Deanna Grey Books in Order (Updated March 25, 2026)

Deanna Grey writes contemporary romance focused on character-driven relationships, often set around college, sports teams, or close-knit social circles.

Reading order matters inside her series because characters recur and emotional arcs carry forward, while her standalones can be read independently.

The fast answer

1. Start with Sunny Disposition if you want a structured entry into a complete series.
2. Start with Outdrawn if you prefer a standalone first.

Recommended reading order (best balance)

1. Sunny Disposition (2022): A fresh start at Mendell University introduces key team dynamics, laying the emotional and social foundation for the series.
2. Team Players (2022): Expands the circle of relationships, showing how team loyalty and personal boundaries begin to clash.
3. Safety Net (2025): Brings earlier arcs to a head, focusing on trust, vulnerability, and the consequences of long-building tensions.
4. Outdrawn (2023): A rivals-to-lovers romance between artists, centered on creative identity and the cost of ambition.
5. They Wouldn’t Dare (2026): A tension-heavy relationship pushes against social expectations, with escalating emotional risks.
6. Just Please Me (2021): Introduces the Westbrooke Angels setting, where desire and personal limits define the central conflict.
7. Just Fall For Me (2021): Continues the Westbrooke world with a more emotionally open arc, deepening the series’ relationship themes.

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Publication order by series

Mendell Hawks

Included – read in order

1. Sunny Disposition (2022): Establishes the team, friendships, and romantic groundwork that the rest of the series builds on.
2. Team Players (2022): Shifts focus across the group, showing how interconnected relationships create new conflicts.
3. Safety Net (2025): Resolves long-running emotional threads while reinforcing the importance of chosen support systems.

This is the most continuity-dependent series. Reading out of order will weaken character development.

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Westbrooke Angels

Included – loosely connected but best in order

1. Just Please Me (2021): Sets up the shared environment and tone, focusing on negotiation of desire and boundaries.
2. Just Fall For Me (2021): Builds on the same world with a more vulnerable relationship arc and emotional payoff.

Each book works alone, but reading in order preserves context.

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Standalones

Included – no shared continuity required

1. The Deep End (2021): A relationship-driven story exploring emotional risk and personal limits in an intimate setting.
2. Outdrawn (2023): A competitive art rivalry evolves into romance, driven by pride, insecurity, and creative passion.
3. They Wouldn’t Dare (2026): A high-stakes emotional dynamic tests how far two people will go against expectation.

These are the easiest entry points if you do not want a series.

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The Blackwoods

Separate continuity – early small-town setting

1. Small Town Enemies (2020): A rivalry in a tight-knit town turns personal, with history shaping every interaction.
2. Small Town Curves (2020): A body-positive romance focused on self-worth and community perception.
3. Small Town Fakes (2021): A fake relationship setup begins as strategy but gradually exposes real emotional stakes.

Catalog listings for this group are inconsistent, so treat it as a separate early-era series.

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Forthcoming

Separate continuity

The Case of Elmwood Ranch (2026): A paranormal-leaning romance introduces a new setting and tone, separate from earlier contemporary series.

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Do you need to read Deanna Grey in order?

Only within series.

1. Mendell Hawks → read strictly in order
2. Westbrooke Angels → best in order, but flexible
3. Standalones → any order
4. The Blackwoods → read together, but separate from everything else

There is no meaningful global chronological order across all books.

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Best starting points

1. Start with Sunny Disposition if you want a full series experience with strong continuity.
2. Start with Outdrawn if you want a single, complete story with no follow-up required.

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Latest releases

1. They Wouldn’t Dare (2026): Current latest release, continuing her focus on emotionally intense contemporary romance.
2. The Case of Elmwood Ranch (2026): Upcoming and likely a new direction, with paranormal elements.

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Final recommendation

If you plan to read more than one book, begin with Sunny Disposition and continue through the Mendell Hawks series in order.

If you are unsure, start with Outdrawn. It gives a clear sense of Deanna Grey’s style without requiring any commitment to a series.