Night World Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Secret Vampire / Night World | 1996 | Buy |
| Daughters of Darkness | 1996 | Buy |
| Spellbinder | 1996 | Buy |
| Dark Angel | 1996 | Buy |
| The Chosen | 1997 | Buy |
| Soulmate | 1997 | Buy |
| Huntress | 1997 | Buy |
| Black Dawn | 1997 | Buy |
| Witchlight | 1998 | Buy |
Night World Companion
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Night World: The Ultimate Fan Guide | 2009 | Buy |
L.J. Smith is best known for The Vampire Diaries, but the Night World series came first, running from 1996 to 1998. The nine books share a common setting: a secret society of supernatural beings — vampires, witches, werewolves, and shapeshifters — who live alongside humans under a strict code of secrecy. The two cardinal rules are never let humans learn about the Night World, and never fall in love with one.
Each book in the series follows a different protagonist, typically a young woman who discovers that her world is not what she thought and finds herself drawn to a Night World member she is forbidden from loving. The “soulmate principle” — the idea of a fated, unbreakable romantic bond — runs through every novel and gives the series its emotional backbone.
The Night World series was reprinted by Simon & Schuster in collected omnibus volumes and found a new generation of readers in the 2010s. It works well as individual standalone reads, though the overarching mythology becomes richer the further into the series you get. Start with Secret Vampire, the first published book.