Shannon Richard Books in Order

Shannon Richard grew up in the Florida Panhandle as the youngest child in a family that included two protective older brothers. That Southern backdrop would later show up in her fiction, especially in the close-knit communities, familiar faces, and stubborn loyalties that shape her romances.

Books were part of the family fabric early on. Her mother, a devoted word lover, encouraged her to disappear into a good story, while her father passed along a taste for coffee and loud music. It is an easy combination to spot in Richard's work: everyday comforts, big feelings, and people who rarely say exactly what they mean at first.

She studied English literature at Florida State University. Her publishing debut came in 2013 with Undone, the opening novel in the Country Roads series.

Undone introduces Mirabelle, Florida, through Paige Morrison, an artsy city woman who has lost her job, apartment, and boyfriend before landing back with her parents. A flirtation with local mechanic Brendan King gives the story its romantic spark, but Mirabelle itself does a lot of the work. It is funny, nosy, welcoming in patches, and never short on opinions.

That town became the center of the Country Roads books. Each installment puts another couple in the foreground while keeping the wider circle of friends, relatives, café regulars, and local gossip in view. Undeniable follows baker Grace King and sheriff Jaxson Anderson. Unstoppable brings together teacher Melanie O'Bryan and former Air Force sergeant Bennett Hart. Later books such as Unforgettable, Uncontrollable, and Untold keep returning to questions of trust, old hurt, family responsibility, and whether a person can make a real home after life goes sideways.

Richard also takes that connected-world approach into hockey romance. Undressed introduces publicist Abby Fields and hockey player Logan James, while An Unexpected Christmas shifts the focus to the Jacksonville Stampede orbit and a snowbound holiday reunion between Adele James and Jace Kilpatrick.

Her newer novels lean into another clear affection: dogs. In Dog Days Forever, a rescued puppy becomes part of a second-chance romance between former fiancés Caroline Buchanan and Maximillian Abbot. Puppy Love at Mistletoe Junction returns to their North Carolina community, pairing a reluctant homecomer and an old rival with the care of a pregnant dog.

The emotional stakes may be serious, but Richard leaves room for banter, messy households, holiday trouble, and animals with a knack for changing plans.

She lives in Tallahassee, Florida, with her rescue dog, Teddy. Away from the page, she enjoys trying recipes, reality television, podcasts, and tending plants, with coffee, music, and a little whimsy still part of the picture.