Elle Mitchell Books in Order (Updated March 12, 2026)

Elle Mitchell writes dark new adult romance, dark contemporary romance, and some adjacent horror-leaning fiction. The important reading-order point is that her catalog is not one giant interconnected universe. It is better treated as a set of separate shelves: a few romance series, several standalones, and an earlier Janes line that leans more toward dark fiction, suspense, and horror than her later romance work.

For most readers, the best place to start is The Pieces We Leave Behind if you want emotional dark romance, Pretty Poisoned if you want the darkest rockstar/why-choose entry point, or Make It Hurt if you want the current active bully-romance series.

Continuity map first

Here is the cleanest way to think about Elle Mitchell’s books before you start:

• Lost Hollow: two-book dark romance set, with book two functioning as a prequel but still commonly recommended after book one.
• Gods of Tomorrow Duet: a strict two-book dark rockstar/why-choose sequence.
• Broken: an earlier two-book romance series with a short in-between installment.
• West Pine Bullies: the current active duet, launched in 2026.
• Janes: earlier dark fiction/mystery/horror titles, best treated as a separate continuity and tone from the romance-heavy books.
• Standalones: read whenever you like.

Best starting points

Pick by mood, not by one master timeline.

• Start with The Pieces We Leave Behind if you want the strongest general entry into her romance catalog.
• Start with Pretty Poisoned if you want a darker, more extreme why-choose setup with a complete duet available.
• Start with Make It Hurt if you want to begin with the newest active series and are fine waiting until the duet is complete.
• Start with Our Tragedy only if you specifically want her earlier Janes material rather than the later romance line.

Recommended reading order for most readers

If you want one practical route through the catalog, this is the easiest one:

1. The Pieces We Leave Behind
2. The Pieces We Try to Forget
3. Pretty Poisoned
4. The Road to Ruined
5. Carved in Scars
6. Runaways
7. Make It Hurt
8. Make It Stop when reading the completed duet
9. Go backward into Broken and Janes only if you want the earlier work

That route starts with the clearest emotional-romance shelf, moves into the completed darkest duet, then reaches the newer standalones and the current active series.

Publication order by shelf

Lost Hollow

Included. Read in release order.
This is the safest order even though book two is a prequel, because the book description itself says it is not meant to stand alone and recommends reading book one first.

1. The Pieces We Leave Behind (2023): The first Lost Hollow novel introduces the town, the emotional damage at the center of the romance, and the relationship fallout that defines this corner of Mitchell’s catalog.
2. The Pieces We Try to Forget (2024): A prequel focused on Amelia’s story, but best read second because it is written to deepen and reframe what book one already revealed rather than replace it as the starting point.

Gods of Tomorrow Duet

Included. Read strictly in order.
This is one continuous dark-romance arc, not a loose companion pair.

1. Pretty Poisoned (2024): A dark rockstar why-choose opener in which Teagan gets pulled into the orbit of a violent, blood-soaked band and the dangerous culture around them.
2. The Road to Ruined (2024): The duet finale picks up after the fallout of book one, turning the story into a pursuit-and-breakdown continuation that should not be read out of order.

West Pine Bullies

Included. Active series. Read in order.

1. Make It Hurt (2026): The first West Pine Bullies book launches Mitchell’s current bully-romance duet and is the newest major starting point in her catalog.
2. Make It Stop (2026): The second book is listed as the conclusion to the duet and is explicitly presented as spoilery if approached before book one.

Broken

Included. Read in order, with the short fiction placed between the novels if you want the fullest version.

1. Broken People (2022): The opening Broken novel starts the central romance and emotional fracture that the rest of the series builds on.
2. Broken Apart (2022): A short in-between entry that follows the breakup fallout and works best as an optional bridge rather than a substitute for either full novel.
3. Broken Reverie (2022): The second main novel continues and resolves the Broken arc, so it belongs after both the opener and the interim short.

Janes

Separate continuity. Earlier dark fiction shelf.
This group is the messiest part of the bibliography because public listings do not all number the books the same way. The most stable practical solution is to read them in publication order and treat them as a connected Janes line rather than overcommitting to inconsistent numbering.

1. Our Tragedy (2021): The earliest Janes entry and the safest place to begin this darker suspense-oriented branch of Mitchell’s work.
2. Am I Olive? (2022): A follow-up Janes installment that continues the town-and-psyche approach of the line, though some databases number it differently.
3. Another Elizabeth (2023): A psychological horror-leaning Janes book centered on a woman with violent impulses, and one of the clearest examples of how far this shelf sits from the later romance branding.
4. What’s Underneath (2024): A short-story collection set in Janes, best read after the novels because it expands the setting rather than serving as a clean entry point.

Standalones and separate books

These books do not currently require a series reading order.

1. I Never Stopped (2019): An early standalone novel from before the main current romance shelves were established, best approached as separate from the later series branding.
2. Sweethearts (2019): Another early standalone, also best treated as its own entry rather than part of a larger Mitchell reading path.
3. The Christmas Villa (2022): A novella-length separate piece that sits outside the main romance series and can be read whenever you want a shorter work.
4. American Are You Scared Yet (2022): A horror-leaning standalone that belongs with Mitchell’s darker fiction side more than her core romance shelves.
5. A Little Unstable (2023): A standalone new adult romance built around a volatile attraction and dual-timeline emotional damage rather than any wider series continuity.
6. Carved in Scars (2023): A dark romance standalone, commonly recommended by the author as a starting book, with a taboo-leaning setup that makes it a good test for Mitchell’s tone.
7. We Used to Be Different (2023): A collection rather than a new continuity step, so it is optional and does not change the order of the novels.
8. After the Main Course (2024): A later short work that can be treated as optional reading outside the main series paths.
9. Runaways (2025): A dark standalone about a woman fleeing the violent men who once shaped her life, and one of Mitchell’s harshest self-contained books.
10. Claw Machine (2025): An anthology edited by Mitchell rather than a core solo-fiction entry in her reading order.

Do you need a chronological order?

Not really.

The only place where readers might ask for one is Lost Hollow, because The Pieces We Try to Forget is described as a prequel. Even there, the better recommendation is still publication order, because the book’s own description says it is not meant to stand alone and is best read after The Pieces We Leave Behind.

Where order matters most

Order matters most in these three places:

• Gods of Tomorrow Duet because it is one direct story across two books.
• West Pine Bullies because book two follows book one and contains spoilers.
• Lost Hollow because book two is technically earlier in timeline terms but still written as a second read.

Everywhere else, you can move more freely.

Latest release status

As of March 2026, Make It Hurt has launched West Pine Bullies, and Make It Stop is listed as the second book in that duet for 2026. That makes West Pine Bullies the current active series to watch.

Her most recent completed major release before that was Runaways in 2025.

FAQs

What is the best Elle Mitchell book to start with?

The Pieces We Leave Behind is the best all-around starting point for most romance readers.

Should I read The Pieces We Try to Forget first because it is a prequel?

No. Read The Pieces We Leave Behind first. The prequel’s description itself says it is not meant to be read as a standalone.

Is Gods of Tomorrow complete?

Yes. It is a completed two-book duet.

Is West Pine Bullies complete?

Not fully yet in a practical reading sense unless both 2026 books are available to you. It is structured as a duet beginning with Make It Hurt and continuing with Make It Stop.

Are the Janes books romance?

Not primarily. They are better treated as a separate dark fiction, suspense, and horror-leaning branch of Mitchell’s work.

Why is the Janes numbering confusing?

Because catalog sources do not all number Am I Olive?, Another Elizabeth, and What’s Underneath the same way. Publication order is the safest way through that shelf.

Final recommendation

If you want the cleanest answer, begin with The Pieces We Leave Behind.

If you want the darkest completed series first, begin with Pretty Poisoned and finish the Gods of Tomorrow Duet.

If you want to follow the newest release path, start West Pine Bullies with Make It Hurt.