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Penny Reid Books in Order

Explore Penny Reid's smart, funny romance books in order, with reading guides, series overviews, book summaries, and tips on where to start in her interconnected worlds.

Last updated: December 23, 2025

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48 books

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Prom King

by Penny Reid

2026

Book three in the Three Kings series is planned as the prom king's story, bringing the final member of the friend group home for the holidays to face unfinished business and, eventually, his own unexpected happily ever after.

Inheritance

by Penny Reid

2025

Genetics PhD student Samantha Jarlston is stunned to receive an invitation to her own wedding naming estranged childhood friend turned chess grandmaster Andreas Kristiansen as the groom, and agreeing to the bizarre arrangement drags her into corporate intrigue, academic threats, and a contract marriage with very real feelings.

Bananapants

by Penny Reid

2024

Tax attorney Ava Archer agrees to impersonate a glamorous colleague at an exclusive party, only to run into estranged childhood friend and professional thief Desmond Sullivan, and their heist filled reunion inside a secretive billionaire society turns into a madcap, high stakes second chance at love.

All Folked Up

by Penny Reid

2024

After a decade working as an exotic dancer to pay off her family's debts, Hannah Townsen is finally ready to retire quietly, until enigmatic loner Isaac Sylvester returns to Green Valley with secrets, sharp edges, and an inconvenient determination to be part of her future.

Laws of Physics

by Penny Reid

2023

This omnibus edition collects Motion, Space, and Time, charting the complicated relationship between hyperfocused physics prodigy Mona and free spirited musician Abram as a one week identity swap spirals into years of separation, longing, and a slow climb toward honesty and partnership.

Ten Trends to Seduce Your Bestfriend

by Penny Reid

2022

Science teacher Winnie Gobaldi and reclusive author Byron Visser agree to fake a best friend relationship online to boost her social media following and clean up his image, but viral challenges and simmering attraction turn a simple hashtag into a life changing experiment.

Songbird

by Penny Reid

2022

On a lonely Christmas Eve in Dublin, worn out waitress and singer Ophelia stuns a quiet pub with her voice, catching the ear of low key American record producer Broderick, and a single night of music and city lights becomes an unforgettable holiday connection.

Folk Around and Find Out

by Penny Reid

2022

Single mom Charlotte Mitchell needs access to Hank Weller's strip club for a sudden family emergency, and he absolutely does not want to help the woman who once broke his teenage heart, but grudges, blackmail, and undeniable chemistry soon have Green Valley buzzing about their slow burn collision.

Drama King

by Penny Reid

2022

Bodyguard Bathsheba Ryan lands her dream job protecting a brooding movie star, only to realize he is the man from a disastrous blind date, and a Christmas Eve snowstorm strands the consummate professional with her difficult client long enough for every boundary to be tested.

Totally Folked

by Penny Reid

2021

Small town sheriff's deputy Jackson James is used to being Green Valley's charming playboy, but when international movie star Raquel Ezra returns after their long ago one night stand, scandal, nosy neighbors, and real feelings make it hard for either of them to keep things casual.

Marriage and Murder

by Penny Reid

2021

As Cletus and Jenn's long awaited wedding approaches, a shocking murder at their engagement party turns Green Valley upside down, and the couple must juggle family drama, bakery business, and a dangerous investigation if they want to make it to the altar.

Live and Let Grow

by Penny Reid

2021

Best friends and fellow professors Alice Hooper and Milo Manganiello have spent fifteen years sharing breakfast and inside jokes, but when Alice finally decides to confess the love she has been hiding, she risks the friendship that has rooted every part of her life.

Just Folking Around

by Penny Reid

2021

Movie star Raquel Ezra believes in no strings hookups, not small towns, until a one night chess match with charming sheriff's deputy Jackson James in Green Valley leaves her wondering if reality with a kind, grounded man can beat any Hollywood fantasy.

Homecoming King

by Penny Reid

2021

Perpetually single football player Rex TW McMurtry is tired of watching his exes marry the next guy they date, so when he runs into childhood friend and secret admirer Abby at her bar, a fake relationship pact slowly transforms into something real and terrifyingly permanent.

Beard in Hiding

by Penny Reid

2021

Newly divorced Green Valley business leader Diane Donner goes looking for a little danger and finds it in quiet biker accountant Jason Repo Doe, but their secret fling turns complicated when business entanglements and old enemies make their unlikely connection hard to keep in the shadows.

Engagement and Espionage

by Penny Reid

2020

Freshly engaged bakery owner Jennifer Sylvester and scheming genius Cletus Winston just want to plan their wedding, but a rash of sabotage in Green Valley's farm community drags them into a cozy mystery that tests their sleuthing skills and their ability to make time for each other.

Time

by Penny Reid

2019

Months after Mona's deception shatters Abram's trust, fate throws them together again when their careers collide, and both must decide whether brutal honesty, forgiveness, and a second chance can overcome the lies that started everything.

Space

by Penny Reid

2019

Still pretending to be her twin, Mona spends a week snowed in at a mountain cabin with Abram, where simmering attraction, guilty secrets, and long conversations push her dangerously close to confessing the truth before the consequences grow impossible to escape.

Motion

by Penny Reid

2019

Genius physics student Mona agrees to impersonate her reckless twin sister for one week so their celebrity parents will not discover another scandal, but being trapped at a remote house with her brother's musician friend Abram makes her carefully controlled life spin off its axis.

Kissing Galileo

by Penny Reid

2019

When a graduate student's wardrobe malfunction leaves her mostly naked in front of her brilliant, grumpy research methods professor, an unlikely friendship forms that gradually shifts into a slow burn, friends to lovers romance built on late night study sessions and hard won trust.

Beard with Me

by Penny Reid

2019

Set years before the main Winston Brothers books, this prequel follows resilient teen Scarlet St. Claire and responsible eldest brother Billy Winston as their secret, intense friendship in a hostile hometown blossoms into a first love neither of them is free to keep.

Beard Necessities

by Penny Reid

2019

After decades of sacrifice and heartbreaking misunderstandings, Billy Winston's meddling family strands him in Italy with his long lost love Scarlet, forcing the stubborn pair to confront old wounds, buried truths, and the future they might still claim together.

The Varlet and the Voyeur

by Penny Reid

2018

After a humiliating scandal exposes his private kink, famously stoic rugby player Will Moore agrees to become the subject of a blunt, no nonsense blogger's research project, and their odd arrangement slowly turns into a vulnerable, deeply personal romance.

Scenes from the Hallway

by Penny Reid

2018

Told from Dan O'Malley's perspective, this short prequel offers a glimpse of his years of pining for Kat Tanner, from their first chaotic meetings to that infamous trip to Las Vegas, setting the stage for the marriage of convenience chaos in Marriage of Inconvenience.

Marriage of Inconvenience

by Penny Reid

2018

Runaway heiress Kat Tanner must marry immediately to keep her corrupt relatives from seizing her family's pharmaceutical empire, so she turns to gruff security guard Dan O'Malley, and their practical arrangement makes long buried attraction impossible to ignore.

Dr. Strange Beard

by Penny Reid

2018

Animal loving tattoo artist Roscoe Winston remembers every painful detail of the night his best friend Simone walked away, so when an undercover investigation brings her back to Green Valley, old feelings collide with dangerous secrets and the chance to rewrite their shared past.

Cocktales

by Penny Reid

2018

This limited edition charity anthology gathers tongue in cheek short romance pieces from multiple authors, including a story set in Penny Reid's universe, created to raise funds while poking fun at a notorious trademark dispute in the romance community.

The Cad and the Co-Ed

by Penny Reid

2017

A once disgraced rugby star is determined to rebuild his career and reputation, but when he realizes the new staffer at his club is the woman he drunkenly hurt years ago, redemption starts to look a lot like slowly earning the trust of a single mother.

Dating-ish

by Penny Reid

2017

Burned out on terrible online dates, journalist Marie Harris decides to investigate whether paid services and technology can replace romance, but her experiment entangles her with an awkwardly brilliant AI researcher whose proposed solution blurs the line between emotional study and real love.

Beard in Mind

by Penny Reid

2017

Mechanic Beau Winston prides himself on being the nice twin, yet partnering in the garage with prickly new hire Shelly Sullivan exposes the anger and anxiety he has been hiding, forcing both of them to face past trauma and the risky hope of falling in love.

The Player and the Pixie

by Penny Reid

2016

On the field, a notorious Irish rugby star is unstoppable, but off the field his romantic track record is a disaster, so when he secretly recruits a sharp tongued wallflower to help him improve, their lessons in compatibility turn unexpectedly intimate.

Happily Ever Ninja

by Penny Reid

2016

Fourteen years into marriage, ninja level problem solver Fiona Archer juggles kids in Chicago while her engineer husband Greg works dangerous jobs overseas, until a crisis drags her into the field and the couple must fight kidnappers, burnout, and old resentments to save their future.

Grin and Beard It

by Penny Reid

2016

Former bad boy Jethro Winston has reinvented himself as a park ranger in the Smoky Mountains, but when he is assigned to guide wildly successful actress Sienna Diaz through the backwoods, their easy banter and quiet vulnerability test both his new life and her guarded independence.

Beard Science

by Penny Reid

2016

Green Valley's Banana Cake Queen, Jennifer Sylvester, is tired of being controlled by her parents and the town's expectations, so she blackmails scheming genius Cletus Winston into helping her reinvent herself, only to discover the infuriating man might be the partner she actually wants.

Truth or Beard

by Penny Reid

2015

Duane Winston has loved Jessica James since high school, but she has always mixed him up with his identical twin, so when a case of mistaken identity leads to a scorching kiss, Duane seizes the chance to win over the adventurous math teacher without losing his close knit family.

The Hooker and the Hermit

by Penny Reid

2015

Reclusive celebrity blogger and social media expert Annie Catrel is assigned to rehabilitate the image of scandal plagued Irish rugby star Ronan Fitzpatrick, and their uneasy partnership forces both a media hermit and a media villain to risk being seen for who they really are.

Ninja at First Sight

by Penny Reid

2015

Sheltered former Olympic hopeful Fiona just wants to focus on college, until she is thrown together in student housing with cynical ex Marine Greg, and a wary friendship between opposites slowly turns into the kind of first love that changes everything.

Heat

by Penny Reid

2015

Back on campus after the island, Kaitlyn tries to keep her distance from Martin, but media scrutiny, family expectations, and their unresolved chemistry ignite during a chaotic week that forces both of them to confront privilege, pride, and what they actually want.

Elements of Chemistry

by Penny Reid

2015

This omnibus collects Attraction, Heat, and Capture, following invisible girl scientist Kaitlyn Parker and billionaire rower Martin Sandeke from an impulsive spring break on a private island through heartbreak, growth, and a hard won happily ever after.

Capture

by Penny Reid

2015

Years after their breakup, Kaitlyn and Martin collide again in New York, where careers, obligations, and old wounds stand between them, and they must decide whether to rebuild trust or finally walk away from the connection that has defined them for so long.

Attraction

by Penny Reid

2015

Reserved chemistry student Kaitlyn Parker agrees to spend spring break on a private island with her infuriating lab partner Martin Sandeke, and their forced proximity turns quiet loathing into an intense attraction that upends her careful plans.

Scenes from the City

by Penny Reid

2014

This companion collection gathers short stories and extra scenes from across the Knitting in the City series, offering glimpses of weddings, holidays, and everyday chaos for Janie, Elizabeth, Sandra, Ashley, Fiona, Marie, and Kat after their main novels end.

Neanderthal Marries Human

by Penny Reid

2014

Now that Janie and Quinn are finally together, engagement and wedding plans prove far more complicated than any spreadsheet, forcing Janie to face family drama and old fears while Quinn fights to convince her that messy commitment is worth the risk.

Love Hacked

by Penny Reid

2014

Therapist Sandra Fielding has a knack for making first dates cry, but a spontaneous encounter with her mysterious favorite waiter, Alex, turns into secret late night adventures and a romance that will only work if she can love a man who refuses to be fixed.

Kissing Tolstoy

by Penny Reid

2014

A shy literature student is horrified to discover that the charming stranger from a recent blind date is now her Russian literature professor, and resisting their off limits attraction becomes a crash course in boundaries, honesty, and second chances.

Beauty and the Mustache

by Penny Reid

2014

When Chicago nurse Ashley Winston rushes home to rural Tennessee to care for her ailing mother, she clashes with gruff, poetry loving park ranger Drew Runous and must decide whether the life she built in the city can compete with family, grief, and unexpected mountain love.

Neanderthal Seeks Human

by Penny Reid

2013

On the worst day of her life, trivia obsessed Janie Morris loses her job, home, and boyfriend, only to be repeatedly rescued by enigmatic security professional Quinn Sullivan, whose offer of help drags her into his secretive world and an unexpected romance.

Friends Without Benefits

by Penny Reid

2013

Elizabeth Finney believes her one shot at true love died with her childhood sweetheart, so she keeps relationships safely casual until infamous comedian Nico Manganiello barrels back into her life and refuses to accept being kept at arm's length.

Where should I start?

If you want quirky, brainy rom-coms: Neanderthal Seeks HumanFriends Without BenefitsLove Hacked.
If you love small-town, bearded heroes: Beauty and the MustacheTruth or BeardGrin and Beard ItBeard Science.
If you prefer STEM-heavy new adult romance: AttractionHeatCaptureElements of Chemistry.
If cozy mysteries sound fun: Engagement and EspionageMarriage and Murder.
If you want holiday rom-com vibes: Homecoming KingDrama KingProm King.

Author bio

Penny Reid writes contemporary romances about brainy people with messy feelings, small towns with big personalities, and families you end up wanting to visit.

Before publishing full time, she spent her days as a biomedical researcher writing federal grant proposals, the kind of work that demanded precision and patience. That science background shows up in her stories, from lab benches and physics departments to the way her characters pick apart problems and test their own assumptions.

Her first book, Neanderthal Seeks Human, began as a side project after a friend complained there were not enough romances with truly smart heroines. Penny took that as a challenge. The book introduced readers to the Knitting in the City series, seven friends in Chicago who lean on each other through breakups, career changes, and happily ever afters that never run quite according to plan.

From there her fictional universe expanded. The Winston Brothers books shift the focus to Green Valley, Tennessee, where six bearded brothers and their sister tackle family baggage, biker gangs, and love stories that feel both outrageous and grounded. Spin offs like Totally Folked, Engagement and Espionage, and Beard in Hiding keep returning to that same Appalachian town, filling it with side characters who demand stories of their own.

Penny also writes what she calls STEM romances, where science is not just window dressing. In the Hypothesis universe, trilogies like Elements of Chemistry and the Laws of Physics books follow women who are chemists, physicists, and geneticists dealing with lab politics, impostor syndrome, and very inconvenient attraction. The tone stays light and funny, but the academic settings, ethical questions, and little nerdy tangents are treated with care.

Across all of these series, certain themes repeat. Her heroines are often anxious, analytical, or socially awkward, and they tend to find partners who respect their brains as much as their bodies. Friend groups and families matter just as much as the central couple. Jokes about math, pop culture, and baked goods are common, as are quiet moments about trauma, mental health, and forgiveness.

Outside the pages, Penny is an obsessive knitter who jokes that yarn is her preferred form of stress relief. She channels some of that community minded energy into Smartypants Romance, a mentorship imprint focused on giving more authors, especially underrepresented voices, a way into the Green Valley world and beyond.

These days she lives in Seattle, Washington, with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Hazel. She still thinks of herself as a researcher at heart, only now the experiments happen on the page, testing what happens when you give complicated people space to be funny, flawed, and deeply in love.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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All 48 Penny Reid Books in Order (Complete List 2026)