I always get asked, “Elise, what order should I read your books in?” so I thought I'd put the answers in a post…
Firstly, the series can all be read independently of each other.
Secondly, all of the novels/novellas are written as standalones except Emmy's story (Pitch Black/Into the Black/Forever Black) and Alaric's story (The Girl with the Emerald Ring/Red After Dark/When the Shadows Fall). While each of these books does contain a full story with no hard cliffhangers, they're best read as trilogies to understand the full story arc.
To understand best how everything links together and avoid spoilers, I'd suggest the following:
- Start with the Black Trilogy (Pitch Black/Into the Black/Forever Black)
- Slot Oxygen, Lithium, and Carbon in at some point after Forever Black.
- Read the Blackwood UK series at some point after Forever Black.
- Slot Rhodium, Platinum, and Lead in after White Hot.
- Read the first three Baldwin's Shore books after When the Shadows Fall, then read Pretties in Pink and Chimera, then read Secret Weapon.
Downloadable book lists
Blackwood World / Electi World
And below is the chronological order of the books set in the Blackwood world (although some stories overlap, so I've had to use a bit of poetic license)…
Blackwood Security #0.4 – Dali (in For the Love of Animals) (prequel)
Blackwood Security #0.5 – Black is my Heart (prequel)
Blackwood Security #1 – Pitch Black
Blackwood Security #2 – Into the Black
Blackwood Security #3 – Forever Black
Blackwood Security #3.1 – Black (free with original version of Forever Black)
Blackwood Security #3.2 – Black to Vegas (free with clean version of Forever Black)
Blackwood UK #1 – Joker in the Pack
Blackwood Security #4 – Gold Rush
Happy Ever After #1 – A Very Happy Christmas
Blackstone House #1 – Hard Lines
Blackwood Security #4.1 – Black Cats and Bullets (free with Gold Rush)
Blackwood Security #5 – Gray is my Heart
Blackstone House #2 – Hard Tide
Blackwood Security #5.5 – Neon
Blackwood Elements #1 – Oxygen
Blackwood Security #6 – Out of the Blue
Blackwood Security #6.1 – Get Lucky (free with Out of the Blue)
Blackwood Elements #1.1 – Just Breathe (free with Oxygen)
Blackwood UK 1.5 – Cherry on Top
Blackwood UK #2 – Roses Are Dead
Blackwood UK #2.1 – Fleur (Free with Roses are Dead)
Blackwood Security #7 – Ultraviolet
Blackwood Security #7.1 – Gray (free with Ultraviolet)
Blackstone House #1.5 – Blurred Lines
Blackwood Security #7.5 – Glitter
Blackwood Elements #2 – Lithium
Happy Ever After #2 – A Very Happy Valentine
Blackwood Security #8 – Red Alert
Blackstone House #3 – Hard Limits
Blackwood UK #3 – Shallow Graves
Blackwood Elements #3 – Carbon
Blackstone House #4 – Hard Luck
Blackwood Security #9 – White Hot
Blackwood Security #9.5 – Sphere
Blackwood UK #4 – Indigo Rain
Blackwood Security #10 – The Scarlet Affair
Happy Ever After #3 – A Very Happy Halloween
Blackwood Elements #4 – Rhodium
Blackwood Casefiles #1 – Stolen Hearts
Happy Ever After #4 – A Very Happy Easter
Blackwood Security #11 – Quicksilver
Baldwin's Shore #1 – Dirty Little Secrets
Blackwood Security #12 – The Girl with the Emerald Ring
Blackwood Security #13 – Red After Dark
Blackwood Elements #5 – Platinum
Blackwood Security #14 – When the Shadows Fall
Baldwin's Shore #2 – Secrets, Lies, and Family Ties
Baldwin's Shore #3 – Buried Secrets
Blackwood Security #14.1 – Silver (free with When the Shadows Fall)
Blackwood Elements #5.1 – To Paris with Love (free with Platinum)
Blackwood Elements #6 – Lead
Blackwood Security #15 – Pretties in Pink
Blackwood Security #16 – Chimera
Blackwood Security vs. Baldwin's Shore #1 – Secret Weapon
Blackwood Elements #7 – Copper
Blackwood Elements #8 – Bronze
Blackwood Security #17 – The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Baldwin's Shore #4 – A Secret to Die For
Blackwood Security vs. Baldwin's Shore #2 – Secrets from the Past
Blackwood Elements #9 – Nickel
Blackwood Security #18 – Blue Moon
Blackwood Elements #10 – Hydrogen
Happy Ever After #5 – A Very Happy Thanksgiving
Blackwood Elements #10.5 – Out of Their Elements
Plus more to come! Watch this space…
Didn’t realise you’d released so many books😮Congrats!
Wow that looks like a great list of books. I would love to read them all. Thanks for sharing since they are out of number order.
I have read them all. I wasn’t going to read
Cursed or Spooked, but I did and loved them just as much as Elise’s other sets.
Aw, I’m glad you’re enjoying the Electi books!
Excited to read all of these
Thanks for leaving a list of the the books in order for everyone thats great! Everyone should do this
I would love to help with editing if you are ever looking for someone to make that tedious process go faster.
Aw, that’s so sweet of you to offer! At the moment, my two lovely editors are doing an awesome job, though 🙂
I’ve read the first 3 books of blackwood sec. In 3 days time I’m so hooked. They are ones I will reread over and over love the plots keep up the great work
Do we ever find out about Black’ s parents
There will be more of Black’s backstory in book #11 🙂
Love the books. Absolutely hooked! I’m all caught up except for Fleur. I haven’t received the link to download the novella. I had this same problem with Just Breathe. All of the other links have been received just fine. (And no, they aren’t in my junk mail. ).
I’m so ready for another book I’m all caught up and can’t wait for another just love you writing your the best
Just love ya and your books
Never have I loved a series more!!!! I’ve only read the Blackwood Security series so far, but OMG !!! I don’t want the books to ever end.
So glad you’re enjoying my books!
Hey Elise , I am going back and re-reading all your books wanting to get through them all before I start Stolen Hearts , and I can not find the 4.1 book Cats and Bullets, I cant find it anywhere on my Kendle or downloads, and can not find the link on where to download it .
Can ou pont me in the direction to get the story ? Thank you
I’ve emailed you 🙂
Elise, your writing is never a disappointment to me – I laugh out loud and sometimes cry through your books.
Have read them many times and will enjoy reading them again many more!!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying them!
Keep on writing!!
Love your books – started with the Black Trilogy and have read them all – I’m actually half-way thru reading them all again!!!!
Elise I am so enjoying your Blackwood Security series. I was devastated when {*edited to remove spoilers*} and I missed that in the books. I joined the group and I asked which book does {*edited to remove spoiler*} but the answer I got was keep reading. I have read nine books and still can’t find out the answer can you please tell me I’m at my wits end Thank you Linda
I’ve replied by email so hopefully you should have your answer now! So glad you’re enjoying the books 🙂
So excited to see a reading order/list. Just finished the Blackwood trilogy and came to see if there was more. Look at this list! Are all of the novellas/short stories available? Please tell me there is more of Emmy and Black. After the third book I was hoping there would be more security stories about them working together. The way you tell your action and investigations in the stories just drew us in and by us, I mean me and my husband. I didn’t realize He was listening in to the audiobook of the second book while I was cleaning house. He got so drawn in, I got twenty questioned about the story. Then he was mad when I finished that book and the third and he didn’t know. Lol
I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed The Black Trilogy! Most of the books are available now – there are a few that are still in the process of being edited – the ones with (coming in…) after them. I’m working on Alaric’s story at the moment 🙂 I missed Emmy and Black too, so I’ve started writing them a series of thrillers – the first is Stolen Hearts, and it’s available now.
In Scarlet Emmy tells Taylor a secret when she’s recovering in hospital. Know by four other people.
Is this accounted in one of your books?
PS Thanks so much for writing such a wonderful collection of books. I rereading them all . It’s so good to get a decent thriller with so many female characters who are not submissive, where sex is secondary to a really good yarn.
Not yet, but it ties in to a book I have planned for the future.
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the books!
My husband discovered you first and has now shared your books with me and I am DEVOURING them! Really enjoying the worlds and characters you create and can see myself re-reading them many times – you are added to my list of favourite authors. So glad you obviously enjoy writing – your output is amazing. Just don’t burn out!
I’m so glad you’re enjoying the Blackwood books! I’ll do my best not to burn out 🙂
With so many books, I can see why re-writing a “clean” version is not an automatic “going to happen” thing for all of them. I’ve been hooked in with the clean Black Trilogy (oh, so good! oh, so sad when I ran out of pages…!) Was excited to see two more (4 &5) as clean, but alas, I’ve devoured them as well. So, any time you ever feel like doing a clean up of more books (please, oh please!), just know I’m ready and quite thankful as well. (I forgot it wasn’t labeled clean and downloaded Dali, and yeah, there’s a big difference! I skipped some pages. Just not my deal)
Unrelated question- Book 5 Gray is my Heart- what exactly was the connection between the Senator and the Horsemen? Just something he learned/heard about over the course of his career, or something more?
Thanks for making wonderful, colorful, likeable( not to be confused with cuddly), 3 dimensional characters and wild ride stories! Any particular inspirations for any of the characters?
Glad you’re enjoying the clean versions! I’ll probably do at least a couple more as I go through and tidy up the next books for audio. They don’t sell nearly so well as the original versions though so I’m afraid they’re not at the top of my priority list. If you have Dali, I think the two short stories at the back are pretty clean from memory 🙂
Re. the horsemen, yes, pretty much. The senator had definitely met Xav before in a different capacity, hence his reaction to him during dinner at the end of the book.
Most of my characters don’t have particular inspirations, although a few (such as the politicians in Red After Dark) are loosely based on composites of real-life people. I do occasionally name bad guys after people who’ve rubbed me up the wrong way though!
Could we have a list of characters and who is with who/related to who please? As I read more of the Blackwood series I keep having to remind myself. Cheers
I’m afraid a lot of that is in my head! But a helpful reader has put together a list for the Blackwood Security series, and that’s linked from the Blackwood Spoilers group on Facebook.
I have signed up for “Team Blackwood ” & followed the links for the additional chapters/novellas. I get the confirmation email that I want these, but they never come through in my email. Not even my junk email. Very frustrating & disappointing. I love your books & will keep following them but I do think I have missed out by not getting the “extras”.
So sorry you’re having trouble getting the extra stories – sometimes email providers just reject the automated emails with the links and unfortunately there isn’t anything I can do about this. If they don’t come through, just drop me a message with details of which story you’re having the problem with, and I can send you an alternate link manually 🙂
Thank you! I will do that. Looking forward to more books in these series.
Which book did Emmerson first meet Black when she tried to mug him
That part of the story is told in Into the Black 🙂
I discovered Blackwood Security 3 months ago. By month 2 I had read through all of Elise Noble’s canon. I am an avid reader; have been all my life. Occasionally I fall in love with a writer to the point of obsession. I will read everything they have written, again and again and again. I find I must find out every detail the author has written of the characters who have come to life. My current itch is when was Emmy and Black’s second wedding, and what prompted it. There have been too many hints to not fill out the story. Please tell me you plan to fill in the blanks at some point.
I’m so happy you’ve been enjoying my books! The story of Emmy and Black’s second wedding has already been told – it’s in Black to Vegas, which is a free download available via a link in the clean version of Forever Black 🙂
This helps a lot. Now I know the order to follow. Any chance on a Black and James story
I have plans to write a story for James, but for plot reasons, that won’t happen for a little while.
Hi i’m loving your books, found them on Radish, however, I can’t find some of the books; black, black in vegas, black cats & bullets, get blue, gray, silver, just breathe, to paris with love, fleur, & stolen hearts. I was wondering where I can find them or if it’s necessary to read them. Will I be missing anything if I don’t read them. Even though since I love this series and reading your stories. I am hooked. And I thank you for coming up with a series like this. <3
Thanks so much for reading my books! I’m so happy you’re enjoying them! Where there’s a freebie available, you can find a download link in the Writer’s Note at the end of the final chapter on Radish 🙂
Thank you so much. I loved the Blackwood series, however I got lost in the elements and finally gave up. This will help me get started again. I haven’t found any other arther who can make me laugh and engage as well as Elise. Thank you again.
Wonderful, thank you for the list. Is there a reason I can’t copy and paste the Chronological Order list?
I’m afraid that due to piracy issues with the stories I write on my website, I have copy/paste disabled. But I’d be happy to email you a copy if you’d like. Alternatively, there’s a PDF download available.