Celebration (Kristine Raymond) Books in Order

Celebration is Kristine Raymond's contemporary small-town romance trilogy. The books are set in the fictional town of Celebration, a place that runs on friendship, local businesses, holiday weekends, and the comforting fact that people still show up for one another. The series begins with By Dawn's Early Light, when Monica Russo and her young daughter break down in town over the Fourth of July and meet Joe Callaghan, a man who was not expecting his quiet life to change.

Small-town romance is the whole point here.

The three books revolve around Joe and his two closest friends, Loren Hamilton and Frankie Denton. That structure gives the series a nice built-in rhythm. One book follows Joe as he helps a woman start over after divorce. Reservations for Two shifts to Loren, a restaurant manager who gets a second shot with the woman who never forgave him for breaking her heart. Under the Mistletoe centers on mechanic Frankie Denton and Roxie Malone, whose one-night stand turns into a far more complicated future. Each romance stands on its own, but the shared friendships make the trilogy feel connected.

Celebration itself matters because it is the kind of town where weddings, restaurant dinners, garage talk, and holiday gatherings pull people together whether they planned on it or not. Raymond uses those everyday spaces to keep the stories grounded. Nobody is saving the world here. The stakes are more personal: trust, timing, old hurt, blended futures, and the question of whether two adults can build something steady after life has already knocked them around a bit.

The holiday framing gives each book its own mood. By Dawn's Early Light has a summer weekend energy and the restless feeling of starting over on the road. Reservations for Two leans into wedding chaos and Valentine's second-chance emotion. Under the Mistletoe brings Christmas warmth, family pressure, and an unexpected pregnancy that forces two people to decide what responsibility and commitment really look like. The books are shorter than many full-length romances, which makes them quick to read without feeling rushed.

There is a nice bit of background behind the series too. Raymond has said By Dawn's Early Light was first written as a standalone, and the later books happened because a reader kept insisting that the side characters deserved their own stories. That sense of affection shows on the page. Celebration is built from the outside in, with side characters getting their moment, friends stepping into the spotlight, and one good town turning into a whole trilogy.

You can read any of the three on its own, but starting with By Dawn's Early Light lets the friendships land in the best way.