Lisa Phillips Books in Order (Updated March 27, 2026)

Lisa Phillips writes in two broad lanes: fast-paced Christian romantic suspense and slower-burn thriller material. Her official “Start Here” page separates those lanes the same way, and her site also maintains a chronological timeline for the connected romantic-suspense universe.

That makes this one of the easier catalogs to sort once you know whether you want the shared universe or the thriller branch first.

The one-sentence answer

If you want the main connected Lisa Phillips reading order, use this path:

Denver FBI → WITSEC Town → Double Down → Northwest Counter-Terrorism Task Force → Last Chance County → Chevalier Protection Specialists → Last Chance Downrange → Benson First Responders → Forever spin-off → Last Chance Fire and Rescue

If you want her thriller lane, read Brand of Justice separately in its own order.

Best place to start

1. For readers who want romance-forward suspense, start with Bait or go all the way back to the optional prequel Target.
2. For readers who want the strongest current thriller line, start with Cold Dead Night.
3. For readers who want the biggest small-town branch, start with Expired Refuge.

The connected romantic-suspense universe

1) Denver FBI

Small but important as the starting shelf.

1. Target (2014): An optional prequel that sets the tone for the Denver FBI branch and works best before the main novels if you want the full setup.
2. Bait (2014): The true entry point for most readers, introducing the early FBI-style danger-and-romance framework Phillips builds on later.
3. Prey (2018): A return to the Denver FBI thread that lands better once you know the original setup from Bait.

2) WITSEC Town

A fuller, more settled early-series branch with witness-protection tension and recurring town continuity.

1. Sanctuary Lost (2014): Opens WITSEC Town and establishes the refuge-under-threat setup that drives the series.
2. Sanctuary Buried (2014): Deepens the hidden-past atmosphere while widening the town’s danger network.
3. Sanctuary Hidden (2018 in story order): Lisa Phillips’s own timeline places this before Sanctuary Breached, so it is best read here if you want story chronology rather than publication order.
4. Sanctuary Breached (2015): Raises the pressure on the safe-haven premise and starts pushing the series into broader consequences.
5. A Sanctuary Christmas Tale (2015): An optional holiday interlude rather than a core numbered stop.
6. Sanctuary Deceived (2016): A later-series entry that works best once the town and its tensions are already familiar.
7. Sanctuary Forever (2016): The payoff volume for the main WITSEC Town run.

3) Double Down

A short connected suspense sequence.

1. Deadly Exposure (2019 on the official timeline): The opening case for the Double Down team and the safest place to begin this branch.
2. Deadly Secrets: Builds on the team setup with a more personal layer of danger and mistrust.
3. Deadly Agenda: Pushes the conflict outward into a bigger organized threat.
4. Deadly Holidays: A seasonal closer that still fits best after the first three books.

4) Northwest Counter-Terrorism Task Force

A sequence of standalones that still reads best in order.

1. First Wave (2019): Introduces the task force and the high-alert style of this run.
2. Second Chance (2019): Keeps the same operational world while shifting the emotional focus.
3. Third Hour (2019): Continues the escalating-threat structure.
4. Fourth Day (2019): Keeps the series’ pressure-cooker pace moving.
5. Final Stand (2019): The strongest payoff if you have read the earlier books first.
6. Desolation Point: Listed on Lisa Phillips’s chronological timeline as part of the series and best read after Final Stand.

5) Last Chance County

This is the big small-town suspense branch and one of the best places to settle in.

1. Expired Refuge (2020): Introduces Last Chance County and the series’ core “safe place under pressure” appeal.
2. Expired Secrets (2020): Expands the county’s hidden-history side.
3. Expired Cache (2020): Adds more layered danger while keeping the same close community frame.
4. Expired Hero (2020): Leans harder into protective-romantic suspense.
5. Expired Game (2020): Turns the county’s growing threat web into a more active contest.
6. Expired Plot (2020): Keeps the pace high while reinforcing shared setting continuity.
7. Expired Getaway (2020): A later-series chase that works better once the county already feels lived in.
8. Expired Betrayal (2021): Pushes trust issues to the front.
9. Expired Flight (2021): A more overt pursuit-and-escape entry.
10. Expired End (2021): The main conclusion to the original Last Chance County run.

6) Chevalier Protection Specialists

Read this after Last Chance County.

1. Last Taste of Freedom (2021): The official site and Fantastic Fiction both frame this as the Last Chance County spin-off opener.
2. Last Hour till Sunrise (2021): Continues the protection-team structure with stronger team familiarity.
3. Last One Still Standing (2021): A later entry that benefits from knowing the group dynamics first.
4. Last Man to Survive (2021): Keeps the survival-pressure tone high.
5. Last Line of Defense (2021): The cleanest stopping point for this spin-off branch.

7) Last Chance Downrange

Connected by branding, but the official site calls these standalones with a new setting and cast.

1. Point of Impact (2022): Opens the Downrange branch with a clean reset.
2. Hard Target (2022): Continues the accountant’s-office concept in a more pressure-driven direction.
3. Hollow Point (2022): Keeps the same branch intact without requiring a new timeline.
4. Terminal Velocity (2022): The best final stop for this quartet.

8) Benson First Responders

A major later branch in the connected universe.

1. Allegiance (2022): Opens Benson with first responders, crime, and small-town crossover energy.
2. Blackout (2022): Important because Lisa Phillips’s timeline says it can connect to Expired Return.
3. Collateral (2023): Expands Benson’s local stakes.
4. Undertow: A newsletter-exclusive Benson story, optional but real.
5. Detection (2023): Keeps the Benson cast building in the most straightforward way.
6. Knockout (2023): Pushes the branch further into direct confrontation.
7. Nightfall (2024): A later Benson entry that benefits from all prior setup.
8. Fallout (2024): The last main stop before the Forever detour.
9. Forever – Part 1 (2024): Optional-but-placed interlude.
10. Forever – Part 2 (2024): Read right after Part 1.
11. Duplicity (2024): Resume the main Benson line here.
12. Inferno (2024): The current end of the numbered Benson First Responders arc.

9) Last Chance Fire and Rescue

This is the return to Last Chance County after Benson.

1. Expired Return (2023): The spin-off ignition point back into Last Chance territory.
2. Expired Hope (2023): Continues the fire-and-rescue expansion.
3. Expired Promise (2023): Keeps the same branch moving.
4. Expired Vows (2023): Closes the first cluster of this spin-off.
5. Rescued Duty (2025): Starts the later rescue-titled run inside the same series.
6. Rescued Faith (2025): Continues the renewed sequence.
7. Rescued Heart (2025): Keeps the emotional focus strong within the fire-and-rescue frame.
8. Rescued Dreams (2025): A later-series entry best read after the earlier rescue books.
9. Last Chance Christmas (2025): A holiday capstone for the current run.

The thriller lane: Brand of Justice

This is the branch Lisa Phillips’s site recommends for readers who want slow-burn thrillers rather than the romance-forward suspense universe. Read it separately, in order.

1. Cold Dead Night (2022): Introduces private investigator Kenna Banbury and the series’ darker, longer-arc investigative style.
2. Burn the Dawn (2022): Continues Kenna’s case-driven world with more emotional fallout.
3. Quick and Dead (2023): Tightens the series’ pursuit structure.
4. Over the Limit (2023): Pushes the cost of the investigation higher.
5. Skin and Bone (2023): A deeper, more exposed stage of the long game.
6. Dust and Ashes (2023): Keeps the long-arc threat moving.
7. Long Road Home (2024): A midpoint book that broadens the series without resetting it.
8. Dead to Rights (2024): Escalates the hunt again.
9. Fear No Evil (2024): One of the clearest late-middle turning points.
10. Out of Time (2025): Moves the arc into a more urgent phase.
11. Every Which Way (2025): A missing-persons case collides with wedding planning and a larger criminal agenda.
12. One More Chance (2025): Keeps the team and relationship arc moving toward endgame territory.
13. Storm and Tempest (2025): Continues the rising-pressure close of the current sequence.
14. Now or Never (2025): The last fully published 2025 entry before the newest release.
15. Every Last Step (2026): The newest published Brand of Justice novel as of March 27, 2026.
16. Now Until Forever (forthcoming May 2026): Already listed by Fantastic Fiction and Lisa Phillips’s site as the next Brand of Justice book.

Optional Brand of Justice side story

Count of Shadows: An unnumbered Brand of Justice-related title on Lisa Phillips’s site, best treated as side reading rather than a replacement for the numbered sequence.

Separate or lighter-connected branches

These are real Lisa Phillips series or projects, but they are better treated as separate shelves rather than mandatory stops inside the main order.

Heroes of Renegade

1. Renegade (2026): Opens a new branch on Lisa Phillips’s site.
2. Warrior (forthcoming April 2026): Already listed as book two.

Legend Hunters

A supernatural-thriller series with Christian themes, separate in tone from the main romantic-suspense universe. Lisa Phillips’s character pages note that Dauntless appears in both WITSEC Town and Legend Hunters, so there is at least a light connective thread.

Chasing Fire: Alaska

A six-book co-created wildfire series, separate from the main solo reading order.

Love Inspired Suspense and other contributed series

Lisa Phillips’s official site groups fourteen books under Love Inspired Suspense, and Fantastic Fiction also lists contributed entries in K-9 Search and Rescue, Do You Hear What I Hear, Summer to Remember, Chasing Fire: Montana, and Scent of Justice. These are best handled as separate publishing-line or shared-world reads, not as part of the main connected order above.

Recommended reading orders

If you want one clean “main universe” order

1. Target
2. Bait
3. Prey
4. Sanctuary Lost
5. Sanctuary Buried
6. Sanctuary Hidden
7. Sanctuary Breached
8. A Sanctuary Christmas Tale
9. Sanctuary Deceived
10. Sanctuary Forever
11. Deadly Exposure
12. Deadly Secrets
13. Deadly Agenda
14. Deadly Holidays
15. First Wave
16. Second Chance
17. Third Hour
18. Fourth Day
19. Final Stand
20. Desolation Point
21. Expired Refuge
22. Expired Secrets
23. Expired Cache
24. Expired Hero
25. Expired Game
26. Expired Plot
27. Expired Getaway
28. Expired Betrayal
29. Expired Flight
30. Expired End
31. Last Taste of Freedom
32. Last Hour till Sunrise
33. Last One Still Standing
34. Last Man to Survive
35. Last Line of Defense
36. Point of Impact
37. Hard Target
38. Hollow Point
39. Terminal Velocity
40. Allegiance
41. Blackout
42. Collateral
43. Undertow
44. Detection
45. Knockout
46. Nightfall
47. Fallout
48. Forever – Part 1
49. Forever – Part 2
50. Duplicity
51. Inferno
52. Expired Return
53. Expired Hope
54. Expired Promise
55. Expired Vows
56. Rescued Duty
57. Rescued Faith
58. Rescued Heart
59. Rescued Dreams
60. Last Chance Christmas

If you want the thriller-only route

Read Brand of Justice from Cold Dead Night through Every Last Step, then add Now Until Forever when released.

Latest release status

As of March 27, 2026, the newest clearly published Brand of Justice novel is Every Last Step from January 2026. The next confirmed Brand of Justice book is Now Until Forever, listed for May 2026. Outside that branch, Renegade is already live on Lisa Phillips’s site, and Warrior is listed for April 2026 as book two in Heroes of Renegade.

Final recommendation

For most readers, the safest entry is Bait if you want Lisa Phillips’s connected romantic-suspense world, or Cold Dead Night if you want her thriller side first. Read the connected universe in Lisa Phillips’s own timeline order, and keep Brand of Justice separate unless you specifically want the slower-burn investigative lane.