Kat T. Masen Books in Order (Updated March 12, 2026)

Not every Kat T. Masen book belongs on the same shelf.

Her biggest connected lane runs through the Edwards family and starts with Dark Love, then continues into Forbidden Love, then into Secret Love. Outside that world, she also has a separate Roomie Wars series, the current Cinnamon Springs line, and several books that are easiest to treat as standalones or self-contained pairs.

For a brand-new reader, the most reliable starting point is still Chasing Love if you want the core family saga. If you want something disconnected from the Edwards world, start with How to Break My Heart for small-town romance or The Office Rival for a sharper contemporary setup.

The fastest way to choose your starting point

Start with Chasing Love if you want:

• the main Kat T. Masen family continuity
• the Lex Edwards branch first
• the setup that feeds later series and next-generation books

Start with How to Break My Heart if you want:

• a newer small-town entry point
• no need to learn family crossover history first
• a current series that begins cleanly at book one

Start with The Office Rival if you want:

• a more self-contained contemporary romance
• a two-book arc rather than a long family universe
• a modern version of a retitled earlier backlist thread

The Edwards-world reading order

This is the part of Kat T. Masen’s catalog where order matters most. These books are tied together by family connections, inherited drama, and recurring names that land better when read in sequence.

Dark Love

1. Chasing Love: Charlotte and Lex begin the central Edwards thread here, so this is the real front door to Masen’s most connected reading path.
2. Chasing Us: The fallout from Charlotte and Lex’s choices deepens here, making it a true continuation rather than a side stop.
3. Chasing Her: Julian’s book widens the emotional map of the series and shifts attention to characters who matter beyond one installment.
4. Chasing Him: Adriana’s story carries the consequences of earlier books forward, so it works best once the first three are already in place.
5. Chasing Fate: This keeps the family web expanding, with relationship history and established loyalties doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
6. Chasing Heartbreak: The sixth main book moves to another emotionally loaded branch of the broader cast and lands better if you already know the people orbiting this world.

Best reading note: Read these straight through in publication order. This is the foundation series that later books keep building on.

Forbidden Love

1. The Trouble With Love: Amelia Edwards and Will Romano open the next generation of the connected family saga, so this is the correct bridge after Dark Love.
2. The Trouble With Us: This continues Amelia and Will’s relationship under heavier family and timing pressure, so it is not a book to skip ahead to casually.
3. The Trouble With Him: Ava Edwards takes the spotlight here, and the book depends on readers understanding the Edwards family dynamics already in play.
4. The Trouble With Her: This follows another closely connected branch of the same extended family network, keeping the crossover-sensitive material active.
5. The Trouble With Fate: By this point the series is fully leaning on established family context, which is why this book reads much more smoothly after the earlier Edwards material.

Best reading note: This series is technically readable on its own, but it is much cleaner after Dark Love because the family structure is already familiar.

Secret Love

1. Craving Love: Alexa’s book pushes the Edwards world forward again, with Lex still casting a long shadow over the story.
2. Craving Us: The second book continues the same continuity and does not reset the emotional situation for new readers.
3. Craving Her: This deepens the overlapping secrets and relationships around Alexa, Beau, and April, so prior setup matters.
4. Craving Him: Listed on the official series page as coming soon, this is the next planned installment rather than a released novel.

Best reading note: Read this after Forbidden Love, not before. The character relationships make more sense that way.

The simplest recommended order for most readers

If you want one practical route and do not want to overthink it, use this:

1. Chasing Love: Start at the real beginning of the Edwards-centered continuity.
2. Chasing Us: Continue the primary couple’s arc without interruption.
3. Chasing Her: Move into the next major connected viewpoint.
4. Chasing Him: Stay inside the same web of consequences.
5. Chasing Fate: Keep the family saga in sequence.
6. Chasing Heartbreak: Finish the currently listed Dark Love main run.
7. The Trouble With Love: Shift to the next-generation Edwards books.
8. The Trouble With Us: Continue Amelia and Will’s story.
9. The Trouble With Him: Move to Ava’s branch of the family.
10. The Trouble With Her: Continue the connected offshoot.
11. The Trouble With Fate: Finish the currently listed Forbidden Love line.
12. Craving Love: Begin the next Edwards-era sequence.
13. Craving Us: Continue that arc directly.
14. Craving Her: Read the third released Secret Love book.
15. Craving Him: Pick this up when it is actually released.

That order preserves introductions, family reveals, and the cumulative effect of recurring surnames and relationships.

Books outside the Edwards continuity

These are easier to approach separately.

Cinnamon Springs

1. How to Break My Heart: A small-town enemies-to-lovers opener centered on Eva and Aston, and the cleanest non-Edwards entry point on Masen’s current official site.

At the moment, this is the only clearly surfaced Cinnamon Springs book on the official site, so treat it as the start of a newer lane rather than a finished multi-book sequence.

Roomie Wars

1. Roomie Wars: Zoey and Drew begin with fake-dating energy, roommate friction, and a setup that clearly launches an ongoing arc.
2. Wedding Wars: This follows the same couple and works as a continuation, not a separate standalone.
3. Baby Wars: The third book completes that progression, so it belongs last.
4. Roomie Wars Box Set: A collection edition, not a different reading order.

This is a separate series and does not need any Edwards-world background.

The Office Rival pair

1. The Office Rival: Presley and Haden’s workplace rivalry story is the first half of this two-book path; it was previously published under the title #JERK before being rewritten and reissued.
2. The Marriage Rival: This is the follow-up to The Office Rival and was previously published as #B!TCH, so the current title is the one to follow now.

Treat these as a self-contained pair. The retitled earlier editions matter only so you do not accidentally buy the same story twice.

Other standalones

1. Bad Boy Player: A brother’s-best-friend setup with Emerson and Logan, positioned as a standalone rather than the start of a larger official series on the current site.
2. Bad Boy Neighbor: A next-door romance with Gabriella and Oliver, again easiest to treat as self-contained.

Bonus and extra material

Kat T. Masen’s official bonus-content page points readers toward extra scenes and books tied specifically to the Dark Love and Forbidden Love world.

Those are best handled as optional material after you are already invested in the Edwards family. They are not the right place to start, and they are not necessary to understand the main release order.

Do you need to read Kat T. Masen in order?

Only some of it.

You do not need to read the whole catalog in order. But you should read the Edwards-world books in sequence: Dark Love, then Forbidden Love, then Secret Love. That is where the recurring family structure matters.

The separate routes such as Cinnamon Springs, Roomie Wars, The Office Rival / The Marriage Rival, Bad Boy Player, and Bad Boy Neighbor can be read independently.

Which Kat T. Masen book should most readers start with?

For the signature connected experience, start with Chasing Love.

For the easiest newer standalone-style entry, start with How to Break My Heart.

For a shorter relationship arc outside the family universe, start with The Office Rival.

Latest release status

The newest prominently featured release on Kat T. Masen’s official site is How to Break My Heart, which launched the Cinnamon Springs series.

On the official Secret Love page, Craving Him is listed as coming soon, but I did not find a confirmed release date on the official site page I checked, so it is better treated as announced rather than scheduled.

Final recommendation

If you want the answer that will work for the most readers, begin with Chasing Love and move forward through the Edwards books in order.

If you want a cleaner break from the big family continuity, begin with How to Break My Heart instead.