Adventures In Modern Dating Books in Order
Part ofKate Canterbary Books in OrderSee the Adventures In Modern Dating books by Kate Canterbary in order, with quick summaries, series notes, and a simple guide to where to start.
Last updated: July 2, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Adventures In Modern Dating books in publication order
3 books
The Magnolia Chronicles
by Kate Canterbary
2019
Magnolia Santillian gives herself a year to survive apps, bad dates, and her mother's matchmaking threats. What starts as modern dating chaos turns much more serious when real feelings show up at the worst possible time.
The Ash Affair
by Kate Canterbary
2020
Zelda Besh is done with her impossible boss, until quitting only tangles her life more tightly with Ash Santillian. Their workplace war turns into forced proximity, sharp banter, and a romance neither of them can keep professional.
The Belle and the Beard
by Kate Canterbary
2021
After career disaster and a breakup, Jasper-Anne hides out at an inherited cottage and collides with her gruff neighbor, Linden Santillian. Fake dating is supposed to be temporary, but small-town proximity makes the arrangement dangerously real.
Adventures In Modern Dating books in chronological order
Series background & context
On this page, Adventures In Modern Dating works best as a loose cluster of linked romances about grown adults trying to build real lives while their love lives refuse to stay tidy. The books are tied together by the Santillian siblings and their wider circle, so even when each romance stands alone, they still feel like part of the same world. Expect smart banter, strong personalities, and relationships that start in messy, very uncurated ways.
That mess is the fun of it.
The Magnolia Chronicles leans hardest into the title. Magnolia Santillian spends a year navigating apps, awkward first dates, and family pressure to find the right partner before her mother decides to step in. It has the most obvious modern dating setup, but it is still a Kate Canterbary romance at heart, which means the jokes land, the feelings sneak up, and the personal baggage matters as much as the chemistry.
The Ash Affair shifts the energy into workplace romance. Ash Santillian and Zelda Besh start out with a boss and assistant dynamic that is already too intense for comfort, and then forced proximity pushes everything over the edge. It is less about swiping and more about what happens when professional lines blur, home life gets tangled up with work, and two people who should slow down absolutely do not.
Then The Belle and the Beard pulls the page into starting-over territory. Jasper-Anne Cleary arrives in rough shape after public humiliation, career fallout, and a breakup, and the story turns that upheaval into a fake-dating, next-door-neighbor romance with Linden Santillian. It still fits the broader dating theme because it is about reentering the world after a crash, figuring out what you want, and learning how to trust attraction that feels steadier than the chaos you left behind.
Across all three books, the common thread is adulthood. These are not coming-of-age romances. They are stories about people with jobs, history, family expectations, and old habits that make love more complicated than a single grand gesture. Canterbary likes competent characters, sharp-tongued siblings, and people who act like they have things under control right up until they very much do not.
The tone stays warm, funny, and sexy, but there is always some real-life static in the background.
If you like connected standalones, family interference, workplace sparks, and couples who talk, fight, flirt, and overthink their way toward something solid, this is an easy corner of her catalog to try. Each book has its own shape, but together they show how flexible Canterbary can be inside contemporary romance, from dating comedy to office tension to a small-town reset.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.



















Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts