J.M. Darhower Books in Order (Updated: April 14, 2026)

J.M. Darhower’s books split into a few distinct lanes. There is the earlier emotional contemporary shelf, there is the darker mafia-and-crime shelf, there is a paranormal duet, and there are several standalones that do not need to be folded into a larger sequence.

The useful reading-order question is not “What is the one master list?” It is “Which J.M. Darhower mode do you want first?”

The main shelves at a glance

The clearest core series are Sempre, Monster in His Eyes, Scarlet Scars, Forbidden, and Extinguish. Goodreads lists those five as her main named series, with Monster in His Eyes at three books, Sempre at two primary works plus extra companion material, Scarlet Scars at two books, Forbidden at two books, and Extinguish at two books.

That means most readers can choose one of three entry lanes:

1. Read Sempre if you want the earlier emotional, contemporary side.
2. Read Monster in His Eyes if you want the signature dark-romance thriller path.
3. Read Scarlet Scars if you want a shorter mafia-adjacent run after that.

Sempre books in order

This is one of the most layered J.M. Darhower shelves because it has the two main novels plus prequel and follow-up companion material. Goodreads and Fantastic Fiction agree on the core shape: Sempre and Redemption are the main novels, while Made, Friends, and Forever are extra pieces around them.

1. Made (2014): A Corrado-focused prequel-style companion that digs into the backstory of a major figure in the Sempre world rather than serving as the best first entry.
2. Friends (prequel companion): A shorter piece that takes place before Sempre, useful as added context but not required to understand the main arc.
3. Sempre (2012): The true starting point for most readers, following Haven and Carmine in a forbidden-love story shaped by trafficking, violence, and a deeply uneven world.
4. Redemption (2013): The direct sequel, continuing the emotional fallout and larger family consequences of the first novel.
5. Forever (post-series companion): A short follow-up set after Redemption, best treated as bonus aftermath rather than a full third main installment.
6. Friends & Forever (2014): An omnibus collecting the prequel and post-series companion pieces, useful if you want the extras in one volume instead of separately.

Monster in His Eyes books in order

This is the cleanest dark-romance-thriller shelf and probably the most useful J.M. Darhower starting point for readers who want her best-known darker work. Fantastic Fiction and Goodreads align on the three-book sequence.

1. Monster in His Eyes (2014): The opener, introducing Karissa and Ignazio in a relationship built on secrecy, manipulation, danger, and a slow realization that nothing is what it first seemed.
2. Torture to Her Soul (2014): The second book drives deeper into the consequences of loving a man whose entire life is structured around lies and control.
3. Target on Our Backs (2016): The trilogy closer, turning the private emotional damage of the first two books into a broader fight for survival.

Scarlet Scars books in order

This is the compact crime-romance shelf. Goodreads lists it as a two-book series, and outside reading guides commonly describe it as connected to the darker crime side of Darhower’s catalog.

1. Menace (2017): A violent, darkly funny mafia romance centered on Lorenzo Gambini, where chaos, cruelty, and obsession all arrive at once.
2. Grievous (2017): The second book, continuing the same brutal world and completing the main Lorenzo-centered arc.

Forbidden books in order

This is another two-book shelf, darker and more tragic in tone, and best read straight through. Fantastic Fiction confirms the sequence.

1. By Any Other Name (2015): The first book, opening a captivity-and-survival story with a strong tragic-romance undercurrent.
2. Sweetest Sorrow (2016): The follow-up, carrying the damage forward and finishing the two-book arc.

Extinguish books in order

Goodreads lists Extinguish as a two-book series. This is the paranormal shelf, separate from the mafia and contemporary lines.

1. Extinguish (2013): The opener, beginning the paranormal romance line with a more supernatural tone than the rest of Darhower’s best-known catalog.
2. Reignite: The sequel, continuing the same paranormal pairing and world rather than starting a new branch.

Standalones and separate books

Goodreads’ author bibliography also shows several J.M. Darhower books that are best treated as standalones rather than folded into the named series shelves.

1. Ghosted (2018): A second-chance celebrity romance about a fallen actor and the woman he left behind, and one of the best single-book entry points if you do not want mafia or thriller elements.
2. The Mad Tatter (2019): A darker standalone romance with a more eccentric, dangerous male lead and a more stylized emotional pitch.
3. Unlawful Contact (2020): A standalone contemporary romance built around a prison pen-pal setup and the tension between distance, danger, and attachment.
4. The Life That Mattered (2022): A later standalone, more grounded in grief, memory, and emotional reckoning than in organized-crime plotting.

The simplest ways to read J.M. Darhower

There are three clean approaches.

For the best-known dark-romance path:

1. Monster in His Eyes
2. Torture to Her Soul
3. Target on Our Backs
4. Menace
5. Grievous

For the earlier emotional-contemporary path:

1. Sempre
2. Redemption
3. Add Made, Friends, and Forever only if you want the extra context and aftermath

For the easiest one-book sample:

1. Ghosted

That last option works well for readers who want to test Darhower’s style without stepping into a duet or trilogy first.

Publication order or series order?

For J.M. Darhower, series order matters more than full publication order. The named shelves are distinct enough that you do not gain much by reading across the whole bibliography by year.

The one place where the order question matters most is Sempre, because the extras can make the shelf look bigger than it really is. The practical rule is simple: read Sempre and Redemption as the main story, then decide whether you want the companion material.

Latest release status

The newest J.M. Darhower title I could reliably verify from the sources I checked is The Life That Mattered (2022). I did not find a newer clearly confirmed release on the primary bibliographic sources available here, so I would treat that as the current latest verified book rather than guess at something more recent.

FAQ

What should I read first by J.M. Darhower?

Start with Monster in His Eyes if you want her darker signature work, or Ghosted if you want a standalone first.

Is Scarlet Scars connected to Monster in His Eyes?

They sit in the same darker corner of her catalog, but Scarlet Scars works as its own two-book shelf and does not need a giant combined master order to make sense.

Do I need to read all the Sempre extras?

No. The main story is Sempre followed by Redemption. The other pieces are companions or collected extras.

What is J.M. Darhower’s best standalone?

Ghosted is the strongest place to start if you want one book rather than a series.

Is there one giant J.M. Darhower reading order?

Not really. The series are much easier to use as separate shelves. Goodreads’ series map supports that approach more than a single all-books chronology.