Ashley Munoz Books in Order (Updated April 2, 2026)

Ashley Munoz’s catalog is easiest to read in clusters, not as one giant line. Her official site currently separates the books into Stone Riders, Standalone Small Town Series, Finding Home, Rake Forge University, The Royals of Rake Forge, and Mount Macon, which is the clearest signal that readers should follow series order first and only then decide whether to cross into adjacent worlds.

The safest overall entry point is Where We Started if you want the strongest current Ashley Munoz path. The easiest standalone entry is The Rest of Me if you want to sample her style without committing to a connected series.

The simplest way to read Ashley Munoz

There are three good routes, depending on what you want.

If you want the main current universe

1. Stone Riders MC
2. A Rose Ridge Christmas
3. Rake Forge University
4. The Royals of Rake Forge

If you want small-town romance first

1. Standalone Small Town Series in any order
2. Finding Home
3. Mount Macon

If you want the smoothest “best of both worlds” path

1. The Rest of Me
2. Where We Started
3. continue through Stone Riders
4. read Rake Forge University
5. finish with The Royals of Rake Forge

The core connected path

Stone Riders MC

This is the clearest backbone of Ashley Munoz’s current catalog. The official site says each book can be read alone, but it also says the series flows better if you begin with book one, which is the right rule here.

1. Where We Started (2023): A grieving motorcycle club and a heroine caught too close to the danger open the Rose Ridge world with the strongest sense of continuity and the emotional setup that the later books keep paying off.
2. Where We Belong (2024): The second book shifts to a new central couple, but it is still rooted in the same club world, so earlier relationships and loyalties matter more if you read book one first.
3. Where We Promise (2024): A fake-marriage entry that deepens the Stone Riders family dynamic and also lays groundwork that matters for the final installment.
4. Where We Ended (2024): The fourth novel closes the main Stone Riders arc and works best after the earlier books because several long-running emotional threads finally come due.
5. A Rose Ridge Christmas (2024, novella): A holiday follow-up told from multiple points of view, with a ten-years-later glimpse and clear setup for the next-generation material.

How important is order here?

Very important. Even though the official site calls the books readable as standalones, the world clearly accumulates history across the four main novels, and the Christmas novella is explicitly positioned as both an epilogue-style extra and a bridge toward later material.

The Rake Forge branch

Rake Forge University

This is a completed three-book series and the most useful next stop after Stone Riders if you want a darker college-and-mafia thread. The official site calls these interconnected standalones, which means publication order is still the safest order.

1. Wild Card (2021): A secret-society and baseball-campus romance that opens Rake Forge with the school setting, the tone, and the first layer of the crossover-ready cast.
2. King of Hearts (2021): An arranged-marriage, roommates, pregnancy, and mafia combination that expands the family and criminal stakes of the Rake Forge world.
3. The Joker (2022): A friends-to-lovers mafia romance that closes the original university run and lands better once the power structure and relationships from the first two books are already in place.

The Royals of Rake Forge

This duet is the clearest continuation of the Rake Forge material. The official site calls it a second-gen series to Rake Forge University and says you do not have to read anything first, but it also gives a crossover-enhanced order that includes the earlier Rake Forge books and My Darling Mayhem.

1. The Lost Kings (2025): The first Royals book starts the second-generation branch with cartel, mafia, and MFM elements, and it ends on a mild cliffhanger.
2. The Broken Queen (2025): The second book completes the duet and should not be read before The Lost Kings.

Best order for the Rake Forge material

For the fullest version of the story, use:

1. Wild Card
2. King of Hearts
3. The Joker
4. The Lost Kings
5. My Darling Mayhem
6. The Broken Queen

That is not my invented sequence. It comes directly from the crossover note on Ashley Munoz’s Royals page.

Small-town books that do not require a series commitment

Standalone Small Town Series

Despite the page name, the official site says these books are not interconnected in any way. That means you can read them in any order.

1. The Rest of Me (2019/2021): A widow, single-mom, country romance and still one of the easiest Ashley Munoz books to hand to a new reader because it requires no prior world knowledge.
2. Only Once (2021): A celebrity and single-mom romance that reads like a true one-off and is best chosen for trope preference rather than chronology.
3. Tennessee Truths (2020): An angsty small-town second-chance romance that stands alone and works well if you want an earlier, more emotional entry.
4. My Darling Mayhem (2025): A small-town motorcycle romance with a single mom and suspense elements; it stands alone, but it also matters more if you later continue into The Royals of Rake Forge because the official crossover note places it between the two Royals books.

Which one should most readers start with?

The Rest of Me is the cleanest test book. My Darling Mayhem is the one to save until later if you plan to read the Rake Forge crossover route.

The smaller connected sets

Finding Home

A completed duology. The official site says the books are interconnected, follow separate couples, and end happily without cliffhangers.

1. Glimmer (2021): A single-dad motorcycle-club romance that opens the duology with a lighter, more intimate connected-world feel than Stone Riders.
2. Fade (2021): A second-chance romance with stalker-suspense elements that continues the world while shifting to a new central couple.

Mount Macon

This is a small-town mountain series built as standalones. Each book follows a different couple, but publication order is still the easiest way to stay oriented.

1. Resisting the Grump (2022): A grumpy-sunshine small-town opener that establishes Mount Macon’s tone and setting.
2. Tempting the Neighbor (2023): A neighbor romance that keeps the same town framework while moving to a new couple.
3. Saving the Single Dad (2023): A nanny-and-single-dad romance that rounds out the main trio of Mount Macon books.
4. A Macon Christmas (2024, novella): A holiday extra built around the town’s friend group, best read after the three main novels.

Recommended reading order for most readers

If you want one practical answer, use this path:

1. Where We Started
2. Where We Belong
3. Where We Promise
4. Where We Ended
5. A Rose Ridge Christmas
6. Wild Card
7. King of Hearts
8. The Joker
9. The Lost Kings
10. My Darling Mayhem
11. The Broken Queen

Then circle back to the true standalones and the smaller small-town sets whenever you want a break from the connected material.

Latest release status

As of April 2, 2026, the newest clearly confirmed Ashley Munoz titles are The Lost Kings and The Broken Queen in The Royals of Rake Forge, both published in 2025. The most recent Stone Riders-related release is A Rose Ridge Christmas from December 2024. There is no confirmation for an upcoming book at the writing such as April 02, 2026.

FAQ

What is the best Ashley Munoz book to start with?

Where We Started is the best starting point if you want the main connected Ashley Munoz experience. The Rest of Me is the best starting point if you want a true standalone.

Do Ashley Munoz books have to be read in order?

Not all of them. Stone Riders, Rake Forge University, and The Royals of Rake Forge should be read in order. The Standalone Small Town Series does not need a reading order.

What comes after Stone Riders?

The smoothest next step is Rake Forge University, then The Royals of Rake Forge.

Is My Darling Mayhem a standalone or part of a bigger order?

It is listed as a standalone on the official site, but the Royals page also names it as part of the best crossover-enhanced reading sequence between The Lost Kings and The Broken Queen.

Are the Christmas books required?

No. A Rose Ridge Christmas and A Macon Christmas are bonus reads, but both work better after their parent series.

Final recommendation

Read Ashley Munoz in layers. Start with Stone Riders if you want the strongest throughline, move into Rake Forge University and then The Royals of Rake Forge if you want the connected expansion, and keep the true standalones for palate cleansers between the heavier series arcs.