Linda Kage Books in Order (Updated April 10, 2026)

Linda Kage’s catalog makes more sense once you stop treating it as one long chain. She has one big reader-entry series, several smaller connected sets, a completed fantasy-romance line, a newer paranormal-leaning college series, and a stack of standalones that do not need any setup first. Her official site currently highlights Forbidden Men, The Fairy Tale Quartet, Love Mark, and The Seven, while Goodreads also tracks Granton University, Tommy Creek, and Banks / Kincaid Family as separate series groupings.

The safest first move is not to start at her earliest publication. It is to start where most readers start: Forbidden Men. Linda Kage’s own series page says those books can work as standalones, but she also gives a recommended order for the fullest experience, which is the clearest signpost in her bibliography.

Where most readers should begin

If you want one strong path through Linda Kage, use this order first:

1. Price of a Kiss (2013): The book that opens Forbidden Men and still feels like the clearest introduction to Kage’s mix of college-age romance, emotional damage, and tightly linked friend-group continuity.
2. To Professor, with Love (2014): Keeps you inside the same world while pushing the “forbidden” angle in a more obvious direction through the student-professor setup.
3. Be My Hero (2014): Expands the shared cast again and is one of the books that helped define the series’ reputation with readers.
4. With Every Heartbeat (2015): Continues the bartender-linked world and deepens the sense that these are interconnected standalones rather than isolated romances.
5. A Perfect Ten (2015): Best read here because by this point the recurring cast and callbacks are part of the fun.
6. Worth It (2015): Another linked standalone that lands better once you already know the social fabric of the series.
7. The Girl’s Got Secrets (2015): Keeps the first-generation Forbidden Men line moving while widening the world around the nightclub and friend group.
8. Priceless (2016): Best saved for this later slot because it plays off everything that came before in the shared continuity.
9. Consolation Prize (2016): Another late first-generation entry that works best once the earlier emotional history is already in place.
10. The Price of Mason (2018): The tenth main Forbidden Men book and the natural place to pause before moving into descendant stories or other series.

That ten-book run is the center of Linda Kage’s bibliography. Everything else is easier to enjoy once you know whether that voice and that level of shared-character overlap work for you.

The core contemporary shelf

Forbidden Men

Linda Kage’s official series page describes Forbidden Men as interconnected contemporary new adult romances where one main character has bartended at the Forbidden nightclub and the love interest brings some kind of forbidden element. She also explicitly says the books can be read as standalones, but recommends an order for the full experience. That makes publication-and-series order the best choice for new readers.

1. Price of a Kiss (2013): Opens the series with the emotional tone and relationship intensity that define the rest of the line.
2. To Professor, with Love (2014): Book two, and one of the clearest examples of the series’ taboo-leaning premise design.
3. Be My Hero (2014): A fan-favorite early entry that strengthens the sense of shared community inside the series.
4. With Every Heartbeat (2015): The fourth stop in the same world, best read in sequence to preserve character familiarity.
5. A Perfect Ten (2015): Mid-series and fully embedded in the linked-standalone structure.
6. Worth It (2015): Another bartender-linked romance that belongs in the official run.
7. The Girl’s Got Secrets (2015): Continues the same first-generation circle and is best not skipped if you want the whole experience.
8. Priceless (2016): A later-series entry that benefits from knowing the wider cast already.
9. Consolation Prize (2016): Near-end first-generation Forbidden Men, with the shared history now doing a lot of the work.
10. The Price of Mason (2018): Finishes the first-generation mainline and is the right capstone for this branch.

Forbidden Descendants

This is the second-generation branch that grows out of Forbidden Men. Goodreads tracks it as a separate series, and Linda Kage’s own complete booklist splits it off as “2nd Generation FM Descendants.” These books are not the right starting point, because they are built to be richer once you already know the original families.

1. Off Balance (2018, novella): A short descendant story and a bonus-level piece rather than a new place to begin.
2. ’Tis the Season (2018, novella): Another second-generation short, best treated as optional companion reading.
3. Once Upon a Canoe Trip (2018, novella): A mini-novella that the official site says can be found at the end of The Price of Mason or downloaded separately.
4. Playing to Win (2018, novella): Another second-generation extra, there to enrich the family web rather than anchor it.
5. The Revenge Plan (2019): The first full descendant novel and the real starting point for readers who want to continue after first-generation Forbidden Men.
6. Dear Worthy (2021, novella): The official site labels this a novella in the 2nd-generation FM books and says it originally appeared in Secrets That We Keep.
7. Beware of Maverick (2021, novella): Another short descendant piece, best read only if you are doing the whole branch.
8. Secrets That We Keep (2021): The second full descendant novel and the next meaningful step after The Revenge Plan.
9. Insta-Family (2021): The next full story in the descendant line, focused on the same second-generation shelf.
10. Every Time My Heart Breaks (2022): The newest full descendant novel currently listed in Goodreads and the official booklist.

The fantasy and paranormal shelf

Fairy Tale Quartet

This is Linda Kage’s completed contemporary fairy-tale retelling set. Goodreads lists four primary books, and the official site gives it its own dedicated series section. Read it straight through in order.

1. Monster Among the Roses (2017): A contemporary Beauty and the Beast riff and the correct entry to the quartet.
2. Kissing the Boss (2018): The Cinderella-inspired second book and best read after book one, not instead of it.
3. B & E Ever After (2019): A contemporary Hansel and Gretel variation and the third stop in the series.
4. Black Crimson: A Little Red Riding Hood Story (2021): The fourth book and the current ending point of the quartet.

Love Mark

This is Linda Kage’s completed epic fantasy romance line. Goodreads lists a prequel novella plus five numbered novels, and her official site gives the series its own page. This one should be read in series order, because the worldbuilding and family curse setup are cumulative.

0. With Your Love (2021, novella): A prequel-sized entry that introduces the world but is not the main gateway for new readers.
1. One True Love (2018): The true starting point for the main fantasy sequence, built around the “love mark” premise.
2. Trust In Love (2020): Continues the same fantasy-romance world and political tension.
3. Mark of Love (2020): The midpoint book, where the family curse angle is central enough that skipping ahead would undercut the series.
4. Wait for Love (2021): Book four, best read after the earlier curse and kingdom threads are in place.
5. All My Love (2022): The fifth and current final main novel in the series.

The Seven

This is the newer paranormal-leaning college-age series. Goodreads describes it as seven contemporary new adult romances with paranormal elements tied to one friend group, and Linda Kage’s official site also frames it as a linked set. Five books are currently listed, with Zero Chance as the newest release.

1. Vacancy (2023): Opens the series with a haunted-room premise and introduces the grief-linked friend group at the center.
2. My Enemy’s Boyfriend (2024): The second entry, still paranormal and still tightly tied to the same friend network.
3. The Life Wish (2024): The third book, which the official site summarizes with the hook “What if you fall in love with a ghost?”
4. Just This Once (2024): The fourth book, best read after the first three because the friend-group structure keeps accumulating.
5. Zero Chance (2025): Book five, officially published June 13, 2025, and currently the newest release on Linda Kage’s homepage.

The smaller early series

These are easier to treat as side shelves than as main entry points.

Granton University

A complete three-book set on Goodreads. It is a cleaner early-series binge than it is a first introduction to everything Kage writes.

1. Fighting Fate (2013): Opens the trilogy with a grief-and-forgiveness premise.
2. Loving Lies (2014): Continues the set and is best read after Fighting Fate.
3. Believing Bailey (2017): Finishes the trilogy and closes this university branch.

Tommy Creek

This is where Linda Kage’s records get slightly messy. Goodreads numbers The Trouble with Tomboys first and A Fallow Heart second, but her own complete booklist lists the Tommy Creek set as A Fallow Heart followed by The Trouble With Tomboys. Because those sources conflict, the safest public-facing advice is to treat them as a two-book set and read by publication order unless you specifically want to follow the author’s set listing.

1. The Trouble with Tomboys (2010): Goodreads book one, built around pilot B.J. Gilmore in Tommy Creek, Texas.
2. A Fallow Heart (2012): Goodreads book two, though the official PDF booklist places it first inside the “Tommy Creek Set.”

Banks / Kincaid Family

A short two-book early contemporary set. Read it in listed order if you want it complete, but it is not essential to understanding the later catalog.

1. Hot Commodity (2010): Book one and an early adult contemporary romance from Kage’s pre-Forbidden-Men period.
2. Delinquent Daddy (2010): Book two, continuing the same family-linked shelf.

Standalones

Linda Kage’s official complete booklist also includes several books that are not part of the series above. These are best chosen by premise.

Adult standalones

1. How to Resist Prince Charming (2010): An early adult standalone and one of the oldest books on the official booklist.
2. A Man for Mia (2011): An adult standalone the official list marks as “No Sex,” which makes it stylistically separate from much of her steamier work.
3. Kiss It Better (2011): Another early adult standalone from before her bigger series period.
4. The Right to Remain Mine (2012): A pre-Forbidden Men standalone for readers who want her older contemporary shelf.
5. The Best Mistake (2012, novella): A shorter standalone entry from the same early phase of her career.
6. Addicted to Ansley (2013): Another standalone the official list marks as “No Sex,” useful if you want a lower-heat option.
7. The Quiet (2023): A much newer adult standalone and one of the clearest non-series modern entry points.

Young adult standalones

1. The Stillburrow Crush (2010): A YA standalone, marked on the official list as no-sex.
2. The Color of Grace (2012): Another YA standalone that sits outside all the bigger branded series.

What order actually matters most?

Not every shelf needs the same rule.

Most important to read in order: Forbidden Men, Love Mark, The Seven, and Fairy Tale Quartet. Those are the places where either the author explicitly recommends a sequence or the worldbuilding and cross-character payoff clearly build from book to book.

Can be chosen more freely: the early standalones, plus the smaller early sets if you are reading them for mood rather than for completion.

Best starting points by reader type

• For the classic Linda Kage experience: Price of a Kiss. It is still the clearest gateway to the style most readers associate with her.
• For fantasy romance readers: One True Love. That is the main entry to Love Mark without requiring the prequel novella first.
• For newer paranormal-romance readers: Vacancy. It starts the most recent active series cleanly.
• For readers who only want one standalone: The Quiet is the easiest modern standalone to sample without committing to a long sequence.

Latest release status

Linda Kage’s homepage lists Zero Chance under her newest releases and records its release day as June 13, 2025. Goodreads also lists it as The Seven #5, making it the latest confirmed main release currently visible across her official site and public bibliography. Her homepage says the next project after Zero Chance is not yet fixed, while the official PDF booklist indicates more The Seven books are planned.

Final recommendation

Read Linda Kage in layers.

Start with Forbidden Men if you want the shelf that best represents her. Move next to Forbidden Descendants only after you finish that first generation. Use Love Mark for fantasy romance, The Seven for paranormal new adult, and the early standalones only when you want to wander outside the main lanes. For most readers, Price of a Kiss remains the right first book.