Donita K Paul Books in Order
Explore Donita K Paul books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, and simple suggestions on where to start reading her fantasy and romance.
Last updated: June 11, 2026
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Publication Order
16 books
DragonSpell
by Donita K Paul
2004
Once a slave, Kale finds a dragon egg and is swept into a quest she never expected. Pursued by danger and the wizard Risto, she must learn the difference between fear, service, and the calling placed on her life.
DragonQuest
by Donita K Paul
2005
Now apprenticed to the wizard Fenworth, Kale is sent into danger again when Risto seizes another meech dragon. With Bardon and a mismatched company beside her, she must rescue the dragon and grow into the role waiting for her.
DragonKnight
by Donita K Paul
2006
Before taking his vows as a knight, Bardon heads into the mountains and finds himself pulled into a rescue mission far bigger than expected. Sleeping knights, hidden secrets, and the chance to find Kale's father turn the journey into a test of courage and calling.
DragonFire
by Donita K Paul
2007
Years after freeing Paladin's knights, Kale and Bardon face a land scorched by rival wizards and fresh betrayal. With Amara under siege, Kale must rally dragons and people alike before the country is broken for good.
DragonLight
by Donita K Paul
2008
As Amara rebuilds after war, Kale and Bardon join a quest to find a hidden meech dragon colony. Their journey uncovers a secret enemy and a growing darkness that threatens the hard-won peace.
The Dragons of Chiril
by Donita K Paul
2009
Tipper has been holding her family's estate together since her father vanished, but a shocking discovery reveals she has helped unbalance the very world around her. To set it right, she must recover three missing statues with a strange, loyal band at her side.
Dragons of the Valley
by Donita K Paul
2010
With war closing in on Chiril, Tipper and her friends race to keep three powerful statues out of enemy hands. Bealomondore must trade paintbrush for sword as the party faces invasion, disappearances, and a deadly hunter called the Grawl.
The Dragon and the Turtle
by Donita K Paul
2010
Lost during a make-believe pirate adventure, Roger the turtle needs help finding home. Padraig, a kitten-sized dragon, follows clues from sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, and the search becomes a sweet story about friendship.
Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball
by Donita K Paul
2010
Cora Crowder and her reserved coworker Simon Derrick each receive a mysterious ticket from an unusual bookshop just before Christmas. What follows is a warm, gently magical romance about family baggage, faith, and an unexpected chance at love.
Dragons of the Watch
by Donita K Paul
2011
Ellie wants a royal wedding adventure, and Bealomondore wants clarity about his future, but both end up trapped in a forgotten city full of secrets. To get out, they must help its wild children and trust the dragons of the watch.
Taming the Wild Wind
by Donita K Paul
2011
Ida has always moved through life on her own terms, but the Oklahoma prairie asks more of her than Pittsburgh society ever did. In a harsher landscape, her restless spirit is tested, shaped, and slowly brought to heel.
The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari
by Donita K Paul
2011
Padraig the dragon and Roger the turtle plan a brave backyard safari and a whole night outdoors. When darkness and strange sounds make their game feel real, the two friends learn that courage grows stronger together.
House on Troll Hill
by Donita K Paul
2014
Obadiah sells real estate in the Enchanted Forest, which is hard enough before he has to deal with a very smelly house perched on a troll's head. It is a short, funny chapter book about odd problems and inventive solutions.
One Realm Beyond
by Donita K Paul
2014
Born with the gift to travel between worlds, Cantor D'Ahma leaves home to become a realm walker and quickly learns the guild is not what it should be. With Bridger, Bixby, and Dukmee, he steps into a dangerous web of corruption.
Two Renegade Realms
by Donita K Paul
2014
After a brutal attack by the corrupt guild, Cantor, Bixby, and Dukmee set out to find the legendary realm walker Chomountain. What they discover turns their mission sideways and raises the stakes for every realm they hope to protect.
The Prophecy of Three
by Donita K Paul
2020
Cantor, Dukmee, and Bixby face their biggest fight yet as Errd Tos tightens his grip on the Realm Walkers Guild and threatens all nine realms. A prophecy points to three saviors, but each friend must decide what part they are meant to play.
Where should I start?
For her signature dragon fantasy: DragonSpell → DragonQuest → DragonKnight
For portal adventure and world-hopping stakes: One Realm Beyond → Two Renegade Realms → The Prophecy of Three
For the wider Chiril storyline: The Dragons of Chiril → Dragons of the Valley → Dragons of the Watch
For younger readers: The Dragon and the Turtle → The Dragon and the Turtle Go on Safari
For a warm standalone romance: Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball
Author bio
Donita K. Paul was born in Lawrence, Kansas, on November 20, 1950. She later studied at the University of Houston and spent years teaching elementary school. Those early years outside publishing matter when you read her fiction. She knows how to keep a story moving, but she also knows how to make big ideas feel personal and close to the ground.
She did not start out as a fantasy novelist.
After retiring early from teaching, Paul turned seriously to writing and began publishing Christian romance, some of it under the name Kathleen Paul. That first stretch of her career gave her room to build discipline, learn what kind of emotional stakes she liked, and prove she could carry a full story from first page to last.
Then came dragons. DragonSpell, published in 2004, opened the DragonKeeper world for a wide new audience and became a Christy Award finalist. Paul followed it with DragonQuest, DragonKnight, DragonFire, and DragonLight, building a long fantasy arc with danger, humor, hard choices, and dragons that feel like characters instead of decoration.
She did not stay in just one corner of fantasy, either. The Valley of the Dragons books widen her imagined world with artists, sculptors, wizards, and political danger, while the Realm Walkers novels move into portal fantasy and a larger network of worlds. Across those series, readers tend to come back to the same pleasures: lively side characters, clear moral stakes, and a real sense that courage usually looks like ordinary people doing the next hard thing.
Her books often center on overlooked people who are asked to grow into difficult callings. Kale begins as a former slave. Tipper in The Dragons of Chiril is trying to hold a household together after her father disappears. Cantor in One Realm Beyond steps into the role he has wanted for years and quickly learns it is bigger, stranger, and riskier than he imagined. Paul likes apprentices, found family, odd companions, and characters who have to choose service over pride.
She writes big quests, but she keeps the human part close.
That balance is a big reason readers stay with her. The fantasy is full of dragons, portals, invented peoples, and the occasional eccentric guide, but the emotional core stays easy to follow. Friendship matters. So does courage. So does learning whom to trust. Even in lighter books, like The Dragon and the Turtle, written with her daughter Evangeline Denmark, or the warm Christmas novella Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball, she keeps returning to kindness, fear, hope, and the small decisions that shape a life.
Paul has also stayed close to other writers. Later author notes describe her mentoring writers of different ages, including workshop teaching. She has lived in Colorado, including Colorado Springs, and her bios often sound pleasantly practical about home life. She enjoys cooking, beading, stamping, knitting, and spending time with her grandsons.
In other words, she built a second career by following the stories that kept growing in her imagination. Readers may arrive for the dragons, but they usually stay for the heart.
Edited by
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