Johanna Lindsey (1952-2019) was an American romance novelist best known for long-running historical romance series, especially the Malory-Anderson family books. Her bibliography breaks into family sagas (best read in order) and standalone novels (read anytime).
The only real “you’ll spoil yourself” risk comes from jumping around inside a single named series.
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Read-this-first suggestions
If you want her signature series and the cleanest entry point:
Start with Love Only Once (Malory-Anderson #1).
If you want Vikings:
Start with Fires of Winter (Haardrad Family #1).
If you want a later-era western romance thread:
Start with One Heart to Win (Callahan-Warren/Montana #1).
If you want a true standalone and don’t care about series ties:
Start with Secret Fire or Prisoner of My Desire.
Series that actually benefit from strict order
These are the lines where returning relatives, marriages, and past events are part of the reward. If you plan to read more than one, use the order shown.
Malory-Anderson Family Saga (her centerpiece)
- Love Only Once: Introduces the Malory family circle and establishes the series’ social world.
- Tender Rebel: Continues the family timeline and deepens the recurring cast around the Malory brothers.
- Gentle Rogue: Follows another Malory sibling thread and assumes you already know the family dynamics.
- The Magic of You: Builds on prior relationships and works best once the early Malory cast is familiar.
- Say You Love Me: Expands the family web and references earlier outcomes.
- The Present: A later-generation romance that lands best after you’ve seen the core family bonds form.
- A Loving Scoundrel: Moves the series forward with the next wave of Malory-Anderson connections.
- Captive of My Desires: Continues the extended family line and is written to be read after earlier Malory books.
- No Choice But Seduction: Adds another linked romance that leans on established family context.
- That Perfect Someone: Advances the ongoing family chronology and recurring characters.
- Stormy Persuasion: A late-series entry that is most satisfying once you’ve read the earlier Malory arc.
- Beautiful Tempest: The most recent Malory-Anderson novel, written as a payoff for long-time series readers.
Viking Haardrad Family
- Fires of Winter: Opens the Viking-era family saga and sets the tone for this mini-series.
- Hearts Aflame: Continues the Haardrad family line and is best read after Fires of Winter.
- Surrender My Love: Returns to the Viking family orbit and works best after the first two.
Ly-San-Ter Family (science fiction romance line)
- Warrior’s Woman: Starts the Ly-San-Ter arc and introduces the core premise and family thread.
- Keeper of the Heart: Continues the connected family storyline and builds on the first book’s setup.
- Heart of a Warrior: A later entry that completes the trilogy’s main family line.
Cardinia’s Royalty
- Once a Princess: Launches the Cardinia setting and its royal-family romance framework.
- You Belong to Me: Continues the Cardinia thread and is written to follow Once a Princess.
Sherring Cross
- Man of My Dreams: Begins the Sherring Cross sequence and establishes its recurring world.
- Love Me Forever: Continues the sequence and reads best after Man of My Dreams.
- The Pursuit: Concludes the main Sherring Cross line and assumes prior context.
Locke / Reid Family (connected sequence)
- The Heir: Opens the connected family line that later books build on.
- The Devil Who Tamed Her: Continues the sequence and is best read after The Heir.
- A Rogue of My Own: Advances the same world with returning connections that reward in-order reading.
- Let Love Find You: Completes the main run of this family sequence.
Callahan-Warren / Montana
- One Heart to Win: Starts the Montana-set family line and introduces its central circle.
- Wildfire in His Arms: Continues the Montana sequence with returning context.
- Marry Me by Sundown: Concludes the Montana trilogy’s main arc and reads best last.
Standalone novels (read anytime)
These are not required for any series, and you can pick them up based on setting preference.
- Captive Bride: A historical romance early in her career that stands alone.
- A Pirate’s Love: A pirate-era historical that does not depend on other books.
- Paradise Wild: A standalone historical adventure-romance with no series prerequisites.
- A Gentle Feuding: A standalone romance built around an adversarial relationship dynamic.
- So Speaks the Heart: A standalone romance that can be read without any other Lindsey titles.
- Tender Is the Storm: A standalone historical romance (not part of the Malory series despite the similar word).
- When Love Awaits: A standalone historical romance, separate from her family sagas.
- Secret Fire: A standalone historical romance often recommended as an easy entry point.
- Silver Angel: A standalone historical romance, independent of the major series.
- Prisoner of My Desire: A standalone historical romance that is not tied to Malory-Anderson continuity.
- Until Forever: A standalone time-travel romance separate from Outlander-style series structures.
- Home for the Holidays: A holiday-themed standalone romance.
- A Man to Call My Own: A standalone western historical romance.
- Marriage Most Scandalous: A standalone Regency-era romance.
- His Ruthless Heart: A standalone historical romance, separate from her numbered family series.
- When Passion Rules: A standalone historical romance published later in her career.
- Make Me Love You: A standalone contemporary romance distinct from her historical family sagas.
- Temptation’s Darling: A standalone Regency-era romance and her last published novel.
A practical “don’t-think-too-hard” reading plan
- If you want the classic Lindsey experience, read Malory-Anderson #1 onward until you’re satisfied.
- When you want a change of flavor, switch to a short series (Haardrad or Cardinia) and read it straight through.
- Use standalones as palate cleansers between long family arcs.
Latest Releases:
The recent book released by the author is: Temptation’s Darling (July 16, 2019)
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.