The Kimmy group and the Anton group
My first contemporary romance series, called Chic Manila, has 9 novellas. Not by design, unfortunately. At the time I was just writing and publishing one book after another, spinning off characters into their own books, building their world as I went.
Now the books are out and the series has been complete for years, I know I wouldn’t do it that way again. Shorter series, better planning. It’s not just easier to sell a three- or four-book series in any format but it also allows me the author to try something new and not have to worry about going back to continue a thing. (Obviously some authors can manage concurrent series, but that’s not me anymore.)
So, if you’re thinking of trying the Chic Manila series or if you already own the series bundle, I have a suggestion for a new reading order. Read them by group! I call these the Kimmy/NV Park group, and the Anton group.
The Kimmy/NV Park group can be read in this order:
My Imaginary Ex ($1 right now on Gumroad, Amazon, and direct from me)
Love Your Frenemies
Welcome to Envy Park
Iris After the Incident
The Anton group can be read in this order:
Fairy Tale Fail ($1 right now on Gumroad, Amazon, and direct from me)
No Strings Attached
That Kind of Guy
What You Wanted
Better at Weddings Than You is the last/9th book and actually one of the most common starter books that brings readers to the series. It’s also the least like the other 8 books in structure and theme and age group of the characters. But we first meet Daphne in the Anton-verse, so technically this book is part of the Anton group. It’s also a great bridge to my Six 32 Central series, which has characters in their 30s/early 40s.
If you’re wondering why I don’t just repackage these nine books as two shorter series, the answer is there’s too much metadata in too many places that have connected them all in this way so…it’s just a lot of work haha. So I informally suggest the Kimmy and Anton group for now.
If you have a different reading order, I’d love to know about it!
