A love of reading romance books challenged Janet Dailey to try her hand at writing one of her own. In 1974, she boldly sent out an American West story to London-based Harlequin and made history. The well-known Mills & Boon publisher, who provided all books to Harlequin at that time, had never signed on an American author before. They didn’t have a category for western romance or the type of self-determined female main characters unbound by rigid societal expectations.
Janet Dailey offered something real and gritty, and she did it well. Over the course of her decades-long career, she released over 100 individual titles. Fifty-seven of them were for Harlequin. In 1979, she switched successfully to single-title romances with Touch of the Wind, a New York Times bestseller. She unfortunately passed away in 2013.
- Cord & Stacy Books (1974 – 1978)
- Aspen Books (1991 – 1997)
- Calder Saga Books (1981 – 2010)
- Bannon Brothers (2011 – 2013)
- Cowboy Christmas Books (2015 – 2017)
- The Tylers of Texas (2014 – 2019)
- The Champions Books (2020 – 2022)
- Christmas Tree Ranch (2018 – 2023)
- Americana Books Over the Years
- New Americana Series (2016 – 2023)
- Janet Dailey Standalone Books & Anthologies
- Linda Howard Books in Order: Dive into Decades or Romance, Suspense, and Family Sagas.
Cord & Stacy Books (1974 – 1978)
This early series included No Quarter Asked, Fiesta San Antonio, and For Bitter or Worse. The trilogy follows the same couple through meeting, nannying the Texas rancher’s little girl, and falling in love.
 No Quarter Asked |
 Fiesta San Antonio |
 For Bitter or Worse |
Aspen Books (1991 – 1997)
Aspen Gold and Illusions add a bit of big-city spice to the usual western setting. From a Colorado ranch to Hollywood, they explore second chance romance and a bodyguard-rockstar bond in the second book.
 Aspen Gold |
 Illusions |
Calder Saga Books (1981 – 2010)
Janet Dailey wrote 11 books about the great Calder family, who own a massive ranching empire in Montana. They include:
 This Calder Sky |
 This Calder Range |
 Stands A Calder Man |
 Calder Born, Calder Bred |
 Calder-Pride |
 Green Calder Grass |
 Shifting Calder Wind |
 Lone Calder Star |
 Calder Promise |
 Calder Storm |
 Santa in Montana |
Bannon Brothers (2011 – 2013)
Strong, no-nonsense brothers act as the romantic leads in this trilogy: Trust, Honor, and Triumph. These three books include suspenseful action including a search for a kidnapped girl, a mysterious double murder, and international intrigue.
 Trust |
 Honor |
 Triumph |
Cowboy Christmas Books (2015 – 2017)
Long, Tall Christmas, Christmas on My Mind, and Just a Little Christmas represent Dailey’s first all-holiday series by publication date. The warmth of the season is matched only by the heat of the women and men who fall in love in these three books. The first involves family secrets, the second a busy small-town sheriff and a Christmas party, and the third engages readers with the tale of a divorced city girl and her second-chance romance.
 Long, Tall Christmas |
 Christmas on My Mind |
 Just a Little Christmas |
The Tylers of Texas (2014 – 2019)
Janet Dailey wrote a few series that overlapped with each other. This one follows another big ranch family with numerous attractive, adventurous sons who find love in the end. They all offer bold, sexy stories with a lot of heart.
 Texas True |
 Texas Tough |
 Texas Tall |
 Texas Fierce |
 Texas Free |
 Texas Forever |
The Champions Books (2020 – 2022)
A bull rider takes center ring in romance in Whirlwind, the first book in this trilogy. A reluctant heroine and a daredevil man make for a fiery connection. The next book, Whiplash, revisits the rodeo in Vegas and a hopeful Hollywood leading lady who can’t resist a cowboy’s charms. A financial partnership turns to love in the final book, Quicksand.
 Whirlwind |
 Whiplash |
 Quicksand |
Christmas Tree Ranch (2018 – 2023)
Everyone loves a good holiday romance, and Janet Dailey delivers a whole series.
- My Kind of Christmas involves a rundown, inherited ranch and a small-town mayor.
- It’s a Christmas Thing tells the story of a single veterinarian father and a sweet, animal-loving judge.
- Holding Out for Christmas matches a kindergarten teacher with a hot rancher at the holiday ball.
- Santa’s Sweetheart is another single-father tale who matches with a schoolteacher.
- Somebody Like Santa introduces a man who gets a second chance at romance.
- The Sound of Sleighbells brings a struggling couple back together with some Christmas magic and bonding with kids.
 My Kind of Christmas |
 It’s a Christmas Thing |
 Holding Out for Christmas |
 Santa’s Sweetheart |
 Somebody like Santa |
 The Sound of Sleighbells |
Americana Books Over the Years
This incredibly prolific romance author wrote over 100 books in her lifetime. Many of them fell into the 50 book “Americana” series. It features a riveting romance story from every single state in the United States, which earned her recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records organization. The book titles in publication order are:
- Savage Land: Texas
- Fire and Ice: California
- Darling Jenny: Wyoming
- Land of Enchantment: New Mexico
- After the Storm: Colorado
- Boss Man From Ogallala: Nebraska
- Show Me: Missouri
- The Homeplace: Iowa
- Dangerous Masquerade: Alabama
- Night of the Cotillion: Georgia
- Valley of the Vapors: Arkansas
- A Lyon’s Share: Illinois
- Big Sky Country: Montana
- The Matchmakers: Delaware
- Reilly’s Woman: Nevada
- The Indy Man: Indiana
- Six White Horses: Oklahoma
- The Widow and the Wastrel: Ohio
- Bluegrass King: Kentucky
- To Tell the Truth: Oregon
- Sonora Sundown: Arizona
- Summer Mahogany: Maine
- The Bride of the Delta Queen: Louisiana
- Green Mountain Man: Vermont
- Beware of the Stranger: New York
- Giant of Mesabi: Minnesota
- Tidewater Lover: Virginia
- Bed of Grass: Maryland
- Low Country Liar: South Carolina
- Kona Winds: Hawaii
- That Boston Man: Massachusetts
- Strange Bedfellow: Rhode Island
- Sentimental Journey: Tennessee
- A Land Called Deseret: Utah
- For Mike’s Sake: Washington
- Lord of the High Lonesome: North Dakota
- Heart of Stone: New Hampshire
- Wild and Wonderful: West Virginia
- Enemy in Camp: Michigan
- Southern Nights: Florida
- The Thawing of a Mara: Pennsylvania
- The Mating Season: Kansas
- Difficult Decision: Connecticut
- One of the Boys: New Jersey
- A Tradition of Pride: Mississippi
- Dakota Dreamin’: South Dakota
- With a Little Luck: Wisconsin
- That Carolina Summer: North Carolina
- The Travelling Kind: Idaho
- Northern Magic: Alaska
New Americana Series (2016 – 2023)
This collection of books is not directly connected to the state-based series listed above.
It features eight books:
 Sunrise Canyon |
 Refuge Cove |
 Letters from Peaceful Lane |
 Hart’s Hollow Farm |
 Paradise Peak |
 Hope Creek |
 Blue Moon Haven |
 Lone Oaks Crossing |
Janet Dailey Standalone Books & Anthologies
Over the years, this prolific author has teamed up with others for various romance anthologies. These include Christmas Magic (1991) with Emilie Richards; Marry Me, Cowboy (1995) with Margaret Wey, Susan Fox, and Anne McAllister; Unmasked (1997) with Jennifer Blake and Elizabeth Gage; You’re Still the One (2013) with Cathy Lamb, Elizabeth Bass, and Mary Carter; and Happy Is the Bride (2017) with Lori Wilde, Cat Johnson, and Kate Pearce.
Between 1976 and her passing in 2013, Janet Dailey had dozens of standalone romances published. They include:
- Sweet Promise
- Something Extra
- To Santa with Love
- The Master Fiddler
- The Ivory Cane
- Touch the Wind
- The Rogue
- Ride the Thunder
- Nightway
- The Hostage Bride
- For the Love of God
- The Lancaster Men
- Eve’s Christmas
- Mistletoe and Holly
- Wildcatter’s Woman
- The Second Time
- Terms of Surrender
- The Best Way to Lose
- Foxfire Light
- Western Man
- Separate Cabins
- Silver Wings, Santiago Blue
- The Pride of Hannah Wade
- Searching For Santa
- Leftover Love
- The Glory Game
- The Great Alone
- Heiress
- Travelling Kind
- Rivals
- Honourable Friends
- Masquerade
- Tangled Vines
- American Dreams
- Riding High
- The Proud and the Free
- Legacies
- The Healing Touch
- Notorious
- A Spring Bouquet
- Scrooge Wore Spurs
- A Capital Holiday
- Can’t Say Goodbye
- Maybe This Christmas
- The Not Forgotten War
- Something More
- Mistletoe and Molly
- Stealing Kisses
- Santa in a Stetson
- American Destiny
- That Loving Feeling
- Close to You
- A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree
- Merry Christmas, Cowboy
- One in a Million
Although her legacy was tarnished temporarily with a Nora Roberts plagiarism case around the time of her husband’s cancer struggle and subsequent death, there is no doubt that Janet Dailey stands firm as a pioneer of American romance fiction. Her extensive catalog continues to entice, intrigue, and entertain readers today.
We also recommend to check out Linda Howard Books in Order: Dive into Decades or Romance, Suspense, and Family Sagas.
