Susan Wiggs Books in Order (Updated 2026-02-05)

Susan Wiggs has written across small-town contemporary, family-centered women’s fiction, and historical romance. Some books are true standalones, while others live in clearly defined series where returning characters and community events show up again later.

If you’re deciding how “in order” you want to be: read each series in sequence, and treat everything else as pick-up-anytime.

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How to choose your entry point

For a long, cozy small-town run: start with the first Lakeshore book and keep going.
For wine country + family history: start with the first Bella Vista book.
For historical romance: start with the first Tudor Rose book (or the Chicago Fire trio if you want a tighter arc).
For a modern standalone: begin with one of the recent single titles near the end of this guide.

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Lakeshore Chronicles (read in order)

This is the Willow Lake setting. The emotional weight builds across neighbors, families, and seasonal turning points.

1. Summer at Willow Lake: After losing everything, a woman returns to the lake and finds that starting over can be both painful and magnetic.
2. The Winter Lodge: A snowbound refuge turns into a pressure cooker where secrets thaw faster than the weather.
3. Dockside: A woman ready to reclaim her life discovers that the man who feels “safe” might also be the biggest risk.
4. Snowfall at Willow Lake: Holiday stillness pulls two guarded people into a romance that asks for real trust.
5. Fireside: A family crisis forces old patterns into the open, and makes room for new choices.
6. Lakeshore Christmas: A season of traditions becomes the setting for forgiveness, second chances, and hard truths said gently.
7. The Summer Hideaway: A warm-weather escape turns into an emotional homecoming neither lead expected to need.
8. Marrying Daisy Bellamy: A wedding on the horizon stirs up unresolved feelings and the kind of love that won’t wait politely.
9. Return to Willow Lake: A long-distance life collides with the lake’s pull, asking what “home” really costs.
10. Candlelight Christmas: A small-town Christmas forces courage into daylight, one decision at a time.
11. Starlight on Willow Lake: A final Willow Lake chapter that leans into legacy, belonging, and the love that lasts.

Optional side story:

• Homecoming Season (novella): A shorter Willow Lake visit that lands best once you’ve met the town.

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Bella Vista Chronicles (read in order)

These novels blend romance with family history, land, food, and the complicated comfort of returning to roots.

1. The Apple Orchard: A family inheritance opens a door to buried history, and to a future that isn’t as simple as selling and leaving.
2. The Beekeeper’s Ball: A second chance comes wrapped in community expectations and the kind of attraction that refuses to stay “past tense.”
3. The Lost and Found Bookshop: A woman rebuilding her life discovers that a bookstore can be both shelter and crossroads.
4. Sugar and Salt: A fresh start tastes sweet until old wounds and new love demand honesty at the same time.

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Switchback, Vermont (read in order)

A smaller line with a clear start, plus an extra story that fits best before the novel.

0. The Key Ingredient (novella): A bite-sized Vermont story about food, connection, and the moment “fine” stops being enough.
1. Family Tree: A hard-won family truth reshapes a woman’s sense of self, love, and what healing actually requires.

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Calhoun Chronicles (read in order)

Historical romance with continuing society connections, order keeps character introductions clean.

1. The Charm School: A proper façade slips when desire and ambition show their real faces.
2. The Horsemaster’s Daughter: A woman raised around discipline and duty meets a love that challenges both.
3. Halfway to Heaven: A risky romance grows where reputation says it shouldn’t.
4. Enchanted Afternoon: A single day becomes a turning point that refuses to stay small.
5. A Summer Affair: A seasonal romance turns serious when consequences arrive early.

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Great Chicago Fire Trilogy (read in order)

A historical trio where the city’s crisis heightens every personal stake.

1. The Hostage: Control and vulnerability collide as danger forces intimacy into the open.
2. The Mistress: A relationship built on power shifts when real feeling shows up uninvited.
3. The Firebrand: A final escalation where survival and devotion have to share the same breath.

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Tudor Rose (read in order)

A royal-court historical sequence; read in order for the political and personal through-lines.

1. At the King’s Command: Duty to crown and heart collide under watchful eyes.
2. The Maiden’s Hand: A woman caught in court currents learns how to choose herself without losing everything.
3. At the Queen’s Summons: The final pull of loyalty and love asks for a decision that can’t be undone.

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Standalone novels and recent single-title reads (any order)

These are not series-dependent. Pick the premise that fits your mood.

• Map of the Heart: A woman traces family and identity across distance, discovering that love can be both anchor and storm.
• Between You and Me: A relationship is tested when the past resurfaces and the future demands clarity.
• The Oysterville Sewing Circle: A seaside community stitches together friendship and repair when life unravels at the seams.
• Welcome to Beachtown: A coastal reset turns complicated when professional pressure meets personal longing.
• The Twelve Dogs of Christmas: Holiday warmth, small-town chaos, and a romance that grows one stubborn step at a time.
• Wayward Girls: In late-1960s Buffalo, girls forced into confinement form bonds strong enough to outlast the system meant to break them.

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A clean, non-fussy reading plan

If you want a satisfying tour without committing to everything:

1. Read Bella Vista (books 1–4) for family + place + romance.
2. Then move to Lakeshore Chronicles (books 1–11) for a longer community arc.
3. When you want a complete change of flavor, try Wayward Girls as a standalone reset.

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Notes readers usually ask about

Do I have to read Susan Wiggs in publication order?
No. Read series in order, and treat standalones as flexible.

Which series is most “spoiler sensitive”?
Lakeshore, because later books naturally reference earlier couples and town events.

Do the holiday-titled books require anything first?
Inside Lakeshore, the holiday books land best in sequence. Outside Lakeshore, holiday standalones can be read anytime.