The Ultimate Reading Paths for Playing with Monsters
Amelia Hutchins’ Playing with Monsters is a heavy, dark paranormal romance series that has captured the hearts of fans who love high stakes, graphic romance, and morally gray characters. When it comes to reading this series, you have two primary options: reading it as a standalone story focused solely on the main couple, or integrating it into the larger, interconnected Fae Universe.
Path 1: The Standalone Reading Order
If you only want to follow the story of Magdalena (Lena) Fitzgerald and Lucian Blackstone, you can read the four books in their straightforward publication order. While you will miss some background details regarding the ongoing war, the overarching lore, and side characters from other series, the main romance and plot arc remain fully understandable.
- Playing with Monsters (2016)
- Sleeping with Monsters (2018)
- Becoming His Monster (2019)
- Revealing the Monster (2021)
Path 2: The Chronological Fae Universe Order (Recommended)
For the absolute best experience, readers highly recommend reading Playing with Monsters alongside the parent series, The Fae Chronicles, and the companion series, Elite Guards. Because the events of these books occur simultaneously and characters frequently cross over—influencing the world's power struggles—this order prevents spoilers and fills in critical context gaps.
- Fighting Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #1)
- Taunting Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #2)
- Escaping Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #3)
- Seducing Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #4)
- A Demon’s Dark Embrace (Elite Guards #1)
- Playing with Monsters (Playing with Monsters #1)
- Unraveling Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #5)
- Sleeping with Monsters (Playing with Monsters #2)
- Claiming the Dragon King (Elite Guards #2)
- Becoming His Monster (Playing with Monsters #3)
- A Demon’s Plaything (Elite Guards #3)
- Embracing Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #6)
- Crowning Destiny (The Fae Chronicles #7)
- Revealing the Monster (Playing with Monsters #4)
Detailed Series Breakdown: The Playing with Monsters Books
1. Playing with Monsters (2016)
The series begins with Magdalena "Lena" Fitzgerald, a powerful witch who has been hiding in the human world. When she is forced to return to her coven in the Colville National Forest to face "The Harvest"—a mystical mating ritual—she crosses paths with Lucian Blackstone. Lucian is a terrifyingly dominant, wealthy club owner who has been funding her coven. The chemistry between them is immediate, violent, and consuming. As Lena struggles to understand her dark dreams and growing power, she realizes Lucian is keeping deep secrets about his true nature.
2. Sleeping with Monsters (2018)
In the second installment, the stakes rise as Lena’s powers continue to manifest in unexpected and frightening ways. Her bond with Lucian is tested by betrayal and the realization that she is a pawn in a much larger game. The boundaries of the Fae world begin to bleed heavily into the witches' territory, and readers start to see direct overlaps with the events occurring in the concurrent Fae Chronicles books.
3. Becoming His Monster (2019)
The third book pushes the characters to their breaking points. Lena is no longer just trying to survive her coven's curse; she is forced to embrace the darkness within her to protect those she loves. Lucian's actions become increasingly desperate as his true agenda starts to unravel, showcasing the lengths to which he will go to claim Lena. The apocalyptic undertones of the universe's grand conflict become front and center.
4. Revealing the Monster (2021)
The explosive finale wraps up Lena and Lucian's story. In this book, all secrets are laid bare, including the ultimate revelation of Lucian's identity. The story escalates into a massive, cosmic battle involving primordials, gods, and the fate of the realms themselves. By the end, Lena and Lucian's tumultuous journey reaches a fiery, definitive conclusion.
Crucial Universe Connections and Crossovers
The Fae Universe is tightly woven. While The Fae Chronicles focuses on the epic romance between Ryder and Synthia, their actions directly affect the witch covens and the threats that Lena faces. Crossover characters are common: you will see appearances by Ryder, Synthia, and other members of the Fae courts in the Playing with Monsters series. Similarly, Lucian's presence is felt across the other books.
Understanding these crossovers is helpful because major plot developments, such as the war against the Horde or the actions of the devil himself, progress across all the series simultaneously. Reading the books out of order can sometimes make a character's sudden change in status or the resolution of a minor conflict feel like it happened off-screen.
What to Know Before You Start
Amelia Hutchins is known for her raw, gritty, and incredibly intense writing style. Playing with Monsters is not a light, cozy fantasy. It features heavy dark fantasy themes, including toxic power dynamics, non-consensual magic, brutal betrayals, and highly explicit, dominant romance. If you enjoy strong, resilient heroines who grow through extreme adversity and alpha males who are genuinely monstrous before they find redemption, this series is a perfect fit. The world-building blends modern elements like Lucian's nightclubs with ancient folklore, Greek mythology, and pagan coven rituals, making it a unique entry in the urban fantasy genre.