Kristy Woodson Harvey Books in Order
See all of Kristy Woodson Harvey's books in order, with Peachtree Bluff reading order, standalone lists, short summaries, and guidance on where to start.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you).
Publication Order
13 books
Dear Carolina
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2015
Khaki Mason seems to have it all, yet she aches for another child. When her young cousin Jodi becomes pregnant after rehab, the two women begin writing to baby Carolina, a shared letter that traces an adoption, deep sacrifice, and the many shapes a family can take.
Lies and Other Acts of Love
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2016
Lynn 'Lovey' White believes a few gentle lies can hold a big Southern family together. When her dutiful granddaughter Annabelle shocks everyone by jilting her wealthy fiancé and marrying a musician she has just met, long buried truths rise to the surface and test Lovey's theory.
Slightly South of Simple
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2017
When a public scandal shatters her marriage, pregnant Caroline Murphy retreats from Manhattan to her mother Ansley's home in Peachtree Bluff with her young daughter. As her sisters follow and an old flame returns, the Murphy women confront buried secrets and second chances.
The Secret to Southern Charm
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2018
After learning her military husband is missing in action, middle sister Sloane Murphy can barely get out of bed, let alone care for her two young sons. Back home in Peachtree Bluff, her mother and sisters rally around her, even as old secrets threaten the fragile hope she is slowly rebuilding.
The Southern Side of Paradise
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2019
With her daughters apparently thriving and the man she loves back in her life, Ansley Murphy should finally feel settled in Peachtree Bluff. Instead, two new women arrive, long hidden truths surface, and the tight knit Murphy clan must decide what kind of future they want together.
Feels Like Falling
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2020
On the North Carolina coast, entrepreneur Gray Howard is reeling from divorce, grief, and a collapsing life when she accidentally gets stranger Diana Harrington fired. Offering Diana her guest cottage out of guilt, Gray stumbles into an unexpected friendship that might change both women's futures.
Christmas in Peachtree Bluff
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2021
As a Christmas hurricane barrels toward Peachtree Bluff, fifteen year old Vivi is left with her grandmother Ansley after her parents' marriage unravels. When the storm traps Ansley, Vivi, and Jack on the island, the Murphy sisters launch a daring rescue that could mend both town and family.
Under the Southern Sky
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2021
Journalist Amelia Saxton is blindsided by the end of her marriage and a story about abandoned frozen embryos that leads back to childhood friend Parker and his late wife. Returning to their shared coastal hometown, she and Parker face grief, parenthood, and a fragile new love.
The Wedding Veil
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2022
A wedding veil has promised luck to Julia Baxter's family for generations, yet on her own wedding morning she panics and bolts for a solo trip to the islands. Interlacing Julia and her grandmother Babs with Edith and Cornelia Vanderbilt at Biltmore, the novel follows four women bound by one heirloom and the lives they choose.
The Summer of Songbirds
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2023
When beloved girls camp Holly Springs is threatened with closure, its longtime director June Moore and three women who grew up there reunite to save it. As attorney Daphne faces an ethical crisis, Lanier confronts a tangled love life, and old hurts resurface, their shared summer place becomes a catalyst for second chances.
A Happier Life
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2024
Freshly heartbroken, Keaton Smith travels to Beaufort to prepare her grandparents long abandoned house for sale and finds every room frozen in 1976, the year they vanished. Alternating with Rebecca Saint James's story that summer, the mystery of Sunset Lane uncovers old scandals, fierce love, and the family Keaton has always wanted.
Beach House Rules
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2025
After her husband is arrested for white collar crimes, Charlotte Sitterly and her teenage daughter lose their money, home, and status in one day. Forced into a beachfront boardinghouse turned 'mommune' for single mothers, they find unexpected friendship, nosy small town gossip, and a buried connection that could either bind their makeshift family together or blow it apart.
Summer State of Mind
by Kristy Woodson Harvey
2026
After a disastrous shift in the NICU, nurse Daisy Stevens runs to Cape Carolina hoping a slower job and sea air will reset her life. When local baseball coach Mason Thaysden discovers an abandoned baby on Daisy's first day, the search for answers pulls them, his eccentric Aunt Tilley, and the whole town into a storm of secrets and second chances.
Where should I start?
If you want to meet the Murphy sisters first: Slightly South of Simple → The Secret to Southern Charm → The Southern Side of Paradise → Christmas in Peachtree Bluff.
If you love small town coastal drama: Feels Like Falling → Under the Southern Sky → Beach House Rules → Summer State of Mind.
If you prefer heartfelt standalone family stories: Dear Carolina → Lies and Other Acts of Love → The Summer of Songbirds → A Happier Life.
If dual timeline and historical threads appeal to you: The Wedding Veil → A Happier Life.
If you just want one book to try her style: Slightly South of Simple or Under the Southern Sky.
Author bio
Kristy Woodson Harvey is a New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling novelist known for coastal stories about family, friendship, and second chances. She has written more than a dozen books, including Slightly South of Simple, Under the Southern Sky, The Wedding Veil, and A Happier Life.
Harvey grew up in Salisbury, North Carolina, in a close knit family where grandparents, parents, and kids were often gathered around the same table. Those layers of generations show up again and again in her fiction, where mothers, daughters, and grandmothers all have a voice.
Living in a small Southern town also convinced her that setting can feel like a character of its own.
As a teenager, Harvey caught the writing bug while interning at her hometown newspaper and seeing her first column in print. That newsroom experience led her to the journalism school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude. She later earned a master's degree in English from East Carolina University, focusing on multicultural and transnational literature.
Before turning to fiction full time, she wrote about interiors and lifestyle and co founded an interiors site with her mother, Beth Woodson. That work sharpened her eye for houses and the stories they hold, from wraparound porches and beach cottages to grand historic homes that echo long after a book is finished.
Her debut novel, Dear Carolina, introduced readers to her blend of Southern warmth, complicated families, and emotional honesty. It was followed by Lies and Other Acts of Love and then the Peachtree Bluff series, which traces three adult sisters and their widowed mother in a fictional Georgia beach town. Along the way, Harvey has received honors such as the Lucy Bramlette Patterson Award for Excellence in Creative Writing and recognition as a finalist for the Southern Book Prize.
Several of her books, including The Summer of Songbirds and A Happier Life, are in development for television and film, extending her stories beyond the page.
Across novels like Feels Like Falling, Under the Southern Sky, Beach House Rules, and Summer State of Mind, certain threads repeat by design. Women at crossroads find unexpected friendships, old secrets surface in tight coastal communities, and characters learn that family can be chosen as much as inherited. Her settings, often on the North Carolina coast or along nearby Georgia shores, are full of salt air, front porches, and neighbors who remember everything.
Harvey is also a co creator and co host of the weekly web show and podcast Friends and Fiction, where she and fellow novelists talk with guests and readers about books and the writing life. The community around the show has grown to hundreds of thousands of members and mirrors the generosity and humor readers find in her novels.
Today, she lives on the North Carolina coast with her husband, son, and their dog, Salt, and continues to write stories that celebrate the pull of home, the resilience of women, and the ties that hold families together.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.






























Comments
Did we miss something? Have feedback?
Help us improve this page by sharing your thoughts