The Lady Janies (Cynthia Hand) Books in Order

The Lady Janies books are loose, standalone historical fantasies written by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadows. Each one grabs a girl from history or literature, notices how badly the original story treated her, and then throws open a side door for magic, romance, and mischief. The books share a voice more than a plot. Read them in order if you want to watch the joke style grow, but you can also pick one based on the setting or heroine that sounds most fun.

It starts with My Lady Jane, which takes the story of Lady Jane Grey and refuses to accept the usual ending. Tudor politics are still there, but so are shapeshifters, narrator interruptions, and a marriage that turns ridiculous before it turns surprisingly sweet. My Plain Jane moves into Gothic territory, mixing Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, ghosts, and a ghost-hunting society. My Calamity Jane heads west with Calamity Jane, Annie Oakley, Frank Butler, and a monster problem. The places change, but the books keep the same mix of danger and wink-at-the-reader humor.

History gets rewritten here.

The later Mary books keep that promise going. My Contrary Mary turns Mary, Queen of Scots into a mouse-shifting queen navigating court intrigue in France. My Imaginary Mary pairs Mary Godwin and Ada Lovelace in a story powered by invention, imagination, and fae trouble. My Salty Mary goes full pirate adventure, folding mermaids and Mary Read into a race across the sea. None of these books asks you to treat the past with solemn respect. They want the past to loosen its collar and have a little fun.

What links the series is its approach to heroines. These girls are clever, boxed in by other people, and pushed toward endings they did not choose. The authors answer that by giving them allies, banter, strange powers, and room to make trouble. Romance matters, but so do friendship and agency. Even when the narration is being silly, the emotional stakes are real. People fall in love, get frightened, make bad calls, and try again.

So what should you expect if you start this series through Cynthia Hand's books? Alternate history with a fantasy streak. Ensemble casts, quick pacing, lots of asides, and an affectionate refusal to let tragedy have the last word. If you like stories that know the old version and would rather improve it, the Lady Janies are built for exactly that.