MaryJanice Davidson Books in Order (Updated April 22, 2026)

MaryJanice Davidson is easiest to read when you stop looking for one master timeline. She has a clear flagship series, Undead / Queen Betsy, and then a stack of shorter paranormal, fantasy, romance, and comedy series that can be picked up separately. Goodreads lists Undead as her biggest series at 16 books, while the rest of her catalog is spread across compact trilogies, duologies, and a few later standalones.

For most readers, the right first book is still Undead and Unwed. It opens the Queen Betsy books, which remain the main thing MaryJanice Davidson is known for, and it gives you the clearest sense of her comic paranormal voice before you branch into the mermaid, werewolf, or contemporary-romance side of the catalog.

Quick answer

• If you want the core MaryJanice Davidson experience, read Queen Betsy / Undead first.
• If you want a shorter completed series, choose Fred the Mermaid or Alaskan Royal Family.
• If you want later-career shifter romance, go to BeWere My Heart.
• If you want the newest currently verified standalone, pick The Reluctant Reaper after you have a feel for her style.

Start here if you want the signature books

Queen Betsy / Undead

This is the anchor series. Read the main novels in order, and treat the novellas and side pieces as optional unless you want every extra beat.

1. Undead and Unwed (2004): Betsy Taylor’s accidental path into undead royalty starts here, making this the only sensible entry point for the series.
2. Undead and Unemployed (2004): The second book settles Betsy into her new reality and sharpens the series’ comic-supernatural rhythm.
3. Undead and Unappreciated (2005): This installment expands the supporting cast and pushes Betsy further into responsibilities she never wanted.
4. Undead and Unreturnable (2005): The series keeps widening its supernatural mess here, while still staying tightly tied to Betsy’s point of view.
5. Undead and Unpopular (2006): By book five, the recurring character network is firmly in place, so reading in order matters more than it did at the start.
6. Undead and Uneasy (2007): This is a late-early-series turning point, with bigger emotional and domestic consequences for Betsy’s world.
7. Undead and Unworthy (2008): The seventh book pushes the series further into continuity-heavy territory and is not a good skipping point.
8. Undead and Unwelcome (2009): The stakes keep rising, but the series still leans on the same fast, irreverent voice that defined book one.
9. Undead and Unfinished (2010): This entry continues the long-running arc without resetting the premise for new readers.
10. Undead and Undermined (2011): The tenth book depends on the accumulated history of Betsy’s relationships and decisions.
11. Undead and Unstable (2012): The series is fully deep-continuity by this point, so it works best straight through.
12. Undead and Unsure (2013): This continues the same long-form arc and should be read after the 2012 book and its side story.
13. Undead and Unwary (2014): Another direct continuation, this one belongs in sequence rather than as a casual sampler.
14. Undead and Unforgiven (2015): The fourteenth book keeps the late-series mythology and family threads moving.
15. Undead and Done (2016): This functions like a major end-stage Queen Betsy novel and is one of the series’ payoff books.
16. Undead AF (2023): This is the current main-series endpoint and a much later return, so it lands best after the full run behind it.

Optional Queen Betsy extras

These are real parts of the wider Queen Betsy line, but they are extras rather than the main spine of the series.

• Dead Girls Don’t Dance (2004): An early side story best treated as bonus material around the opening novels.
• Biting in Plain Sight (2005): A short piece that fits early in the series but is not required to follow the main line.
• The Incredible Misadventures of Boo and the Boy Blunder (2009): A side entry tied to the Queen Betsy world rather than a core numbered novel.
• Undead and Underwater (2013): Listed as book 11.5, this is an in-between story rather than the next main step.
• Unreliable (2018): A later Queen Betsy side piece best saved until after the major novels.

Start here if you want something shorter and cleaner

Fred the Mermaid

This is one of the easiest alternative starting points because it is only three books long and fully mapped on Goodreads.

1. Sleeping with the Fishes (2006): Fred’s story begins here with a more offbeat and deadpan comic fantasy setup than Queen Betsy.
2. Swimming Without a Net (2007): Book two expands Fred’s world without changing the series’ basic light-paranormal tone.
3. Fish Out of Water (2008): The trilogy closes here, making Fred one of Davidson’s neatest completed series for a fast read.

• Underwater Love (2012): This is a collected edition of the trilogy, not a fourth main Fred novel.

Alaskan Royal Family

A compact alternate-history romantic-comedy trilogy.

1. The Royal Treatment (2004): The series begins with its royal-romance premise fully intact from page one.
2. The Royal Pain (2005): The second book continues the same alternate Alaska monarchy setup in direct order.
3. The Royal Mess (2007): The trilogy ends here, giving you another short complete Davidson route.

Gorgeous

A very short two-book paranormal-comedy sequence.

1. Hello, Gorgeous! (2005): This opener throws its ordinary heroine into a save-the-world setup with Davidson’s usual comic tilt.
2. Drop Dead, Gorgeous! (2006): The second book completes the series and works best immediately after book one.

Start here if you want paranormal romance beyond Betsy

Wyndham Werewolves

This is one of Davidson’s older paranormal-romance lines, but the ordering is messier across catalog sources, so it is best handled cautiously.

1. Love’s Prisoner (2000): An early werewolf romance and the first listed Wyndham book in current catalog sources.
2. Jared’s Wolf (2002): The second early werewolf title continues that branch of the catalog.
3. Derik’s Bane (2005): This is one of the better-known Wyndham books and a key midpoint of the series.
4. Santa Claws (2001): Catalog sources place this inside the Wyndham grouping, though the numbering presentation is not perfectly tidy.
5. Monster Love (2017): Fantastic Fiction currently places this as a later Wyndham entry.
6. Dead Over Heels (2008): Another same-world title, best read after the earlier core werewolf books.
7. Wolf at the Door (2011): This is the current listed endpoint of the Wyndham line in Fantastic Fiction.

• Dead and Loving It (2006): Catalog pages list this as related to Wyndham Werewolves, but it is safest to treat it as associated side material rather than a cleanly numbered core installment.
• Driftwood (2012): Fantastic Fiction labels this as 5.5, which makes it another optional in-between piece.

BeWere My Heart

This is the cleanest later-career shifter-romance series.

1. Bears Behaving Badly (2020): The series opens with Davidson’s newer shifter-romance voice and a foster-system angle for young weres.
2. A Wolf After My Own Heart (2021): Book two keeps the same shifter world and romantic-comedy tone moving.
3. Mad for a Mate (2022): The trilogy ends here, making this one of her most approachable recent series.

Canis Royal

A short and unusual paranormal-fantasy pairing.

1. Canis Royal: Bridefight (2002): This begins the series with its strange cross-world mate premise already in motion.
2. Really Unusual Bad Boys (2005): Goodreads groups this as the later Canis Royal entry, effectively closing the line as currently listed.

Start here if you want non-paranormal or genre-shifted MaryJanice Davidson

Cadence Jones

A thriller-comedy trilogy rather than a paranormal romance series.

1. Me, Myself and Why? (2010): The series begins with Cadence Jones and its identity-fracture premise already at the center.
2. Yours, Mine, and Ours (2011): Book two continues the same suspense-comedy structure in direct order.
3. You and I, Me and You (2012): The trilogy closes here.

Insighter

A short reincarnation-focused fantasy series.

1. Deja Who (2016): Leah Nazir’s reincarnation-centered world starts here, making it the natural entry point.
2. Deja New (2017): The second book continues the same concept and is the current endpoint of the series. Goodreads author Q&A also indicates there is no confirmed contract for a third book.

Danger

A contemporary-romance trilogy, separate from the paranormal books.

1. Danger, Sweetheart (2016): The series begins here with Davidson’s comedy voice moved into a contemporary-romance lane.
2. Love Scam (2020): Book two continues the trilogy after a gap in publication years.
3. Truth, Lies, and Second Dates (2020): The current third book closes the listed sequence.

Afterlife

A short later series listed on Goodreads.

1. The Fixer-Upper: The series opens here.
2. Paradise Bossed: The second book continues the same line.

Because the Goodreads series page snippet is thinner here than for her bigger series, the safest claim is simply that this is a two-book series rather than a major continuity branch.

The co-authored fantasy branch

Jennifer Scales

This series is co-written with Anthony Alongi and sits apart from Davidson’s adult paranormal-comedy lines.

1. Jennifer Scales and the Ancient Furnace (2005): The series opens with Jennifer’s weredragon world and a younger-skewing fantasy frame.
2. Jennifer Scales and the Messenger of Light (2006): Book two continues the same conflict and worldbuilding directly.
3. The Silver Moon Elm (2007): The third book deepens the dragon politics and family line.
4. Seraph of Sorrow (2010): The later relaunch/continuation begins here.
5. Rise of the Poison Moon (2010): Book five continues the newer stretch of the series.
6. Evangelina (2011): This is the current listed endpoint of Jennifer Scales.

Standalones and newer one-offs

These are best read whenever you want a break from the series work.

• Road Queens (2023): A later standalone shifter romance and one of Davidson’s most recent books before 2025.
• The Reluctant Reaper (2025): This is the newest listed MaryJanice Davidson release I could verify in current catalog sources.

Recommended reading order

For most readers, this is the best path:

1. Undead and Unwed: Start here for the clearest introduction to MaryJanice Davidson’s signature voice.
2. Continue through the main Queen Betsy novels in order.
3. Read the Queen Betsy extras only if you want side material.
4. Move to Fred the Mermaid for a short completed fantasy detour.
5. Then read Alaskan Royal Family if you want another compact completed series.
6. After that, choose between BeWere My Heart for newer shifter romance, Cadence Jones for suspense-comedy, or Jennifer Scales for co-authored fantasy.
7. Save The Reluctant Reaper and Road Queens for later once you already know whether her humor works for you.

Publication order or series order?

For MaryJanice Davidson, series order matters more than global publication order.

That is especially true for Undead, where the recurring cast and long-running jokes build over many books, and for her shorter trilogies, where the payoff usually assumes you read straight through. Trying to read everything in one master publication list would bounce you from vampires to mermaids to alternate royals to co-authored dragon fantasy with no real benefit.

Latest release status

The newest MaryJanice Davidson title I could verify is The Reluctant Reaper (November 2025). I did not find a more recent 2026 novel listed in the catalog sources checked here.

FAQs

What is the first MaryJanice Davidson book to read?

Undead and Unwed is the best first book for most readers because it opens the Queen Betsy series, which is still her defining body of work.

Do I need to read the Queen Betsy novellas?

No. They are useful extras, but the main numbered novels are the real spine of the series.

What is MaryJanice Davidson’s shortest completed series?

Fred the Mermaid is one of the shortest and cleanest at three books, and Gorgeous is even shorter at two.

What is MaryJanice Davidson’s newest book?

The newest listed release I could verify is The Reluctant Reaper (2025).

Final recommendation

Start with Undead and Unwed.

If you like it, stay with Queen Betsy before branching out. If you want something shorter after that, go to Fred the Mermaid or Alaskan Royal Family. That gives you the best version of MaryJanice Davidson first, then the easiest side roads after it.