Christy Reece Books in Order (Updated July 19, 2026)

Christy Reece writes dark romantic suspense about rescue operatives, covert teams, private justice networks, and survivors confronting organized violence. Her books are divided among four series published under the Christy Reece name, plus the Wildfire trilogy written as Ella Grace.

The main continuity begins with Last Chance Rescue. Its direct spin-off, LCR Elite, uses the same organization and brings back established characters.

Grey Justice and Option Zero follow separate specialist teams. They share Reece’s high-risk romantic-suspense style, but readers should not assume that they form one continuous storyline with Last Chance Rescue.

The books within each series feature different central couples, yet publication order remains the safest choice. Team leadership, prior missions, established relationships, and recurring enemies develop as the series progresses.

The Reading Order That Avoids Confusion

Use this sequence for Christy Reece’s primary romantic-suspense catalogue:

1. Last Chance Rescue
2. LCR Elite
3. Grey Justice
4. Option Zero

The Ella Grace books can be read separately:

5. Wildfire

The most important connection is between Last Chance Rescue and LCR Elite. Complete the original ten-book series before entering the five-book spin-off.

Where to Start

1. Begin with Rescue Me for the complete Christy Reece experience. It introduces Last Chance Rescue, the covert organization at the center of her longest continuity.
2. Begin with Nothing to Lose when you prefer a private group that pursues justice after legal systems fail.
3. Begin with Merciless for a darker covert-operations series with a larger conspiracy unfolding behind the individual missions.
4. Begin with Midnight Secrets for Southern romantic suspense centered on three sisters returning to the Alabama town where their parents died.

Last Chance Rescue Books in Order

Last Chance Rescue is an international organization of highly trained operatives who locate and recover people when official channels have failed. The ten books follow different couples, but team relationships, leadership, and past missions continue throughout the series.

The official numbering treats all ten titles as one sequence. Older listings sometimes divide them into three trilogies followed by a novella, but the continuous Book 1-10 order is clearer.

1. Rescue Me (2009)

Rescue Me (2009): Eden St. Claire is drawn back toward Last Chance Rescue operative Jordan Montgomery when a dangerous mission forces them to confront the betrayal and unresolved attraction that separated them.

This introduces the organization, its international rescue work, and several operatives who remain important later.

Start here even though each subsequent book features another couple. Later missions assume that the reader already understands how LCR operates.

2. Return to Me (2009)

Return to Me (2009): An LCR operative returns to protect the woman connected to his past, placing an unfinished relationship inside a mission involving abduction, secrets, and renewed danger.

The rescue plot is resolved within the book, but the organization and returning team members continue from Rescue Me.

Read it second to preserve the early development of the LCR network.

3. Run to Me (2009)

Run to Me (2009): Shea Monroe enters a dangerous rescue operation while grief, captivity, and a deeply personal need for vengeance pull the mission beyond ordinary professional boundaries.

This completes the first group of three LCR novels.

Several characters and events introduced here remain relevant to the later original series and the eventual LCR Elite spin-off.

4. No Chance (2010)

No Chance (2010): An operative and the woman he must protect are caught in a pursuit involving ruthless criminals, emotional history, and a rescue whose failure would cost more than one life.

The book begins the next phase of Last Chance Rescue with a new central couple.

Earlier couples may appear, so it works better after the opening trilogy.

5. Second Chance (2010)

Second Chance (2010): A former relationship receives another opportunity when violence brings two people together and forces them to decide whether old wounds are more powerful than their continuing bond.

The title reflects both the romance and the characters’ attempt to survive the consequences of earlier choices.

It should remain between No Chance and Last Chance.

6. Last Chance (2010)

Last Chance (2010): A high-risk LCR mission becomes a final test of trust, loyalty, and survival for a couple whose personal history is inseparable from the danger surrounding them.

This closes the second group of three novels.

It is not the end of the full series, despite the title.

7. Sweet Justice (2011)

Sweet Justice (2011): An LCR operative pursues a criminal threat while a woman seeking accountability becomes both essential to the investigation and vulnerable to the people determined to silence her.

This begins the final full-length trilogy in the original sequence.

The recurring organization provides continuity, while the featured romance receives its own resolution.

8. Sweet Revenge (2011)

Sweet Revenge (2011): Revenge and rescue become difficult to separate when an operative joins a woman whose need to punish the people who harmed her places them both in danger.

Read it after Sweet Justice because established LCR relationships and recent team developments continue in the background.

The immediate mission is complete by the ending.

9. Sweet Reward (2011)

Sweet Reward (2011): The final full-length Last Chance Rescue novel brings another operative into a mission where emotional trust becomes as important as stopping the criminal threat.

This completes the main nine-novel arc.

Readers should finish it before moving to the shorter tenth entry or the LCR Elite spin-off.

10. Chances Are (2013)

Chances Are (2013): Last Chance Rescue returns for a shorter romantic-suspense story in which an unexpected encounter places familiar danger, attraction, and the possibility of a new future on the same path.

This is a novella rather than a tenth full-length novel.

Status: Included but optional
Placement: After Sweet Reward

Skipping it will not prevent readers from understanding LCR Elite, but it belongs at the end of the original series.

Last Chance Rescue Reading Rules

Read the ten books in their official numbered order.

The individual romances generally conclude, but the organization evolves across the sequence. Returning operatives also reveal the outcomes of earlier relationships.

Do not move Chances Are into the middle of the series because some older catalogue labels group the books differently. Its correct complete-series position is Book 10.

LCR Elite Books in Order

LCR Elite is a direct spin-off of Last Chance Rescue. Founder Noah McCall leads a smaller off-the-grid branch that handles especially volatile and politically sensitive recovery missions.

The spin-off contains five books. Read the original LCR sequence first for the strongest understanding of the organization and returning characters.

1. Running on Empty (2014)

Running on Empty (2014): An LCR Elite operative is drawn into a dangerous mission while personal loss and emotional exhaustion threaten his ability to protect the people depending on him.

This launches the Elite branch and explains how its missions differ from standard Last Chance Rescue assignments.

It is the required starting point for the spin-off.

2. Running Dark (2015)

Running Dark (2015): Former football star Brennan Sinclair joins LCR Elite and is assigned to protect model Kacie Dane when someone connected to the abuse she survived begins hunting her.

This book was originally published as Chance Encounter.

Running Dark and Chance Encounter are the same novel. Readers need only one edition.

3. Running Scared (2016)

Running Scared (2016): Two people must confront the violence and secrets of their shared past before they can survive a new threat and build a future together.

The mission introduces a new central couple while continuing the Elite team’s developing relationships.

Read it after Running Dark.

4. Running Wild (2016)

Running Wild (2016): An Elite operative’s determination to protect the people he loves turns a covert mission into a personal fight against an enemy willing to attack his most vulnerable ties.

The book relies on the team structure established in the first three installments.

Earlier operatives return in supporting roles.

5. Running Strong (2019)

Running Strong (2019): Raphael Sanchez, first encountered earlier in the Last Chance Rescue continuity, receives his own story as a dangerous mission forces him to rely on the woman who challenges his isolation.

This closes the five-book LCR Elite series.

Its connection to an earlier LCR character is one reason the spin-off should be read after the original series.

Is Chance Encounter a Separate Book?

No.

Chance Encounter was the original 2015 title of LCR Elite Book 2. The book was later retitled Running Dark to match the naming pattern of the series.

Use this placement:

Running Dark / Chance Encounter (2015): Brennan Sinclair protects Kacie Dane when the secret identity she built after surviving abuse is exposed by a person seeking revenge.

Do not count both titles in a complete bibliography.

Grey Justice Books in Order

The Grey Justice Group is led by billionaire philanthropist Grey Justice. Its operatives help people who have been denied protection or accountability through ordinary legal channels.

The series contains four books. Each installment changes the primary couple, while Grey, his network, and the group’s mission connect the stories.

1. Nothing to Lose (2014)

Nothing to Lose (2014): Kennedy O’Connell and Nick Gallagher are pulled together by devastating crimes and separate needs for vengeance, while Grey Justice offers a path toward the people responsible.

This establishes Grey’s organization and its willingness to operate beyond conventional legal limits.

It is the only suitable starting point for the series.

2. Whatever It Takes (2016)

Whatever It Takes (2016): Another couple turns to the Grey Justice Group when a dangerous enemy and a failure of lawful protection leave them with no safe conventional option.

The central case is new, but Grey and his operatives continue from Nothing to Lose.

Read it second for the group’s development.

3. Too Far Gone (2017)

Too Far Gone (2017): Jonah and Gabriella face a threat that places both family and survival at risk, forcing Jonah toward measures he never expected to take.

The Grey Justice Group again becomes the route to accountability when formal systems cannot provide it.

This book leads naturally into the series conclusion.

4. A Matter of Justice (2018)

A Matter of Justice (2018): A woman trained by an evil man to become a lethal weapon enters the Grey Justice Group’s most personal confrontation with manipulation, violence, and the meaning of genuine justice.

This completes the four-book series.

Grey and the organization’s accumulated history give the finale more weight when the earlier books have been read first.

Option Zero Books in Order

Option Zero follows an elite covert team led by Asher Drake. The group emerged from destruction and betrayal, operating by its own rules while a larger hidden enemy watches its members.

Each book centers on a different romance and mission. A continuing conspiracy also develops behind those individual stories, making publication order important.

1. Merciless (2020)

Merciless (2020): Option Zero leader Asher Drake reunites with Jules, forcing them to confront a painful shared past while an enemy begins moving against the covert organization he built.

This introduces the team, its origins, and the larger threat surrounding it.

The romance has its own arc, but the conspiracy remains important in later books.

2. Relentless (2020)

Relentless (2020): Another Option Zero operative enters a mission where protection, pursuit, and a relationship shaped by danger become part of the team’s continuing fight against hidden enemies.

The second book expands the organization beyond Ash’s leadership story.

Starting here would weaken the team introductions from Merciless.

3. Heartless (2021)

Heartless (2021): An operative known for emotional control is forced into a deeply personal mission when the woman at its center challenges both his defenses and the assumptions guiding Option Zero.

The immediate suspense plot is resolved, while the wider organization continues to face unanswered threats.

Read it third.

4. Ruthless (2023)

Ruthless (2023): Option Zero’s struggle against a calculating enemy intensifies as another operative’s relationship becomes entangled with secrets capable of damaging the entire team.

The book carries forward the broader conspiracy rather than resetting the series.

It should not be used as an entry point.

5. Reckless (2024)

Reckless (2024): Jazz McAlister and Xavier Quinn take the lead as personal history, attraction, and a dangerous Option Zero operation force them into a confrontation neither can survive alone.

Published on September 5, 2024, this is the latest Christy Reece novel as of July 19, 2026.

It is Option Zero Book 5, not a standalone.

Is Option Zero Complete?

Five books have been published:

1. Merciless
2. Relentless
3. Heartless
4. Ruthless
5. Reckless

The author has previously indicated that more Option Zero stories were planned. However, no sixth title with a firm publication date had been confirmed as of July 19, 2026.

The safest status is ongoing or unfinished, not complete.

Ella Grace and the Wildfire Trilogy

Christy Reece used the name Ella Grace for the Wildfire trilogy, sometimes styled as the Wildefire series in older promotional material.

The books follow Savannah, Samantha, and Sabrina Wilde, triplet sisters who return to Midnight, Alabama. Their parents’ apparent murder-suicide shaped all three women, and the truth behind that night develops across the trilogy.

Read all three books in order.

1. Midnight Secrets (2013)

Midnight Secrets (2013): Savannah Wilde returns to Midnight and becomes involved with Zach Tanner while new danger forces her to question what really happened when her parents died.

This introduces the Wilde sisters, their hometown, and the central family mystery.

The featured romance concludes, but the sisters’ shared history remains unresolved.

2. Midnight Lies (2013)

Midnight Lies (2013): Samantha Wilde returns for another investigation in which murder, concealed motives, and a complicated relationship expose further cracks in the official story surrounding her family.

The focus shifts to the second sister.

Read it after Midnight Secrets because the family mystery continues.

3. Midnight Shadows (2014)

Midnight Shadows (2014): Sabrina Wilde confronts the final secrets surrounding her parents’ deaths as the danger buried beneath Midnight’s quiet surface reaches the last sister.

This completes the trilogy’s family mystery.

It should be read last even though each sister has her own central romance.

Is Ella Grace the Same Author as Christy Reece?

Yes. Ella Grace is a pen name used by Christy Reece.

The change in name marks a Southern romantic-suspense trilogy with a more concentrated family mystery. It does not indicate a different author.

The Wildfire books are separate from Last Chance Rescue, Grey Justice, and Option Zero.

Complete Christy Reece Reading Order

This route preserves the strongest continuity without mixing unrelated teams.

Phase One: Last Chance Rescue

1. Rescue Me (2009): Eden and Jordan reunite during a mission that introduces the LCR organization.
2. Return to Me (2009): A dangerous rescue revives another unfinished relationship.
3. Run to Me (2009): Grief, captivity, and revenge shape the third LCR mission.
4. No Chance (2010): A new couple becomes trapped in another international rescue threat.
5. Second Chance (2010): Past wounds and present danger create an opportunity for reconciliation.
6. Last Chance (2010): A final personal gamble closes the second group of LCR stories.
7. Sweet Justice (2011): An operative helps a woman pursue accountability against a dangerous enemy.
8. Sweet Revenge (2011): A revenge mission places both the target and the rescuers at risk.
9. Sweet Reward (2011): The last full-length original LCR novel completes another dangerous rescue and romance.
10. Chances Are (2013): A shorter LCR story provides one final mission within the original sequence.

Phase Two: LCR Elite

11. Running on Empty (2014): The off-grid Elite branch begins handling the organization’s most volatile assignments.
12. Running Dark / Chance Encounter (2015): Brennan protects Kacie from a stalker connected to the abuse she survived.
13. Running Scared (2016): A couple must face a shared past before they can escape a new threat.
14. Running Wild (2016): An operative’s family and emotional ties become weapons in a covert conflict.
15. Running Strong (2019): Raphael Sanchez’s story completes the Elite spin-off.

Phase Three: Grey Justice

16. Nothing to Lose (2014): Kennedy and Nick enter Grey Justice’s world after violence destroys the lives they expected.
17. Whatever It Takes (2016): The group helps another couple pursue justice outside conventional channels.
18. Too Far Gone (2017): Jonah and Gabriella face a threat against their family.
19. A Matter of Justice (2018): The group confronts a woman’s transformation into a weapon and the man responsible.

Phase Four: Option Zero

20. Merciless (2020): Ash and Jules reunite as Option Zero’s hidden enemy begins to move.
21. Relentless (2020): Another operative takes the lead in the team’s continuing covert conflict.
22. Heartless (2021): Emotional control breaks down during a deeply personal mission.
23. Ruthless (2023): The wider threat against Option Zero grows more dangerous.
24. Reckless (2024): Jazz and Xavier face the latest published stage of the team’s story.

The Ella Grace trilogy can be read before, between, or after these phases because it occupies a separate continuity.

Christy Reece Books in Publication Order

Publication order moves among different series, so it is useful for tracking the author’s career rather than maintaining story continuity.

2009

1. Rescue Me (2009): Eden and Jordan confront their history during the mission that opens Last Chance Rescue.
2. Return to Me (2009): Another rescue reunites two people with unresolved emotional ties.
3. Run to Me (2009): An LCR operation combines captivity, grief, and revenge.

2010

4. No Chance (2010): A protection mission places a new couple in the path of a relentless enemy.
5. Second Chance (2010): Danger gives an estranged couple another opportunity to choose one another.
6. Last Chance (2010): A final-risk mission closes the second LCR trilogy.

2011

7. Sweet Justice (2011): An operative helps a woman seek justice after lawful options fail.
8. Sweet Revenge (2011): Revenge drives a mission that threatens both the couple and the rescue team.
9. Sweet Reward (2011): Another LCR romance unfolds during the final full-length case in the original series.

2013

10. Chances Are (2013): A shorter LCR story adds one more romance and dangerous encounter to the organization’s history.

2014

11. Nothing to Lose (2014): Grey Justice brings Kennedy and Nick together through loss and vengeance.
12. Running on Empty (2014): LCR’s Elite branch begins undertaking unsanctioned high-value rescues.

2015

13. Running Dark / Chance Encounter (2015): Brennan Sinclair protects Kacie Dane when her concealed past is exposed.

2016

14. Whatever It Takes (2016): Grey Justice intervenes when another victim has no reliable path through the law.
15. Running Scared (2016): A couple faces the past that has kept them trapped in fear.
16. Running Wild (2016): An Elite operative fights an enemy targeting the people closest to him.

2017

17. Too Far Gone (2017): Jonah and Gabriella face a threat capable of destroying their family.

2018

18. A Matter of Justice (2018): Grey’s group confronts a killer created through manipulation and abuse.

2019

19. Running Strong (2019): Raphael Sanchez moves from supporting character to central LCR Elite hero.

2020

20. Merciless (2020): Ash and Jules open the Option Zero series against a background of betrayal and conspiracy.
21. Relentless (2020): The covert team’s second mission widens the Option Zero conflict.

2021

22. Heartless (2021): Another operative’s emotional defenses collapse during a personal assignment.

2023

23. Ruthless (2023): Option Zero’s hidden enemy places the team under increasing pressure.

2024

24. Reckless (2024): Jazz and Xavier lead the fifth Option Zero mission.

Ella Grace Publication Order

1. Midnight Secrets (2013): Savannah returns to Midnight and begins reopening the mystery of her parents’ deaths.
2. Midnight Lies (2013): Samantha’s story uncovers more of the family’s concealed history.
3. Midnight Shadows (2014): Sabrina confronts the final danger and completes the Wilde sisters’ mystery.

Boxed Sets and Collections

Boxed sets combine novels already listed in the reading order.

LCR Elite Box Set

LCR Elite Box Set: Collects the first three Elite novels.

Depending on the edition, Book 2 may appear as Chance Encounter or Running Dark. Those are alternate titles for the same story.

Grey Justice Box Set

Grey Justice Box Set: Collects Nothing to Lose, Whatever It Takes, and Too Far Gone.

A Matter of Justice remains necessary to complete the four-book series.

A collection should not be counted as a separate novel.

Novellas and Short Stories

Chances Are is the principal separately listed shorter work in Christy Reece’s series bibliography.

Chances Are (2013): A compact Last Chance Rescue story provides another dangerous mission and central romance after the nine full-length LCR novels.

No additional novella is required between the numbered LCR Elite, Grey Justice, or Option Zero books.

Bonus scenes and excerpts included with particular editions should not be counted as separate installments.

Latest Christy Reece Book

The latest published Christy Reece novel is Reckless.

Reckless (2024): Jazz McAlister and Xavier Quinn become central to Option Zero’s fifth operation as danger and unresolved personal history force them to depend on one another.

It was released on September 5, 2024.

As of July 19, 2026, no newer Christy Reece novel had been published.

Next Christy Reece Book

Additional Option Zero books have been discussed as part of the author’s broader plans for the series.

However, no sixth book had a reliably confirmed title and publication date as of July 19, 2026.

Readers should therefore treat Option Zero as unfinished while avoiding retailer placeholders or speculative titles that have not been formally announced.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Christy Reece’s first book?

Rescue Me (2009): Eden St. Claire and Jordan Montgomery reunite during a dangerous rescue operation that introduces the Last Chance Rescue organization.

It is the first published Christy Reece novel and the correct starting point for her main connected world.

How many Christy Reece books are there?

There are twenty-four individual titles currently listed under the Christy Reece name:

• Ten Last Chance Rescue books
• Five LCR Elite books
• Four Grey Justice books
• Five Option Zero books

The three Ella Grace novels bring the author’s combined fiction total in these active series to twenty-seven.

Boxed sets should not be added because they repackage existing books.

Do Christy Reece’s books need to be read in order?

Yes within each series.

The romances generally reach satisfying endings, but team membership, leadership, prior missions, and continuing conspiracies carry into later books.

The strongest continuity requirement is to read Last Chance Rescue before LCR Elite.

Are Last Chance Rescue and LCR Elite connected?

Yes.

LCR Elite is a spin-off led by Last Chance Rescue founder Noah McCall. It handles more secretive, unsanctioned missions and includes characters with histories in the original series.

Complete Chances Are before starting Running on Empty for the fullest route.

Is Grey Justice connected to Last Chance Rescue?

No firm reading-order connection requires the two series to be combined.

Both feature private teams helping people failed by conventional systems, but they have different organizations and central casts.

Read Grey Justice as its own four-book sequence.

Is Option Zero connected to LCR?

Option Zero should be treated as a separate series.

Its covert operatives, leadership, and ongoing conspiracy begin in Merciless. No Last Chance Rescue background is required.

What happened to Chance Encounter?

Chance Encounter was retitled Running Dark.

Running Dark / Chance Encounter (2015): Brennan Sinclair joins LCR Elite and protects Kacie Dane from a person trying to expose and exploit the trauma she survived.

It remains LCR Elite Book 2.

Is Chances Are a full-length novel?

No. It is a shorter Last Chance Rescue work.

Read it after Sweet Reward. It is included in the official ten-book sequence but is optional for understanding the later spin-off.

Is Reckless the final Option Zero book?

It is the fifth published book, but it has not been confirmed as the definitive end of the series.

The author has indicated that more Option Zero stories were intended. No sixth book currently has a firm release date.

Is Ella Grace the same as Christy Reece?

Yes.

Christy Reece used the Ella Grace name for the Wildfire trilogy about the Wilde sisters of Midnight, Alabama.

Those books are separate from her covert-rescue series.

What order should the Ella Grace books be read in?

1. Midnight Secrets (2013): Savannah returns home and begins questioning the tragedy that killed the sisters’ parents.
2. Midnight Lies (2013): Samantha’s investigation uncovers additional family secrets and danger.
3. Midnight Shadows (2014): Sabrina’s story resolves the trilogy’s central mystery.

Do not reverse the order because the parents’ deaths form one continuing plot.

Can the Grey Justice books be read as standalones?

The central couples and immediate cases change, but publication order is recommended.

Grey Justice and his operatives recur, and the group’s relationships develop across all four books.

Is LCR Elite complete?

Yes. The official series contains five books, ending with Running Strong.

Its complete order is:

1. Running on Empty
2. Running Dark
3. Running Scared
4. Running Wild
5. Running Strong

What is the best Christy Reece book to start with?

Begin with Rescue Me for the broadest experience.

Choose Nothing to Lose for a shorter completed series, Merciless for Option Zero, or Midnight Secrets for the Ella Grace family mystery.

Final Reading Decision

Begin with Rescue Me and follow all ten Last Chance Rescue books through Chances Are. Continue directly into Running on Empty and complete the five LCR Elite books.

Read Grey Justice separately from Nothing to Lose through A Matter of Justice. Begin Option Zero with Merciless and continue through Reckless, remembering that the larger series may not yet be complete.

For the Ella Grace books, keep the Wilde sisters together: Midnight Secrets, Midnight Lies, and Midnight Shadows. That order preserves the gradual solution of the family mystery.