Lauren Willig Books in Order (Updated 2026-02-09)

Lauren Willig has two main shelves for readers: a long, character-rich Pink Carnation run (best treated as one continuous experience), and a separate group of standalone historical novels (including several co-written with other authors). The standalones don’t rely on each other, but Pink Carnation benefits from staying in sequence so reveals and recurring relationships land cleanly.

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The short answer readers actually need

• If you want the signature Lauren Willig experience: begin with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.
• If you want a single, self-contained historical novel first: try The English Wife or Band of Sisters.
• If you want to sample her most recent solo historical work: start with The Girl from Greenwich Street.

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Pink Carnation Series

This series follows Napoleonic-era intrigue alongside a modern research thread. You can technically dip in anywhere, but it’s built to reward steady forward motion.

Recommended story order (the author’s preferred route)

This order follows the internal sequence Willig recommends, including the point where the timeline briefly doubles back.

1. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation: A modern researcher uncovers letters that pull her into a dangerous spy legend, and a very real man.
2. The Masque of the Black Tulip: A hidden identity and a masked world of espionage force two wary people into uneasy partnership.
3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring: A missing identity and a suspicious marriage plot turn manners into a battlefield.
4. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose: A scandal-prone heroine faces a man who reads her too well to be safe.
5. Ivy and Intrigue: A Very Selwick Christmas (novella): A holiday interlude tightens the modern storyline while the past keeps misbehaving.
6. The Mischief of the Mistletoe: A prickly wallflower and a persistent suitor clash until the truth stops staying polite.
7. Away in a Manger (bonus chapter/short): A small bridge piece that nudges the timeline forward after the winter chaos.
8. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine: An unexpected pairing tests whether duty and desire can coexist without damage.
9. Bunny & Biscuits: A Very Dorrington Valentine’s Day (short): A quick romantic stopover that works best once you know the cast.
10. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily: The series detours into a higher-risk adventure where loyalties and identities get sharper edges.
11. The Orchid Affair: Back in the main European thread, a new heroine steps into a world where secrets have long memories.
12. The Garden Intrigue: A country-house setting becomes a trap for both hearts and intelligence.
13. The Passion of the Purple Plumeria: A warm-weather mission turns intimate fast, then refuses to stay simple.
14. The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla: A later-era story pushes the spy game forward with new disguises and older consequences.
15. The Lure of the Moonflower: A final run at the lingering mysteries, where the long game demands a real reckoning.

Publication order (if you prefer release history)

If you want the series as it arrived to readers, use this order:

1. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (2005): A dissertation project turns into a personal obsession with real stakes.
2. The Masque of the Black Tulip (2005): Secrets multiply as romance and espionage share the same mask.
3. The Deception of the Emerald Ring (2006): A reluctant bride and a wary groom circle a threat neither fully sees.
4. The Seduction of the Crimson Rose (2008): A notorious beauty and a principled man test each other’s limits.
5. The Temptation of the Night Jasmine (2009): Attraction becomes inconvenient just as danger becomes unavoidable.
6. The Betrayal of the Blood Lily (2009): A high-adventure turn where the mission threatens to swallow the romance.
7. The Mischief of the Mistletoe (2010): A holiday-season romance with sharper teeth than its setting suggests.
8. The Orchid Affair (2011): A fresh heroine meets a world where every smile may be strategic.
9. The Garden Intrigue (2012): A country escape turns into a controlled collision of secrets and desire.
10. The Passion of the Purple Plumeria (2013): Heat, travel, and loyalty collide in a story that refuses calm.
11. The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla (2014): A later chapter that raises the cost of every disguise.
12. The Lure of the Moonflower (2015): A closing movement that gathers long-running threads into one final pull.

Novella/short-fiction placement (Pink Carnation):

• Ivy and Intrigue fits best between Crimson Rose and Mischief.
• Away in a Manger and Bunny & Biscuits are best treated as “after you’re already in deep” extras, not entry points.

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Standalone novels by Lauren Willig (read in any order)

These don’t share plot continuity. Choose by era, tone, and how much romance vs. history you want on the page.

1. Two L (2011): A modern friendship and a tangled romantic past refuse to stay neatly categorized.
2. The Ashford Affair (2013): Two timelines reveal how one family’s beautiful story was built on carefully managed truths.
3. That Summer (2014): A present-day investigation into an old house opens a door into an art-world love story with consequences.
4. The Other Daughter (2015): A woman’s search for her biological mother turns into a slow unraveling of identity and betrayal.
5. The English Wife (2018): A Gilded Age scandal ripples outward, turning reputation into a weapon and marriage into a mystery.
6. The Summer Country (2019): An American heiress in Edwardian England is pulled between family expectation and a life she didn’t plan.
7. Band of Sisters (2021): A group of American women in World War I France discover that courage can be communal, and costly.
8. Two Wars and a Wedding (2023): Two women’s intertwined lives move through wartime upheaval toward a hard-earned adulthood.
9. The Girl from Greenwich Street (2025): Early America’s first murder trial becomes a stage for ambition, fear, and the price of being seen.

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Co-written historical novels (separate shelf)

These are designed as one-off experiences, even when the collaboration team repeats.

1. The Forgotten Room (2016, with Karen White & Beatriz Williams): A shared house and a shared inheritance reveal three eras of romantic fallout.
2. The Glass Ocean (2018, with Karen White & Beatriz Williams): Titanic-era choices echo across years as survival reshapes identity.
3. All the Ways We Said Goodbye (2020, with Karen White & Beatriz Williams): A Paris apartment links multiple women facing love at the edge of history.
4. The Lost Summers of Newport (2022, with Beatriz Williams & Karen White): A glamorous summer house holds generations of secrets waiting for the wrong person to listen.

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Recommended reading order without turning it into homework

If you want a satisfying “tour” of her work:

1. The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (start the long, cozy-binge lane).
2. Continue Pink Carnation using the author’s recommended story order until you’ve read at least the first four books.
3. Take a breather with The English Wife (tight, scandal-driven standalone).
4. Return to Pink Carnation through The Mischief of the Mistletoe.
5. When you want a different rhythm, read Band of Sisters or The Girl from Greenwich Street (more grounded historical focus).

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Does chronological order matter?

• Pink Carnation: yes, because ongoing mysteries and relationships carry forward.
• Everything else: no, because the standalones and collaborations do not rely on one another.

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Latest release status

• Most recent solo novel: The Girl from Greenwich Street (2025).
• Announced next novel: What Happens at Nightfall (scheduled for October 2026).
• Beyond that: the author has mentioned work in progress for a later book, but a reliable public title is not consistently confirmed yet.

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FAQs

Can I read just one Pink Carnation book and stop?
Yes, but the series is built like a long conversation. The first book is the best “single try,” because it sets the rules of both timelines.

Will the Pink Carnation novellas confuse me?
Not if you treat them as side doors. Read Ivy and Intrigue only after you’ve met the core modern cast.

If I dislike the modern framing story, should I skip the series?
It’s a meaningful part of the structure. If you prefer pure historical with no modern thread, start with The English Wife, Band of Sisters, or The Girl from Greenwich Street instead.

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Bottom line

For the clearest first step, pick The Secret History of the Pink Carnation (series lane) or The English Wife (standalone lane). After that, keep Pink Carnation in order, and treat the rest of Lauren Willig’s novels as flexible, chosen by era and mood, not by dependency.