You do not need to begin with Felicia Kingsley’s earliest book to enjoy her novels. Her own website describes the main novels as independent, complete stories. The useful exceptions to understand are the companion stories around Blake Avery and Summer, and the prequels involving Nick Montecristo. Choose a premise first, then decide whether you want publication order or an earlier point in a particular character’s life.
For a straightforward first choice, consider Matrimonio di convenienza if a negotiated relationship attracts you, Due cuori in affitto if you want an inconvenient shared holiday house, or Prima regola: non innamorarsi if thieves and competing plans sound more inviting. These are entry suggestions based on official descriptions, not a ranking based on a claimed full reading. The dates below refer to the Italian publishing history, checked on 24 October 2026. The linked author and publisher pages are in Italian.
What “in order” means for this bibliography
There are three different questions hidden inside a request for Kingsley’s books in order. You may want to follow the author’s publishing career, to meet a recurring character at the beginning of their fictional life, or simply to avoid picking a sequel as your introduction. A useful guide should answer each without turning the whole bibliography into a compulsory series.
The author’s official homepage supports the freedom to choose among the main novels. That does not make every shorter companion equally sensible as a first encounter. A prequel supplies earlier events; a sequel revisits people you may prefer to meet in their original novel. Neither label means you must read every other book the author has written.
Think of the bibliography as several doors with a few connecting corridors. You can enter through an appealing independent novel and leave the corridors until later. If the pleasure you seek is recognition, connections become a reason to continue. If the pleasure is discovery, an earlier publication can help preserve the first introduction. Our broader guide to romance series reading order explains that distinction; the routes here apply it specifically to Kingsley.
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Italian publication order, grouped by year
This list follows the Italian Newton Compton publication years shown in the author’s individual book records. It includes the narrative books and companion fiction, rather than counting reading journals, collected editions or introductions to other authors’ works as additional novels. Books grouped under one year belong to that publishing year; the grouping is more useful than a list of recent reprint dates.
- 2017: Matrimonio di convenienza.
- 2018: Stronze si nasce; Una Cenerentola a Manhattan.
- 2019: Due cuori in affitto; La verità è che non ti odio abbastanza.
- 2020: Appuntamento in terrazzo; Prima regola: non innamorarsi; Il mio regalo inaspettato.
- 2021: Bugiarde si diventa.
- 2022: Non è un paese per single; Ti aspetto a Central Park.
- 2023: Innamorati pazzi; Una ragazza d’altri tempi.
- 2024: Lo Spezzacuori; Una conquista fuori menù.
- 2025: L’amante perduta di Shakespeare; Scandalo a Hollywood.
- 2026: Mezzanotte a Parigi; First Lady per caso.
The author’s book collection and publisher bibliography are the places to identify the works behind new covers and collected editions. For the two 2026 books, the individual author records specify 10 March for Mezzanotte a Parigi and 25 August for First Lady per caso. Both dates precede this guide’s review date.
Use this list as a route if you enjoy seeing a writer’s published settings and premises unfold over time. It is also a useful record for someone already reading several books: a different cover need not mean an unfamiliar story. It is less efficient if one premise strongly attracts you and the earlier ones do not. Publication order offers context; it does not confer permission to enjoy the book you actually want.
Why Bugiarde si diventa has two dates in discussions
One detail can make otherwise careful lists look contradictory. In her official frequently asked questions, Kingsley identifies Bugiarde si diventa as a self-published work dated 15 May 2014. Its individual current book record gives 2021 as the publication year. The list above uses the Newton Compton timeline, so it places that edition in 2021 rather than presenting 2014 as the publisher’s starting point.
That distinction matters if you want a historical reading project. “First written,” “first self-published” and “published by this publisher” are different labels. You can follow the early self-publishing history, but you should name that choice. Moving Bugiarde si diventa to the front without explaining why makes a list harder to interpret, especially for readers looking at current Italian editions.
For an ordinary first read, you do not need to solve the publishing history before choosing it. Keep the distinction only as precise as your purpose requires. A reader comparing editions needs a bibliographic note; a reader choosing a weekend novel needs an appealing premise and the correct language edition. Mixing those tasks can make a simple choice unnecessarily laborious.
Matrimonio di convenienza also began in self-publishing in 2016, before the 2017 publisher edition, as Kingsley explains in an interview hosted by Newton Compton. Thus 2017 starts this publisher list, rather than the complete self-publishing history.
Blake and Summer: begin with the central novel
The clearest first encounter with this connected group is Due cuori in affitto. The publisher’s description puts Blake and Summer in the same accidentally double-booked holiday home. That setup is a useful test: do you enjoy a relationship beginning with a practical problem neither person can simply surrender? If yes, this is a more direct doorway than beginning with a later character companion.
The connected publication route is Due cuori in affitto (2019), then Innamorati pazzi (2023), then Lo Spezzacuori (2024). The author identifies Innamorati pazzi as a sequel novella and Lo Spezzacuori as a prequel. Those labels explain why publication order and story chronology part company.
For a first visit, start with the main novel and decide afterward whether you want both companions. You can then revisit Blake’s earlier life through the prequel, or continue into the sequel. This is an editorial recommendation, not a claim that the author mandates one exact three-book route. The main benefit is meeting the central pair in the book that introduced them before reading material built around their familiarity.
If you already know the central novel, chronological rereading offers a different pleasure. You can place the prequel before it, then finish with the sequel. You are choosing to watch earlier and later stages around a known relationship, rather than recreating the original release experience. You need not treat that reread as the superior or more complete version of the first one.
Nick Montecristo: two legitimate paths through three books
Nick requires a separate small map. Prima regola: non innamorarsi appeared in 2020; L’amante perduta di Shakespeare followed in 2025; Mezzanotte a Parigi arrived in 2026. The author labels the latter two as the prequel and second prequel to Prima regola. That is enough to distinguish the routes without searching plot summaries for secrets.
The publication route is therefore Prima regola: non innamorarsi, L’amante perduta di Shakespeare, Mezzanotte a Parigi. The chronological route through these three is L’amante perduta di Shakespeare, Mezzanotte a Parigi, Prima regola: non innamorarsi. Choose publication order if you want to meet Nick in the earlier-published novel and then look backward. Choose chronology if following the successive stages of his adventures appeals more.
The publisher’s Prima regola description pairs Nick with Silvye in a criminal undertaking. The selection issue is different from the holiday-house novel: cooperation, secrecy and conflicting plans may be the attraction. You can choose that doorway without completing Blake’s companions first.
There is a further connection worth understanding without exaggerating it. Newton Compton calls Nick a character invented by Blake Avery, the writer from Due cuori in affitto. This is a fiction-within-fiction connection. It explains why these names appear together in discussions, but it does not turn a holiday romance into mandatory preparation for an art-thief adventure. Follow the link because it interests you, rather than treating recognition of the device as an entrance exam.
Choose an independent novel by the source of its pressure
For the negotiated-relationship doorway, Matrimonio di convenienza connects Jemma’s inheritance with marriage to an aristocrat. The useful comparison with the shared-house premise is what keeps the characters together. Would you rather explore a deliberate bargain or an inconvenience neither person planned? That question can identify your first book more effectively than choosing whichever cover looks most cheerful.
For a change of scene, Non è un paese per single offers a Tuscan village and an inheritance-related arrival. Consider it when the social surroundings appeal as much as the pair. A village premise invites a different kind of curiosity from a private holiday collision: you may want the sense of an existing community reacting to change. That is a reason to inspect the opening, not a promise about every subplot.
If professional friction is the draw, Ti aspetto a Central Park is a useful lead through its publishing-world premise. Compare your interest in professional identity with your interest in a location. A New York name in a title does not make two novels interchangeable. Ask whether the advertised work and ambitions are things you want the characters to discuss, even before their attraction becomes the focus.
For a newer standalone entrance, First Lady per caso presents a staged political relationship. You can begin there because that public performance attracts you; “newest” need not mean “best starting point” for everyone. A bargain that requires witnesses creates a different reading appetite from a collision that happens away from ordinary life. Prefer the setup you want to spend time with, then test the actual voice.
Familiar settings can hide very different reading invitations
Two more comparisons help if the location alone has been driving your shortlist. The official description of Scandalo a Hollywood puts journalists Sofia and Hayden in competition. That is a different reason to choose a media-world story from following Blake’s connected books. If your curiosity concerns who controls a public narrative, investigate this premise directly instead of assuming that every writer, editor and journalist belongs to one required sequence.
Similarly, Una Cenerentola a Manhattan offers a Cinderella retelling, whereas Una ragazza d’altri tempi brings time travel into the choice. Recognizing a fairy-tale pattern and wanting a change of historical period are distinct preferences. You may enjoy one while being indifferent to the other. Neither requires you to begin at the earliest publication just because both appear in the same author’s catalog.
Try comparing the actual invitation in a single sentence. For the retelling, the attraction might be watching a familiar pattern acquire a different setting. For the time-travel option, it might be the collision between expectations shaped by different periods. For the journalism option, it might be competition over the same professional objective. These are possible reader interests, not judgments about how successfully any whole novel fulfills them.
This comparison also keeps the choice honest after a disappointing first attempt. If a professional-rivalry premise fails to engage you, a shared holiday house offers a meaningfully different experiment. Buying the next chronologically published title without noticing the source of your interest may simply repeat a mismatch. Change one important reading preference at a time so that your next choice teaches you something useful about your taste.
Two other entries distinguish public misunderstanding from an investigation. In Bugiarde si diventa, Charlotte’s assumed identity creates a public misunderstanding. In La verità è che non ti odio abbastanza, Lexi’s family is caught in an FBI fraud investigation. Choose the former if managing an invented social identity sounds appealing; consider the latter if you prefer personal interests tangled with official scrutiny. The difference is what you want to be curious about: sustaining an appearance or navigating an investigation. Neither title needs to become an obligatory stop between the Blake or Nick books.
Connected characters are invitations, not a universal prerequisite
Another potentially tempting connection is Dwight Faraday. His name appears in the author’s description of Innamorati pazzi, while Una conquista fuori menù gives him a restaurant-centered undercover premise with Julia Villa. That makes it reasonable to notice a shared character. It does not by itself establish a compulsory chain through every title where he appears.
A practical response is to separate recognition from dependence. Someone who likes revisiting familiar characters can keep Una conquista fuori menù after their Blake reading. Someone drawn specifically to the restaurant premise can consider that novel directly under the author’s general standalone guidance. Neither reader needs an invented numbering system that the official book pages do not supply.
The same discipline helps when a cover or bookseller recommendation places several titles together. Shared authorship, a repeated setting and a recurring name are different kinds of connection. Only one of those necessarily tells you about a particular relationship’s continuation. Identify the specific link before letting it dictate your next purchase or library request.
Titles, editions and a manageable first reading plan
The titles in this guide remain in Italian. They identify the original works rather than inventing translated titles for English readers. When choosing an edition in another language, use its official publisher record to match the author, original title and contents. A literal English rendering can be useful in conversation but is not evidence that an edition with that title exists.
Also distinguish a new story from a new package. A limited edition may advertise additional material; an omnibus may collect books already on your list. Compare contents before counting either as the next novel. Page totals can differ by format, so they are a poor way to establish whether two covers contain the same work. The title and edition record do more useful work here.
For a hypothetical first-week plan, suppose you like competing adults but do not want to commit to a connected group. Pick Matrimonio di convenienza or First Lady per caso according to whether a private bargain or a public performance interests you more. Read a sample. If you enjoy the voice, finish that book before turning your choice into a complete bibliography project. If the premise does not appeal, change the doorway rather than assuming you must begin in 2017.
Suppose instead that Nick is the reason you arrived. Write down just the three-book route you prefer. Keep the Blake connection as an optional later curiosity. That small plan protects the distinction you cared about without making nineteen narrative titles feel like prerequisites. Our romantic comedy selection guide can help you name the comic situations you enjoy when two possible entrances still seem equally attractive.
Once you know what you want next, keep the author choice and the broader reading mood separate. If you want to continue exploring other romance premises, the Alisson Bento catalog offers another browsing route. It is a separate catalog, not a source of Kingsley editions. For Kingsley herself, choose one original title, confirm your language edition, and follow a connection only when it makes your next read more inviting.
