Start Ruby Roe with A Game of Hearts and Heists if you want criminal rivals forced into a magical job together, or House of Crimson Hearts if a vampire hunter and an ancient vampire sound more tempting. Those are the two entrances recommended on the author’s official reading-order page. You can enter either series first. Inside each series, keep the main numbered novels in order.
There is also a two-book demonic-academy route beginning with Architecti, and the newer Empire of Ruin world begins with the prequel Daughter of Sin. The choice is less about finding one correct first book than choosing the kind of conflict you want beside a sapphic romance. This guide compares verified descriptions and author guidance. It does not pretend that reading a synopsis establishes how every scene works or what every ending feels like.
What connects Ruby Roe’s books
Roe describes her work as adult sapphic romantasy. Her author page identifies Girl Games, Kingdom of Immortal Lovers, Deals of Dark Desire and Empire of Ruin as four connected series. The shared setting permits connections and appearances across them, but it does not create a requirement to finish the entire bibliography before enjoying one entry point.
Keep the author name precise when searching. The same person publishes writing guides and the young-adult Eden East books as Sacha Black. That relationship is openly acknowledged by the author; it does not make Eden East another installment of the Ruby Roe adult catalog. A shared author identity and a shared fictional universe are different things. If you came for romance between women, start with the Ruby Roe series descriptions rather than assuming every book under either name offers that structure.
Our broader lesbian and sapphic romance selection compares other reading moods. Roe’s particular invitation brings attraction into worlds where magical authority, criminal obligations or supernatural power can make cooperation costly.
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Girl Games: choose the heist before the whole universe
The main Girl Games sequence is A Game of Hearts and Heists, A Game of Romance and Ruin, A Game of Deceit and Desire, then A Game of Vows and Vendettas. There are additional shorter works: A Game of Love and Hate is a prequel, while A Game of Brats and Brides is a bonus epilogue work. This separates the four numbered titles from the extra visits; a list of six products should not automatically become a claim that there are six main novels.
Girl Games does not follow Scarlett and Quinn through every main title. Book two’s official page centers negotiator Stirling Grey and princess Morrigan Lee, former lovers brought together by a royal mission. Book three follows Remy Reid and Bella Blythe, rival magicians partnered in the Runic Games. Those individual pages explicitly allow standalone reading while recommending the earlier books. The general reading hub favors numbered order for the ongoing world threads. Following that order preserves context; it is not evidence that the first three volumes continue one couple’s unfinished romance.
In the first book’s official description, Scarlett Grey is an assassin and Quinn Adams a medic who became a poisoner. They have a professional rivalry and a prior sexual history before a royal offer pushes them into a heist. New Imperium’s magical tattoos and competing criminal professions supply a more specific attraction than the broad enemies-to-lovers label alone.
This is a useful entrance if you enjoy the problem of relying on somebody whose abilities you respect but whose interests conflict with yours. A heist offers a concrete shared objective. You can ask whether the operational partnership or the emotional antagonism attracts you first. Someone seeking two complete strangers discovering attraction should notice the established history: hostility here does not mean the women have never been close.
The fourth numbered title adds a crossover between worlds. A Game of Vows and Vendettas is marketed as a short crossover novel involving vampire bodyguard Dahlia St Clair and Princess Penelope Lee. Its wedding setting brings characters from Girl Games and Kingdom of Immortal Lovers together. It follows the series’ pattern of different central couples while adding a crossover between the two series.
That protector-and-princess pairing may interest you after visiting the earlier couples. The protector-and-princess setup introduces a different dependency: a professional duty keeps the women near each other while the public occasion gives their conduct consequences. Compare that with Scarlett and Quinn being recruited for the same job. Both arrangements make proximity necessary, but one begins with competing professionals and the other with a protection assignment. If your favorite romantic tension involves the gap between what a role permits and what a person wants, the crossover deserves a place on your later list. If the heist itself is your main draw, finish that initial route before deciding whether palace duties offer the same pleasure.
For that crossover, the author’s broader recommended route is more useful than reading the number four in isolation. Read the first three Girl Games novels, explore the main Kingdom of Immortal Lovers books, and return for the wedding crossover if you want the connections introduced in the intended sequence. You can choose the smaller heist route first and decide about the wider visit afterward.
Kingdom of Immortal Lovers: attraction inside a struggle for rule
The main vampire sequence is House of Crimson Hearts, House of Crimson Kisses, then House of Crimson Curses. House of Crimson Nights is a prequel novella; House of Crimson Spice is additional epilogue material. These similar titles are easy to confuse, so check the final noun when borrowing or saving an edition. Nights and Hearts have different roles even though both sound like plausible starting novels.
The official page for House of Crimson Hearts introduces Red, a vampire hunter, and Octavia Beaumont, an original vampire who turned Red’s sister. Octavia’s ambition concerns control of Sangui City. Trials that determine its next ruler create a reason for the antagonists to cooperate. The premise also advertises a shared past, so this is another route where enemies does not mean strangers.
Choose this series over Girl Games when the political authority of vampires, family grievance and supernatural dependency interest you more than a criminal job. The emotional question suggested by the setup is different: what happens when someone associated with a deeply personal injury becomes a necessary ally? That question describes the invitation of the premise, without claiming the story supplies one simple moral answer.
Blood bonds and addiction are meaningful elements of the author’s presentation. They should not be reduced to a decorative vampire atmosphere. Readers may enjoy the intensity of supernatural need while wanting advance information about withdrawal, manipulation or self-harm. Those are separate preferences from liking fangs, ancient characters or gothic surroundings. The content pages below make the distinction more concrete.
You do not have to finish Girl Games before House of Crimson Hearts. The author’s reading-order guidance expressly permits the vampire entrance. Reading in that direction can be especially sensible if vampires brought you to Roe in the first place: curiosity about the actual characters is a stronger reason to begin than the feeling that an unrelated shelf must first be cleared.
Deals of Dark Desire: a shorter commitment with a real sequence
Deals of Dark Desire consists of Architecti followed by Interitus. The author’s current pages identify it as a complete duet. That is a useful choice for readers who want a defined two-volume route, but the first volume should not be mistaken for a complete standalone simply because the overall commitment is shorter.
The Architecti description introduces Mercedes Midnight, whose demonic contract has a deadline, and Lucy Corvine, the devil’s daughter. Training, an academy and a bargain link their futures. The author explicitly markets a professor-student dynamic, adult material and a cliffhanger. If a magical institution attracts you, this offers an educational hierarchy and contractual pressure rather than the heist organization of Girl Games or the succession contest of the vampire series.
The distinction between an academy setting and young-adult fiction matters here. A school or training environment does not establish the intended age category. Roe identifies this work for adults, and its official notes address sexual material and unequal power. Choose it for the advertised adult gothic-academy experience, not because the setting resembles a familiar school adventure.
Interitus is presented as the second and final book, with explicit instructions to read Architecti first. Its description reveals consequences of the first ending. For a relatively unspoiled start, avoid reading the sequel’s full synopsis until you have finished the opener. Knowing that a second book is required can help you plan without needing to know what makes it required.
Empire of Ruin: distinguish the prequel from a finished series
Empire of Ruin moves toward dark sapphic mafia romantasy. The author’s series description locates it in Nefari City, with seven criminal families associated with the deadly sins and a hierarchy compared to chess. Vampire and fae factions are part of that premise. Those are fictional institutions; the appeal concerns invented loyalties and dangerous authority rather than a guide to any real criminal organization.
The Daughter of Sin page identifies the work as a prequel and introduces fixer Saint Severo and her former lover, assassin Marlowe Reign. A leadership crisis and an accusation reconnect them. This offers a return to an established emotional history, with official power on one side and a person subject to it on the other. It is a more specific reason to investigate than simply wanting the author’s newest cover.
At this check, Daughter of Envy was labeled a preorder for book one. Distinguish that preorder label from the prequel’s separate place in the sequence and from the complete Deals of Dark Desire duet. The author’s pages contain older release wording, so this guide does not certify current supply of the prequel. A new series does not offer the same defined endpoint as an already finished pair. Recheck the author’s page when ordering; release plans and formats can change.
Three sensible routes through the catalog
For the simplest author-recommended introduction, begin A Game of Hearts and Heists. Continue through Romance and Ruin and Deceit and Desire if the criminal magic and relationship history suit you. The reading hub places A Game of Love and Hate after the first book in its extended route. A prequel’s earlier fictional date therefore does not force it to be your first encounter.
For a vampire-led route, start with House of Crimson Hearts and continue through Kisses and Curses. The author permits this entrance without Girl Games. You can add House of Crimson Nights and the bonus material according to your interest in more time with the world, rather than treating the decimal numbering as a test you must pass.
For a bounded darker-academy route, choose Architecti and Interitus together as your intended sequence. This keeps the two-volume promise visible from the start. It also avoids buying a later installment merely because its description sounds more exciting, when that description assumes the earlier story’s changes.
The full shared-world route differs from simply reading every series straight through. Roe’s hub moves from the first three Girl Games novels into the vampire sequence before returning to A Game of Vows and Vendettas. That placement explains the crossover without making it a prerequisite for your first heist. Our standalone versus fantasy-series guide offers a broader distinction between a couple’s arc and the life of a setting.
Read content notes by book, not by author reputation
Roe’s series have separate warning pages. The Girl Games notes distinguish the individual titles and include explicit adult intimacy, graphic violence and coercive or manipulative situations. A reader who welcomes assassins in the premise may still have a specific boundary around a later book’s material. The profession of a protagonist does not answer every content question.
The Kingdom of Immortal Lovers notes include addiction and withdrawal, and identify further subjects such as self-harm and memory manipulation for particular installments. The Deals of Dark Desire page includes abusive family dynamics, dubious consent and animal-related warnings. These examples are selective; the linked lists supply the book-specific detail.
Avoid turning one word such as dark into a universal intensity scale. A fantasy battle, compromised choice, family cruelty and an explicit intimate scene can affect different readers very differently. Ask about the particular subject you need to identify. The warning pages can contain spoilers, especially for sequels, so decide whether you want to read the whole list yourself or have someone check one narrow question for you.
Editions, language and audio need separate decisions
Keep the original titles when searching. A shop operating in your country may sell an English edition. Conversely, an English title on a cover does not prove the interior remains English. Cinna’s German House of Crimson Hearts listing explicitly identifies the German publication under that same title, ISBN 978-3-69200-028-2, as volume one of three. That verifies this particular edition, not German editions of the entire Ruby Roe catalog.
No Portuguese, Spanish, French or Italian translated title is asserted here. Use the original book name and author to locate the edition, then check its stated text language and publisher. A translation of a product description is not a translated novel. Nor does a rights announcement alone show that a finished translation can already be obtained.
Roe’s reading hub also distinguishes audio arrangements. Main Girl Games and Kingdom of Immortal Lovers audiobooks have a broader retailer route, while the author’s shorter audio works are directed to her shop; the A Game of Love and Hate audio is included with A Game of Hearts and Heists. The duet’s audio is identified as Audible exclusive. Verify the exact listing in your region, especially before purchasing a short work twice in different packaging.
The shop describes dyslexia-friendly print options for main Girl Games and vampire titles. Check the selected variant rather than assuming every paperback uses that layout. Sample typography, narration and delivery format can affect enjoyment independently of which fictional world appeals to you.
Choose one entrance, read its description and content notes, and inspect the edition you actually intend to read. For a separate next browse, Alisson Bento’s romance catalog contains standalone books; it is not part of Roe’s universe. The useful outcome is a first book you are curious about, with the continuation and format clear enough to let you enjoy discovering the rest.
