Erica James Books in Order

All of Erica James’ Books in Order!

Who is Erica James?

Erica James is a British best-selling and award-winning writer of romance novels.

After attending a creative writing course with the Arvon Foundation, She began writing her first novel, A Breath of Fresh Air, which was published in 1996. Since then, she wrote more than 25 more books.

Popular in her own country, Erica James is also famous around the world as her books have been translated into thirteen languages.

How to read Erica James’ Books in Order?

• A Breath of Fresh Air (1996) – Charlotte Lawrence, widowed at 34, decides to return to all things pre-Peter, and that means moving back to the Cheshire village of her childhood. It also means exchanging a clinical company apartment for the pretty but overgrown garden of Ivy Cottage and the constant attentions of her interfering sister Hilary. Most of all it means Alex, Ivy Cottage’s drop-dead gorgeous tenant, with whom Hilary is determined Charlotte should find love anew, and whose charming exterior hides his own secret tragedy.
• Time for a Change (1997) – Hilary had always thought she’d lived a charmed life. With a caring husband, David, and two lively children, she took an active part in both family and village life. Then, one Monday morning, Hilary’s world is turned upside down. She discovers that David is having an affair. How could he? How could he put at risk their children and everything they have built together over the years? The question is, what should Hilary do?
• Airs and Graces (1997) – Ellen has been living on her own in a picturesque if damp cottage since her husband abandoned her for another woman. Having married once for love, she is now determined that the second time around it will be for money. Close at hand is Duncan, her attractive and enticingly single divorce lawyer. Just when her plan is about to come to fruition, two new people enter her life: Jo-Jo, a homeless girl who is several months pregnant; and Matthew, an artist who paints murals in country houses and who openly criticizes Ellen for being mercenary and devious. As hostility gives way to a close friendship with Matthew, Ellen begins to realize that she has wavered off course from her original plan.

• A Sense of Belonging (1998) – In the heart of the Cheshire countryside, Cholmford Hall Mews, a converted eighteenth-century barn, is far more than an exclusive home to its new inhabitants. For Jessica Lloyd, it is a haven where she can recover from a love affair long past its sell-by date; Amanda Fergusson, whose marriage is one of straightforward convenience, is determined to get the most out of the situation; for Kate Morris it offers a fresh start where her love for newly divorced Alec can flourish; and for Josh Crawford, his new home offers a sanctuary where he can come to terms with the most devastating news of his life. But will they find rather more than they bargained for…?
• Act of Faith (1999) – It’s almost Christmas. But for Ali, the season of good cheer is the anniversary of her baby’s death. As she stands at her son’s grave, she is poignantly aware of how dramatically her life has changed. Determined to stand on her own two feet and get through Christmas alone, Ali turns down her ex-husband’s unexpected invitation to spend the holiday with him and his father, only to give in to her best friend’s cajoling to share the festive season with her. The only trouble is, it means having to be nice to Sarah’s awful husband, Trevor.
• The Holiday (2000) – Torn between struggling to live up to the expectations of being a Modern Woman and ridding herself of the effect of a repressed upbringing, Izzy Jordan would be the first to admit that it’s time to take stock of her life. She’s thirty-one, with a teaching career on the skids. She also has a manipulative mother and an ex-boyfriend whose parting shot was to tell her she was boring in bed! So when she’s invited to spend the summer on Corfu and is offered the chance of a no-strings holiday romance with the irresistible Theo, what should she do?

• Precious Time (2001) – In order to spend more time with her four-year-old son Ned, Clara Costello trades in her secure, well-paid job and two-seater sports car for a camper van called Winnie, and the three of them set off on a mystery tour of England. But when they arrive in Deaconsbridge, a small market town on the edge of the Peak District, Clara and Ned become drawn into the lives of the locals. Then Clara finds herself having to confront a problem much closer to home, and one she had hoped she would never have to face…
• Hidden Talents (2002) – Dulcie Ballantyne is prepared to welcome an unlikely mix of people when she founds her creative writers’ group, Hidden Talents, and her expectations are not disappointed. For all their differences, Dulcie quickly realizes that each member has a need to escape and a desire to keep their lives as private as possible. As they grow more confident in their writing skills, friendships develop, and gradually the group comes to realize that a little openness isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
• Paradise House (2003) – Angel Sands is a traditional seaside resort of bed and breakfasts, cottages to rent, and teashops, and the place with the best views of the tiny beach and surrounding coastline is Paradise House, home to the Baxter girls-or the Sisters of Whimsy as they’re known locally. With their mother taking time out to find herself, it’s down to Genevieve to maintain the smooth running of the family-owned B&B. This is no easy task given that their father-now that his wife isn’t around-has suddenly become a magnet for the opposite sex. And there’s little help from her sisters. But when news spreads in the tightly knit community that a nearby dilapidated barn has been sold, Genevieve finds that a bittersweet trip down memory lane is unavoidable.

• Love and Devotion (2004) – Harriet Swift thinks she has the perfect life. But then her only sister is killed in a car crash, and Harriet is forced to give up her well-ordered life to help look after her orphaned niece and nephew. Moving back to her childhood home in Maple Drive, and sacrificing so much, doesn’t come easy and before long Harriet discovers things about her family she never believed possible.
• Gardens of Delight (2005) – The Gardens of Delight brochure promises the opportunity to visit some of the most beautiful and enchanting gardens in the Lake Como area of Italy. For Lucy Grey, assistant manager at Meadow Hill Garden center, the chance to go to Italy offers more than just gardens. Lake Como is where her father lives. Recently married, Helen Madison-Tyler and her wealthy husband have just moved into the Old Rectory in Swanmere. With her husband spending so much time away from home, Helen throws herself into caring for the garden. Conrad Truman isn’t interested in gardening. Widowed for five years, his life revolves around work and humoring Mac, his curmudgeonly elderly uncle, who has expressed a desire to go on the Gardens of Delight tour. Reluctantly, Conrad agrees to go. “Anything for a peaceful life,” he concedes. But a peaceful life is the last thing any of them are in for.
• Tell It to the Skies (2007) – As a young child, Lydia and her sister were sent to live with grandparents they’d never even met. It’s a cruel and loveless new world for them and it teaches Lydia to grow up fast. She learns to keep secrets and to trust sparingly. And through it all she suppresses her grief and guilt, believing she is to blame for her mother’s death. Now, 28 years later, Lydia is persuaded to leave behind the safe new life she has created in Venice, and return to England to face the past. And maybe her future…

• It’s the Little Things (2009) – Dan and Sally Oliver and their friend Chloe Hennessey are lucky to be alive. Three years on, after surviving one of the world’s biggest natural disasters – the Boxing Day tsunami – their lives have changed dramatically. Dan and Sally are now parents. Dan is enjoying being a stay-at-home father taking care of their young son, and Sally is the breadwinner and loves her job as a partner in a Manchester law firm. The arrangement has so far worked well, but when Dan starts to question whether Sally has got her priorities right, the cracks in their marriage begin to appear.
• The Queen of New Beginnings (2010) – Alice Shoemaker habitually goes to great lengths to avoid telling the truth about herself and her past. After agreeing to help out a friend by shopping and cleaning for the unknown man staying at Cuckoo House, she soon becomes suspicious that her strange and obnoxiously rude client has something to hide. Clayton Miller’s life is a mess. His career as one of the country’s best comedy scriptwriters has stalled, and his long-term girlfriend has left him for his ex-best friend and ex-writing partner. When Alice and Clayton discover the truth about each other they form an unlikely friendship.
• Promises, Promises (2010) – Maggie Storm spends her days cleaning houses for people who often have more money than manners. Married to a man with as much sex appeal as Mr Blobby, she dreams of a life straight from the pages of a romantic novel. Ella Moore is determined never to let her heart get the better of her again, is recovering from seven wasted years of failing to win over the daughter of the man with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life. Ethan Edwards who distracts himself from the depressing sham of his marriage is a repeat offender when it comes to turning to other women for sexual consolation. But when Ella appears unexpectedly in his life, he finds himself turning to her for very different reasons.

• The Real Katie Lavender (2011) – Katie Lavender has always thought she was pretty unshockable, until a year after her mother’s death she receives a letter from a solicitor telling her that the man she thought was her father, in fact, wasn’t. Her real father, a man named Stirling Nightingale, has for years been building a trust fund for her. And now she’s of an age to collect it. But Katie’s not interested in the money. She wants to know about the man instead. So decides to do some snooping. And so Katie discovers that the Nightingales are far from your normal family…But what makes a normal family anyway?
• The Hidden Cottage (2012) – Mia Channing appears to have an enviable life: a beautiful home, a happy marriage, a job she enjoys, and three grown-up children to whom she’s devoted. But appearances can be deceptive… When the family gathers for her son’s thirtieth birthday, he brings with him his latest girlfriend, who, to their surprise, has a nine-year-old daughter. Then, before the birthday cake has even been cut, Mia’s youngest daughter Daisy has seized the opportunity to drop a bombshell. It’s an evening that marks a turning point in all their lives, when old resentments and regrets surface and the carefully ordered world Mia has created begins to unravel.
• Summer at the Lake (2013) – A fateful car crash sets in motions a series of events for Floriana, Esme. Floriana gathers the courage to attend the wedding of her one true love, and Esme journeys with her to Lake Como to find the man who stole her heart many years ago. It’s time for Esme and Floriana to face the past – and the future – on the shore of the most romantic and enchanting of lakes.

• The Dandelion Years (2015) – Ashcombe was the most beautiful house Saskia had ever seen as a little girl, providing a perfect sanctuary to hide from the tragedy which shattered her childhood. Now an adult, Saskia is still living at Ashcombe and, as a book restorer, devotes her days tending to broken, battered books. When she discovers a notebook carefully concealed in an old Bible, Saskia finds herself drawn into a heart-rending tale of wartime love…
• The Song of the Skylark (2016) – Lizzie has always had bad luck. Losing her heart to her boss leads to her losing her job, and with no money in the bank Lizzie finds herself forced to move back home with her parents. Now in her 90s, Mrs. Dallimore is also coming to terms with her situation. Old age is finally catching up with her. As they form the bond of unexpected friendship, Lizzie begins to realize that she’s not the only person to attract bad luck and that sometimes life has a way of surprising you…
• Coming Home to Island House (2018) – It’s the summer of 1939, and after touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, the charismatic Jack Devereux. But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called home and given seven days to find a way to bury their resentments and come together. With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings.

• Swallowtail Summer (2019) – Linston End on the Norfolk Broads has been the holiday home to three families for many years. The memories of their time there are ingrained in their hearts: picnics on the river, gin and tonics in the pavilion at dusk, hours spent seeking out the local swallowtail butterflies. Everyone together. But widower Alastair has been faced with a few of life’s surprises recently. Now, he is about to shock his circle of friends with the decisions he has made – and the changes it will mean for them all. For some, it feels like the end. For others, it might just be the beginning…
• Letters From the Past (2020) – It’s the autumn of 1962 in the idyllic Suffolk village of Melstead St Mary. Evelyn Devereux’s husband Kit is planning their 20th wedding anniversary party. But as they prepare to celebrate, Evelyn receives an anonymous letter that threatens to unravel the secrets she’s kept hidden for many years – secrets that reach back to the war and her days at Bletchley Park. the fragile world of Hope, Evelyn’s sister-in-law, is also turned upside down when she too receives an anonymous letter. Meanwhile, in the sun-baked desert of Palm Springs, Romily Devereux-Temple, crime-writer and former ATA pilot, is homesick for her beloved Island House. On her return home, she’s shocked to learn what has been going on in her absence, she finds herself reluctantly confronting a secret she’s kept hidden for a very long time.
• Mothers and Daughters (2022) – Anchor House is the coastal home where Naomi and her husband raised their two girls. Now widowed, Naomi is building a new life alone, but the arrival of Ellis next door is bringing some long-awaited fun back too. Naomi’s daughters are very different: Martha is determined and driven like her father, while Willow is a free spirit. The three women have always been close, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have secrets of their own. There are things Naomi has kept from her girls, like the fact that her marriage to their father wasn’t quite what it seemed…

• A Secret Garden Affair (2023) – July 1981. As the country prepares to celebrate Prince Charles’ wedding to Lady Diana, Libby wants to be as far away from royal wedding fever as possible. Having caught her own fiancé in bed with her best friend just weeks before they were due to marry, she’s fled London for the comfort of the Suffolk countryside. At Larkspur House, with its magical garden created by renowned garden designer and one-time socialite Elfrida Ambrose, and its comfortingly familiar kitchen presided over by Libby’s great-aunt Bess, she hopes to find a way to put her life back together. But for lifelong friends Bess and Elfrida, Libby’s arrival has stirred up the ghosts of the past. And before they can help her rebuild her shattered future, they must confront their own unspoken secrets, lost loves, and tragedies…

If you like our article about reading Erica James’ books in order, don’t forget to bookmark it! You may also be interested in Jenny Colgan’s books, or Jill Mansell’s.