Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bad Boys Online | 2003 | Erin McCarthy | Buy |
| 2 | Bad Boys Over Easy | 2005 | Erin McCarthy | Buy |
| 3 | Fuzzy Logic | 2005 | Erin McCarthy | N/A |
| 4 | When Good Things Happen To Bad Boys | 2006 | Erin McCarthy | N/A |
| 5 | Bad Boys of Summer | 2006 | Erin McCarthy | Buy |
The Bowling Friends series by Erin McCarthy centers on a group of women whose friendship revolves around their regular bowling nights. The series began with Bad Boys Online in 2003 and continued through several multi-author “Bad Boys” anthology collections over the next few years.
Each entry follows a different member of the friend group as she stumbles into an unexpected romance. McCarthy keeps the tone light and fun, with the bowling league providing a natural gathering point for the characters to gossip, give advice, and meddle in each other’s love lives. The anthology format means some entries are novella-length, giving the stories a brisk, entertaining pace.
The series is a good example of McCarthy’s early contemporary romance work, where she built connected stories around friend groups and everyday social settings. Readers who enjoy the “Bad Boys” anthologies will find familiar characters and ongoing threads throughout these five books.