The Secret Circle (LJ Smith) Books in Order
Part ofLJ Smith Books in OrderBrowse The Secret Circle books in order by L.J. Smith, with quick summaries, witchy series background, and simple guidance on where to start.
Last updated: June 8, 2026
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Publication Order
6 books
The Captive
by LJ Smith
1992
Cassie is intoxicated by the Circle's power and torn by her growing feelings for Adam. As rival desires and jealousies flare, love and magic start pushing the coven toward disaster.
The Initiation
by LJ Smith
1992
When Cassie moves to New Salem, she is drawn into a beautiful, unsettling group of teens who practice magic. Becoming the twelfth member of their Circle gives her power, but also opens the door to old dangers.
The Power
by LJ Smith
1992
The Circle's magic is finally loose, and Cassie must face what it can do in the wrong hands. Ancient evil, buried secrets, and her bond with Adam all come crashing together in New Salem.
The Divide
by LJ Smith
2012
Life in New Salem briefly feels normal, until tragedy leaves the Circle exposed and an unseen enemy closes in. Friendships crack, loyalties shift, and Cassie learns how costly power can be.
The Hunt
by LJ Smith
2012
Cassie's enemies are getting bolder, and danger is no longer coming from just outside the Circle. With Scarlett pushing her way closer, New Salem becomes a place where family and betrayal are hard to tell apart.
The Temptation
by LJ Smith
2013
With the Circle overtaken by dark forces, Cassie stands almost alone. To save her friends, she may have to use the very magic that could corrupt her for good.
Series background & context
The Secret Circle is one of L.J. Smith's cleanest and moodiest setups. Cassie Blake moves to New Salem expecting a fresh start and instead lands in a tight, complicated group of teenagers who are linked by old family lines and real magical power. The town matters from page one. It feels coastal, closed in, and full of history that never fully went away.
Cassie is not the loudest person in the room, and that is part of why the series works. She begins as an outsider, which lets readers discover the Circle with her. The coven is made up of strong personalities, shifting loyalties, buried rivalries, and the kind of social pressure that feels very high school even before the magic starts. Once Cassie becomes the missing twelfth member, the Circle's power changes, and so does the danger around them.
A lot of the tension comes from the push and pull between intimacy and secrecy. The Circle is a found group, almost a family, but it is also a place where desire, jealousy, and old grudges can break things fast. Cassie's feelings for Adam, and the way that love clashes with Diana and the Circle's balance, give the books their emotional current. Faye, meanwhile, brings the threat of ambition and temptation every time the group starts to feel stable.
The magic here is less about big set pieces and more about atmosphere, symbols, old books, hidden bloodlines, and the sense that every spell has a cost. New Salem is full of memory. The adults are not harmless. The past keeps reaching forward. Even when the later books expand the conflict, the series still feels rooted in that original idea of teenagers discovering that power can make them stronger and lonelier at the same time.
This is a good series for readers who like witches with a strong town setting and a lot of interpersonal strain. It has romance, but it is not only romance. It is also about belonging, inheritance, and what happens when a group that is supposed to protect itself starts breaking from the inside.
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