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I have three books out right now - Book Smart, Smart Move, and Gardens & Grudges - and I get some version of this question a lot: "Which one do I read first?" It's a fair question, because my books aren't quite clear. Two of them share a world. One of them doesn't. So let's actually break it down.
Book Smart and Smart Move are connected. Gardens & Grudges is its own thing.
Here's the piece that trips people up the most: Book Smart and Smart Move both live in the same world - a college-town friend group, following Mel, Ivy, and Cameron as they navigate work, friendship, and, eventually, their love stories. If you read one, you're going to meet the same people again in the other, just with a different relationship at the front and center. Reading the books in order isn't strictly required, but it does mean fewer things get spoiled for you, and honestly, you'll probably enjoy the group texts more once you already know these characters.
Gardens & Grudges is a completely different world - different town, different cast, a gardener and a chef locked in a feud over a cat. You don't need to read Book Smart or Smart Move to pick up this one. It's fully standalone, no prior context required.
So the real first decision isn't "which book.” It's "which world."
If you want found-family, start with Book Smart
Book Smart is where Mel, Ivy, and Cameron's story begins. It's told from Mel's perspective. If you love a heroine who processes the entire world through books and a group text that could double as its own comedy routine, this is your entry point. It also sets up the friendship dynamic that carries through Smart Move, so if you're the type of reader who likes context before diving into book two of any series, this is the natural starting place. (Book Smart is part of the Work For It series, a collaborative series of standalones novels within the Penny Reid universe and Smartypants Romance. All of that to say, you can read my two novels as standalones without reading the entire series.)
If you want a specific character's story more than a specific order, start with Smart Move
Smart Move follows Ivy, and it's got a genuinely different flavor than Book Smart even though it's set in the same world. Ivy's synesthesia colors literally everything about how she experiences the story, and her romance with Toby has its own distinct rhythm from Mel's. You don't strictly need to have read Book Smart first to follow what's happening, though you'll pick up on a few hints and inside jokes faster if you have. If Ivy's neurodivergence is what grabs your attention, there's no rule saying you can't start here. (Like Book Smart, Smart Move is part of the Work For It series, a collaborative series of standalones novels within the Penny Reid universe and Smartypants Romance. All of that to say, you can read my two novels as standalones without reading the entire series.)
If you want a completely fresh entry point with zero homework, start with Gardens & Grudges
Gardens & Grudges is the easiest on-ramp into my writing if you don't want to think about series order at all. It's book one in the new series that I’m currently writing. It’s a Midwestern small town feel, grumpy/sunshine rom-com with a gardener heroine, a chef hero, and a cat neither of them will admit they've both fallen for. No prior books required, no friend-group history to catch up on, just one contained, complete story. If you're the kind of reader who gets anxious about whether you’re starting in the right place, this book solves that problem entirely.
If you're trope-driven, let the trope pick for you
Sometimes the honest answer to "which book first" isn't about series logistics at all — it's about which specific flavor of romance you're in the mood for right now.
- Want witty banter and a found-family friend group carrying the emotional weight, the absolute yearning, alongside the romance? Book Smart.
- Want something introspective and a little more atmospheric, with a heroine whose inner world is genuinely unlike anyone else's? Smart Move.
- Want grumpy/sunshine, small-town Midwest charm, and a cat causing chaos on purpose? Gardens & Grudges.
The honest, no-wrong-answer answer
Here's the thing I actually want you to walk away with: there's no wrong starting point with my books. If you start with Gardens & Grudges and love it, you'll eventually want to meet Mel, Ivy, and Cameron too, and Book Smart will be waiting. If you start with Book Smart and fall for that whole friend group, Smart Move will feel like catching up with people you already miss. And if series order genuinely stresses you out, Gardens & Grudges will always be there as a clean, complete, standalone starting point...for now, anyway.
Whichever book you choose, here's what I can promise: closed-door romance, banter doing most of the emotional heavy lifting, a found-family theme that matters as much as the love story, and a happy ending you can count on, every single time.
Welcome to the backlist!