Sherry Thomas Books in Order: The Complete Romance Reading Guide

First, the lay of the land. Thomas's romances group into the Fitzhugh trilogy (the one that truly must be read in order), the loosely linked London trilogy, the Marsdens pair, the Heart of Blade duology, and a handful of connected novellas. Her Lady Sherlock books are historical mysteries, not romances — gorgeous, but a different shelf. Angst level across the board: high. Gloriously, deliciously high.

The Fitzhugh trilogy in order

Three siblings, three love stories, one overlapping timeline — read these in order.

1. Beguiling the Beauty (2012) — A duke publicly insults society's great beauty; years later she boards his transatlantic liner heavily veiled and lets him fall for a woman whose face he never sees. Revenge, romance, and one spectacular reveal.
2. Ravishing the Heiress (2012) — The one readers never recover from. Millie and Fitz have had a practical, amiable marriage of convenience for eight years. She has been silently in love with him the entire time. Bring tissues.
3. Tempting the Bride (2012) — Helena has always despised Hastings; a scandal forces them to marry, and then an accident erases her memory of hating him. Enemies-to-lovers with an amnesia twist that actually earns it.

The trilogy comes with connected novellas if you want to linger: Claiming the Duchess (a prequel), A Dance in Moonlight, and The Bride of Larkspear (note: that last one is her steamiest work by far — check the content notes before diving in).

The London trilogy

These three share a world rather than a plot, so order is flexible. Thomas's own suggested reading order:

1. The Luckiest Lady in London (2013) — London's most perfect gentleman meets a dowry-less young woman who sees straight through him. The mutual, reluctant obsession is exquisite.
2. Private Arrangements (2008) — Her debut. A society couple has lived apart for a decade in a picture-perfect sham marriage — until she asks for a divorce, and he sets conditions. Second-chance romance with teeth.
3. His at Night (2010) — A spy who masquerades as an amiable idiot meets a desperate woman who traps him into marriage to escape her uncle. Both are lying; both are caught.

The Marsdens and the Heart of Blade duology

The two Marsdens books are linked by family but read comfortably alone:

1. Delicious (2008) — A Cinderella story where Cinderella is a famous cook with a past, and the prince is the rising politician who inherits the house she works in.
2. Not Quite a Husband (2009) — An annulled marriage, a pioneering female physician, and a journey through the Himalayas that forces two wounded people back together. For many readers, her masterpiece.

The Heart of Blade duology should be read in order — The Hidden Blade (2014) then My Beautiful Enemy (2014). It follows a martial-arts-trained heroine from China and an English gentleman across years and continents; the first book is the origin story, the second the romance. Unlike anything else in the genre.

A note on Lady Sherlock

Thomas now writes the Lady Sherlock historical mysteries, beginning with A Study in Scarlet Women (2016), in which Charlotte Holmes becomes the mind behind a fictitious "Sherlock." There is a slow-burn romantic thread — Charlotte and Lord Ingram, beloved by all — but these are mysteries first and must be read in publication order. If you came for kissing books, start with the romances; if you finish those and want more of her prose, Lady Sherlock is waiting.

Where to start

For maximum devastation, start with Ravishing the Heiress — yes, it is book two of the Fitzhugh trilogy, but it is the pining masterclass everyone quotes, and the trilogy purists can start one book earlier with Beguiling the Beauty. If you prefer standalones, Not Quite a Husband is the single best introduction to what Thomas does: intelligent, adult, emotionally ruinous romance. And if you want her wittiest book, The Luckiest Lady in London sparkles from the first page.