Tale of the Demon World (Meljean Brook) Books in Order

This is best read as an anthology connection, not as a separate Meljean Brook series set in Emma Holly's Demon World. The link comes from Hot Spell, a paranormal romance anthology that placed stories by several authors in one volume. It is useful catalog context, but the stories do not share one setting, cast, or continuing plot.

Meljean Brook's contribution to that collection is Falling for Anthony, an early Guardian story set in Regency England. It follows Emily Ames-Beaumont, who is trying to protect her brother, and Anthony Ramsdell, a childhood friend who returns after death with a new purpose. The novella introduces pieces of Brook's Guardian mythology, including the supernatural threat surrounding the Ames-Beaumont family and the larger conflict between Guardians, demons, and nosferatu.

The Demon World connection comes from another story in the same anthology, Emma Holly's The Countess's Pleasure. That story belongs to Holly's separate desert-fantasy setting of humans and Yama demons. Brook's Guardians world works very differently. It is rooted in angelic powers, Hell, vampires, demons, and people who were once human but now fight to protect them.

So the overlap is about reading taste, not shared continuity.

That can still make Hot Spell a rewarding stop for readers who enjoy paranormal romance with danger close to the love story. Brook's piece has the historical setting and supernatural peril that later feed into Demon Angel. Holly's story offers a more sensual fantasy setting shaped by social rank and demon-human tension. The anthology lets readers sample both without asking them to learn two whole fictional worlds first.

For Brook readers, Falling for Anthony works as a prequel-style introduction to the Guardians. It is not required before Demon Angel, and the main novels provide the background needed to follow the larger arc. Still, it gives extra context for Colin Ames-Beaumont and some of the relationships that matter later.

For readers following the Demon World side, The Countess's Pleasure is a short visit to Emma Holly's setting rather than a Meljean Brook installment. That distinction matters when choosing a reading order. Start Demon Angel if you want Brook's continuing angel-and-demon storyline. Start with Holly's Demon World books if you want the desert setting and its demon society. Use this page as the signpost between them, and as a reminder that anthologies sometimes connect authors without merging their worlds.