J.J. McAvoy Books in Order (Updated: April 14, 2026)

J.J. McAvoy’s bibliography is easiest to use when you think in shelves, not one giant line. One shelf is mafia and organized-crime drama. One shelf is sequel mafia through the next generation. One shelf is romance in royal or historical settings. Then there are fantasy and standalones.

That means the best order depends on what you want first:

1. Read Ruthless People if you want the signature mafia series.
2. Read Children of Vice if you want the next-generation continuation.
3. Read The DuBells if you want historical romance.
4. Read The Prince’s Bride if you want royal arranged-marriage romance.
5. Read Vampire’s Romance if you want fantasy.

The crime shelf

Ruthless People series

This is the core J.J. McAvoy series and still the clearest starting point for most readers.

1. Ruthless People (2014): An arranged marriage between rival mafia heirs turns into a power struggle, alliance, and war story all at once.
2. The Untouchables (2015): The fallout widens as family secrets and retaliation make the Callahans’ world even harder to control.
3. American Savages (2015): The series expands its scale, pushing the family conflict outward into a broader, bloodier empire fight.
4. Declan + Coraline (2015): A novella set as book 0.5 on Goodreads, best read after American Savages if you want the side romance in context rather than as an entry point.
5. A Bloody Kingdom (2016): The fourth main novel brings the original Ruthless People arc to its natural end with the family at full strength and full risk.

Children of Vice series

This is the sequel line to Ruthless People, centered on the next generation. J.J. McAvoy’s official site says you do not have to read Ruthless People first, but it lands better if you do.

1. Children of Vice (2017): Ethan Giovanni Callahan steps into a legacy built on violence and dynasty, starting the second-generation power struggle.
2. Children of Ambition (2017): The sequel sharpens the family and succession pressures as ambition starts to split loyalties.
3. Children of Redemption (2018): The third book turns harder toward consequence, inheritance, and what redemption can even mean in this family.
4. Vicious Minds (2019): The series moves into its conclusion with a darker focus on internal fracture and shifting control.
5. Vicious Minds Part 2 (2020): Officially listed by J.J. McAvoy as Children of Vice #5, this continues the multi-part ending rather than starting a new arc.
6. Vicious Minds Part 3 (2020): Officially listed as Children of Vice #6, this closes the extended finale and caps the sequel series.

The romance shelf

The Prince’s Bride series

This is a tighter, romance-first series built around royalty, money, inheritance, and an arranged match.

1. The Prince’s Bride Part 1 (2020): A prince in financial trouble and an heiress who needs marriage for her inheritance are pushed into a match neither of them wants.
2. The Prince’s Bride Part 2 (2020): The conflict continues directly from part one, so this works best as an immediate follow-up rather than a stand-alone.
3. Beginning Forever (2021): A follow-on novella or epilogue-style continuation that shows what happens after the wedding, when the fairytale turns into actual royal life.

The DuBells series

This is the historical-romance shelf and the cleanest place to go if you want J.J. McAvoy away from modern crime drama.

1. Aphrodite and the Duke (2022): A second-chance Regency romance where a once-jilted heroine is forced to face the duke who hurt her.
2. Verity and the Forbidden Suitor (2023): A spirited heiress chases love while pushing against the rules of her society and family expectations.
3. Hathor and the Prince (2024): The third DuBells novel continues the family-centered Regency line with another high-stakes courtship.

The fantasy shelf

Vampire’s Romance series

This is a compact fantasy romance duology with soulmates, memory loss, and fate at the center.

1. My Midnight Moonlight Valentine (2020): A newly turned vampire meets an ancient man with no memory who insists she is his soulmate.
2. My Sunrise Sunset Paramour (2021): Picking up after the cliffhanger of book one, the sequel digs into fate, forgotten history, and Druella’s true place in the vampire world.

The early and standalone shelf

These are not grouped on the current official site into a single named series beyond “Standalones,” so the safest way to use them is one by one.

1. Black Rainbow (2015): A new-adult professor-student romance with legal ambition, attraction, and a sharper contemporary tone than the mafia books.
2. Rainbows Ever After (2017): A happily-ever-after novella for Black Rainbow, best saved until after the main novel because the official page says it should not be read as a standalone.
3. Sugar Baby Beautiful (2015): A contemporary romance that sits outside the main series shelves and works as a single-book sample.
4. That Thing Between Eli & Gwen (2016): Another standalone contemporary, built around one central relationship rather than a wider shared-world arc.
5. Malachi and I (2017): A standalone romance that keeps the focus on character chemistry instead of series continuity.
6. Never Let Me Go (2018): A later standalone, separate from the organized-crime and historical lines.

The split-release shelf

Childstar

This is the one place where the packaging can look messy. Goodreads lists three parts plus a full-book edition, so the practical choice is either to read the three parts in order or read the collected full novel instead.

1. Childstar 1 (2015): Amelia London and Noah Sloan, both former child stars, are thrown back together in a setup built on fame, history, and buried damage.
2. Childstar 2 (2015): The second part deepens the secrets and pressure as the public image starts cracking.
3. Childstar 3 (2015): The third part brings the serial release to its finish.
4. Child Star (2015): The full collected novel, which Goodreads describes as the complete version of the three-part story, making it a substitute for the parts rather than an extra sequel.

The simplest reading paths

If you want J.J. McAvoy’s defining work, read:

1. Ruthless People
2. The Untouchables
3. American Savages
4. Declan + Coraline
5. A Bloody Kingdom
6. Children of Vice
7. Children of Ambition
8. Children of Redemption
9. Vicious Minds
10. Vicious Minds Part 2
11. Vicious Minds Part 3

If you want the cleanest romance-only path, read:

1. The Prince’s Bride Part 1
2. The Prince’s Bride Part 2
3. Beginning Forever
4. Aphrodite and the Duke
5. Verity and the Forbidden Suitor
6. Hathor and the Prince

If you want a shorter test of her style without committing to a full saga, choose Black Rainbow, Aphrodite and the Duke, or The Prince’s Bride Part 1.

Do you need publication order?

Not across the whole catalog. Series order matters much more than full publication order here.

Inside the mafia world, read Ruthless People before Children of Vice if you want the fullest payoff, even though Children of Vice is designed to be readable on its own. For everything else, keep to the order inside each named shelf and you will avoid almost all confusion.

Latest status

The most recent full-length J.J. McAvoy novel I could verify is Hathor and the Prince (2024). Her official upcoming-releases page currently says there are no new releases scheduled, so there is no clearly posted next title to add after it.