Prime Time Books in Order
Part ofElla Frank Books in OrderThis page lists Ella Frank’s Prime Time series in order, with summaries, series background, and guidance on how the Sean and Xander romances connect to the larger Chicagoverse.
Last updated: December 25, 2025
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Publication Order
3 books
Inside Affair
by Ella Frank
2020
When prime time news anchor Alexander Thorne receives violent threats, he turns to Chicago detective Sean Bailey for help. To keep Xander safe, Sean poses as his boyfriend, and a fake relationship born of necessity slowly becomes the one thing neither man wants to lose.
Headlines
by Ella Frank
2020
The conclusion to the Prime Time trilogy finds Xander and Sean facing major career decisions and family drama. To protect the life they want, they must decide what matters most, and how much they are willing to give up for the sake of their hard won love.
Breaking News
by Ella Frank
2020
With the stalker case still haunting them, Xander and Sean try building a real relationship under intense public scrutiny. Old habits, new fears, and family interference test their fragile happiness as they learn how to lean on each other when life refuses to follow a script.
Series background & context
Prime Time is an MM romance trilogy that pairs a high profile news anchor with a gruff Chicago detective, then throws them into a stalker case that blurs the line between fake and real. It is both bodyguard romance and slow burn love story, set firmly inside Ella Frank’s Chicagoverse.
Alexander Thorne is the number one prime time news anchor in the country. On camera, he is polished, charming, and always in control of the narrative. Off camera, his life is less tidy. Fame brings fans, but it also brings obsessive attention, and when anonymous threats start arriving, he is forced to admit he needs protection.
Sean Bailey is a decorated detective with the Chicago PD and the older brother of Xander’s lifelong best friend. He is known around the precinct as Detective “Dick” for his temper and his refusal to sugar coat anything. Sean does not do celebrities, does not do hand holding, and certainly does not do babysitting.
In Inside Affair, Xander turns up on Sean’s doorstep looking for a name and leaves with Sean himself assigned as his bodyguard. To explain Sean’s constant presence, they agree to pose as boyfriends. The fake relationship puts them in close quarters, and the feelings that surface are far from pretend.
Breaking News follows the pair as they try to build something real while navigating the aftermath of the stalker case, public scrutiny, and Sean’s late in life shift in how he understands his own sexuality. Headlines brings their arc to a close with family drama, career decisions, and a focus on what their future looks like beyond crisis mode.
The series balances suspense with domestic intimacy. There are tense investigative scenes and moments where the danger feels very close, but there are also plenty of quiet breakfasts, arguments over work hours, and the awkward sweetness of two long acquainted men learning how to be in love with each other.
Prime Time also acts as a hub for later books. Characters introduced here, like Kieran Bailey and Sebastian “Bash” Vogel, go on to headline the Dare to Try trilogy, making this series a natural starting point if you want to follow that branch of the Chicagoverse family tree.
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