Crown's Spies in Order

Garwood's signature is here in full: enormous, protective heroes, heroines who are far more dangerous than they look, and comedy that arrives in the middle of genuine peril. The espionage is largely a device for putting those people in the same room.

The Crown's Spies books in order

1. The Lion's Lady (1988) — Christina, raised among the Dakota after her mother fled England, arrives in London society knowing exactly how to survive it and nothing about how to belong. Lyon, Marquess of Lyonwood, notices immediately. The book that made the series.
2. Guardian Angel (1990) — Jade, running an elaborate deception, and Caine Cainewood, who works out what she is doing far too late to stop caring. The funniest of the four.
3. The Gift (1991) — Sara and Nathan, married by royal decree as children and meeting properly as adults years later. A marriage-first romance with pirates in it.
4. Castles (1993) — Princess Alesandra, sent to England for safety and immediately proving to be the least safe person in any room, and Colin. Closes the series.

Four books. Come the Spring is frequently listed as a fifth — it belongs to Garwood's Clayborne family series and is set in America, not Regency England.

Do they need to be read in order?

No. Each is a complete standalone romance, and the connections are friendships between the men rather than any continuing plot. Readers routinely start with The Lion's Lady or The Gift depending on which premise appeals more.

Reading forward does give you the pleasure of watching each hero appear as a supporting character before his own book, which is the standard reward of an old-fashioned connected series and still a good one.

Why 1980s Garwood still reads well

Because the comedy holds up. Garwood's heroines are relentlessly capable in ways their heroes consistently fail to anticipate, and the running joke of an enormous, competent man being comprehensively outmanoeuvred by a small determined woman never gets old.

What has dated is the pacing and some of the period conventions — these are big, leisurely books with a fondness for grand gestures. If you have only read historical romance published in the last decade, expect a different rhythm.

What to read next

Garwood's medieval Scottish books are the other half of her reputation — see the Highlands' Lairds. Everything she has written is set out in the Julie Garwood reading order. For the same era done in a more modern register, Loretta Chase's Scoundrels.

These are worth approaching as products of their moment rather than as contemporary romances in period dress. The plotting is broader, the pacing quicker and the humour more overt than in most historical romance written now, which is precisely what readers who love Garwood love her for. If that suits you, her medievals in the Highlands Lairds do the same thing in a different setting, and the Julie Garwood reading order has the rest.