Women's fiction book series in reading order

by Sophie Kinsella

by Alexander McCall Smith

by Jackie Collins

by Jojo Moyes

by Colleen Hoover

Alexander McCall Smith

165 books• 25 series

Sir Alexander McCall Smith, born 24 August 1948, is a Scottish legal scholar and novelist who created The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), McCall Smith was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and worked on medical law and bioethics committees. English-language sales passed 40 million by 2010, with translations into 46 languages. The catalogue lists 165 books from White Hippo (1980) to 2026, including 44 Scotland Street, Isabel Dalhousie, Detective Varg and children's titles.

Emma Chase writes contemporary and erotic romance. Chase's catalogue holds 23 books published between 2013 and 2026, opening with Tangled (2013) and reaching A Very Good Bad Idea (2026). Three series account for much of the run: Royally, Legal Briefs and Getting Some. Marriage, life-changing events and man-woman relationships recur as subjects, and Chase continues to publish.

Rachel Hanna began writing as a young child and spent many years in journalism before turning to fiction. The catalogue holds 90 Hanna books, running from Second Chance (2012) to Piece By Piece (2026), with Estate of Mind due in 2027. Subject headings on the list include contemporary romance, women's fiction, chick lit, humor, billionaires and Christmas. Series include South Carolina Sunsets, January Cove, Sweet Tea B&B, Whiskey Ridge Romance, Wisteria Island and Lowcountry Ladies Club. Hanna is married with three children.

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.

Christina Lauren's catalogue holds 43 books from 2013 to 2026, opening with Beautiful Bastard and reaching The Romance Revival. Several early titles carry the Beautiful name, among them Beautiful Player, Beautiful Stranger and Beautiful Bombshell, all from 2013. Series listings include Wild Seasons and Improbable Meet-Cute, next to a group of standalone novels. Subject tags mark the books as contemporary romance and erotica, with workplace, dual POV, marriage and dating themes.

Jojo Moyes

21 books• 5 series

Jojo Moyes writes contemporary fiction about women, families and the communities around them. Sheltering Rain (2002) is her earliest catalogued novel, and the Me Before You books and The Girl You Left Behind are the best known of her 21 titles. Mothers and daughters, single women and small-town life recur as subjects. Moyes published We All Live Here in 2025.

Anna Todd

17 books• 7 series

Anna Todd, born Anna Renee Todd on March 18, 1989, is an American novelist and a New York Times bestseller for the After series, the Brightest Stars trilogy, The Spring Girls and The Last Sunrise. Todd started out writing on a phone through Wattpad, where After became the most-read series on the platform, passing two billion reads. Todd has worked as a producer and screenwriter on the After and After We Collided films and founded Frayed Pages Media in 2017. The catalogue holds 17 Todd books, from After (2014) to The Last Sunrise (2025), with college students and contemporary romance among the subjects.

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.

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.

Mary Kay Andrews writes women's fiction and mysteries set in Georgia. Every Crooked Nanny (1992) opens the catalogue and introduces Callahan Garrity, an Atlanta woman sleuth. Andrews wrote the Truman Kicklighter mysteries as Kathy Hogan Trocheck, and later work turns to contemporary romance and beach-town novels, with the Weezie & Bebe mysteries in between. The catalogue holds 39 titles through Road Trip (2026).

Nancy Thayer, born December 14, 1943, is an American novelist. The catalogue here lists 39 books spanning 1980 to 2026, from Stepping to Nantucket Christmas Stroll, and includes the Hot Flash Club series. Recurring subjects are female friendship, family life, middle-aged women, mothers and daughters, and Nantucket Island. Thayer's release status is ongoing.

Sophie Kinsella

37 books• 4 series

Sophie Kinsella was the pen name of Madeleine Sophie Wickham (12 December 1969 to 10 December 2025), an English author best known for the Shopaholic series. The Kinsella catalogue holds 37 books from 1995 to 2024; early titles such as 40 Love / The Tennis Party (1995) and Cocktails for Three (2000) appeared under the name Madeleine Wickham. The first two Shopaholic books became the 2009 film Confessions of a Shopaholic, and Can You Keep a Secret? (2003) was filmed in 2019. Kinsella's books sold more than 50 million copies in over 60 countries. Shopping, weddings and Becky Bloomwood appear among the subjects.

Jennifer Weiner

32 books• 6 series

Jennifer Weiner is an American novelist, television producer and journalist, born on March 28, 1970, and based in Philadelphia. The catalogue has 32 Weiner books from 2002 to 2025, beginning with Good in Bed and In Her Shoes (both 2002). In Her Shoes was filmed with Cameron Diaz, Toni Collette and Shirley MacLaine. Female friendship, sisters, motherhood and single women run through the subjects. Weiner also writes the Cannie Shapiro and Littlest Bigfoot series, and The Griffin Sisters' Greatest Hits (2025) is the newest title.

E.L. James

9 books• 4 series

E.L. James writes erotic contemporary romance. Fifty Shades of Grey and Fifty Shades Darker (2011) and Fifty Shades Freed (2012) open the catalogue, and Grey (2015), Darker (2017) and Freed (2021) retell that story as told by Christian. The Mister (2019), The Missus (2023) and Land of Ghosts (2026) follow, making 9 books in all. Dominance and submission run through the subjects.

Shelley Noble writes contemporary romance and mystery, much of it set on the shore. Noble's 24 catalogued books span 2012 to 2026, beginning with Beach Colors and reaching The Sisters of Book Row. Female friendship, family life, fathers and daughters, and seaside towns are the recurring subjects. Whisper Beach and Stargazey carry the romance strand; the Lady Dunbridge Mystery series carries the detective strand.

Lisa Renee Jones writes paranormal and contemporary romance, with romantic suspense and erotica also marked in the subject tags. The catalogue holds 162 books, starting with Hidden Instincts and Secrets Exposed (both 2004), then Healer and Protector (2005). Lilah Has a Secret (2026) is the newest, and Good Girl is scheduled for 2027. Series include Inside Out, Scandalous Billionaires, Lilah Love, Dirty Money, Knights of White, Tall, Dark & Deadly, Zodius, Windwalkers, Texas Hotzone and the Secret Life of Amy Bensen. Corporations and corrupt practices also appear in the tags.

Katy Evans writes adult contemporary romance. Real, self-published on 9 April 2013, follows Remington Tate, an underground boxing champion, and Brooke Dumas, a sports rehabilitation therapist; the book reached the New York Times and USA Today lists and the top of four self-publishing marketplaces, Amazon and Barnes and Noble among them, and Gallery Books at Simon & Schuster acquired the series rights in June 2013. Twenty-four titles are catalogued through Best Man (2019), including the Real, White House and Manhattan series and the Manwhore books.

Nicole Baart writes family fiction and suspense. After the Leaves Fall (2007) opens the Threads of Change sequence, built around Julia DeSmit, and the catalogue continues through Sleeping in Eden (2013), Little Broken Things (2017), You Were Always Mine (2018) and Everything We Didn't Say (2021). Twelve books are catalogued, running to Where He Left Me (2025). Mothers and daughters, mothers and sons, unmarried mothers and coming of age recur as subjects.

Mary Ellen Taylor has 11 catalogued books, from The Union Street Bakery and Sweet Expectations (both 2013) to The Promise of Tomorrow (2024). At the Corner of King Street (2015), The View from Prince Street (2016), Winter Cottage (2018), Spring House (2019), Honeysuckle Season (2020) and The Words We Whisper (2021) are other titles. Union Street Bakery is the listed series. Bakeries, family secrets, single women, self-realization and Virginia appear among the subjects.

Jessica Sorensen's catalogue runs to 202 books, published between The Fallen Star (2011) and Finding Chaos (2026). Contemporary romance carries most of it, with teenagers, college students, secrets and coming of age as the recurring material, and a fantasy strand of vampires and academies running beside. The Coincidence, Shattered Promises, Unraveling You, Guardian Academy, Enchanted Chaos, Mystic Willow Bay and Sunnyvale Mysteries are among the series. Seven titles carry a 2012 date, and volumes median 248 pages.

S.C. Stephens writes contemporary romance around musicians and love triangles. Thoughtless (2009) opens both the catalogue and its own series, followed by Effortless (2011), Reckless (2013), Thoughtful (2015) and Untamed (2015). Conversion and Furious Rush are the other two series across 20 catalogued books, which close with Wonderful (2023). The novels are long, at a median of 462 pages.

Beth Kendrick writes contemporary romance, with subject tags on women, marriage and man-woman relationships. The catalogue holds 18 Beth Kendrick books from My Favorite Mistake (2004) to The Christmas Concierge (2022), including the Black Dog Bay series. Subject tags include single women, sisters, married people, birthmothers, aunts and talent scouts. Exes and Ohs (2005), Nearlyweds (2006), The Pre-Nup (2008) and The Bake-Off (2011) are among the listed titles.

Menna van Praag is an English novelist who also teaches writing, and magical realism is the term recorded for her novels. Fantasy, magic, the paranormal and the lives of women in England run through the subjects listed for the work. The 15 catalogued books begin with Men, Money and Chocolate (2008) and include The Dress Shop of Dreams (2014), The House at the End of Hope Street (2013) and The Sisters Grimm (2020). Biscuit Tin Murders is the recorded series, and A Pinch of Salt & a Drop of Poison (2025) is the newest title.

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.