Books
Series Connections
The Lord Trilogy and Swanlea Spinster Series are connected to each other. So are the Royal Brotherhood Trilogy and the Heiress Series.
The connection between the second two series isn't that complex. Simon and Louisa, who appear originally as secondary characters in the Royal Brotherhood Trilogy, have their own book in the Heiress Series (book 2: Only a Duke Will Do). Their siblings show up in that book as well, and some of the characters from the trilogy are mentioned in passing. You can read both series in order without missing anything, although I would read the Royal Brotherhood Trilogy before reading Only a Duke Will Do.
The Lord Trilogy and Swanlea Spinster Series are far more closely interwoven, so I've done a graph timeline with color coding to demonstrate. The row below the timeline shows which books stretch from what dates to what dates. One glance at the overlaps should tell you it's impossible to read the books in chronological order unless you read pieces (which I wouldn't recommend). Although the Swanlea series starts before the Lord trilogy, I would recommend reading the Lord trilogy first and then the Swanlea series. The legend to the right contains the order.
Readers have also asked how stand-alone the books are. While the Lord trilogy is possibly a bit more enjoyable if you read the books in order, it's unnecessary. They stand alone pretty well. The first three books of the Swanlea series, however, are more connected than I intended (see my Inside Scoop page for A Notorious Love to learn how I let a character talk me out of my original plan). Plot events in the first propel events in the second, which propel events in the third. But the fourth and fifth books are very much stand-alone, so if you decide to start with Dance of Seduction and Married to the Viscount, then go back for the first three books, you won't be at all confused.
