Raleigh Ruebins Books in Order [Updated March 2026]

Raleigh Ruebins writes contemporary M/M romance, usually with small-town settings, strong chemistry, and self-contained couples inside connected series. That means the books are easier to navigate than they first look: most series are linked standalones, so you should read within each series in order, but you do not need to read the entire catalog from the beginning unless you want the full backlist experience.

For most readers, the best place to start is not the oldest book. It is better to pick the kind of Raleigh Ruebins series you want and stay inside that lane. If you want the best-known middle-era series, start with Red’s Tavern. If you want the biggest newer binge, start with Fixer Brothers Construction Co. If you want the current active release track, start with Crimson College.

Quick answer: the best reading order for most readers

If you want one practical route through the main backlist, this is the smoothest path:

1. Red’s Tavern
2. Fixer Brothers Construction Co
3. Hard Spot Saloon
4. Crimson College
5. Then go back to the earlier small-town series: Rose Falls, Mistview Heights, Kinley Island, and Under the Stars
6. Use the standalones whenever you want a break

That is not strict publication order. It is the most useful reader order because it starts with the strongest, clearest modern series blocks and saves the earlier catalog for later exploration. The newer sequence from Fantastic Fiction and Amazon also shows Crimson College as the active current series, with book four still upcoming.

Where to start, depending on your mood

Start with The Best Friend if you want a classic small-town series opener with a big emotional hook. Start with Flip Job if you want a longer, newer connected run. Start with Best Friends, Tennessee if you want the 2025 Tennessee books. Start with Dark Little Game if you want the newest college-set line and are happy to follow an unfinished series.

Raleigh Ruebins books in order by series

Red’s Tavern

This is one of the easiest places to start because it is long enough to feel substantial but still built as linked standalones.

1. The Best Friend (2020): A math nerd and a football star get a second chance, opening the Amberfield setting with one of Ruebins’s clearest comfort-romance setups.
2. The Rebel (2020): A bartender falls for a gay adult film star, turning a high-heat pairing into a small-town romance with public and private tension.
3. The Silver Fox (2021): A firefighter fake-dates a silver fox chef, giving the series a polished older-man dynamic without leaving the same cozy world behind.
4. The Single Dad (2021): A military veteran and a newly single father build a family-centered romance that leans harder into stability and home.
5. The Stepbrother (2021): A bartender’s love-hate connection with his billionaire stepbrother pushes the series into a more taboo, sharper-edged pairing.
6. The Tight End (2022): A history nerd falls for his football-player roommate, keeping the sports thread but with a sweeter opposites-attract angle.
7. The Bodyguard (2022): A film star and the bodyguard protecting him turn celebrity pressure into a close-quarters romance.
8. The Contractor (2022): A contractor and his best friend finally cross the line, closing the series with a friends-to-lovers payoff.

Fixer Brothers Construction Co

This is the biggest later series and a strong pick once you know you like Ruebins’s style.

1. Flip Job (2023): The Fixer Brothers world begins with renovation work, family business energy, and a romance built around proximity and banter.
2. Straight Dad (2023): A father who thinks of himself as straight is forced to rethink everything when attraction stops fitting the label he expected.
3. Frat Bro (2023): A frat-boy setup gives the series one of its more playful and high-chemistry entries.
4. Christmas with My Best Friend’s Dad (2023): A holiday romance that leans into age-gap tension and festive small-town warmth without dropping the steam.
5. Bear’s Best Friend (2024): A best-friends setup turns more intimate, adding the series’ usual humor to a softer emotional core.
6. For the Cameras (2024): Public visibility and performative pressure complicate a romance that has to survive being watched.
7. Home Game (2024): A sports-adjacent entry that uses homecoming energy and personal history to push the romance forward.
8. Wedding Bet (2024): A bet tied to wedding-season chaos gives the series another high-concept setup with predictable trouble and strong payoff.
9. Fake It for Christmas (2024): The current end of the series mixes fake-dating and holiday romance, making it a natural seasonal closer.

Hard Spot Saloon

This is a compact 2025 series, so it is easy to binge straight through.

1. Best Friends, Tennessee (2025): The series opens in Tennessee with a best-friends setup that signals a more recent small-town bar-and-local-community vibe.
2. Hot Ice, Tennessee (2025): Book two keeps the Tennessee setting and shifts toward a cooler, sharper pairing inside the same saloon-centered world.
3. Bad Cowboy, Tennessee (2025): A cowboy-focused romance adds a more rugged tone while staying in the same linked local setting.
4. Touchdown, Tennessee (2025): The fourth book brings football energy into the Tennessee world and currently closes the series.

Crimson College

This is the active current series and the one to watch for new releases.

1. Dark Little Game (2025): The first Crimson College book opens the college-society world with darker obsession and rivalry than Ruebins’s older small-town books.
2. Possessive Little Game (2025): A secret camboy identity, fake-boyfriend setup, and escalating clash make this the most obviously high-drama sequel in the series so far.
3. Reckless Little Game (2026): Book three centers a frat enemy dynamic and pushes the series further into chaotic attraction and rule-breaking.
4. Forbidden Little Game (2026, upcoming): The fourth book is listed for June 30, 2026, so it belongs last in the current order but is not out yet.

Rose Falls

This is one of the earlier small-town series. The author site lists the books, but Goodreads and Fantastic Fiction provide the clearer numbered reading order, so that sequence is the safer one to follow.

1. Finally Falling (2017): Childhood best friends reunite and start healing old wounds, setting the emotional tone for Rose Falls.
2. My Winter Family (2017): A single dad meets a cocky playboy in a romance built around family, home, and unexpected support.
3. Champagne Kiss (2017): A shy florist and a confident rebel collide in a pairing that keeps the town setting but shifts toward opposites-attract chemistry.
4. Spring for Me (2018): A small-town bar owner falls for his slick businessman rival, giving the series one of its sharper personality clashes.
5. Summer Secret (2018): A straight man secretly falls for his best friend, finishing the series with a friends-to-lovers and identity-awakening thread.

Mistview Heights

This is a shorter three-book series and easy to read in one stretch.

1. Still Yours (2018): Adrian returns home and reconnects with the man who was his first kiss, making this a homecoming romance with old-history weight.
2. A Boyfriend by Christmas (2018): A shy, awkward man hires a confidence coach, giving the series its most openly makeover-style setup.
3. On the Ranger (2019): A city man becomes a park ranger and falls for the local who teaches him the job and much more.

Kinley Island

Another four-book small-town run, this one built around island life and interconnected local characters.

1. Come Home (2019): Old friends get a second chance in a small-town island setting, opening the series with a familiar but reliable emotional entry point.
2. Break Free (2019): A single dad with a troubled teenage daughter meets an ex-bad boy, shifting the series toward family complications and earned trust.
3. Fall Deep (2019): A struggling baker and a reluctant CEO bring class difference and ambition into the island setting.
4. Your Wish (2019): A cute nerd and a cocky playboy meet during the winter holiday, giving the series a lighter seasonal closer.

Under the Stars

This earlier four-book series follows former boy band members after the group’s breakup.

1. Your Fallen Star (2017): A washed-up, jaded Leo hires bubbly Jamie to write his biography, starting the series with celebrity burnout and contrast-driven chemistry.
2. The Sweetest Star (2017): A charismatic playboy and a cooking-show co-star move from screen partnership to real attraction.
3. Wild Star (2017): A mysterious world traveler falls for a broken but big-hearted hero, pushing the series toward a more wounded emotional center.
4. Your Superstar (2017): A superstar works with a hotshot producer on his next single, closing the series with music-business proximity and creative sparks.

Standalone novels

These can be read whenever you want because they are not part of the numbered series above.

1. Can’t Stop Now (2016): A road trip and shared-bed setup turn a straight-jock friendship into a romance, making this the earliest clear standalone entry point.
2. Breaking the Record (2017): A straight jock meets a gay music nerd and starts questioning what he thought he knew about himself.
3. Seeing Sunrise (2017): A lonely photographer has a one-night stand with a man who unexpectedly ends up living with him, turning chance chemistry into forced proximity.
4. Always the Groomsman (2018): A jaded grump is forced into wedding-party duty and falls for a sunny counterpart, making this one of the cleanest standalone rom-com setups in the catalog.

Other contribution

1. The Snow Prince (2020): This appears in the multi-author MM Fairy Tale Romance series and is best treated as a separate contribution rather than part of the main Raleigh Ruebins continuity.

Recommended reading order for most readers

If you want the most satisfying introduction rather than strict publication order, this is the route I would recommend:

1. The Best Friend
2. The Rebel
3. The Silver Fox
4. The Single Dad
5. The Stepbrother
6. The Tight End
7. The Bodyguard
8. The Contractor
9. Flip Job
10. Straight Dad
11. Frat Bro
12. Christmas with My Best Friend’s Dad
13. Bear’s Best Friend
14. For the Cameras
15. Home Game
16. Wedding Bet
17. Fake It for Christmas
18. Best Friends, Tennessee
19. Hot Ice, Tennessee
20. Bad Cowboy, Tennessee
21. Touchdown, Tennessee
22. Dark Little Game
23. Possessive Little Game
24. Reckless Little Game
25. Forbidden Little Game when released

That order works because it starts with the strongest modern small-town block, moves into the longest newer connected series, then follows the 2025-2026 material while it is still current. The earlier 2017–2019 series are good, but they are easier to appreciate once you already know what kind of Raleigh Ruebins book you like.

Publication order

If you want the full catalog by release era instead, the broad publication path currently looks like this:

2016: Can’t Stop Now
2017: Under the Stars series, Rose Falls books 1 to 3, Breaking the Record, Seeing Sunrise
2018: Rose Falls books 4 and 5, Mistview Heights books 1 and 2, Always the Groomsman
2019: Mistview Heights book 3, Kinley Island books 1 to 4
2020 to 2022: Red’s Tavern books 1 to 8, plus The Snow Prince contribution in 2020
2023 to 2024: Fixer Brothers Construction Co books 1 to 9
2025: Hard Spot Saloon books 1 to 4, Crimson College books 1 and 2
2026: Reckless Little Game, then Forbidden Little Game upcoming in June 2026.

Does order matter?

Yes, but mostly inside each series.

You do not need to read Rose Falls before Red’s Tavern, or Red’s Tavern before Crimson College. These are separate reading lanes. What matters is reading each named series in sequence, especially Fixer Brothers Construction Co, Hard Spot Saloon, and Crimson College, because those are the places where readers are most likely to jump in midstream by mistake. The official site itself separates the catalog by series rather than presenting one all-in order, which supports treating them as distinct lanes.

Latest release status

As of March 14, 2026, the newest released Raleigh Ruebins book I could verify is Reckless Little Game, book three in Crimson College. The next confirmed upcoming title is Forbidden Little Game, listed for June 30, 2026. That makes Crimson College the active current series to watch.

FAQ

What is the best Raleigh Ruebins book to start with?

The Best Friend is the safest overall starting point, especially if you want a representative small-town series opener.

Do Raleigh Ruebins books need to be read in order?

Read each named series in order, but you do not need to read every series from oldest to newest.

What is the newest Raleigh Ruebins series?

Crimson College is the newest ongoing series with a confirmed upcoming fourth book in 2026.

Which series is longest?

Among the currently verified series, Fixer Brothers Construction Co is the longest at nine books.

Are the standalones connected to the series?

No clear series numbering ties Can’t Stop Now, Breaking the Record, Seeing Sunrise, or Always the Groomsman into the numbered series, so they are safest treated as standalones.

Final recommendation

For most readers, start with Red’s Tavern, then move to Fixer Brothers Construction Co, then follow Hard Spot Saloon and Crimson College. That gives you the clearest version of Raleigh Ruebins’s catalog without making you begin with the oldest books first. After that, go back to Rose Falls, Mistview Heights, Kinley Island, and Under the Stars when you want more of the earlier small-town backlist.