Cathy Kelly Standalone Novels books in order

Cathy Kelly's 23 standalone novels span from Woman to Woman (1997) to Sisterhood (2024), following women through friendship, family, marriage, and the complicated rhythms of modern Irish and British life. She is one of Ireland's bestselling fiction authors.

Reading order

# Title Published Author Buy on Amazon
1 Woman To Woman 1997 Cathy Kelly Buy
2 Never Too Late 1999 Cathy Kelly Buy
3 She’s the One 1999 Cathy Kelly Buy
4 Someone Like You 2000 Cathy Kelly Buy
5 What She Wants 2001 Cathy Kelly Buy
6 Just Between Us 2002 Cathy Kelly Buy
7 Best of Friends 2003 Cathy Kelly Buy
8 Always and Forever 2004 Cathy Kelly Buy
9 Past Secrets 2006 Cathy Kelly Buy
10 Lessons in Heartbreak 2008 Cathy Kelly Buy
11 Once In a Lifetime 2009 Cathy Kelly Buy
12 Homecoming 2010 Cathy Kelly Buy
13 The House on Willow Street 2012 Cathy Kelly Buy
14 The Honey Queen 2013 Cathy Kelly Buy
15 It Started with Paris 2014 Cathy Kelly Buy
16 Between Sisters 2015 Cathy Kelly Buy
17 The Year that Changed Everything 2018 Cathy Kelly Buy
18 Secrets of a Happy Marriage 2018 Cathy Kelly Buy
19 A Woman’s Heart 2020 Cathy Kelly Buy
20 The Family Gift 2021 Cathy Kelly Buy
21 Other Women 2021 Cathy Kelly Buy
22 The Wedding Party 2022 Cathy Kelly Buy
23 Sisterhood 2024 Cathy Kelly Buy

Cathy Kelly’s standalone novels have a consistent emotional register: women, often in their 30s and 40s, dealing with real life rather than romance-novel fantasy. Past Secrets, Lessons in Heartbreak, and Once In a Lifetime all draw on loss, reinvention, and the kinds of complicated feelings that don’t resolve neatly.

Her later novels — Secrets of a Happy Marriage, The Family Gift, Other Women, The Wedding Party, and Sisterhood — reflect a writer who has grown more interested in the texture of long-term relationships and the dynamics of groups of women rather than individual protagonists. The Year That Changed Everything was a departure in structure, interweaving multiple women’s stories more explicitly than her earlier work.


Frequently Asked Questions

How many books are in the Cathy Kelly Standalone Novels series?

There are 23 books in the Cathy Kelly Standalone Novels series, published between 1997 and 2024.

What is the first book in the Cathy Kelly Standalone Novels series?

The first book in the Cathy Kelly Standalone Novels series is Woman To Woman, published in 1997.

Where should a new reader start with Cathy Kelly's novels?

Woman to Woman (1997) is her debut and a good introduction to her style, though each novel is fully self-contained. Someone Like You (2000), which won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award, is another strong starting point. More recent readers often begin with The Year That Changed Everything (2018) or Sisterhood (2024).

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