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Melissa Brayden Books in Order

Browse all Melissa Brayden books in order, with short summaries, connected series guides, standout standalones, and clear advice on where to start as a new reader.

Last updated: June 8, 2026

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30 books

Waiting in the Wings

by Melissa Brayden

2011

Jenna McGovern lands a dream role in a major Broadway tour just as her career begins. Falling for headlining star Adrienne Kenyon was never part of the plan, and it may cost more than either woman expects.

Heart Block

by Melissa Brayden

2012

Sarah Matamoros is a hardworking single mother building a life in San Diego. When wealthy, driven Emory Owen enters her world, both women have to decide whether love can bridge family pressure, class difference, and fear.

How Sweet It Is

by Melissa Brayden

2013

Bakeshop owner Molly O'Brien has finally started thinking about love again after a devastating loss. She doesn't expect those feelings to awaken around Jordan Tuscana, the younger sister of the woman she never forgot.

Kiss the Girl

by Melissa Brayden

2014

Brooklyn Campbell meets a gorgeous stranger on the same day her birth mother asks for contact. Then the stranger turns out to be rival ad executive Jessica Lennox, and business gets very personal.

Just Three Words

by Melissa Brayden

2015

Orderly accountant Samantha Ennis does not need chaos, especially not in her loft. Unfortunately chaos has a name, Hunter Blair, and living together starts turning friendship into something far more dangerous.

Ready or Not

by Melissa Brayden

2015

Mallory Spencer has her life buttoned up tight, until a magnetic bartender named Hope Sanders starts getting under her skin. What begins as friction turns into the kind of chemistry neither woman can control.

Firework

by Melissa Brayden

2016

Media executive Lucy Danaher is ready to charm a reporter covering her company, until Kristin James shows up asking hard questions. Their instant attraction only makes the conflict sharper.

First Position

by Melissa Brayden

2016

Ballet star Anastasia Mikhelson has sacrificed everything for perfection at the New York City Ballet. New arrival Natalie Frederico threatens her place, then unsettles her heart in ways competition never could.

Eyes Like Those

by Melissa Brayden

2017

Isabel Chase leaves New England for a dream writing job on a hit TV show and immediately falls for powerhouse producer Taylor Andrews. Their connection is real, but so are the career stakes wrapped around it.

Strawberry Summer

by Melissa Brayden

2017

Margaret Beringer thought she'd left her first heartbreak behind with her hometown. But when Courtney Carrington returns to Tanner Peak after her father's death, old wounds and old feelings come rushing back.

Hearts Like Hers

by Melissa Brayden

2018

Autumn Primm runs a Venice Beach coffee shop and dreams about a bigger life without quite chasing it. Then firefighter Kate Carpenter blows into town looking for a temporary escape and becomes very hard to let go.

Love Like This

by Melissa Brayden

2018

Hopeless romantic Hadley Cooper needs to save the boutique she helps run, which means teaming up with stubborn designer Spencer Adair. Their clashing personalities create plenty of sparks, on the job and off.

Sparks Like Ours

by Melissa Brayden

2018

Surfer Gia Malone wants the top ranking, and rival Elle Britton is the woman standing in her way. Competition, media attention, and undeniable chemistry make every wave feel personal.

Back to September

by Melissa Brayden

2019

Hannah Shephard's struggling bookstore needs a miracle, and bestselling romance author Parker Bristow might be it. One event turns into an unexpected connection, forcing both women to ask whether a quiet life and a public one can meet in the middle.

Beautiful Dreamer

by Melissa Brayden

2019

High-powered real estate broker Devyn Winters returns to Dreamer's Bay only because family needs her. Home gets complicated fast when she reconnects with warm, grounded Elizabeth Draper and starts wondering whether leaving is still the plan.

Entangled

by Melissa Brayden

2020

Joey Wilder wants to protect her family's Oregon vineyard from the luxury hotel rising next door. Then she meets hotel manager Becca Crawford, and business rivalry turns into a dangerous attraction neither woman expected.

To the Moon and Back

by Melissa Brayden

2020

Stage manager Lauren Prescott can handle almost anything at the McAllister Theater, except celebrity actress Carly Daniel. When work throws them together and old dreams resurface, sparks fly both backstage and under the spotlight.

Two to Tangle

by Melissa Brayden

2020

Chef Gabriella Russo moves to Oregon to open a restaurant at Tangle Valley Vineyard and keep romance off the menu. Carpenter Ryan Jacks has other ideas, and their sharp banter quickly turns into something harder to ignore.

Marry Me

by Melissa Brayden

2021

Ally Hale is supposed to be planning the perfect high-profile wedding, not falling for the woman organizing it. As sparks fly between Ally and wedding planner Megan Kinkaid, the life Ally mapped out starts to look less like her own.

What a Tangled Web

by Melissa Brayden

2021

Winemaker Madison LeGrange thinks buying the local café is just smart business, until it puts her across from Clementine Monroe, the woman who has always lingered in the back of her mind. Old feelings and fresh resentment make this small-town romance deliciously messy.

Exclusive

by Melissa Brayden

2022

Skyler Ruiz lands her dream TV job in San Diego and ends up working beside her longtime idol, anchor Caroline McNamara. Admiration turns complicated when the network pits them against each other and asks both women what they are willing to risk for love and career.

The Forever Factor

by Melissa Brayden

2022

Eleven years after Reid Thatcher broke her heart, Bethany Cahill wants nothing to do with unfinished business. A chance reunion forces them to face old misunderstandings and decide whether first love can survive the truth.

The Last Lavender Sister

by Melissa Brayden

2022

Aster Lavender sells doughnuts in tiny Homer's Bluff and assumes love is not in the cards. Then temporary veterinarian Brynn Garrett arrives, bringing chemistry, secrets, and the kind of possibility that makes small-town life feel much bigger.

Lucky in Lace

by Melissa Brayden

2023

Stationery shop owner Juliette Jennings likes order, routine, and neighbors who do not sell lace bodysuits in the window. Peyton Lane opens exactly that kind of lingerie shop next door, and Juliette's carefully laced life starts coming undone.

Marigold

by Melissa Brayden

2023

When a sharp-tongued food critic trashes her sister's new restaurant, Marigold Lavender declares war. The trouble is Alexis Wakefield is every bit as formidable, and much harder to hate once the sparks start flying.

When You Smile

by Melissa Brayden

2024

College transfer Taryn Ross runs into Charlie Adler, the former babysitter she crushed on for years, and discovers the spark is still there. Charlie's carefully planned future starts wobbling the minute Taryn walks back into it.

You Had Me at Merlot

by Melissa Brayden

2024

Jamie Tolliver loves running her café by day and wine bar by night, until she falls for Leighton Morrow. Leighton is hiding one brutal truth: the development project she works on could destroy Jamie's whole block.

Can We Skip to the Good Part?

by Melissa Brayden

2025

After a broken engagement and an unwanted fresh start, Ella Baker joins a book club and meets Max Wyler. The chemistry is immediate, but Max also happens to be her best friend's ex, which makes every step forward risky.

Dream a Little Dream

by Melissa Brayden

2025

Savanna Potter is already reeling from loss, family revelations, and the woman who stood her up a year ago. Then Dr. Kyle Remington arrives in Dreamer's Bay, and a second chance becomes impossible to ignore.

New

Make Your Move

by Melissa Brayden

2026

Reese Maddox enters an all-female racing academy determined to prove raw talent can take her to the top. Her biggest challenge may be coach Sloane Foster, a former Formula 1 star who is trying not to want her.

Where should I start?

If you want New York friend-group chemistry: Kiss the GirlJust Three WordsReady or Not
If you want sunny California romance: Eyes Like ThoseHearts Like HersSparks Like OursLove Like This
If you want cozy wine-country stories: EntangledTwo to TangleWhat a Tangled Web
If you want performers, backstage drama, and big ambition: Waiting in the WingsTo the Moon and BackFirst Position
If you want her newest standalones: Can We Skip to the Good Part?Make Your Move

Author bio

Melissa Brayden writes contemporary sapphic romance that is witty, warm, and very good at making everyday life feel charged. She grew up in an Air Force family, spent part of her childhood in England, and has long roots in Texas. She now lives in San Antonio, where writing has become the center of her professional life.

Storytelling came first.

Long before she started publishing novels, she was already drawn to scenes, voices, and performance. She has said she acted, directed, shot documentaries, and even wrote raps for fun. She also came to romance early, reading from her older sister's collection as a kid. Brayden earned a bachelor's degree in speech communication and film production from Baylor University, later completed an MFA in directing, and kept one foot in theater along the way.

Then, in 2009, she gave novel writing a serious try.

Her debut, Waiting in the Wings, dropped readers into the world of musical theater, where ambition, timing, and attraction are always colliding. Heart Block followed with a different kind of pressure, pairing a hardworking single mother with a woman from a wealthy San Diego family. From the start, Brayden showed what she likes to do best: take capable women with full lives, add sharp chemistry and real emotional stakes, and let the romance grow from there. She was interested in ordinary logistics as much as grand feelings.

She also likes a strong setting. Kiss the Girl and the Soho Loft books turn New York advertising, loft living, and best-friend chaos into romantic fuel. Eyes Like Those and the Seven Shores novels shift to Southern California, mixing Hollywood work, beach energy, coffee shops, surfing, and found family. In Entangled and the rest of Tangle Valley, vineyards, restaurants, and small-town business battles become part of the love story. Readers come for the romance, but they often stay for the friend groups, the banter, and the sense that these characters have lives beyond the couple plot. That balance between glamorous settings and daily messiness is one of her signatures.

That range is a big part of the fun.

Some books lean bright and breezy. Others hit a little harder. Strawberry Summer and Dream a Little Dream both work with first love, second chances, and the ache of returning to the past. First Position and To the Moon and Back bring her theater-trained eye for performance right onto the page. The common thread is easy to spot: fast dialogue, a strong sense of place, women who care about their work, and happy endings that feel earned instead of handed out.

Brayden has also been refreshingly plainspoken about the fact that she did not start out thinking of herself first as a novelist. That late turn may be one reason her books feel so scene-driven. She writes like someone who understands entrances, exits, rhythm, and how much can happen in one conversation across a bar, bakery counter, rehearsal space, office, or kitchen table. She has even said that she used to write more by instinct, with only a loose sketch in mind, though experience has made her more of a planner.

Off the page, she has shared enough small details to feel human and not too polished. She is bisexual, married, raising two kids, and still directs theater on the side. She has two Jack Russell Terriers, a soft spot for coffee, wine, doughnuts, and kissing scenes, and she borrowed Brayden from her grandparents for her pen name. It all fits. Her books feel like they come from someone who loves romance, loves performance, and knows that being funny does not stop a story from having real heart.

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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All 30 Melissa Brayden Books in Order (Complete List 2026)