Where to Start with Cat Johnson: The Best Reading Paths
With over a million books sold and a bibliography spanning dozens of military romances, small-town comedies, and western adventures, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cat Johnson has built a massive contemporary romance empire. Her signature style revolves around standalone stories within interconnected series, meaning each book features a complete romance with a happy ending, but characters frequently cross over to support their friends in subsequent volumes.
Depending on your favorite tropes, there are three primary starting paths to begin your journey through her work:
- The Military Romance Path: Start with Night with a SEAL, the first book in the core Hot SEALs series. This introduces you to a close-knit group of Navy SEALs and the private security firm Guardian Angel Protection Services (GAPS).
- The Cowboy Romance Path: Start with Unridden, the first book in the Studs in Spurs series. It introduces readers to the high-stakes, high-adrenaline world of professional bull riders and the women who steal their hearts.
- The Small-Town Rom-Com Path: Start with Kissing Books, the gateway to her Smalltown Secrets series set in the quirky, fictional town of Mudville, New York. If you enjoy paranormal elements mixed with your comedy, you can immediately pivot to her Graveyard Secrets spin-off, which also takes place in Mudville.
The Navy SEALs and Military Romance Universe
Cat Johnson is arguably best known for her military romance and romantic suspense novels, particularly her active-duty and veteran Navy SEALs. These series are highly interconnected and feature several collaborative shared-world projects.
1. Hot SEALs Series
This is Cat Johnson's flagship military romance series. The books follow active-duty SEALs and veterans transitioning to private security work at Guardian Angel Protection Services (GAPS). While characters like Jon Rudnick, Zane Alexander, and Rick Mann appear throughout the series, each book focuses on a different couple and can be read as a standalone. It is best enjoyed in publication order, starting with either the prequel novella or the first novel:
- Desire in D.C. (2020) [Prequel / Book 0.5]
- Night with a SEAL (2014)
- Saved by a SEAL (2014)
- SEALed at Midnight (2014)
- Kissed by a SEAL (2015)
- Protected by a SEAL (2015)
- Loved by a SEAL (2015)
- Tempted by a SEAL (2016)
- Wed to a SEAL (2016)
- Romanced by a Seal (2016)
- Rescued by a Hot SEAL (2016)
- Betting on a Hot SEAL (2017)
- Escape with a Hot SEAL (2017)
- Matched with a Hot SEAL (2017)
- Seal the Deal (2018)
- Hot SEAL in Hollywood (2018)
2. SEALs in Paradise (Collaborative Series)
Headlined by Cat Johnson, this is a multi-author shared-world series featuring steamy romantic comedies starring Navy SEALs on vacation or assignment in tropical locales. While other romance authors contributed to the collection, Cat Johnson wrote several key entries, including the series starter Hot Seal, Salty Dog and the popular Hot SEAL, Dirty Martini. All can be read in any order:
- Hot Seal, Salty Dog (2018)
- Hot SEAL, S*x on the Beach (2018)
- Hot Seal, Dirty Martini (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Red Wine (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Bourbon Neat (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Rusty Nail (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Cold Beer (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Black Coffee (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Single Malt (2018)
- Hot SEAL, Tijuana Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Hawaiian Nights / Kalea's Hero (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Savannah Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Australian Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Vegas Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Roman Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Alaskan Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, New Orleans Nights (2019)
- Hot SEAL, Bachelor Party (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Decoy Bride (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Runaway Bride (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Cold Feet (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Best Man (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Confirmed Bachelor (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Taking The Plunge (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Undercover Groom (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Secret Service (2020)
- Hot SEAL, Heartbreaker (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Charmed (2021)
- Hot SEAL, April's Fool (2021)
- Hot SEAL, In His Memory (2021)
- Hot SEAL, A Forever Dad (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Independence Day (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Sweet and Spicy (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Labor Day (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Midnight Magic (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Sinful Harvest (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Silent Knight (2021)
- Hot SEAL, Under Pressure (2022)
- Hot SEAL, Brown-Eyed Girl (2022)
- Hot SEAL, Girl Crush (2022)
- Hot SEAL, Night Moves (2022)
- Hot SEAL, Open Arms (2022)
3. Shadow SEALs and Silver SEALs (Collaborative Series)
Like SEALs in Paradise, these are collaborative multi-author projects featuring military heroes. In Shadow SEALs, elite Navy SEALs forced out of the service work for a shadowy organization to enact street justice. Cat Johnson contributed Shadow Pawn (2021) and Shadow Lies (2022) to this 17-book collection. In Silver SEALs, the focus shifts to mature, older hero Navy SEALs. Cat Johnson kicked off this series with the novella SEAL Strong (2018), featuring Silas Branson, a wounded warrior finding his way back to his first love.
4. The Long Road Home Series
Co-written with the "Binge Read Babes" author collective, this massive 20-book series explores veterans transitioning back to civilian life, healing from physical and emotional wounds, and finding love. Cat Johnson is a primary contributor, writing popular books in this collection such as Home Front, Home Fires, and Home Town.
5. Red, Hot & Blue Series
One of Cat's earliest ventures into military romance, this series features Task Force Zeta, a fictional military special ops unit. The author notes that while punctuation has varied due to different publishers, the official series name is RED HOT & BLUE. The correct order is:
- Smalltown Heat (2006)
- True Blue (2007)
- Red Blooded (2007)
- A Few Good Men (2007)
- Model Soldier (2008)
- A Prince Among Men (2008)
- BB Dalton (2009)
The Cowboy and Small-Town Romance Universe
When she isn't writing about military heroes, Cat Johnson trades combat boots for cowboy boots, writing about rugged bull riders, ranchers, and small-town romance.
1. Studs in Spurs
This series centers around the professional bull riders of the ranching world. It is highly recommended to read this series in order to see the full career progression and camaraderie of the riders:
- Unridden (2009)
- Bucked (2010)
- Ride (2010)
- Hooked (2011)
- Flanked (2012)
- Thrown (2014)
- Champion (2014)
- Spurred (2015)
- Wrecked (2015)
2. Oklahoma Nights
A trilogy focusing on contemporary cowboys and bull riders in Oklahoma. These three books are closely connected and best read in order:
- One Night with a Cowboy (2013)
- Two Times as Hot (2013)
- Three Weeks with a Bull Rider (2014)
3. Wilder Brothers
A newer western romance series centering on the Wilder family brothers and their ranches in the town of Bitter End:
- City Girl Seeks Cowboy (2022)
- Her Playboy Cowboy Lover (2022)
- Between a Rock and a Hard Cowboy (2022)
- The Thief and the Agent (2023)
The Mudville Connection: Smalltown Secrets & Graveyard Secrets
For readers who love humor, cozy environments, and a touch of the paranormal, Cat Johnson's Mudville books are a must-read. The town of Mudville, New York, serves as the setting for two connected series.
Smalltown Secrets
Starting with Kissing Books, this rom-com series is full of quirky small-town characters, laugh-out-loud antics, and sweet contemporary romances. You can read these as standalones, but reading in publication order helps you keep track of the local gossip:
- Kissing Books (2019)
- Red Hot (2020)
- Honey Buns (2020)
- Zero Forks (2020)
- Undercover Santa (2020)
- Mister Naughty (2020)
- Dog Days (2021)
- Bad Decisions (2021)
Graveyard Secrets
This paranormal rom-com spin-off series is also set in Mudville and stars Natalie Chase, the owner of the local book and wine shop, who discovers she is a reluctant ghost-conduit. She teams up with her grumpy neighbor Liam, a doctor who runs a cadaver lab next door, to solve paranormal mysteries. This series has a stronger overarching plot and should be read in chronological order:
- Cadaver Lab (2023)
- Cadaver Lab 2: Ghostly Hearts & Body Parts (2024)
- Cadaver Lab 3: Spirited Shenanigans (2024)
- Cadaver Lab 4: Grave's Anatomy (2026)
Crossover and Shared World Caveats
Because Cat Johnson participates in several collaborative multi-author series (like SEALs in Paradise, Shadow SEALs, and The Long Road Home), you will find books by other authors in these collections. If you are a completionist, you can read the entire multi-author run. However, if you are looking strictly for Cat Johnson's solo writing, you can easily skip the other authors' books without losing continuity in her main standalone stories.
For holiday romances, Cat Johnson also participated in the collaborative Betting on Christmas Collection in 2023. Her contribution is the fake-dating rom-com Mr. Grumpy's Christmas Date, which can be read entirely on its own or alongside the other 10 holiday novellas in the collection.