Where to Begin Your Kindred Journey
With over fifty books in the series, finding the right starting point for Kindred Tales can seem daunting. Fortunately, author Evangeline Anderson designed these books to be read as standalone stories. Each volume features a self-contained romance with a unique couple, meaning you can jump in almost anywhere without getting lost in overarching plotlines. However, to fully appreciate the world-building, alien lore, and recurring background characters, the best starting point is the very first book, Mastering the Mistress (2015).
Starting at the beginning allows you to ease into the universe's rules, such as the draft system, the distinct biology of the different Kindred types, and their search for compatible human brides. If you prefer to focus on specific themes, you can also start with the beginning of a dedicated subseries, such as the beast-like warriors of the Monstrum Kindred or the body-swapping dynamics found in the Tales of the Switch Kindred.
Publication Order of Kindred Tales Books
For readers who want to watch the universe expand in real time, reading in publication order is the most popular route. This order shows how the author gradually introduced new alien cultures, technologies, and subseries. Here is the chronological release order of the books based on the established reading list:
- Mastering The Mistress (2015)
- Bonding with the Beast (2017)
- Seeing with the Heart (2017)
- Freeing the Prisoner (2017)
- Healing the Broken (2017)
- Taming the Giant (2018)
- Bridging the Distance (2018)
- Loving a Stranger (2018)
- Finding the Jewel (2018)
- Bonded by Accident (2018)
- Releasing the Dragon (2018)
- Sharing a Mate (2018)
- Instructing the Novice (2018)
- Awakened by the Giant (2019)
- Hitting the Target (2019)
- Handling The Hybrid (2019)
- Trapped in Time (2019)
- Time to Heal (2019)
- Pairing with the Protector (2019)
- Falling for Kindred Claus (2019)
- Guarding the Goddess (2020)
- Stealing Her Heart (2020)
- Taming Two Warriors (2020)
- The Kindred Warrior's Captive Bride (2020)
- Dark and Light (2020)
- Protecting His Mistress (2020)
- Unleashed by the Defender (2020)
- Submitting to the Shadow (2020)
- Secret Santa Surprise (2020)
- The Priestess and the Thief (2020)
- Playing Their Parts (2021)
- Raised to Kill (2021)
- Healing Her Patient (2021)
- Delivered by the Defender (2021)
- Accidental Acquisition (2021)
- Burning for Love (2021)
- Hidden Rage (2021)
- Enticed by the Satyr (2021)
- Saved by the Beast (2021)
- Loved by the Lion (2021)
- Bonded by Two (2022)
- Taming the Tiger (2022)
- Dragon in the Dark (2022)
- Guarded by the Hybrid (2022)
- Queen of Their Colony (2022)
- Finding his Goddess (2022)
- Faking it with the Hybrid (2022)
- Tied to the Wulven (2022)
- Shared by the Monstrum (2023)
- Lost on Oblivion (2023)
- Wicked and Wild (2023)
- Dae'mons and Doms (2024)
- Posing for Their Pleasure (2024)
- Guided by the Giant (2024)
- Chosen by the Chimera (2024)
Focusing on the Monstrum Kindred Subseries
One of the most popular subsets within the Kindred Tales line is the Monstrum Kindred. Unlike the standard Kindred warriors who hail from our own universe, the Monstrum are fierce, beast-like warriors from a parallel dimension. They possess more animalistic physical features, such as horns, hooves, claws, and tails, and their stories carry a heavier focus on primal instinct and shifter tropes.
If you want to read only the Monstrum stories, you can follow their specific order:
- Enticed by the Satyr (2021)
- Loved by the Lion (2021)
- Taming the Tiger (2022)
- Dragon in the Dark (2022)
- Queen of Their Colony (2022)
- Finding his Goddess (2022)
- Shared by the Monstrum (2023)
- Chosen by the Chimera (2024)
Reading the Monstrum books as a dedicated subseries provides a highly focused narrative experience, letting you enjoy the unique dimension-hopping lore and shifter-romance tropes back-to-back.
The Connection to Brides of the Kindred
A frequent point of confusion for new readers is how Kindred Tales relates to Evangeline Anderson's main series, Brides of the Kindred. The main series follows an ongoing, overarching plot involving the war against the Scourge and the survival of the Kindred race. Those books are tightly connected and should generally be read in order of publication.
In contrast, Kindred Tales was created as a collection of companion novels. While they exist in the exact same universe and occasionally feature cameos from main-series characters, they do not require you to have read the main books to understand the plot. Think of them as side stories that flesh out the wider galaxy. If you are already reading the main series, you can intersperse the Kindred Tales books based on their release years to get a richer, more chronological view of the universe.
Practical Reading Advice and Caveats
Because Evangeline Anderson is exceptionally prolific, the reading order is occasionally updated as new stories are published. The author often shifts between different types of Kindred—such as Twin, Beast, Blood, and Monstrum Kindred—which keeps the themes fresh but can make tracking chronological continuity tricky.
If you choose to read out of publication order, keep in mind that minor technological developments, political shifts in the Kindred Alliance, and references to previous couples' marriages might slip through as minor spoilers. If you want a completely spoiler-free experience regarding the state of the universe, sticking to the publication list remains your safest option.