SM Soto Books in Order

S.M. Soto was born and raised in Northern California, where she still lives with her son. She has described herself as a longtime romance reader, someone whose love of books began when she was young and stayed with her into adulthood.

That early reading habit shows in a bibliography built around big feelings, difficult choices, and characters who have to face what happened to them instead of simply walking away from it.

Her first novel, The Darkest Hour, arrived in 2017. It introduced the San Diegan series and followed Aliza Anderson, who leaves Pennsylvania for San Diego while carrying the weight of a family tragedy. There she meets Chase Roland, a charming playboy with his own secrets, and the story asks whether either of them can stop letting the past run their lives.

Soto returned to San Diego for more interconnected contemporary romances, including Damaged Heart. That book centers on Samantha Paisley and Alex Clark, longtime friends whose familiar arrangement becomes much harder to manage when real commitment enters the picture. The relationships are messy, but the emotional questions are clear: What does a person do when love feels unsafe, or when old pain has shaped every choice?

In 2018, Soto shifted into darker romantic suspense with Deception and Chaos. Sophia Cova is kidnapped and pulled into a frightening criminal world, where her connection with mercenary Creed complicates an already dangerous rescue. Blood and Chaos and Love and Chaos continue their story, building on the threats, betrayals, and cliffhangers of the first novel.

The standalone Ache takes a more intimate route. It follows Bea Norwood and Liam Falcon, two first loves separated by years and by trauma that Bea has kept hidden. The book deals with abuse and recovery, so it is one of Soto's heavier reads. Chasing the Moon also looks at a love interrupted by time, sending Selene Drake back to her hometown and back into the orbit of Endymion Black.

Her books don't tend to make things easy for their couples.

The Twin Lies duet leans into mystery and revenge. In Kiss Me with Lies, Mackenzie Wright tries to find out who murdered her twin sister, then finds herself among wealthy men who may know much more than they admit. Bury Me with Lies picks up the story as Mackenzie faces the consequences of digging for answers.

Soto also contributed A Cruel Love to the multi-author Cavalieri Della Morte project. It pairs Blossom, a bakery owner in danger, with Percivale, the assassin sent after her. Like much of her work, it puts tenderness and danger in the same room and lets neither one leave quietly.

Across contemporary romance, dark romance, and romantic suspense, Soto returns to grief, betrayal, loyalty, survival, and second chances. Her characters are often bruised by the past, but they still have to decide what they want from the future.

When she is not talking books, Soto's author profile has also made room for her affection for donuts and carbs. It is a small, human detail that fits a writer whose stories are usually intense, but never too distant from everyday longing.