Mary Monroe

Author Information
Mary Monroe's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    35 Books (5 Series)
  • First Book:
    February 1985
  • Latest Book:
    March 2025
  • Author Rating:
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Full Series List in Order

A Lexington, Alabama Novel

1 - Mrs. Wiggins (Apr-2021)
2 - Empty Vows (Apr-2022)
3 - Love, Honor, Betray (Apr-2023)

A Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart Novel

1 - Every Woman's Dream (Jun-2016)
1.5 - Can You Keep a Secret? (Sep-2016)
2 - Never Trust a Stranger (Apr-2017)
3 - The Devil You Know (Nov-2017)

Mama Ruby

1 - The Upper Room (Feb-1985)
2 - Mama Ruby (Jun-2011)
3 - Lost Daughters (Jun-2013)

The Neighbors

1 - One House Over (Mar-2018)
2 - Over the Fence (Mar-2019)
3 - Across the Way (Apr-2020)

Related Books

1 - God Don't Like Ugly (Oct-2000)
2 - God Still Don't Like Ugly (Sep-2003)
3 - God Don't Play (Sep-2006)
4 - God Ain't Blind (Sep-2009)
5 - God Ain't Through Yet (Jun-2010)
6 - God Don't Make No Mistakes (Jun-2012)

Book List in Order: 35 titles

  • The Upper Room

    Mama Ruby - 1

    The “magnificent, funny, and terrifying” debut novel from the New York Times bestselling author of God Don’t Like Ugly (The San Francisco Chronicle).   Mama Ruby’s known for taking things that aren’t rightfully hers, like her best frie...

  • God Don't Like Ugly

    Related Books - 1

    The captivating first book in the acclaimed, award-winning and New York Times bestselling God series sweeps readers back to the streets, porches, and parlors of civil rights-era Ohio to bring to life the beginning of an enduring friendship between tw...

  • Gonna Lay Down My Burdens

    Bestselling author Mary Monroe won rave reviews from critics and readers alike with her first two novels, God Don't Like Ugly and The Upper Room, both Main Selections of the Black Expressions Book Club. Now she returns with the masterful Gonna Lay Do...

  • God Still Don't Like Ugly

    Related Books - 2

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe's heart-stopping tale about a woman who's suffered too much to give up on herself, even if everyone else has. . . Growing up, Annette Goode thought all men were as low-down as the father who abandoned her...

  • Red Light Wives

    From New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe comes a powerful novel about the hopes, dreams, laughter--and limits--of six unique women surviving on the streets of San Francisco. . . They're about as different as six women can be--haughty and hu...

  • In Sheep's Clothing

    A restless young woman thinks she's found a free ride to happiness and adventure. But it's a trip that may land her in prison--or worse... When twenty-eight-year-old Trudy Bell lands a secretarial position at a travel agency, she feels like a new wo...

  • God Don't Play

    Related Books - 3

    With a handsome husband, a beautiful daughter, and a lovely house to come home to every night, it looks like forty-five-year-old Annette Goode finally has it all. And heaven knows she paid her dues to get it--from a childhood filled with abuse to a r...

  • Nightmare in Paradise

    in Borrow Trouble

    Good-looking and as dutiful a wife as she is a devoted friend, reserved and respectful Renee Webb always does the right thing. So when she gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to let her hair down on a Caribbean vacation with her uninhibited friend ...

  • Deliver Me From Evil

    Once upon a time, Christine Thurman had the perfect marriage. A girl from the wrong side of the tracks, she made good by marrying Jesse Ray Thurman and helping him build a business worth millions. Together, they were the perfect couple--attractive, s...



  • She Had It Coming

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers a powerful and provocative new novel about one woman's search for love in a world where secrets don't always stay hidden, friends don't always have our backs, and the choices we make in one rash ...

  • The Company We Keep

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe's extraordinary novel celebrates life, love, and the power of sisterhood--proving that friends, like fine wine, only get better with age... Gorgeous, successful executive Teri Stewart spends her days wo...

  • God Ain't Blind

    Related Books - 4

    In this gripping, unforgettable new novel by New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe, forever friends Annette Goode Davis and Rhoda O'Toole are about to learn that even the rockiest relationships can survive just about anything -- as long as yo...

  • God Ain't Through Yet

    Related Books - 5

    From New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe comes a poignant and passionate new novel featuring lifelong friends Annette Goode Davis and Rhoda O'Toole -- two women whose best intentions don't always yield the best results. This time around, An...

  • Mama Ruby

    Mama Ruby - 2

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe presents an unforgettable tale featuring Mama Ruby, the indomitable heroine of her acclaimed novel The Upper Room. Now readers will get a peek into Ruby's early years, as she transforms from a spoiled sma...

  • God Don't Make No Mistakes

    Related Books - 6

    In the sparkling conclusion to Mary Monroe's bestselling God series, two forever friends face their biggest betrayals yet and learn the hard way that putting your trust in the wrong hands can change your life forever… These days, Annette Goode D...

  • Lost Daughters

    Mama Ruby - 3

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe brings to life her most provocative and daring characters yet in this emotional and sometimes shocking tale of daughters lost and found, and the ways in which the past still haunts them…. After years...

  • Family of Lies

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe weaves a stunning portrait of a family immersed in deceit . . .and the women whose happiness depends on the secrets they keep. . . After growing up poor in Texas, Vera Lomax used every gold-digging tri...

  • Bad Blood

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers her most surprising and thought-provoking novel yet in this riveting tale of family loyalty, betrayal, and sweet revenge… For Seth Garrett, there’s no such thing as too rich or too beautif...

  • Every Woman's Dream

    A Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart Novel - 1

    Not all wishes should come true. Master storyteller Mary Monroe begins her Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart series with a page-turning tale of seduction and shocking surprises, as two unhappy women fulfill their every erotic dream -- and find a desire t...



  • Can You Keep a Secret?

    A Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart Novel - 1.5

    The prequel to the New York Times bestselling author’s provocative series featuring best friends getting a crash course in love, family, and betrayal. They couldn’t be less alike -- except for their restless spirits. Lola came from a lo...

  • Never Trust a Stranger

    A Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart Novel - 2

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe takes you on the ultimate twist-filled ride with her Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart series. For two restless women looking for satisfaction, too much of a good thing is never enough -- even as a lethal passio...

  • The Devil You Know

    A Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart Novel - 3

    In the stunning climax of New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe’s Lonely Heart, Deadly Heart series, the tension -- and the heat -- reach unforgettable heights as two restless women go after the ultimate satisfaction ... and a killer desire...

  • One House Over

    The Neighbors - 1

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe returns to the 1930s era of her acclaimed novel The Upper Room with a dazzling portrait of two very different couples whose friendship and fast times are no match for shattering betrayal... A solid ma...

  • Remembrance

    In this moving, unforgettable novel from New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe, a successful, happily married mother suddenly finds herself feeling far from joyful. But Christmas brings an unexpected chance to rediscover herself, and what hap...

  • Over the Fence

    The Neighbors - 2

    In this page-turning novel set in the Depression-era South, New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe transports readers to a small Alabama town where home is not always a sanctuary, and two neighboring families let pleasantries mask increasing r...

  • Right Beside You

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe presents a heartwarming, uplifting novel about two long-time co-workers who seem unlucky in love. But this Christmas may give them a surprising chance to find themselves -- and each other . . . With a...

  • Across the Way

    The Neighbors - 3

    Neighborhood tensions reach a breaking point in the finale of New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe's captivating series that sweeps readers back to 1930's Alabama and into the lives of two neighboring couples whose deceitful friendsh...

  • The Gift of Family

    From acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe comes the captivating and heartfelt tale of a couple who has everything -- except the dream they long for most. But this Christmas, a reunion with someone from the past could gift them a on...

  • Mrs. Wiggins

    A Lexington, Alabama Novel - 1

    New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe returns to the Deep South Depression-era town of her scandalous Mama Ruby series, in this tale of a woman determined to have a respectable life -- and she'll do anything to keep it... The daughter ...



  • Once in a Lifetime

    Beloved award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers a hopeful and heartwarming story about an impossible Christmas dream, an unexpected act of goodwill -- and a surprising chain of events that could gift joy far beyond th...

  • Cry Murder, Baby

    Talented, beautiful Michelle Heywood, 29, has everything going for her. She has just been promoted to Senior Account Executive for A, A & A, a Michigan-Avenue Chicago ad agency and received a huge raise, bonus and company car.Michelle’s new tas...

  • Empty Vows

    A Lexington, Alabama Novel - 2

    In this scandalous follow-up to the Depression-era tale Mrs. Wiggins, award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers even more drama to the Deep South, as a proper church-going woman determined to snare Alabama’s most-soug...

  • Love, Honor, Betray

    A Lexington, Alabama Novel - 3

    Award-winning New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe delivers the latest thrillingly scandal-filled novel in her Depression-era saga of a church-going lady and her oh-so-upstanding husband racing to cover up their many sins -- and gambling on ...

  • Double Lives

    Award-winning New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe returns with an outrageous new tale of Depression-era Southern drama starring identical twin sisters with a talent for switching lives and hiding the scandalous results -- until one risk too...

  • Bent but Not Broken

    Brimming with unpredictable twists and scandals, the latest Depression-era Alabama novel from award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe tells of a mistreated wife who finally finds the love she's longed for -- only to be plunged in...

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Mary Monroe has published 35 books.

The next book by Mary Monroe, Bent but Not Broken, will be published in March 2025.

The first book by Mary Monroe, The Upper Room, was published in February 1985.

Yes. Mary Monroe has 5 series.
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