The First Stroke (Varsity Heat Crew #1)

They’re rivals on the river. Off it, they’re hiding a dangerous secret.

Welcome to a New England town split by an unforgiving river—and by two colleges that live to beat each other.

On one Kingswell University. Legacy, money, tradition.

That’s where Alex Harrington rows—the golden boy raised to be perfect, disciplined, untouchable… quietly suffocating under the weight of being closeted, terrified of wanting what he actually wants.

Across the Riverside State University. Middle Class. Grit. Hunger.

That’s where Liam Moore belongs—the working-class powerhouse with something to prove, all heart, fire, and raw hunger… and standing on the edge of a messy, impossible-to-ignore bi-awakening he never saw coming.

But none of that was how it started...

Two years ago, one summer at Brackett Lake—before sides were chosen, before names meant anything—they crossed a line neither of them understood.

One secret summer.

One kiss that should’ve been forgotten.

Then summer ended. Alex made a choice. And Liam's never forgiven him for it.

And now it’s the first day of sophomore year.

5 AM.

No coaches. No rules.

Just Liam and Alex, alone on the river, letting two years of anger and unfinished business explode into an illegal race that could end both their careers.

They thought no one was watching.

They were wrong.

Someone has proof of what they did. And with Olympic scouts circling, scholarships on the line, and secrets neither of them can afford to have exposed—one reckless race might cost them everything.

What are Liam and Alex going to do when wanting each other becomes more dangerous than any race they'll ever row?

Will they give up everything they've been fighting for... for each other?

Varsity Heat Crew is a bingeable, multi-episode MM romance series written like a prestige college sports drama—slow-burn tension, high-heat steam, devastating emotional turns, and a cast of characters whose relationships grow messier—and more intimate—the deeper you go.

Think the obsessive rivals-to-lovers tension of Heated Rivalry
meets the intensity, discipline, and rowing world of The Boys in the Boat.

Readers are calling it addictive, emotionally charged, and impossible to put down.

Join college sports mm romance fans and start binging your next obsession.