The Recommended Reading Order for Nantucket Brides
If you want to experience the magic of Nantucket Island exactly as the author intended, the best way to read the Nantucket Brides trilogy is in order of publication. Because the series follows a continuous timeline with recurring characters and evolving family mysteries, reading the books chronologically ensures you catch all the background details and character growth.
Here is the recommended reading path:
- True Love (2013)
- For All Time (2014)
- Ever After (2015)
Understanding the Books: A Deeper Look
1. True Love (2013)
The trilogy kicks off with True Love, introducing us to Alix Madsen. Alix is an architecture student who inherits the temporary use of a stunning, historic Nantucket home from a mysterious elderly relative, Adelaide Kingsley. The catch? Alix must help plan a wedding and solve a 200-year-old family disappearance. While living in the house, she meets Jared Montgomery, a charming architect staying in the guesthouse who has his own secrets. Surrounded by local ghosts and deep-seated family history, Alix and Jared must navigate their growing attraction while unraveling the mysteries of the past.
2. For All Time (2014)
The second book, For All Time, shifts the focus to Jared’s cousin, Graydon Montgomery, the Crown Prince of Lanconia, who is visiting Nantucket for Jared's wedding. Graydon has an identical twin, Rory, and according to a long-standing family legend, the woman who can tell the two apart is his true love. That woman is Toby Wyndam, a bridesmaid who instantly catches Graydon's eye. Looking to escape his royal duties, Graydon trades places with his brother for a week and enlists Toby to help him hide. However, they soon discover their connection goes far deeper than a chance meeting, as they are pulled into memories of past lives and a love that has spanned centuries.
3. Ever After (2015)
The trilogy concludes with Ever After, focusing on physical therapist Hallie Hartley. After escaping a manipulative stepsister and a betrayal back home, Hallie retreats to a house on Nantucket left to her by a relative. There, she takes on a wealthy new client, James "Jamie" Taggert, who is recovering from a severe skiing injury. As Hallie helps Jamie heal, both must confront their personal nightmares. With a little help from the island's matchmaking ghosts and the legendary Montgomery-Taggert family lore, they find solace and second chances in each other's arms.
How Nantucket Brides Fits into the Montgomery-Taggert Universe
For longtime fans of Jude Deveraux, the names Montgomery and Taggert are instantly recognizable. Deveraux has spent decades building a massive, sprawling family tree that spans multiple centuries, starting with historical romances and moving into contemporary settings. The Nantucket Brides series acts as a modern subseries within this larger universe.
While the trilogy stands perfectly well on its own—making it an excellent entry point for new readers—veteran readers will delight in seeing how the next generation of these families interacts. Characters like Jamie Taggert are directly connected to older, beloved Deveraux figures (Jamie is the son of Kane Taggert), bridging the gap between historical family lore and contemporary romance.
Publication Order vs. Chronological Order
Inside the Nantucket Brides trilogy, publication order and chronological order are identical. The story of True Love directly sets up the events and relationships in For All Time, which in turn leads into the events of Ever After. Therefore, there is no benefit to mixing up the order of these three books.
However, when looking at the wider Montgomery-Taggert saga, the Nantucket Brides books represent some of the most recent chronological events in the entire family timeline. If you want to trace the families from their very beginnings, you would have to go back to medieval historical romances like The Black Lyon or The Velvet Promise, making the Nantucket Brides trilogy the contemporary tail-end of a massive family epic.
Practical Reading Guidance and Standalone Status
Can these books be read as standalones? Technically, yes. Each book tells a complete love story with a satisfying conclusion for its central couple, and Deveraux provides enough context so you won't feel completely lost. However, because the characters live on the same island, interact during weddings, and share a common paranormal mythology, we highly recommend reading them in order. Starting with book two or three will spoil the relationship status and mysteries solved in the earlier installments.
What to Know Before You Start
Before you dive in, it helps to know that the Nantucket Brides trilogy is not a standard contemporary romance series. Deveraux weaves strong paranormal and magical elements throughout the narrative. Readers should expect ghosts who act as friendly matchmakers, ancient family curses, elements of time travel, and past-life reincarnation. The tone is cozy, heartwarming, and mysterious, with the beautiful, cobblestone-lined streets of Nantucket serving as a atmospheric backdrop that feels like a character of its own.