Briarcrest Academy Books in Order

This is one of Madden Mills's earliest and angriest romance worlds, and it still gives a clear picture of what she likes to do best. In some editions the books are listed as Briarwood Academy, but the core setup is the same, an elite Texas school where money, status, secrets, and desire are always colliding.

Very Bad Things introduces Nora Blakely and Leo Tate, and it wastes no time telling you that this is not a light prep-school romance. Nora looks perfect from the outside, but the pressure around her is already cracking that image. Leo, older, tattooed, and carrying his own history, becomes both refuge and risk. From the start, the series is interested in what happens when polished surfaces fail.

The next part of the world belongs largely to Cuba Hudson and Dovey Beckham. Very Wicked Beginnings works as a prequel novella to Very Wicked Things, showing the first pull between wealthy football star and scholarship ballerina before the full novel deepens their story. That pairing brings class difference, obsession, and family trouble right to the front.

Then Very Twisted Things widens the lens again with Sebastian Tate and Violet St. Lyons, adding rock-star energy, music, and another couple trying to connect through pain instead of around it.

This series runs on intensity.

Football, dance, music, and privilege all matter here, but the real engine is emotional damage. These are young people and not-so-young adults trying to outrun grief, shame, expectations, and loneliness, usually while falling for exactly the wrong person at the wrong time. If you want the softer, funnier side of Madden Mills, look elsewhere. If you want the dramatic early books where everything feels a little reckless and deeply felt, this is the place.