Arranged marriage book series in reading order

Barbara Cartland

702 books• 3 series

Barbara Cartland, born Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland on 9 July 1901 and died on 21 May 2000, was an English romance novelist and socialite. This directory catalogues 702 titles under Cartland's name, from His Hour (1910) through to A Heart in the Highlands (2024), with the 1980s the heaviest decade. The Eternal Collection, the Pink Collection and the Camfield Novels Of Love group the bulk of that output. Cartland wrote contemporary as well as historical romance, the historical novels set mainly in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and ranks fifth among the most translated authors worldwide.

Cathy Maxwell writes historical romance, with 46 books in the catalogue from All Things Beautiful (1994) to Curves for the Rakish Duke (2026). Why people fall in love is the question Maxwell spends hours pondering, according to the author bio, and Maxwell lives in Virginia. Early titles include Treasured Vows (1996), Because of You (1999) and Married in Haste (1999). Series include Cameron Sisters, Scandals and Seductions, Marrying the Duke, Chattan Curse, Brides of Wishmore, Spinster Heiresses and A Logical Man's Guide to Dangerous Women. Subjects include Regency romance, nobility, arranged marriage and Scotland.

Penny Jordan is one of the pen names of Penelope Halsall, born Penelope Jones, an English novelist who lived from 24 November 1946 to 31 December 2011. Halsall produced more than 200 romance novels: contemporary romance as Penny Jordan, Regency romance as Caroline Courtney and historical romance as Annie Groves, the maiden name of Halsall's mother. Melinda Wright and Lydia Hitchcock were two further pen names. Sales passed 70 million copies, with translations into many languages. The catalogue lists 210 books from 1979 to 2019, and the earliest entries, such as A Wager For Love (1979), carry the Caroline Courtney name. Series include Perfect Crightons, Jet Set Wives, Leopardi Brothers, Parenti Dynasty and Russian Rivals.

Stephanie Garber

9 books• 2 series

Stephanie Garber is an American writer of young adult fantasy. Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart are two trilogies that connect to one another. The catalogue lists 9 books from Caraval (2017) to The Mirror of Infinite Endings (2026), including Legendary, Finale, A Curse for True Love and Spectacular. Magic, sisters, festivals and the performing arts appear among the subjects, alongside fantasy romance. Garber's catalogue is still growing.

Johanna Lindsey wrote historical romance across pirates, Vikings, the English aristocracy and the American west. Captive Bride (1977) opens a catalogue of 57 books, and the Malory-Anderson family novels are the best known strand, alongside the Reid family, the Viking Haardrad family, Sherring Cross and the Ly-San-Ter books. The run closed in 2019 with Temptation's Darling.

Georgette Heyer

65 books• 7 series

Georgette Heyer (16 August 1902 to 4 July 1974) was an English novelist and short-story writer in two genres, Regency romance and detective fiction. The Black Moth (1921), the first of 65 catalogued books, grew from a story Heyer invented for an ill younger brother. These Old Shades (1926) became popular even though it came out during the General Strike. Inspector Hannasyde, Inspector Hemingway and Alastair-Audley are the recurring series. The Chinese Shawl (2019) is the newest listed edition.

Maisey Yates is the author of 184 catalogued books, from His Virgin Acquisition (2010) to First Witches Club (2026), with Challenging Her Cowboy scheduled for 2027. Subject headings cover contemporary and western romance, cowboys, ranchers, Oregon, princes and princesses. Series include Gold Valley, Gold Valley Vineyards, Copper Ridge, Four Corners Ranch, Jasper Creek, Mustang River, Deacons of Bourbon Street and Once Upon a Seduction. A Mistake, a Prince and a Pregnancy (2010), The Argentine's Price (2011) and A Royal Without Mercy (2012) are early titles.

Lynne Graham, born 30 July 1956 in Northern Ireland, has written more than 100 romance novels for Mills & Boon since 1987. The catalogue lists 151 books from Bittersweet Passion (1987) to King's Promised Princess (2026), with Italian's Heir Before Vows scheduled for 2027. Series include International Playboys; Virgin Brides, Arrogant Husbands; Secretly Pregnant, Conveniently Wed; and Stefanos Legacy. Billionaires, Greeks, marriage and pregnancy recur among the subjects.

Kasey Michaels is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author credited with more than 110 books, and the catalogue lists 123 from The Belligerent Miss Boynton (1982) to Her Royal Pain-In-The-Highness (2023). Early titles include The Tenacious Miss Tamerlane (1982), The Rambunctious Lady Royston (1983), The Savage Miss Saxon (1985) and Compliments of the Groom (1987). Michaels has received a RITA, four Publishers Weekly starred reviews and a Romantic Times Career Achievement award for Regency historical romance, and is on the Romance Writers of America Honor Roll. Series include Maggie Kelly, Romney Marsh, Redgraves, Daughtry Family, Crown Family and Sunshine Girls.

Jane Porter's 74 catalogued books span 2001 to 2026, opening with Christos's Promise (2001) and reaching A Soldier's Promise (2026). Subjects place the work in contemporary romance and romantic suspense, with arranged marriage, princesses, kings and rulers, and single mothers among the listed themes. Series include Wyatt Brothers of Montana, Taming of the Sheenans, Galvan Brides, Desert Kings, Brennan Sisters, Bellevue Wives and Disgraced Copelands. Jane Porter is still publishing.

Regency England supplies Tracy Anne Warren's ground. Twenty catalogued books run from The Husband Trap (2006) to Bedchamber Games (2017), grouped into the Byrons of Braebourne, the Trap Trilogy, the Mistress Trilogy and the Rakes of Cavendish Square. Arranged marriages, princesses and historical romance fill the subject list. Nothing has followed since 2017.

Carol Marinelli writes contemporary romance, including medical romance, and has 137 books in the catalogue from The Outback Nurse (2001) to Italian's Cinderella Temptation (2025). Born in England to Scottish parents, Marinelli emigrated to Australia and lives in the outer suburbs of Melbourne. Marinelli first tried writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon while training as a nurse in London and gathered rejections for years before studying the detailed feedback in them. Early titles include The Emergency Assignment and The Pregnant Intern (both 2002). Series include House of Kolovsky, Irresistible Russian Tycoons, Tennengarrah Clinic, Playboys of Sicily and Ruthless Royal Sheikhs.

Heather Graham is the name under which Heather Graham Pozzessere, an American writer born on 15 March 1953, publishes mainly romance fiction; Shannon Drake is a further pen name. Graham's work has been published in about 25 languages, with more than 75 million copies printed. The catalogue records 311 books from Tender Taming (1983) to Destiny Rising (2026). Krewe of Hunters, Harrison Investigation, Cafferty & Quinn, Alliance Vampires, Keepers: L.A., New York Confidential and Finnegan Connection are among the Graham series. Subjects span historical, paranormal, contemporary and suspense romance.

Lynsay Sands is a Canadian author from Leamington, Ontario, with more than 80 books to the name. Sands writes historical and paranormal romance, is noted for humour, and is best known for the Argeneau series about a modern vampire family. The catalogue lists 80 books from The Deed (1997) to Immortal by Morning (2025). Other series include Highland Brides, Devil of the Highlands, Deed and Madison Sisters, and subjects on file include vampires and Scotland.

Historical romance set among the London aristocracy is Sarah MacLean's genre, with arranged marriages, scandal and titled families driving the plots. The Season (2009) opens a catalogue of 21 books that reaches Mastermind in 2026. Love by Numbers, Rules of Scoundrels, Scandal & Scoundrel, the Bareknuckle Bastards and Hell's Belles are the series, and MacLean's titles read as instructions, among them Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake.

Jodi Thomas is the pen name of Jodi Koumalats, an American author of historical romance born in Amarillo, Texas. Most of the novels are set in Texas, and Romance Writers of America inducted Thomas into its Hall of Fame in 2006. The catalogue records 70 books, from Beneath The Texas Sky (1988) to Silverleaf Rapids (2025). Ransom Canyon, Whispering Mountain, Texas Brothers, Wife Lottery, Honey Creek, McQuillen and Someday Valley are among the Thomas series. Ranch life, women pioneers and western romance appear in the subject tags.

Regency England is where Eloisa James sets her historical romances - aristocracy, nobility and London society. Potent Pleasures (1999) opens the catalogue, which runs to 54 books and The Last Lady B in 2026. Desperate Duchesses, the Essex Sisters, the Duchess Quartet, the Pleasures Trilogy and the Wildes of Lindow Castle are the main sequences, and the Happily Ever After books work from fairy tales.

Grace Burrowes writes historical romance, with subject headings naming the Regency, nobility, England, soldiers, widowers, single fathers and inheritance. Before fiction, Burrowes worked as a technical writer and editor, earned a law degree in an evening program, opened a law practice and completed a master's degree in Conflict Management. Burrowes grew up the sixth of seven children in rural central Pennsylvania and lives in rural Maryland. The catalogue lists 120 books, among them The Heir (2010), The Soldier (2011), The Virtuoso (2011) and The Bridegroom Wore Plaid (2012), with A Gentleman of Very Few Words (2026) the newest. Series include Lonely Lords, Windham Brides, True Gentlemen, Rogues to Riches, Mischief in Mayfair and Lady Violet Mysteries.

Madeline Hunter was the pen name of an American romance novelist who lived from June 8, 1952 to April 15, 2025 and twice won the Romance Writers of America RITA award. The Hunter catalogue holds 35 historical romances published between 2000 and 2023, opening with By Arrangement, By Design and By Possession, all from 2000, and ending with The Heiress Bride (2023). Series include the Seducers, the Rothwell Brothers, the Rarest Blooms, the Fairbourne Quartet, the Decadent Dukes Society and 14th Century London. Nobility and English social customs recur among the recorded subjects.

Richelle Mead

42 books• 10 series

Richelle Mead is an American fantasy author, born November 12, 1976, known for the Georgina Kincaid, Vampire Academy, Bloodlines and Dark Swan series. The catalogue lists 42 Mead books from 2007 to 2018. Succubus Blues and Vampire Academy both appeared in 2007, followed by Frostbite, Shadow Kiss and Storm Born in 2008. Subjects include vampires, demonology, alchemists, magic and high schools. The Emerald Sea (2018) is the newest title, and the listing is likely complete. Glittering Court and Age Of X are among the other series.

Virginia Henley

35 books• 4 series

Virginia Henley is a British-Canadian novelist working in historical romance, across medieval, Renaissance and Regency settings. Her 35 catalogued books run from The Irish Gypsy (1982) to Smuggler's Lair (2018), taking in The Raven and the Rose (1987), The Hawk and the Dove (1988) and The Falcon and the Flower (1989). The catalogue groups into the Medieval Plantagenet Trilogy, the Medieval DeWarenne Trilogy, the Peers of the Realm Trilogy and Clan Kennedy. Henley's novels are long, at a median of 408 pages.

Historical romance, most of it Regency, is Nicole Jordan's field. Jordan, born Anne Bushyhead in 1954, has reached the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, been a finalist for the RITA Award, and won the Dorothy Parker Award of Excellence for best historical. Three series divide the work: Courtship Wars, Notorious and Rocky Mountain Brides. Thirty-two books run from Velvet Embrace (1987) to My Fair Lover in 2017, at a median of 400 pages.

Charlotte Lamb is the best-known pen name of Sheila Ann Mary Coates Holland (22 December 1937 to 8 October 2000), a British novelist. Books also appeared under the married and maiden names Sheila Holland and Sheila Coates and under the pen names Sheila Lancaster, Victoria Woolf and Laura Hardy. The catalogue holds 158 books beginning in 1972, when Prisoner of the Heart and Love In A Mist appeared as Sheila Holland and A Crown Usurped as Sheila Coates. Subjects include contemporary and historical romance, revenge, forbidden love and amnesia, and the series listed are Barbary Wharf and Enemies & Lovers. The writers Sarah Holland and Jane Holland are Lamb's daughters.

Abby Green writes contemporary romance, with catalogue subjects including billionaires, businessmen, mistresses, marriage and pregnancy. Green has read romance novels since childhood summers in the west of Ireland, where the first one came from a grandmother's library book. The catalogue lists 63 books, from Chosen as the Frenchman's Bride (2006) to Unmasking His Pregnant Queen (2026). Series include Harlequin Presents, Desert Nights, Rulers of the Desert, Royal House of Sadat, Marchetti Dynasty, Quinn Siblings, DePiero Siblings and Rival Spanish Brothers.