Julie Caplin Books in Order (Updated March 30, 2026)

Julie Caplin is best known for warm contemporary romance set in destination-heavy, food-rich locations. Most readers come to her for the Romantic Escapes books, but her current catalog also includes the newer Country Escapes line and the Christmas Escapes branch.

There is no complicated master continuity here. These books are romance-led and approachable, but publication order is still the best way to read each series because it preserves the intended release flow and keeps the tonal evolution of the settings intact.

Pick Your First Destination

1. For readers who want the classic Julie Caplin experience, begin with The Little Café in Copenhagen.
2. A stronger match for anyone who prefers snowy, cosy winter settings is The Christmas Castle in Scotland.
3. Those who want a newer, more autumnal countryside mood can open with A Girl’s Best Friend.
4. If city sparkle and festive romance sound more appealing than travel-food escapism, try Christmas on Fifth Avenue.
5. Readers who want the newest main Romantic Escapes starting point without going all the way back can begin with A Little Place in Prague, then decide whether to continue forward or circle back.

Best Starting Books, Depending on Mood

For café-and-city romance, start with:

The Little Café in Copenhagen
This is the original Romantic Escapes entry point, and it sets the travel-plus-food formula that defines the series.

For a winter comfort-read, try:

The Christmas Castle in Scotland
This is a good fit if you want Highlands atmosphere, festive energy, and one of Caplin’s most seasonally obvious settings.

For a more rural, village-based feel:

A Girl’s Best Friend
This opens the Country Escapes line and gives you a different Julie Caplin lane from the globe-hopping Romantic Escapes books.

For holiday-New York energy:

Christmas on Fifth Avenue
This launches the Christmas Escapes books and is positioned as a standalone-friendly festive spin-off.

For a newer Romantic Escapes entry:

A Little Place in Prague
This is late in the series numerically, but it works if you want the latest established Romantic Escapes tone before moving on to the newest release.

The Main Julie Caplin Series

Romantic Escapes

This is the core Julie Caplin series and still the one most readers mean when they search for her books in order. The books are destination romances rather than a tightly serialized saga, so each can stand alone, but publication order remains the cleanest route.

1. The Little Café in Copenhagen (2018): A Scandinavian café romance that launches the Romantic Escapes formula with food, travel, and a fresh-start emotional arc.
2. The Little Brooklyn Bakery (2018): A New York-set follow-up that keeps the series’ comfort-romance feel while shifting the backdrop from Copenhagen to a bakery-driven city story.
3. The Little Paris Patisserie (2018): A Paris romance built around baking, independence, and a more overtly dreamy city setting.
4. The Northern Lights Lodge (2019): A cold-weather, wilderness-leaning entry that moves the series into a more remote and atmospheric kind of escape.
5. The Secret Cove in Croatia (2019): A sun-soaked coastal romance that leans into hidden corners, summer energy, and a more Mediterranean mood.
6. The Little Teashop in Tokyo (2020): A Tokyo-set romance that gives the series one of its most distinct cultural settings and a slightly quieter emotional rhythm.
7. The Little Swiss Ski Chalet (2021): A snowbound alpine romance that pushes the cosy side of the series to the front.
8. The Cosy Cottage in Ireland (2021): A countryside-and-cookery-school romance with a gentler rural feel than the city-based entries.
9. The Christmas Castle in Scotland (2022): A festive Highlands romance that blends inheritance, restoration energy, and full winter-book appeal.
10. The French Chateau Dream (2023): A château-set escape that keeps the lush travel fantasy of the series front and center.
11. A Villa with a View (2024): A scenic later-series romance that leans into Mediterranean beauty and the established destination-comfort formula.
12. A Little Place in Prague (2024): A Prague-set second-chance style romance with a cosy housemate setup and a winter-friendly atmosphere.
13. The Hotel by the Sea (2026): The newest Romantic Escapes novel, set around a family-run Portuguese hotel and positioned as the next main destination romance in the series.

If You Want the Countryside Version Instead

Country Escapes

This line is separate from Romantic Escapes and is better treated as its own lane. It keeps Caplin’s comforting romance style, but swaps international travel glamour for village and seasonal countryside settings.

1. A Girl’s Best Friend (2018; new edition 2026): A village romance with a dog, a cottage, and a more grounded country setup than the travel books.
2. A Summer Country Escape (2026): A return-home romance about old feelings, small-community boundaries, and stepping beyond a carefully limited life.
3. An Autumn Country Escape (upcoming): The third Country Escapes book, already listed by publisher and positioned as the autumn entry in the sequence.
4. A Christmas Country Escape (upcoming): The fourth listed Country Escapes title, extending the series into a festive seasonal setting.

Prefer Full Festive Mode?

Christmas Escapes

This appears to be a separate Christmas-focused branch rather than part of the numbered Romantic Escapes run. These books are being marketed as standalone-friendly festive reads.

1. Christmas on Fifth Avenue (2025): A snowy New York romance with grumpy-sunshine energy and a clearly standalone holiday setup.
2. Christmas at The Ritz (upcoming): A London-set festive romance and the next listed Christmas Escapes title.

The Simplest Reading Order for Most Readers

If you only want one practical recommendation, do this:

1. Start with The Little Café in Copenhagen.
2. Continue through Romantic Escapes in publication order if you enjoy it.
3. Move to Country Escapes when you want a more rural, homey variation.
4. Save Christmas Escapes for seasonal reading or when you specifically want festive romance.

That route keeps the biggest and best-known series first, then uses the newer side branches as optional extras instead of mixing everything together too early.

Newest Julie Caplin Books

The most recent verified Julie Caplin release in the main Romantic Escapes line is The Hotel by the Sea, scheduled for April 23, 2026. The newer side-series activity also includes A Summer Country Escape scheduled for July 30, 2026, and the announced festive title Christmas at The Ritz.

One Useful Boundary to Keep in Mind

Julie Caplin also writes under the name Jules Wake. For a clean Julie Caplin page, it makes sense to keep those books separate unless you are intentionally building a cross-pen name guide.

Final Recommendation

For most readers, The Little Café in Copenhagen is still the best first Julie Caplin book.

Choose A Girl’s Best Friend if you want the countryside version of her style. Choose Christmas on Fifth Avenue if you want a festive standalone-style entry. And if you know you are here for the main brand, read Romantic Escapes in publication order and branch out afterward.