Compass Club Books in Order

The Compass Club books follow four close friends in Regency England, North, South, East, and West, whose nicknames come to stand in for whole personalities. Goodman builds the series around their long friendship, their shared history, and their habit of laughing, wagering, and meddling in one another's lives. That male friendship gives the books a playful backbone even when the plots turn dark.

The banter matters.

Let Me Be The One opens the series with Brendan Hampton, Earl of Northam, and Libby Penrose, whose connection is tied up with a jewel thief, a compromising scandal, and a marriage that arrives before either of them is fully ready for its emotional cost. It sets the pattern for the books that follow, romance braided tightly with intrigue.

In Everything I Ever Wanted, Matthew Forrester, known as South, is drawn to actress India Parr while following a trail of murder and treachery. All I Ever Needed gives Gabriel Whitney, or East, a heroine in Lady Sophia Colley, who is being cornered by family greed and old secrets. Then Beyond a Wicked Kiss sends Evan Marchman, West, into a missing-person mystery involving a ladies' academy and a secret society.

Each book works on its own, but the real payoff comes from seeing the four men as a set. They know one another's weaknesses. They keep one another honest, more or less. They also carry shared memories that give the series emotional continuity.

If you want Goodman's Regency voice at full strength, this is a great place to look. The books are funny, sensual, and suspenseful, with heroines who are every bit as clever as the men circling them.