Beth Merlin Books in Order

Beth Merlin was born in New York City and has long described herself as a lifelong New Yorker. That hometown energy shows up in her books, which mix big feelings, pop culture, and women trying to rebuild their lives. She also loves Broadway, romantic comedies, and, in her own cheerful shorthand, a good maxi dress.

Sleepaway camp mattered too.

Beth has said the eight summers she spent at camp were some of the most formative years of her life. Camp shaped her personal life as well as her fiction. A friend she met there later introduced her to the man who became her husband, and that blend of nostalgia, friendship, and second chances helped spark One S'more Summer.

Before she was a published novelist, Beth took a winding route. At George Washington University, in the School of Media and Public Affairs, she studied political communications and added a minor in creative writing. She later earned her JD from New York Law School. Even with law school and a practical career path in the picture, stories kept tugging at her.

She kept returning to the page.

Beth spent about a decade working on her first manuscript before One S'more Summer finally arrived in 2017. The book introduced readers to Gigi Goldstein, Camp Chinooka, and the warm, slightly messy emotional world that would define The Campfire series. That story continued in S'More to Lose, Love You s'More, and Tell Me S'more. Readers who click with those books usually come for the camp nostalgia and banter, then stay for the career drama, friendship strain, and slow emotional growth.

Her standalones show the same interest in reinvention. Breakup Boot Camp turns a broken engagement into a beachside reset. The Last Phone Booth in Manhattan blends old regrets, Broadway dreams, and a little magic. Heart Restoration Project heads to Provence for a reality TV makeover that becomes something deeper, while Life Derailed uses AI, grief, and office politics to ask what human connection still means. The Magic of Us keeps that thread going with tarot, alternate paths, and second-chance love.

Many of those books were created with Danielle Modafferi, Beth's longtime collaborator. Together they have written the Campfire books and several later novels, building a partnership that mixes romantic comedy sparkle with sturdier emotional stakes. The first Campfire novel, One S'more Summer, was later optioned for adaptation, and the pair went on to develop a pilot based on the series.

That mix gives the work a breezy surface, but there is usually more going on underneath, grief, guilt, bad timing, career panic, and the hard work of building a life that actually fits.

These days, Beth still seems close to the things that shaped her early work. She has remained a New Yorker, and when she is not writing, she spends time with her husband, daughter, and two cavapoos, Sammy and Scarlett. She also has a soft spot for Kiawah Island, South Carolina, which feels fitting for a writer who understands both city noise and the pull of a good escape.