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Skye Warren writes dark, high-heat romance in clearly labeled series. The books are usually built around a central couple per title, but the worlds are connected enough that skipping around can spoil reveals, power shifts, and relationship outcomes.

Instead of one massive list, this guide keeps things readable by grouping titles by series and giving you a clean “read this, then this” path.
A practical way to start (without committing to everything)
Pick the vibe you want, then follow the order under that series:
- Chess-game revenge romance: start with The Pawn
- Billionaire + nanny tension: start with Private Property
- Security brothers / protective romance: start with Overture
- Circus secrets and seduction: start with Red Flags
- Gritty Chicago antiheroes: start with Rough
- Beauty-and-the-Beast retelling (modern): start with Beauty and the Professor
- Dark club glamour (Stripped): start with Love the Way You Lie
Endgame and its direct follow-ups (read in order)
These are the “chessboard” books, strategy, leverage, and obsession, with later titles assuming you know earlier choices.
- The Pawn: A woman with little power enters a revenge game where desire is used like a weapon.
- The Knight: The balance shifts as protection starts looking a lot like possession.
- The Castle: Safety comes at a price, and the rules get rewritten from inside the walls.
- The King: A new central romance rises out of the fallout, with loyalty and control in open conflict.
- The Queen: Endgame consequences land hard, and the final move decides who gets to keep their future.
Also in the same orbit (best after the books above):
- The Bishop: A missing high-value piece pulls a revenge-driven man into a dangerous connection with a woman who can’t stay hidden.
The Trust Fund books (best read in publication order)
These are grouped together on the author’s main series list, but different catalogs sometimes label individual titles differently. The safest way to avoid confusion is: read them in the order they were released in your store or edition.
Here are the commonly grouped titles in this storyline:
- The Heiress: A high-stakes attraction turns messy when control issues meet real vulnerability.
- The Player: A man who’s always “fine” finally reaches the moment where he can’t fake it anymore.
- The Escort: A paid arrangement stops being simple the moment feelings show up and refuse to leave.
- The CEO: Power, money, and desire collide in a relationship that won’t stay neat or fair.
(If you tell me which edition/storefront you use, I can mirror the exact release sequence shown there.)
The Rochester Series (read in order)
A brooding billionaire / nanny-centered storyline with escalating intimacy and layered secrets.
- Private Property: A job arrangement becomes personal when boundaries start cracking.
- Strict Confidence: Trust gets tested when the past won’t stay quiet.
- Best Kept Secret: A hidden truth forces both leads to stop pretending they’re in control.
- Hiding Places: Safety becomes a moving target as outside pressure tightens.
- Behind Closed Doors: The final confrontations demand honesty, protection, and a future built on the whole truth.
Tanglewood University (read in order)
Academic power dynamics and dark tension, written to build momentum across the set.
- The Professor: Authority and attraction collide when “off-limits” becomes the point.
- The Student: The consequences of obsession sharpen when the balance of power shifts.
- Final Exam: A last test forces every secret into daylight, with no easy way out.
North Security (read in order)
Protective romance with brothers, danger, and loyalty that carries forward.
- Overture: A first case pulls a protective hero into a relationship that won’t stay professional.
- Concerto: The next romance builds under pressure, where trust is part of survival.
- Sonata: A deeper emotional bond forms while outside threats close in.
- Audition: A high-stakes connection turns serious when the cost of mistakes rises.
- Finale: The run ends with payoff, consequences, and a hard-won sense of stability.
Related (same general corner of the catalog):
- Diamond in the Rough: A sharp-edged romance about value, damage, and what it takes to be chosen.
- Gold Mine: A second entry that leans into temptation, risk, and what people do for security.
Smoke and Mirrors Trilogy (read in order)
A traveling circus setting where romance and danger move together.
- Red Flags: A woman walks into a circus full of secrets and meets the man who reads her too well.
- White Lies: Protection becomes complicated when the truth would destroy what they’ve built.
- Black Sheep: A return to the darkest corners of the story, where love has to survive exposure.
- Blue Moon (follow-up/extra): A final visit that works best after you know how the trilogy resolves.
The Hughes Series (read in order)
A billionaire playboy, an heiress, and a relationship that starts as a plan and turns real.
- One for the Money: A deal-based connection sparks into something neither can keep “casual.”
- Two for the Show: Public appearances force private feelings into sharper focus.
- Three to Get Ready: The final book pushes toward commitment with no room for half-truths.
Chicago Underground (read in order)
A gritty sequence of dangerous men, escalating stakes, and romances that echo across the set.
- Rough: A hard-edged attraction forms where tenderness feels like weakness.
- Hard: A battle of wills becomes a relationship neither lead can fully control.
- Fierce: Desire turns into a fight for power, safety, and belonging.
- Wild: Chaos meets obsession, and the fallout doesn’t stay contained.
- Dirty: A romance shaped by secrets and the cost of being wanted.
- Secret: What’s hidden becomes the most dangerous thing in the room.
- Sweet: A softer edge appears, but the stakes remain sharp.
- Deep: The final entry goes straight for the emotional core: need, fear, and surrender.
A Modern Fairy Tale Duet (read in order)
- Beauty and the Professor: A modern Beauty-and-the-Beast dynamic built on temptation, control, and consent lines.
- Falling for the Beast: The relationship deepens when love has to hold up under real-life consequences.
Stripped (read in order)
A dark-glamour romance line built around desire, damage, and emotional brinkmanship.
- Love the Way You Lie: A dangerous attraction ignites in a world where secrets are currency.
- Better When It Hurts: Pleasure and pain blur as trust becomes the real risk.
- Even Better: A fragile peace breaks when the past refuses to stay buried.
- Pretty When You Cry: Vulnerability becomes leverage, until it becomes intimacy.
- Caught for Christmas: A seasonal entry that still plays by the series’ darker rules.
- Hold You Against Me: Possession gets tested by reality, jealousy, and need.
- To the Ends of the Earth: Love becomes a choice made under pressure, again and again.
Dark Nights (read in order)
- Keep Me Safe: Protection turns into temptation, and the threat isn’t only external.
- Trust in Me: Trust gets rebuilt with difficulty, because the danger keeps returning.
- Don’t Let Go: The final book forces a decision that can’t be postponed.
- Hear Me (shorter tie-in): A concentrated slice that fits best after you know the main dynamic.
Criminals & Captives (with Annika Martin) (read in order)
- Prisoner: A captivity setup where survival and desire twist together in uncomfortable ways.
- Hostage: A later story that escalates the danger and raises the emotional cost.
Standalones and one-offs (read anytime)
These are listed as standalone titles on the author’s current book page.
- Anti Hero: A morally gray romance where “saving her” isn’t a clean act.
- Wanderlust: A restless need for escape turns into the one connection that won’t let go.
- On the Way Home: A journey story where proximity forces honesty and consequence.
- His for Christmas: A holiday romance with the intensity turned up, not softened.
Reading order that stays spoiler-safe (and doesn’t feel like homework)
If you want a path that samples different corners of the catalog:
- The Pawn → The Knight → The Castle
- Private Property (then continue Rochester if you want more)
- Overture (then continue North Security if you like protective heroes)
- Red Flags (then finish the Smoke and Mirrors trilogy)
FAQs
Do I have to read every Skye Warren series in order?
No. Series don’t require each other. But within a series, order protects major reveals.
What’s the cleanest “one book” test read?
The Pawn is the clearest snapshot of her darker, high-stakes style.
Why do some lists disagree about the Trust Fund order?
Different catalogs group and label those titles in slightly different ways. If you follow your edition’s publication order, you won’t get lost.
Best default choice
If you want one dependable entry: start with The Pawn, and if you like the tone, keep reading straight through the Endgame line before hopping elsewhere.
Frank is the editor of BookSeries.blog, focusing on publication order, chronological timelines, and spoiler-free reading guides for book series and fictional universes.

