Roads Books in Order

The Roads series is one of Leigh’s earliest and most beloved works, tracing the relationship of Ash Fagin and Pete Adams over several books and years. It is a deep dive into mental health, trauma, and the ways love can be both a lifeline and hard work.

Slide introduces Ash, a shy, fiercely talented tattoo artist whose life has been shaped by neglect, drugs, and time on the streets. His world is narrow and often frightening, haunted by things he cannot quite articulate. Pete is a Chicago paramedic who stumbles into Ash’s life and slowly becomes his anchor. Their connection is immediate but fragile, and when events in Pete’s work life collide with Ash’s unresolved past, everything they have built threatens to fall apart.

In Rare, the focus shifts to the aftermath of a nervous breakdown that nearly costs Ash everything. Pete is still juggling the emotional toll of emergency work with the demands of being the stable one at home. Their relationship deepens as they navigate therapy, new family ties, and a voice from Ash’s past that forces both men to reconsider what “family” means. The book does not shy away from panic attacks, self‑harm scars, or messy fights, but it also offers moments of fierce joy.

Circle catches up with them years later, now effectively co‑parenting Pete’s young nephew and dealing with a fresh crisis that threatens the hard‑won peace they have carved out. Secrets, health scares, and the pressures of adulthood test the bond that once grew in a tiny apartment above a tattoo shop. A new friend helps them see that love is not static; it has to evolve if it wants to survive.

Throughout the series, the city is as present as any character: late‑night ambulance runs, 24‑hour diners, and the hum of a neighbourhood where everyone has a story. Leigh writes trauma with clear eyes but also with compassion, allowing her characters to be more than their worst days. Side characters become important in later books and cross over into other series, knitting Roads into her wider universe.

If you enjoy romances that follow the same couple through multiple highs and lows, showing what happens after the initial “I love you,” the Roads series offers an immersive, emotionally rich journey.