Divorced women book series in reading order

by Elizabeth E.X. Ferrars

by Rachel Caine

Elizabeth E.X. Ferrars wrote English detective fiction across seven decades. Five recurring investigators carry the series: Toby Dyke, Virginia Freer, Andrew Basnett, Superintendent Ditteridge and Police Chief Raposo. Titles favour wordplay, as in Give a Corpse a Bad Name (1940), Don't Monkey with Murder (1942), Neck in a Noose (1942) and The March Hare Murders (1949). Retired teachers, botanists, thieves and divorced women populate the subjects. The listing holds 74 books dated 1940 to 2014, at a median of 192 pages.

Kristen Ashley

109 books• 24 series

Kristen Ashley, born Kristen A L Moutaw on April 8, 1968, has reached the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists with 100 books published in 14 languages and more than three million copies sold. Two of the novels have been adapted into film. The catalogue carries 109 Ashley titles, from Rock Chick (2008) to After the Fall (2026). Rock Chick, River Rain, Colorado Mountain, 'Burg, Fantasyland, Dream Team, Dream Man, Unfinished Hero, Misted Pines and Avenging Angels are among the series. Subjects include contemporary and erotic romance, romantic suspense, motorcycle clubs and Denver.

Sherry Lewis has 42 catalogued books from 1995 to 2020, with mystery and romance in the subject records. Fred Vickery is a named fictitious character, and Colorado, candy, divorced women, single mothers and women private investigators are further subjects. Call Me Mom and No Place for Secrets date from 1995, followed by No Place for Death (1996) and No Place for Sin (1997), and The Children's Cop (2020) is the newest. Fred Vickery, Candy Shop Mystery and Scarlett O'Malley are listed series.

Debbie Macomber

245 books• 35 series

Debbie Macomber, born October 22, 1948, is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six Macomber novels became made-for-TV movies, and the Cedar Cove novels became a television series of the same name, with Macomber serving as executive producer on the adaptations. Macomber won the first fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005 and holds a RITA Award and a lifetime achievement award from the Romance Writers of America. The catalogue counts 245 books between Starlight (1983) and A Date with Santa (2026). Series include Heart of Texas, Midnight Sons, Navy, Those Manning Men, Orchard Valley and Angels Everywhere.

Susan Mallery is an American romance novelist born in 1970, whose books are set in small, tight-knit communities and give pets a prominent role. The catalogue counts 201 books from Tender Loving Care (1991) onward, including early titles published as Susan Macias. Series include Fool's Gold, Desert Rogues, Hometown Heartbreakers, Happily Inc., Marcelli, Buchanans, Blackberry Island and Mischief Bay. The Bookstore Diaries (2026) is the newest release, and Friend Request is due in 2027.

Fern Michaels was the pen name of Mary Ruth Kuczkir, born Mary Ruth Koval on April 9, 1933, who died on November 12, 2025. The American novelist wrote romance and thrillers, including the Texas quartet, the Captive series, Family Blessings, Pretty Woman and Crown Jewel. Michaels's output passed 200 books with an estimated 150 million copies sold. The catalogue lists 190 titles, from Pride and Passion (1975) to A Season of Secrets (2026). Series include the Sisterhood, Godmothers, Men of the Sisterhood, Lost and Found, Vegas, Kentucky and Twin Lights. Female friendship, vigilantes and revenge appear among the subject tags.

Linda Howard is the pen name of Linda S. Howington, an American author of romance and suspense born on August 3, 1950, in Alabama. The catalogue counts 63 books between All That Glitters (1982) and After Sundown (2019). Series include the Mackenzie Family Saga, Rescues/Kell Sabin, CIA's Spies/John Medina, Blair Mallory and GO-Team, alongside standalone novels. Contemporary, historical and paranormal romance all appear in the subject tags, together with romantic suspense.

Cowboys, ranchers and ranch life run through Linda Lael Miller's 134 catalogued books, in historical, contemporary and western romance alike. Miller's families and places include the McKettricks, the Montana Creeds, Stone Creek, Springwater Seasons, Painted Pony Creek and the Brides of Bliss County, with a Tremayne vampire sequence off to one side. Desire and Destiny (1983) is the earliest title and The Silver Hills Boarding House the newest.

Jackie Collins

40 books• 6 series

Jackie Collins wrote about Hollywood, the film business and the women who fought their way through it. 40 catalogued books run from The World Is Full of Married Men (1960) through The Stud (1969), The Love Killers (1974), The World Is Full Of Divorced Women (1975) and Lovers and Gamblers (1977), ending at The Santangelos. Lucky Santangelo is the character Collins is best known for, joined by the Madison Castelli and Fontaine Khaled books. The catalogue is likely complete.

Maggie Barbieri writes cozy mysteries with amateur sleuths in ordinary jobs. The Murder 101 series follows Alison Bergeron, a women's college teacher, with detective Bobby Crawford alongside, and runs from Murder 101 (2006) through school-themed titles such as Extracurricular Activities, Quick Study, Final Exam, Physical Education and Extra Credit to 2012. A second series centres on Maeve Conlon, beginning with Once Upon a Lie (2013); bakers and divorced women appear in the subject record. Ten books are catalogued, closing with Lie in Plain Sight (2016).

American novelist Kristin Hannah was born in 1960. The catalogue lists 28 of her books, from A Handful of Heaven (1991) through The Women, with The Fire announced and the list reaching 2027. The Women, published in 2024, is set in the United States during the Vietnam War of the 1960s. Winter Garden, The Nightingale, Firefly Lane, The Great Alone and The Four Winds rank among her most notable works. Subjects across the list include historical and contemporary romance, mothers and daughters, sisters and female friendship. Her listings also contain the Girls of Firefly Lane series, standalone novels and short stories.

Nora Roberts

279 books• 37 series

Nora Roberts, born Eleanor Marie Robertson on October 10, 1950, is an American writer of romance under that name. As J. D. Robb, Roberts writes police procedurals with science-fiction elements, and has also published as Jill March and, in the UK, as Sarah Hardesty. This listing carries 280 Roberts books, opening with Irish Thoroughbred (1981); The Missing is scheduled for 2027. Series on the page include the In Death Universe, the MacGregors, Night Tales, the Calhoun Women, the Chesapeake Bay Saga, Irish Hearts and the O'Hurleys.

Across 194 catalogued books, Danielle Steel writes contemporary romance and family drama: love stories, marriages, widowhood and the turns that reshape a life. The run starts with Going Home (1973) and continues through Celebration, with 24 Hours scheduled for 2027. Steel's catalogue also holds children's picture books, short stories and non-fiction beside the standalone novels that make up most of it.

Sandra Brown

94 books• 11 series

Sandra Brown, born Sandra Lynn Cox on March 12, 1948, is an American author of romance and suspense thrillers. Brown has also published under three pen names: Rachel Ryan, Laura Jordan and Erin St. Claire. The catalogue counts 94 titles from 1981, when Love's Encore and Love Beyond Reason came out as Rachel Ryan, to Bloodlust (2026). Listed series include the Texas! Tyler Family Saga, the Coleman Family Saga, Mason Sisters and Lee Coburn. Texas, widows and murder recur among the subject headings.

Ellie Alexander writes mysteries, with subjects that include bakeries, family-owned businesses, Oregon and women sleuths. The catalogue lists 58 books from 2010 to 2027; the earliest, Underneath the Ash (2010), appeared as Kate Dyer-Seeley. Meet Your Baker (2014), A Batter of Life and Death (2015) and On Thin Icing (2015) come next. Series include Bakeshop Mysteries, Secret Bookcase Mysteries, Meg Reed Investigates, Novel Detectives Mystery and the Sloan Krause shorts. The Pumpkin Vice Cafe (2026) is the newest title and A Fatal Frost is set for 2027.

Brenda Novak is an American author of historical romance, contemporary romance and romantic suspense, born in 1964 in Vernal, Utah. The catalogue lists 87 books, opening with Of Noble Birth (1999) and reaching Meet Me in Italy (2026). Early titles include Baby Business (2000), Snow Baby (2000) and Dear Maggie (2001). Series on the author page include the Hanover Chronicles/Evelyn Talbot Chronicles, Bulletproof, the Stillwater Trilogy, Dept 6 Hired Guns, Coyote Canyon and Fairham Island. Whiskey Creek, Silver Springs and Dundee, Idaho appear in the character listing, and subject tags cover missing persons, murder investigation and single mothers.

Janet Dailey

161 books• 16 series

Janet Anne Haradon Dailey (1944-2013) was an American author of romance novels, translated into nineteen languages and sold in the hundreds of millions of copies. The Dailey catalogue holds 161 books opening with No Quarter Asked (1974), followed by state-titled entries including Savage Land: Texas (1974), Darling Jenny: Wyoming (1975) and Dangerous Masquerade: Alabama (1976). Subjects cover contemporary and historical romance, western romance, ranch life, love stories, Christmas stories and the Calder family. Series listed include the Calder Saga, New Americana, Tylers of Texas, Bannon Brothers and Christmas Tree Ranch. The listing also carries titles dated after 2013, running to Kill for a Million (2026).

Sherryl Woods is an American writer of romance and mystery, born July 23, 1944, in Arlington, Virginia, who has also used the pen names Alexandra Kirk and Suzanne Sherrill. The Chesapeake Shores novels became a six-season Hallmark Channel series, and Netflix's Sweet Magnolias is based on Woods' books, with Woods as an executive producer. The catalogue lists 157 titles from Restoring Love (1982) to Starlit Secrets (2024). Other named series include Calamity Janes, Devaney Brothers and the Amanda Roberts and Molly DeWitt mysteries.

Rachel Caine

63 books• 11 series

Rachel Caine was the pen name of Roxanne Longstreet Conrad (April 27, 1962 to November 1, 2020), an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, suspense and horror. The catalogue lists 63 books under the Caine name, starting with The Undead (1993) and Cold Kiss (1995). Series include Weather Warden, Outcast Season, Morganville Vampires, Stillhouse Lake, Great Library, Red Letter Days and Revivalist. Subjects on file include vampires, weather control, jinn and university towns.

Catherine Anderson writes romance across historical, contemporary and western settings. The Comanche books, the Kendrick, Coulter and Harrigan family novels, Mystic Creek and the Valance Family form the series work, with Oregon ranches and Colorado recurring in the subjects. Forty-two books are catalogued between Coming Up Roses (1970) and Maple Leaf Harvest in 2021.

Kate Kingsbury is a pseudonym of Doreen Roberts, a romance writer. The catalogue lists 70 books from 1987 to 2025, beginning with Gambler's Gold (1987) under the Doreen Roberts name. As Kate Kingsbury, the series include Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries, Manor House Mysteries, Merry Ghost Inn Mysteries and Misty Bay Tearoom. Other lines appear as Allison Kingsley and Rebecca Kent. Subjects include the Pennyfoot Hotel in England, Cecily Sinclair Baxter, women sleuths and World War II. A Nice Cup of Tea (2025) is the newest title.

Rachel Gibson writes contemporary romance, with 25 books in the catalogue from Simply Irresistible (1998) to Drop Dead Gorgeous (2022). Truly Madly Yours (1999), It Must Be Love (2000), See Jane Score (2003) and Daisy's Back in Town (2004) are among the titles in between. Gibson series include Chinooks Hockey Team, Lovett, Texas, Truly, Idaho and Gospel, Idaho. Subjects include hockey players, Idaho, bridesmaids, tabloid newspapers and undercover operations. The catalogue is dormant.

Carolyn Brown, born Carolyn Louise Brown on October 22, 1948, is an American writer of romance and women's fiction. Brown has written more than 100 novels and 8 novellas and has contributed to anthologies. The catalogue holds 153 books from Love Is (1999) to The Purple Thistles (2026), with Taking Sides due in 2027. Texas, Oklahoma, cowboys and ranchers run through the subject headings, and the series include Spikes & Spurs, Longhorn Canyon, Broken Roads, Honky Tonk and Cadillac, Texas.

Wendy Corsi Staub's catalogue lists 87 books between 1993 and 2026, beginning with Summer Lightning and ending with Toil and Trouble. Lily Dale Mystery, Mundy's Landing, Nightwatcher, Live To Tell, Foundlings, Psychic Killer and Campus Life 101 are among the series, and one series appears under the name Wendy Morgan. Thrillers, serial murders, psychics and New York share the subjects with children's fiction, women college students and chick lit. Witch Hunt (1995) and Help Me! (1995) are among the early titles.