Bec McMaster writes fantasy romance, paranormal romance, steampunk romance, post-apocalyptic romance, dragon-shifter fantasy, and fae romance.
Most of her series are easy to follow once they are separated into their proper worlds. The exception is London Steampunk, where an original five-book series leads directly into a seven-volume sequel sequence and includes several novellas that are sometimes numbered differently by retailers.
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There are also newer fantasy-romance projects, including Court of Dreams, Dark Court Rising, The Bride Hunt, and Cursed Ever After.
For new readers, the most important choice is not publication date. It is which world you want to enter.
Choose Your Bec McMaster Starting Point
For steampunk romance with vampires, mechs, and political intrigue, begin with Kiss of Steel.
For Victorian sorcery and demons, begin with Shadowbound.
For post-apocalyptic paranormal romance, begin with Nobody’s Hero.
For dragon-shifter fantasy romance, begin with Heart of Fire.
For fae romantasy, begin with Promise of Darkness or Thief of Dreams, depending on which separate fae series interests you.
For McMaster’s newest material, A Lady Most Hexing begins the Cursed Ever After line.
The strongest rule across the bibliography is simple: finish one series before moving into a sequel series or spin-off that shares its world.
London Steampunk Books in Order
The original London Steampunk series is where McMaster’s best-known fictional world begins.
Read the five main novels as:
- Kiss of Steel (2012)
- Heart of Iron (2013)
- My Lady Quicksilver (2013)
- Forged by Desire (2014)
- Of Silk and Steam (2015)
The books share the same alternate Victorian London, where the blood-drinking Echelon dominates society and humans, blue bloods, mechs, and other altered people occupy an unstable political order.
Each novel centers on a different romantic pairing, but the political story develops across the whole sequence.
Because later books reveal the outcomes of earlier conflicts and relationships, publication order is the recommended order.
London Steampunk Novellas
Two shorter works belong inside the original series.
Tarnished Knight
Tarnished Knight is commonly numbered London Steampunk 1.5.
Read it after Kiss of Steel.
A useful expanded order is:
- Kiss of Steel
- Tarnished Knight
- Heart of Iron
The novella adds another romance within the same world but is not necessary to understand Heart of Iron.
Status: Optional
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace is commonly placed around Book 3.5.
Read it after My Lady Quicksilver and before Forged by Desire.
Expanded order:
- My Lady Quicksilver
- The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace
- Forged by Desire
The story focuses on Perry and Garrett, characters who become particularly important in Forged by Desire.
Status: Recommended optional novella
Complete Original London Steampunk Reading Order
For readers who want both novels and novellas:
- Kiss of Steel
- Tarnished Knight
- Heart of Iron
- My Lady Quicksilver
- The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace
- Forged by Desire
- Of Silk and Steam
This is the cleanest full route through the first era of the setting.
What Comes After Of Silk and Steam?
Do not leave the universe if you want the continuing political story.
The next series is:
London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy
It begins several years after the original sequence and brings back established characters alongside new central couples.
That makes Mission: Improper the correct next full-length book after Of Silk and Steam.
London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy Books in Order
Read:
- Mission: Improper (2016)
- The Mech Who Loved Me (2017)
- You Only Love Twice (2018)
- To Catch a Rogue (2018)
- Dukes Are Forever (2019)
- The Clockwork Menace (2019)
- From London, With Love (2020)
There is an important formatting issue here.
The first five are the main full-length sequel arc.
The Clockwork Menace and From London, With Love function as later supplementary material, with From London, With Love serving as an epilogue-style novella.
Some databases therefore count only five principal novels, while others number all seven published entries.
For readers, the practical order above works regardless of numbering.
The Clockwork Menace Versus The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace
These titles cause frequent confusion.
The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace belongs to the earlier London Steampunk period and is associated with Perry and Garrett.
A later publication may be cataloged simply as The Clockwork Menace, particularly within Blue Blood Conspiracy listings or reissues.
Because retailer metadata is inconsistent, check the characters and contents before assuming two similarly titled listings are entirely different stories.
The safest approach is to follow the story title and edition information rather than relying only on series numbering.
From London, With Love
From London, With Love is an epilogue novella following the Blue Blood Conspiracy arc.
It brings back characters from across the London Steampunk world and deals with Queen Alexandra and the continuing stability of the British throne.
Read it last:
- Dukes Are Forever
- The Clockwork Menace
- From London, With Love
Status: Optional but recommended epilogue
Best Complete London Steampunk Order
For the fullest first read:
- Kiss of Steel
- Tarnished Knight
- Heart of Iron
- My Lady Quicksilver
- The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace
- Forged by Desire
- Of Silk and Steam
- Mission: Improper
- The Mech Who Loved Me
- You Only Love Twice
- To Catch a Rogue
- Dukes Are Forever
- The Clockwork Menace
- From London, With Love
This keeps the political changes, recurring characters, and romantic pairings in the intended progression.
Can You Start With The Blue Blood Conspiracy?
It is possible, but not recommended.
Mission: Improper introduces a new phase of the world, yet the political situation exists because of events resolved in the original London Steampunk books.
Returning characters also appear with established relationships and histories.
For the best context, begin with Kiss of Steel.
Dark Arts Books in Order
The Dark Arts trilogy is a separate Victorian fantasy-romance series built around sorcery, demons, and the Order of the Dawn Star.
Read:
- Shadowbound (2016)
- Hexbound (2016)
- Soulbound (2017)
The trilogy follows three estranged brothers and one larger supernatural conflict.
Unlike some romance series where each couple can be read almost independently, Dark Arts becomes increasingly serialized.
Read all three in order.
A Lady Reawakened
A Lady Reawakened appeared in 2021 as a Dark Arts-related novella.
It follows Edwina Sheffield and Lord Sterling Reed.
Read it after:
- Shadowbound
- Hexbound
- Soulbound
- A Lady Reawakened
It was included in the multi-author fantasy-romance anthology Love and Legends.
Status: Post-trilogy companion
Where Does A Lady Most Hexing Fit?
A Lady Most Hexing was published on June 23, 2026 and is currently listed as Cursed Ever After Book 1.
Its protagonists are again Edwina Sheffield and Lord Sterling Reed, the couple associated with A Lady Reawakened.
The current book’s premise closely matches that earlier novella material, so readers should not automatically treat A Lady Reawakened and A Lady Most Hexing as two completely independent sequential adventures.
The safest current classification is:
A Lady Reawakened: earlier version or related novella material.
A Lady Most Hexing: current 2026 book-length Cursed Ever After entry.
If buying the current edition, check before purchasing the older novella solely for new story content.
Cursed Ever After Books in Order
As of August 9, 2026:
- A Lady Most Hexing (2026)
It is currently the only firmly published book in the named Cursed Ever After sequence.
No second volume should be added until its title and publication information are reliably established.
Burned Lands Books in Order
The Burned Lands is McMaster’s post-apocalyptic paranormal-romance trilogy.
Read:
- Nobody’s Hero (2016)
- The Last True Hero (2017)
- The Hero Within (2018)
The series takes place in a devastated world involving altered humans, monsters, survival, and dangerous territories.
Each book develops another central romance, but the world and recurring characters continue.
Publication order is the correct order.
Is Burned Lands Complete?
Yes.
The trilogy contains:
- Nobody’s Hero
- The Last True Hero
- The Hero Within
A complete trilogy boxed set has also been released.
The box set contains the existing books and should not be counted as Book 4.
Legends of the Storm Books in Order
Legends of the Storm is McMaster’s dragon-shifter fantasy-romance series.
The creatures are known as dreki and the setting draws heavily on northern European and Norse-flavored mythology.
Read:
- Heart of Fire (2017)
- Storm of Desire (2018)
- Clash of Storms (2018)
- Storm of Fury (2020)
- Master of Storms (2021)
These five published novels form the available main sequence.
The romantic leads change, but family histories, rivalries, and the wider dreki world carry across volumes.
Start with Heart of Fire.
Is Legends of the Storm Complete?
Five novels have been published.
Some older discussions and reader listings mention additional possible titles or future installments. As of August 9, 2026, no later volume should be presented as published unless a firm edition can be verified.
For a current reading list, stop with:
Master of Storms
Court of Dreams Books in Order
Court of Dreams is a fae fantasy-romance series.
Read:
- Thief of Dreams (2020)
- Thief of Souls (2021)
- Thief of Hearts (2025)
Thief of Hearts is the third book and concludes the central trilogy.
The books should be read consecutively because the larger conflict and character relationships continue across all three.
Is Thief of Hearts Really Published?
Yes.
Older author pages and retailer biographies may still describe Thief of Hearts as forthcoming because it was delayed.
The book was eventually released in 2025 and is identified as the third Court of Dreams novel.
The correct current order is:
- Thief of Dreams
- Thief of Souls
- Thief of Hearts
Dark Court Rising Books in Order
Dark Court Rising is another fae-romance continuity.
Its main trilogy is:
- Promise of Darkness (2019)
- Crown of Darkness (2020)
- Curse of Darkness (2022)
Read these three in order.
They center on Thiago and Iskvien and tell one continuing central story.
Where Does Seduced by Darkness Fit?
Seduced by Darkness (2021) is a related novella.
Although some databases call it Book 1.5 or even Book 0, it was published after Crown of Darkness.
For a first reading, a clean route is:
- Promise of Darkness
- Crown of Darkness
- Seduced by Darkness
- Curse of Darkness
This preserves publication-based discovery.
Readers following internal chronology may place the novella earlier, but it is optional and should not replace Promise of Darkness as the entry point.
Is Dark Court Rising Complete?
The Thiago and Iskvien trilogy reaches its conclusion in Curse of Darkness.
McMaster has previously discussed expanding the larger world through stories centered on other characters.
That means the safest wording is:
Core trilogy complete. Wider world potentially expandable.
Do not assume every planned spin-off has been published.
Dark Court Rising Versus Court of Dreams
They are separate series.
Both use fae courts, powerful princes, magic, and fantasy-romance conventions, which makes them easy to confuse.
Read them independently.
Dark Court Rising
- Promise of Darkness
- Crown of Darkness
- Curse of Darkness
Court of Dreams
- Thief of Dreams
- Thief of Souls
- Thief of Hearts
No crossover reading order is required.
Claimed by the Demon
The published Claimed by the Demon sequence currently contains:
- Prince of Ruin (2022)
The novel deals with forbidden love across opposing sides of a supernatural conflict.
Although the series title suggests room for continuation, only one firmly published volume by McMaster should currently be counted.
Status: One published book
The Bride Hunt
The Bride Hunt is a multi-author fantasy-romance project rather than a solo Bec McMaster series.
The participating authors include Bec McMaster, Evie Mitchell, and Lana Pecherczyk.
McMaster’s contribution is:
The Huntress: A Dark Bride Hunt Romantasy (2026)
It was published on January 27, 2026.
Each Bride Hunt book focuses on a different heroine and is written by a different author.
For a Bec McMaster bibliography, The Huntress is the relevant entry.
Do You Need the Other Bride Hunt Books?
Not for a Bec McMaster-only reading project.
The project is built as a shared multi-author collection of related romantasy stories.
Readers wanting every Bride Hunt story can follow the larger collaborative sequence.
Readers following only McMaster can read The Huntress as her contribution.
The Many Lives of Hadley Monroe
The Many Lives of Hadley Monroe is a short work published during McMaster’s earlier career.
It is separate from her major numbered series and should not be inserted into London Steampunk, Dark Arts, or Burned Lands without a specific edition identifying a connection.
Status: Optional short fiction
Burn Bright
Burn Bright is another shorter McMaster work.
It should be treated separately from the principal novels unless following the anthology or collection in which it appears.
It is not a missing numbered London Steampunk book.
Boxed Sets and Omnibuses
McMaster’s series have frequently been repackaged as complete digital collections.
Examples include:
The Burned Lands Complete Trilogy Boxset
The Dark Arts Books 1-3
London Steampunk collections
Fantasy-romance multi-author bundles such as Flames and Fated Mates
These editions do not create additional story installments.
If a boxed set contains books you already own, do not add the box set separately to the reading order.
Bec McMaster Series at a Glance
London Steampunk
- Kiss of Steel
- Heart of Iron
- My Lady Quicksilver
- Forged by Desire
- Of Silk and Steam
Optional shorter works include Tarnished Knight and The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace.
London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy
- Mission: Improper
- The Mech Who Loved Me
- You Only Love Twice
- To Catch a Rogue
- Dukes Are Forever
- The Clockwork Menace
- From London, With Love
The final entries are shorter supplementary material rather than seven equivalent full-length novels.
Dark Arts
- Shadowbound
- Hexbound
- Soulbound
Add A Lady Reawakened as optional post-trilogy material.
Burned Lands
- Nobody’s Hero
- The Last True Hero
- The Hero Within
Legends of the Storm
- Heart of Fire
- Storm of Desire
- Clash of Storms
- Storm of Fury
- Master of Storms
Dark Court Rising
- Promise of Darkness
- Crown of Darkness
- Curse of Darkness
Seduced by Darkness is optional companion material.
Court of Dreams
- Thief of Dreams
- Thief of Souls
- Thief of Hearts
Claimed by the Demon
- Prince of Ruin
Cursed Ever After
- A Lady Most Hexing
The Bride Hunt
McMaster contribution:
- The Huntress
Which Bec McMaster Series Share a World?
The clearest direct shared continuity is:
London Steampunk
followed by:
London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy
Read those two series consecutively.
Dark Arts also uses a gaslit Victorian setting, but it should not simply be inserted into the London Steampunk chronology. Its magic system and central conflict function as their own series.
Dark Court Rising and Court of Dreams are likewise separate fae-romance projects.
Legends of the Storm has its own dreki mythology.
Burned Lands has its own post-apocalyptic continuity.
Repeated genres do not automatically indicate crossovers.
Which Bec McMaster Series Are Complete?
The following principal arcs have clear published endings:
Original London Steampunk: five main novels.
Blue Blood Conspiracy: five main novels plus later supplementary stories.
Dark Arts: complete trilogy.
Burned Lands: complete trilogy.
Court of Dreams: complete three-book central sequence.
Dark Court Rising: core Thiago and Iskvien trilogy complete.
Legends of the Storm currently has five published novels.
Cursed Ever After currently has one published book.
Claimed by the Demon currently has one published book.
What Is Bec McMaster’s Latest Book?
As of August 9, 2026, the newest confirmed Bec McMaster release is:
A Lady Most Hexing
It was published on June 23, 2026.
It follows The Huntress, released in January 2026, and Thief of Hearts, released in 2025.
A Lady Most Hexing is currently identified as the first Cursed Ever After book.
Bec McMaster Books in Order FAQs
What Bec McMaster book should I read first?
For her signature steampunk world, start with Kiss of Steel.
For fantasy romance, choose Heart of Fire, Promise of Darkness, or Thief of Dreams depending on whether you prefer dragons or fae.
What order should I read London Steampunk?
For the five principal novels:
- Kiss of Steel
- Heart of Iron
- My Lady Quicksilver
- Forged by Desire
- Of Silk and Steam
Add Tarnished Knight after Kiss of Steel and The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace after My Lady Quicksilver if you want the novellas.
What should I read after Of Silk and Steam?
Begin Mission: Improper.
It starts London Steampunk: The Blue Blood Conspiracy, which continues the same world after the original series.
Can I skip Tarnished Knight?
Yes.
It adds character material but is not required for the main political storyline.
Where does The Curious Case of the Clockwork Menace go?
Read it after My Lady Quicksilver and before Forged by Desire.
It is optional but particularly useful if you want more Perry and Garrett.
Is Blue Blood Conspiracy a separate universe?
No.
It is a sequel series to London Steampunk.
Read the original series first for the strongest continuity.
What order is the Dark Arts trilogy?
Read:
- Shadowbound
- Hexbound
- Soulbound
Where does A Lady Reawakened fit?
Read it after Soulbound.
It is a companion novella set after the main Dark Arts trilogy.
Is A Lady Most Hexing the same as A Lady Reawakened?
The 2026 book uses the same central couple and closely related premise as the earlier A Lady Reawakened material.
Because current editions and series branding have changed, readers should check the contents before assuming both are entirely separate sequential stories.
A Lady Most Hexing is the current Cursed Ever After Book 1.
What order is Burned Lands?
Read:
- Nobody’s Hero
- The Last True Hero
- The Hero Within
The trilogy is complete.
What order is Legends of the Storm?
Read:
- Heart of Fire
- Storm of Desire
- Clash of Storms
- Storm of Fury
- Master of Storms
What order is Dark Court Rising?
Read the main trilogy:
- Promise of Darkness
- Crown of Darkness
- Curse of Darkness
Seduced by Darkness is optional companion material.
What order is Court of Dreams?
Read:
- Thief of Dreams
- Thief of Souls
- Thief of Hearts
Is Thief of Hearts still forthcoming?
No.
It was delayed for some time, so older listings still describe it as an upcoming release.
It was published in 2025 and is the third Court of Dreams book.
Is The Huntress part of one of McMaster’s existing series?
No.
It belongs to The Bride Hunt, a collaborative multi-author romantasy project.
What is Bec McMaster’s newest book?
As of August 9, 2026, it is A Lady Most Hexing, published June 23, 2026.
The Easiest Way to Read Bec McMaster
Bec McMaster’s catalog is easiest when you follow worlds rather than publication years.
Start with Kiss of Steel if you want the largest connected continuity. Read the original London Steampunk novels through Of Silk and Steam, then continue immediately with Mission: Improper and the Blue Blood Conspiracy sequence.
For contained trilogies, Dark Arts and Burned Lands are straightforward choices. Court of Dreams now also has its third book, so readers can move from Thief of Dreams through Thief of Hearts without stopping midway.
Legends of the Storm is the dragon-shifter route, while Dark Court Rising handles a separate fae court and central couple.
The newest branch is Cursed Ever After, beginning with A Lady Most Hexing in 2026.
The one rule worth remembering across all of them is this: London Steampunk and Blue Blood Conspiracy belong together. McMaster’s other similarly styled fantasy-romance series should be kept in their own continuities unless a book explicitly establishes a crossover.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.