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Tracey Bateman Books in Order

Explore Tracey Bateman books in order, with series guides, short summaries, and simple where-to-start help for her romance, suspense, and historical fiction.

Last updated: July 11, 2026

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Tracey Bateman books in publication order

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36 books

Darling Cassidy

by Tracey Bateman

2000

With no money and a young niece to protect, Cassidy Sinclair answers a widower's ad for a wife in frontier Kansas. What starts as desperation becomes a test of love, grief, and the kind of family they can build.

Tarah's Lessons

by Tracey Bateman

2001

Tarah is already wrestling with difficult students and the return of the man she has always loved when two abused children enter her life. Helping them may cost her heart, but it may also teach her what grace looks like.

But For Grace

by Tracey Bateman

2003

Star Campbell escapes a dangerous past and lands in the home of farmer Michael Riley. His kindness offers a new beginning, but the secrets she carries may ruin any chance at belonging or love.

Emily's Place

by Tracey Bateman

2003

Emily St. John buys the local mercantile hoping it will finally bring her closer to Jeremiah Daniels. Instead it starts a battle of pride, business rivalry, and long-delayed love in small-town Kansas.

Laney's Kiss

by Tracey Bateman

2003

Tomboy Laney Jenkins finally goes after the rancher she loves, only to learn that Luke St. John has dreams that may take him far from Kansas. Their courtship is sweet, stubborn, and full of frontier sparks.

Everlasting Hope

by Tracey Bateman

2004

Widowed Hope Parker needs a safe future for her son, and Andy Riley needs rescue from debt and despair. Their arranged marriage begins as necessity, but the journey west may open a door to real hope.

Missouri

by Tracey Bateman

2004

This four-in-one anthology gathers Missouri-set Christian romances, including Bateman's Timing Is Everything. Across the collection, different couples face fresh starts, family hopes, and hard choices in the Show-Me State.

Timing Is Everything

by Tracey Bateman

2004

Forty-year-old Esther Young thinks she has settled into a comfortable single life until Tom Pearson changes everything. Their swift romance awakens old hopes, and then forces Esther to ask whether love and timing are truly the same thing.

Torey's Prayer

by Tracey Bateman

2004

After witnessing a murder committed by her own stepfather, Torey Mitchell runs for her life and ends up under a widow's protection. Truth, forgiveness, and growing affection for the victim's son drive this tense historical romance.

A Love So Tender

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Aimee turns from disappointed love toward work at her aunt and uncle's orphanage, where a motherless baby steals her heart. Then the child's father arrives, determined to reclaim his son and unexpectedly drawn to Aimee.

Beside Still Waters

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Eva Riley has been deeply hurt and wants nothing from love except distance. Ben Jones refuses to stop caring, and his steady devotion turns this frontier romance into a story about restoration, trust, and second chances.

Betrayal of Trust

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Journalist Raven Mahoney chases a political mystery that leads straight back to a man from her past. As family questions and fresh danger collide, the story she wants may be the one that puts her most at risk.

Reasonable Doubt

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Police officer Keri Mahoney reunites with the boy she once loved when Justin Kramer becomes a murder suspect. To clear his name, they must reopen old wounds and hunt the real killer before suspicion hardens into a verdict.

Second Chance

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Falsely accused and running from trouble in San Francisco, Alisa Worthington lands in Reliable, California, at the mercy of the Chance brothers. Titus Chance wants to help, but her secrets make trust a risky thing.

Suspicion of Guilt

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Denni Mahoney's home for troubled girls is under attack from theft, flood, fire, and rising fear. Detective Reece Corrigan has to uncover who wants the place destroyed before the danger closes in on Denni herself.

The Color of the Soul

by Tracey Bateman

2005

Reporter Andy Carmichael thinks interviewing dying author Miss Penbrook will make his career. Instead, the journals she gives him pull him into family secrets, identity questions, and a past that changes everything.

Claire Knows Best

by Tracey Bateman

2006

Claire finally seems to be getting life together, until a tornado, teen rebellion, career stress, and romantic confusion send everything sideways again. Funny and warm, it follows one woman learning that control is not the same as peace.

Freedom of the Soul

by Tracey Bateman

2006

After loss and forced eviction, Shea Penbrook discovers family diaries that point toward hidden ancestry and buried Southern history. Her search leads from Oregon to Georgia and into a painful legacy of race, love, and silence.

Leave It to Claire

by Tracey Bateman

2006

After surgery forces single mother and novelist Claire Everett to slow down, she realizes how far her family life has slipped off course. Her attempt to fix everything at once leads to comedy, strain, and some hard truth.

Catch a Rising Star

by Tracey Bateman

2007

Tabby Brockman gets the chance to return to the soap opera role that once made her famous, but old grudges and fresh chaos wait on set. Career hopes, family strain, and romantic trouble make her comeback anything but simple.

Defiant Heart

by Tracey Bateman

2007

Orphan Fannie Caldwell sneaks onto a wagon train to save her younger siblings from a cruel master. The trail west is dangerous enough, but falling for stubborn wagon master Blake Tanner may be the bigger risk.

I Love Claire

by Tracey Bateman

2007

Claire Everett is still trying to hold together family, faith, work, and romance without losing herself in the process. The final book keeps the series' mix of domestic chaos, heart, and hard-earned growth.

A Season For Grace

by Tracey Bateman

2008

Grace Porter joins a wagon train for a fresh start out west, but guilt from her past keeps her at arm's length from everyone around her. Especially the wagon master and the children who need her most.

Dangerous Heart

by Tracey Bateman

2008

Ginger Freeman boards a wagon train carrying one purpose, revenge against the doctor she blames for her brother's death. Community, faith, and approaching violence force her to choose between old loyalties and a better life.

That's (Not Exactly) Amore

by Tracey Bateman

2008

The third Drama Queen novel serves up more romantic confusion, career stumbles, and friendship-fueled comedy. Bateman keeps the tone light while showing how badly even smart women can misread love.

You Had Me at Good-Bye

by Tracey Bateman

2008

After losing her publishing job, Dancy Ames writes a revenge novel and sends it to the man who fired her. What begins as payback turns messy when he likes the book, and maybe the woman behind it.

Distant Heart

by Tracey Bateman

2009

Toni Rodden has escaped prostitution and heads west hoping Oregon will give her a clean start. On the trail, danger and a chance at love press her to decide whether she can believe her past does not own her forever.

Thirsty

by Tracey Bateman

2009

Recovering alcoholic Nina Parker returns to Abbey Hills, Missouri, to face the family and damage she left behind. But something ancient is watching her homecoming, and her fight for sobriety becomes a fight for survival.

A Prairie Christmas Collection

by Tracey Bateman

2010

This holiday anthology gathers nine prairie Christmas romances, including Bateman's Take Me Home. Frontier hardship, family longing, faith, and unexpected love warm even the coldest winter settings.

Love Finds You in Deadwood, South Dakota

by Tracey Bateman

2010

Newly widowed and pregnant, Jane Albright risks everything to save her home and freighting business from debt. Deadwood offers grit, danger, and an uneasy alliance with the very man she thinks stands against her.

Tandem

by Tracey Bateman

2010

Abbey Hills thinks the nightmare is over, but fresh violence says otherwise. As grief, obsession, and unanswered questions tighten around the town, two women are pulled into a new battle against darkness.

Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota

by Tracey Bateman

2012

Rosemary travels to North Dakota expecting to visit her twin sister and instead finds a grave, a grieving brother-in-law, and a hungry baby. Through a brutal winter, duty slowly turns into something far more complicated.

The Widow of Saunders Creek

by Tracey Bateman

2012

Still broken by her husband's death, Corrie Saunders retreats to an Ozarks house he loved and becomes convinced his presence lingers there. What she senses may be far darker, and letting go becomes its own spiritual battle.

The Brides of Chance Collection

by Tracey Bateman

2013

This large historical romance collection follows the Chance brothers as unexpected brides and wanderers upend life on their California ranch. Bateman's Second Chance sits inside a bigger family saga full of warmth, trouble, and heart.

Brides of Kansas

by Tracey Bateman

2017

This three-in-one collection follows Cassidy, Tarah, and Laney as they fight for love and stability on the Kansas frontier. The linked stories span one family and blend prairie hardship with warmth and faith.

The Nanny Proposal

by Tracey Bateman

2021

An unexpected job as nanny throws a practical young woman into the life of a lonely widower and his spirited son. What begins as necessity slowly opens into family, healing, and a second chance at love.

Where to start with Tracey Bateman

If you want frontier family sagas: Darling CassidyTarah's LessonsLaney's KissEmily's Place
If you like romantic suspense: Reasonable DoubtSuspicion of GuiltBetrayal of Trust
If you want funny contemporary fiction: Leave It to ClaireClaire Knows BestI Love Claire
If you want darker supernatural suspense: ThirstyTandem
If you want wagon-train romance: Defiant HeartDistant HeartDangerous Heart

50 States of Love books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Brides of Kansas"

    Brides of Kansas

    by Tracey Bateman

    201750 States of Love, Book 1

50 States of Love books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Brides of Kansas"

    Brides of Kansas

    by Tracey Bateman

    201750 States of Love, Book 1

California Chances (Tracey Bateman) books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Second Chance"

    Second Chance

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005California Chances, Book 1

California Chances (Tracey Bateman) books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Second Chance"

    Second Chance

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005California Chances, Book 1

Claire Everett books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Claire Knows Best"

    Claire Knows Best

    by Tracey Bateman

    2006Claire Everett, Book 2
  2. Book cover for "Leave It to Claire"

    Leave It to Claire

    by Tracey Bateman

    2006Claire Everett, Book 1
  3. Book cover for "I Love Claire"

    I Love Claire

    by Tracey Bateman

    2007Claire Everett, Book 3

Claire Everett books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Leave It to Claire"

    Leave It to Claire

    by Tracey Bateman

    2006Claire Everett, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Claire Knows Best"

    Claire Knows Best

    by Tracey Bateman

    2006Claire Everett, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "I Love Claire"

    I Love Claire

    by Tracey Bateman

    2007Claire Everett, Book 3

Drama Queen books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Catch a Rising Star"

    Catch a Rising Star

    by Tracey Bateman

    2007Drama Queen, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "That's (Not Exactly) Amore"

    That's (Not Exactly) Amore

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008Drama Queen, Book 3
  3. Book cover for "You Had Me at Good-Bye"

    You Had Me at Good-Bye

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008Drama Queen, Book 2

Drama Queen books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Catch a Rising Star"

    Catch a Rising Star

    by Tracey Bateman

    2007Drama Queen, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "You Had Me at Good-Bye"

    You Had Me at Good-Bye

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008Drama Queen, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "That's (Not Exactly) Amore"

    That's (Not Exactly) Amore

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008Drama Queen, Book 3

Kansas Home books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Darling Cassidy"

    Darling Cassidy

    by Tracey Bateman

    2000Kansas Home, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Tarah's Lessons"

    Tarah's Lessons

    by Tracey Bateman

    2001Kansas Home, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Emily's Place"

    Emily's Place

    by Tracey Bateman

    2003Kansas Home, Book 4
  4. Book cover for "Laney's Kiss"

    Laney's Kiss

    by Tracey Bateman

    2003Kansas Home, Book 3

Kansas Home books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Darling Cassidy"

    Darling Cassidy

    by Tracey Bateman

    2000Kansas Home, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Tarah's Lessons"

    Tarah's Lessons

    by Tracey Bateman

    2001Kansas Home, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Laney's Kiss"

    Laney's Kiss

    by Tracey Bateman

    2003Kansas Home, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Emily's Place"

    Emily's Place

    by Tracey Bateman

    2003Kansas Home, Book 4

Love Finds You (Tracey Bateman) books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Love Finds You in Deadwood, South Dakota"

    Love Finds You in Deadwood, South Dakota

    by Tracey Bateman

    2010Love Finds You, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota"

    Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota

    by Tracey Bateman

    2012Love Finds You, Book 2

Love Finds You (Tracey Bateman) books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Love Finds You in Deadwood, South Dakota"

    Love Finds You in Deadwood, South Dakota

    by Tracey Bateman

    2010Love Finds You, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota"

    Love Finds You in Wildrose, North Dakota

    by Tracey Bateman

    2012Love Finds You, Book 2

Oregon Brides books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "But For Grace"

    But For Grace

    by Tracey Bateman

    2003Oregon Brides, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Everlasting Hope"

    Everlasting Hope

    by Tracey Bateman

    2004Oregon Brides, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Beside Still Waters"

    Beside Still Waters

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005Oregon Brides, Book 3

Oregon Brides books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "But For Grace"

    But For Grace

    by Tracey Bateman

    2003Oregon Brides, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Everlasting Hope"

    Everlasting Hope

    by Tracey Bateman

    2004Oregon Brides, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Beside Still Waters"

    Beside Still Waters

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005Oregon Brides, Book 3

The Mahoney Sisters books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Betrayal of Trust"

    Betrayal of Trust

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Mahoney Sisters, Book 3
  2. Book cover for "Reasonable Doubt"

    Reasonable Doubt

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Mahoney Sisters, Book 1
  3. Book cover for "Suspicion of Guilt"

    Suspicion of Guilt

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Mahoney Sisters, Book 2

The Mahoney Sisters books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Reasonable Doubt"

    Reasonable Doubt

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Mahoney Sisters, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Suspicion of Guilt"

    Suspicion of Guilt

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Mahoney Sisters, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Betrayal of Trust"

    Betrayal of Trust

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Mahoney Sisters, Book 3

The Penbrook Diaries books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "The Color of the Soul"

    The Color of the Soul

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Penbrook Diaries, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Freedom of the Soul"

    Freedom of the Soul

    by Tracey Bateman

    2006The Penbrook Diaries, Book 2

The Penbrook Diaries books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "The Color of the Soul"

    The Color of the Soul

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005The Penbrook Diaries, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Freedom of the Soul"

    Freedom of the Soul

    by Tracey Bateman

    2006The Penbrook Diaries, Book 2

Thirsty (Tracey Bateman) books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Thirsty"

    Thirsty

    by Tracey Bateman

    2009Thirsty, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Tandem"

    Tandem

    by Tracey Bateman

    2010Thirsty, Book 2

Thirsty (Tracey Bateman) books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Thirsty"

    Thirsty

    by Tracey Bateman

    2009Thirsty, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Tandem"

    Tandem

    by Tracey Bateman

    2010Thirsty, Book 2

Westward Hearts books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Defiant Heart"

    Defiant Heart

    by Tracey Bateman

    2007Westward Hearts, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Dangerous Heart"

    Dangerous Heart

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008Westward Hearts, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Distant Heart"

    Distant Heart

    by Tracey Bateman

    2009Westward Hearts, Book 3

Westward Hearts books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Defiant Heart"

    Defiant Heart

    by Tracey Bateman

    2007Westward Hearts, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Dangerous Heart"

    Dangerous Heart

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008Westward Hearts, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Distant Heart"

    Distant Heart

    by Tracey Bateman

    2009Westward Hearts, Book 3

Tracey Bateman collections, short stories, and related book types

Collections

  1. Book cover for "A Prairie Christmas Collection"

    A Prairie Christmas Collection

    by Tracey Bateman

    2010
  2. Book cover for "The Brides of Chance Collection"

    The Brides of Chance Collection

    by Tracey Bateman

    2013

Standalone Tracey Bateman books

  1. Book cover for "Missouri"

    Missouri

    by Tracey Bateman

    2004
  2. Book cover for "Timing Is Everything"

    Timing Is Everything

    by Tracey Bateman

    2004
  3. Book cover for "Torey's Prayer"

    Torey's Prayer

    by Tracey Bateman

    2004
  4. Book cover for "A Love So Tender"

    A Love So Tender

    by Tracey Bateman

    2005
  5. Book cover for "A Season For Grace"

    A Season For Grace

    by Tracey Bateman

    2008
  6. Book cover for "The Widow of Saunders Creek"

    The Widow of Saunders Creek

    by Tracey Bateman

    2012
  7. Book cover for "The Nanny Proposal"

    The Nanny Proposal

    by Tracey Bateman

    2021

Author bio

Tracey Bateman has spent much of her career writing about women at the edge of change, and that feels fitting for her own story too. She has long made her home in Missouri, and her life in the Ozarks shows up again and again in the grounded way she writes family, faith, and small-town pressure.

Her road to publishing was not especially tidy. She married young, raised children early, and later went back to college in the mid-1990s. In a freshman English class, writing stopped feeling like a school assignment and started feeling like something she needed to do.

That class mattered.

Bateman has said she learned by doing, writing around family life and sharpening her work through critique partners, editors, and steady practice. College ended before the degree did, because her fourth child was on the way, but the writing stuck. Her first novel, Darling Cassidy, arrived in 2001, and the books came quickly after that.

Very quickly.

In just a few years she built a bibliography that moved easily between historical romance, contemporary women's fiction, and suspense. Readers who start with Darling Cassidy, Reasonable Doubt, or Leave It to Claire get a good sense of that range. She could write prairie marriages of convenience, police-and-reporter danger, and comic family chaos without losing the faith thread that tied her work together.

She also did something not every reader expected. With Thirsty and Tandem, Bateman stepped into supernatural territory, setting vampire-tinged suspense in small-town Missouri. Later, The Widow of Saunders Creek blended grief, spiritual unease, and romance in the Ozarks. Even when the setup turns dark, her stories tend to stay focused on wounded people trying to choose hope over fear.

That mix of warmth and risk is part of what makes her work memorable. Her heroines are often women rebuilding after loss, embarrassment, danger, or plain old exhaustion. Her settings range from Kansas prairie towns and wagon trains to Missouri cabins and TV studios, but the emotional questions stay familiar. Can this person start over? Can a family be mended? Can faith survive when life gets messy?

Bateman has also been active in the writing community. She joined American Christian Fiction Writers near the start of the organization's life and later served as its president. In 2009, You Had Me at Good-bye won a Christy Award, a nice marker of how well her lighter contemporary voice connected with readers.

These days, she is still closely associated with Missouri, especially the Ozarks, where she has lived with her husband and four children. That sense of place matters. Whether she is writing frontier romance, chick lit, romantic suspense, or something with a sharper supernatural edge, her books usually feel rooted in everyday lives, ordinary faith, and people who are trying, sometimes awkwardly, to get it right.

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