Aimee Agresti Books in Order

Aimee Agresti writes novels that move between supernatural danger, Washington social circles, and the messy work of starting over. Before publishing fiction, she built a long career as an entertainment journalist, a job that gave her a close view of celebrity culture and the stories people tell about themselves.

Books were part of her life early on. Her mother was a librarian, and Agresti has said she grew up reading whatever she could find and spending lots of time at the library. That habit stuck, along with a love of escaping into a good story.

The wish to write fiction never really went away.

She studied journalism at Northwestern University, then went into magazines. Agresti worked as an associate editor at Premiere and later as a staff writer at Us Weekly. Her articles also appeared in outlets covering entertainment, culture, health, and life in Washington, D.C. She wrote the coffee-table book Inside Hollywood and made television and radio appearances to discuss entertainment news.

Magazine work taught her how to meet deadlines, chase details, and make a story move. But she kept writing fiction alongside her journalism. She has described having an earlier novel tucked away in a drawer, the kind of practice project that helped her learn how to write a full book and eventually led her to an agent.

Her first published novel, Illuminate, launched the young adult Gilded Wings trilogy. It follows Haven Terra, a shy Chicago teenager whose glamorous hotel internship opens into a far stranger world of angels, devils, and souls at risk. Agresti drew on her interest in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Faust, Chicago history, and the idea that beauty can hide ugly motives. Readers who enjoy paranormal stories with friendship, romance, and a real sense of place can continue Haven's journey in Infatuate and Initiate.

The books get bigger as Haven's world does. Chicago gives way to New Orleans and then Paris, while the central question stays close to home: what does it take to choose who you want to be when temptation, fear, and other people's expectations are all pressing in?

Agresti later turned to adult fiction with Campaign Widows, a Washington, D.C. ensemble novel about partners left behind when campaign season sends their significant others onto the trail. The idea came from her own experience of being a campaign widow while her husband worked in politics. In The Summer Set, she moved to the world of summer Shakespeare theater, following a former film star trying to reclaim both her career and a relationship she thought was over.

Her stories often make room for ambition, friendships, romance, public image, and second chances. Agresti lives in the Washington, D.C. area with her husband and two sons.