What happened in Mile High by Liz Tomforde - Recaptains

The basics

Title: Mile High

Author: Liz Tomforde

Series: Windy City #1

1. Mile High (2022)
2. The Right Move (2023)
3. Caught Up (2023)
4. Play Along (2024)
5. Rewind It Back (2025)

Add it: Goodreads

Goodreads Summary:

ZANDERS

Chicago hockey isn't complete without me - everyone's favourite player to hate. I know my role, and I play it well. In fact, I thoroughly enjoy spending the majority of my game time in the penalty box before leaving the arena with a new girl on my arm each night.

What I don't like is the new flight attendant on our team's private plane. She works for me, not the other way around. But I'll be sure to remind her of that, and I can guarantee, by the end of the season, she'll be begging to quit her job.

But every road trip blurs the lines, and I can't quite figure out if I keep pushing that flight attendant call button in order to push her buttons, or if it's more than that.

STEVIE

I've been a flight attendant for years. I thought I'd seen it all, but when my new job lands me onboard working for the most egotistical and self-righteous diva in the NHL, I start to second guess everything. Including the promise I made to myself of never hooking up with an athlete again . . . no matter how annoyingly tempting he may be.

Evan Zanders is unfiltered, unapologetic, and too attractive for his own good. He loves his image, but I hate everything about it.

Everything but him.

Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in Mile High by Liz Tomforde to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel. If you need help remembering what happened in Mile High then you’re in the right place. Please keep scrolling for an explanation of how all the Windy City books are connected.

This recap was written by Judith @ Paper Riot!

What happened in Mile High?

• Evan Zanders is the defenseman for the Chicago Raptors, the ice hockey team.
• His best friend is Eli Maddison, and he and wife and family are practically Zanders’ family. For the outside world, Maddison is the good guy with the family and Zanders is the bad guy who sleeps with people. This is a big part of why he’s famous. But he’s actually nice.
• Stevie Shay is a flight attendant who works for the Raptors’ private plane.
• Her twin brother is Ryan Shay (MMC in THE RIGHT MOVE), who plays for the Chicago Devils basketball team. She lives with him, because she just moved to Chicago.
• Stevie’s coworker is Indy Ivers (FMC in THE RIGHT MOVE). They become friends. Indy has a longterm boyfriend at this point. The other flight attendant is a bitch and tells them not to fraternize with the players or they’ll get fired.
• At first, Zanders is a dick to Stevie, and she’s not taking any shit from him. They dislike each other, but also find each other attractive. Eventually, they start flirting, have sex, and start dating, but only in secret, because Stevie will get fired, and Zanders has his playboy reputation that got him hired.
• Some family background: Zanders’ mom left him and his sister as kids for a rich guy, and tries to get back into his life for his money. He doesn’t have contact with his dad, who buried himself in his work after this happened. Stevie’s mom is a bitch who only comments on her weight and tries to get her back with her shit ex. Her dad is nice.
• Zanders’ manager keeps arranging photo ops for him with different girls to keep his media personality alive.
• Stevie’s previous boyfriend, Brett, was Ryan’s friend and teammate, but he was only with Stevie because it was convenient, so we hate him. She also refuses to date athletes because of this. Brett comes back to town and tries to get back together with Stevie, but Zanders tells him to fuck off. She later tells Ryan what Brett did.
• Ryan hates Zanders until he realizes Zanders is serious about his sister. Then they become bros.
• Stevie volunteers at a shelter for senior dogs, which she loves much more than flying. Zanders ends up adopting her favorite dog, Rosie.
• Indy shows up at Stevie and Ryan’s house crying, because she caught her boyfriend cheating. This is the first time Indy and Ryan meet and she calls him hot and he is awkward.
• In Miami, Stevie and Indy go out with the team for the first time to drink away Indy’s heartbreak. Ryan’s team is also in town and Indy gets so drunk she vomits all over his shoes.
• Rio tries to flirt with Indy, but she’s not interested. Rio also proclaims his love for Ryan Shay (see more in literally every other book in this series, THE RIGHT MOVE, CAUGHT UP, PLAY ALONG).
• Brett shows up at the bar for some reason. Ryan punches him, but Zanders claims he did it to protect Ryan’s impeccable reputation.
• The rest of the team try to get Zanders to get with a girl, but he confesses Stevie is his girlfriend. This leaks to the press, because Zanders’ shitty agent told them. When the paparazzi catch them and Stevie’s pictures and name leak online, Zanders breaks up with her to protect her.
• The head flight attendant finds out and threatens to fire Stevie. Stevie applies to a flight attendant job in Seattle to get away from the city.
• Maddison and Zanders fire their agent, but being an athlete without an agent is practically impossible, plus they have the whole reputation thing going on, so Zanders prepares to possibly be fired from the Raptors.
• Zanders cuts his mom off and reconnects with his dad. Stevie’s dad comes to console her in Seattle.
• The Raptors win the Stanley cup. Zanders got Stevie a ticket but thinks she didn’t show up. She did but couldn’t get to him through the crowd.
• On the Raptors’ celebratory tour around the city, they pass by the dog shelter, and Zanders stops the parade to get her back. They kiss and it’s all good again.
• Zanders finds out Chicago still wants him, but his agent was holding off. Zanders also makes a large donation to the dog shelter, which can now hire Stevie fulltime.
• In the epilogue, Zanders tells Maddison he’s planning on proposing (see THE RIGHT MOVE).

How are the Windy City books connected?

BOOK 1: MILE HIGH

This book is about Stevie Shay (a flight attendant for a hockey team) and Evan Zanders (a player on that team), who fall in love. In this book we also meet Indy Ivers (fellow flight attendant and Stevie’s friend), Ryan Shay (Stevie’s twin and a basketball player) and Rio DeLuca (another hockey player who becomes friends with them all).

BOOK 2: THE RIGHT MOVE

This book is about Indy (Stevie’s friend) and Ryan (Stevie’s twin) who become roommates and start (fake) dating. In this book we see more Stevie and Zanders, and Rio, who is now Indy’s good friend and obessed with Ryan. We meet Kai Rhodes, Ryan’s friend who is a baseball player and a single dad. Stevie finds out she’s pregnant.

BOOK 3: CAUGHT UP

This book is about Kai (Ryan’s friend) and Miller (Kai’s coach’s daughter), who nannies for him and eventually loves him and his son Max. In this book we see the entire friend group (Stevie, Zanders, Ryan, Indy, Rio, Kai and his brother Isaiah) have family dinners every week. We also meet Kennedy Kay, the baseball team’s athletic train who Isaiah is in love with. Stevie is pregnant; Ryan and Indy get married.

BOOK 4: PLAY ALONG

This book is about Isaiah (Kai’s younger brother) and Kennedy (his athletic trainer), who get drunkenly married in Vegas and have to pretend to be married. All the other couples (and Rio) still show up. Indy is pregnant, Zanders and Stevie have their kid.

BOOK 5: REWIND IT BACK

Book 5 will be about Rio, Zanders’ teammate from the Raptors, who becomes Indy’s best guy friend in book 2, and is part of their friend group throughout the series. He frequently complains about being single, always joins in for girls’ night and is pretty much in love with Ryan Shay.