Mile High is the book r/RomanceBooks brings up when people realize Rebecca Yarros was writing the Fourth Wing romance DNA years before the dragons showed up. Ember is trying to rebuild her life when Jagger Bateman, her brother's teammate and the man she's tried to forget, becomes impossible to avoid. Readers point to the same hallmarks: a morally grey love interest, forbidden history, and a slow burn that makes you put the book down just to breathe. It's extreme-sports contemporary, not fantasy, but the chemistry is exactly what Yarros fans chase. The natural pick for Fourth Wing readers who want her contemporary work.
Curated from real reader threads on Reddit (r/Romantasy, r/RomanceBooks, r/Fantasy) and cross-referenced against Goodreads and BookTok. Updated regularly.
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by Rebecca Yarros
The book Yarros wrote five years later that broke the world. Same author voice, same morally grey love interest chemistry, now with a dragon-rider war academy. If you loved Jagger, Xaden is the next level.
by Ana Huang
Best friend's sister, forbidden history, a love interest with dark secrets. Same contemporary forbidden romance structure with the same slow-burn momentum. The most-mentioned Mile High readalike outside Yarros's catalog.
by Hannah Grace
Sports romance with a figure skater and hockey player forced to share ice time. Same athletic-world forbidden tension in a college setting.
by Mariana Zapata
Figure skating rivals forced to partner up. Zapata's slow burn is legendary, the pacing is the longest in sports romance. For Mile High readers who want maximum tension before the payoff.
by Sally Thorne
The enemies-to-lovers benchmark for contemporary romance. Less sports, same banter, same slow burn that cracks open perfectly.
by Rebecca Yarros
Book 1 of the Renegades series and where the world Mile High lives in is established. Yarros's debut novel, same voice, same emotional weight.
Book 1 (Full Measures) sets up the world, but Mile High reads well without it. The series follows different couples from the same extreme sports community. Most Yarros fans start with Mile High and go back.
Same author DNA, same slow burn, same morally grey love interest, same chemistry. Mile High is contemporary romance, Fourth Wing is fantasy. Fourth Wing is longer and more plot-dense. Most readers say the chemistry in Mile High is comparable.
The series has 3 books (Full Measures, Into the Fire, Mile High). Yarros is currently focused on the Empyrean series (Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm). A Renegades return hasn't been announced as of 2025.
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