ 3.3/5
- ✓ Both leads' backstories planted early
- ✓ Fast reading for some, finished in two days
- ✓ Insecurities and wealth restated repeatedly
- ✓ 603 pages, readers want 200 cut
Emotional impact ★★★★☆ 4/5
- ✓ Body image arc lands for many readers
- ✓ Final quarter singled out as powerful
- ✓ Abandonment backstory gives the hero weight
- ✓ Stakes thinned by a predictable separation
Heat level ★★★★★ 5/5
- ✓ Bloggers call it high or off-the-charts steam
- ✓ StoryGraph reviewers flag a high volume
- ✓ Scenes on the page and detailed
- ✓ Some readers call the amount excessive
Ending ★★★★☆ 3.5/5
- ✓ Full HEA, no cliffhanger
- ✓ Couple arc complete in book one
- ✓ Emotional payoff praised by blog reviewers
- ✓ Breakup runs past 120 pages for one reader
Re-read value ★★★★☆ 3.7/5
- ✓ Comfort read with a big found family
- ✓ 16-hour dual-narrated audiobook option
- ✓ Series climbs to 4.46 on Goodreads
- ✓ Length makes rereads a commitment
Sources We Checked
- Goodreads: Mile High (ratings, reviews, pages, first published, community review themes)
- Goodreads: Windy City series page (ratings for all five books)
- StoryGraph: Mile High reviews (average, review count, DNF rate)
- Liz Tomforde: author site
- Trigger Warning Database: Mile High content warnings
- Hachette Australia: Mile High (Hodder edition description)
- Bibliofy: Mile High Hodder edition (ISBN, date, pages)
- BookPal: Mile High Entangled paperback (date, pages, bonus content)
- Everand: Mile High audiobook (narrators, runtime, release date)
- Audible India: Mile High audiobook (listener reviews)
- Brit + Co: Windy City series at Amazon
- Brit + Co: Windy City show at Amazon
- TV Movie: Windy City series at Amazon
- Pedestrian TV: BookTok romance adaptations in 2026
- She Reads Romance Books: Liz Tomforde books
- Recaptains: Mile High recap and series connections
- Bookbug World: Mile High review
- Book Lovin' Mamas: Mile High review
- Beware of the Reader: Mile High review
- Celine Ling: Mile High review
- SuperSummary: Mile High book brief (characters, setting)
Checked October 6, 2026. Ratings and counts change; the numbers above are as of that date.
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