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See the By Design books by Nancy Ann Healy in order, with quick summaries, family and politics background, and help on where to start.

Last updated: July 12, 2026

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By Design books in publication order

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20 books

1

By Design

by Nancy Ann Healy

2015

Architect Jameson Reid and Senator Candace Fletcher come from very different worlds, but their connection is immediate. Politics, business, and family soon make their romance anything but simple.

2

New Additions

by Nancy Ann Healy

2015

The family circle grows, and with it come fresh responsibilities, louder opinions, and more chances for love and chaos to share the same room.

3

Rough Drafts

by Nancy Ann Healy

2015

As their lives keep changing, Jameson and Candace discover that no good future arrives perfectly finished. They have to revise plans, expectations, and what partnership looks like day to day.

4

Solid Foundation

by Nancy Ann Healy

2015

Love is no longer the only question. Jameson and Candace have to decide whether they can create a life strong enough to hold both romance and family.

5

Under Construction

by Nancy Ann Healy

2015

Jameson and Candace try to turn early attraction into something lasting. Washington pressure and family opinions prove that building a relationship takes more than chemistry.

6

Building Blocks

by Nancy Ann Healy

2016

The Reid-Fletcher clan keeps growing into itself. Piece by piece, love, loyalty, and everyday messiness become the materials of a lasting family.

7

Renovations

by Nancy Ann Healy

2016

Old hurts and old habits need reworking if Candace and Jameson want the next phase of life to feel solid. This installment leans into family repairs as much as romance.

8

Campaign Trail

by Nancy Ann Healy

2017

Candace's political ambitions push the family into a new public spotlight. Campaign life brings long days, high stakes, and fresh pressure on every relationship around her.

9

Election Day

by Nancy Ann Healy

2017

Votes are counted, nerves fray, and the future of both a career and a family hangs in the balance. Public life has never felt more personal.

10

Road Blocks

by Nancy Ann Healy

2017

Just when life seems settled, new obstacles force Candace and Jameson to rethink timing, priorities, and how much strain their bond can take.

11

Commander in Chief

by Nancy Ann Healy

2018

The political stakes rise again as power moves closer to the center. Candace and Jameson must balance leadership, marriage, and the demands of a family that never stops moving.

12

Situation Room

by Nancy Ann Healy

2019

Crisis management comes home in a White House era installment full of pressure, competing loyalties, and decisions that refuse to stay neatly divided between public and private.

13

Domestic Policy

by Nancy Ann Healy

2020

National leadership is only part of the challenge. At home, family needs, old tensions, and the ordinary work of love keep demanding equal attention.

14

Independence Day

by Nancy Ann Healy

2022

Freedom, duty, and family loyalty take center stage in a holiday-timed chapter of the Reid-Fletcher saga. Big public moments come with intimate consequences.

15

State of the Union

by Nancy Ann Healy

2022

Candace and Jameson face another turning point where political reality and family truth collide. The series keeps one eye on Washington and the other on the people at the kitchen table.

16

Executive Order

by Nancy Ann Healy

2023

Fast decisions and high political pressure drive this later installment. Candace and Jameson have to protect both their principles and the people they love.

17

Campaign Season

by Nancy Ann Healy

2025

A new campaign brings back the noise, pace, and scrutiny of public life. The family knows the drill, but that does not make the cost any smaller.

18

Revisions

by Nancy Ann Healy

2025

Late in the series, old choices are revisited and future plans are rewritten. Personal growth matters just as much as political strategy here.

19
New

A By Design Valentine

by Nancy Ann Healy

2026

A lighter Valentine visit with the Reid-Fletcher world, full of affection, family energy, and the small romantic moments that keep a long relationship alive.

20
New

Balance of Power

by Nancy Ann Healy

2026

This later By Design entry turns on influence, loyalty, and the fragile line between private conviction and public responsibility.

By Design books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "By Design"

    By Design

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2015By Design, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Under Construction"

    Under Construction

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2015By Design, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Solid Foundation"

    Solid Foundation

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2015By Design, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Rough Drafts"

    Rough Drafts

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2015By Design, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "New Additions"

    New Additions

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2015By Design, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Renovations"

    Renovations

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2016By Design, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Building Blocks"

    Building Blocks

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2016By Design, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Road Blocks"

    Road Blocks

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2017By Design, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Campaign Trail"

    Campaign Trail

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2017By Design, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Election Day"

    Election Day

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2017By Design, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Commander in Chief"

    Commander in Chief

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2018By Design, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Situation Room"

    Situation Room

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2019By Design, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Domestic Policy"

    Domestic Policy

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2020By Design, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "State of the Union"

    State of the Union

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2022By Design, Book 14
  15. Book cover for "Independence Day"

    Independence Day

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2022By Design, Book 15
  16. Book cover for "Executive Order"

    Executive Order

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2023By Design, Book 16
  17. Book cover for "Revisions"

    Revisions

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2025By Design, Book 17
  18. Book cover for "Campaign Season"

    Campaign Season

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2025By Design, Book 18
  19. Book cover for "A By Design Valentine"

    A By Design Valentine

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2026By Design, Book 19
  20. Book cover for "Balance of Power"

    Balance of Power

    by Nancy Ann Healy

    2026By Design, Book 20

Series background & context

The By Design series begins with a simple but sturdy setup: architect Jameson Reid and Senator Candace Fletcher meet across a divide of age, temperament, and profession, and then have to figure out whether love can survive the worlds they already live in. From there, the series grows into something much bigger than a straightforward romance.

Candace is rooted in politics. Jameson is rooted in design, structure, and a much more private kind of ambition. That contrast gives the early books their shape. By Design, Under Construction, and Solid Foundation are all built around the same question, how do you create a relationship that can hold up under pressure when both people already have full, demanding lives?

Then the family starts talking.

That is one of the defining pleasures of this series. By Design is not just about Candace and Jameson in isolation. It is about the whole noisy, loving, opinionated family around them. Parents, children, grandchildren, friends, and in-laws are not window dressing. They bring warmth, comedy, conflict, and the sense that love is something you live inside of, not just something you declare. The books often feel just as comfortable around a crowded table as they do in a campaign office.

As the series goes on, the political side expands. What starts with a senator's life moves outward into campaigns, elections, public scrutiny, and eventually national leadership. Titles like Campaign Trail, Election Day, Commander in Chief, and Situation Room show how far the scope stretches. But even when the setting moves closer to the center of power, the emotional rhythm stays familiar. Healy keeps returning to marriage, parenting, loyalty, and the challenge of holding onto a private self when public life wants to swallow everything.

The tone is warm, busy, and deeply domestic, even when the stakes are national. If Alex and Cassidy is Healy's thriller side, By Design is her family-and-politics side. There is romance, but there is also daily life. There are big speeches and kitchen-table arguments. There are strategic decisions and family jokes. It is a long-running series that asks readers to care about both the headlines and the home front.

Read this one in order. The later books pay off best when you have seen the relationship take shape from the beginning, and when you already know the wider Reid-Fletcher clan well enough to enjoy every new complication they bring.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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