Jenny Colgan Books in Order: Series, Standalones & Short Stories

Jenny Colgan is best known for cozy, funny, romantic stories set in bookshops, bakeries, islands, schools, and seaside towns. But reading the Jenny Colgan books in order takes a little sorting because her bibliography also includes Doctor Who books, children’s books, short stories, and several titles that have appeared under different names.

I’d start with whichever setting sounds most appealing. If you want bookshops and small towns, try the Scottish Bookshop books. If you want baking and seaside comfort, start with Little Beach Street Bakery. If you’re trying to follow the full bibliography, publication order within each series is the simplest way to go.

Jump to:

• Jenny Colgan Romantic Comedy Books
• Jenny Colgan Doctor Who Books
• Jenny Colgan Children’s Books
• Jenny Colgan Anthologies and Short Stories
• Who is Jenny Colgan?

Jenny Colgan Romantic Comedy Books

This is the heart of Jenny Colgan’s bibliography. These books usually blend romance, friendship, fresh starts, and cozy settings, though Colgan also brings in grief, family pressure, class, mental health, and the stress of rebuilding a life when everything changes.

The Christmas Bookshop

The Christmas Bookshop books are warm, bookish holiday stories set around Edinburgh. They follow Carmen Hogan, whose life gets tangled up with family, romance, and a struggling bookshop that needs a little seasonal magic.

1. The Christmas Bookshop (2021)
2. Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop (2023)

Mirren Sutherland Books

Mirren Sutherland is an antiquarian book hunter, so these stories lean into rare books, family mysteries, and holiday settings. The first entry is a short story, but it introduces the character before The Secret Christmas Library.

1. The Christmas Book Hunt (2024) (Short Story)
2. The Secret Christmas Library (2025)

Standalone Books

Colgan’s standalones are a good place to start if you want to sample her voice without committing to a series. A few of these have different U.K. and U.S. titles, so I’ve included alternate titles when they matter.

1. Amanda’s Wedding (1999)
2. Talking to Addison / My Very ‘90s Romance (2001)
3. Looking for Andrew McCarthy (2001)
4. Working Wonders / Arthur Project (2003)
5. Do You Remember the First Time? / The Boy I Loved Before (2004)
6. Where Have All the Boys Gone? (2005)
7. West End Girls / West End Boys (2006)
8. The Good, The Bad and The Dumped (2007)
9. Operation Sunshine (2007)
10. Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend / The Cinderella of Old Kent Road (2008)
11. The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris (2013)
12. Resistance Is Futile (2015) (As Jenny T. Colgan)
13. Spandex and the City (2017) (As Jenny T. Colgan)
14. The Late Bloomer (2027)

School by the Sea Series

The School by the Sea books were first published under Colgan’s Jane Beaton name and later reissued under Jenny Colgan. They follow Maggie Adair and the girls of Downey House, a Cornish boarding school where friendship, romance, and growing pains all collide.

1. Class / Welcome to the School by the Sea (2008)
2. Rules / Rules at the School by the Sea (2010)
3. Lessons / Lessons at the School by the Sea (2019)
4. Studies / Studies at the School by the Sea (2024)

You may also see Lessons split into a three-part Maggie Adair serial. I’ve kept it here as the single collected book so the list doesn’t double-count the same story.

Cupcake Café Series

The Cupcake Café books are classic Jenny Colgan comfort reads. They follow Issy Randall as she turns a love of baking into a new beginning, with plenty of cakes, community, and romance along the way.

1. Meet Me at the Cupcake Café (2011)
2. Christmas at the Cupcake Café (2012)

Rosie Hopkins’ Sweet Shop Series

The Rosie Hopkins books are set around a village sweetshop and have a stronger family-history feel than some of Colgan’s lighter rom-coms. They’re still cozy, but there’s a lot of heart underneath the sugar.

1. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams / Sweetshop of Dreams (2012)
2. Christmas at Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop (2013)
3. The Christmas Surprise (2014)

Little Beach Street Bakery Series

The Little Beach Street Bakery books are about Polly Waterford, who moves to a small seaside town and rebuilds her life through baking. This is one of Colgan’s best starting points if you want food, romance, and a strong coastal setting.

1. Little Beach Street Bakery (2014)
2. Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery (2015)
3. Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery (2016)
4. Sunrise by the Sea (2021)

Scottish Bookshop Series

The Scottish Bookshop books are set around Kirrinfief, a small Scottish town with a lot of bookish charm. Each novel follows a different main character, but the setting and recurring connections make them feel better together.

1. The Bookshop on the Corner / The Little Shop of Happy-Ever-After (2016)
2. The Bookshop on the Shore (2019)
3. 500 Miles From You (2020)

Scottish Island of Mure Series

The Scottish Island of Mure books follow Flora and the people connected to the island she once left behind. These are best read in publication order because the relationships, island life, and side characters build from book to book.

1. A Very Distant Shore (2017) (Novella)
2. The Café by the Sea / The Summer Seaside Kitchen (2017)
3. The Endless Beach (2018)
4. Christmas on the Island / An Island Christmas (2018)
5. Christmas at the Island Hotel (2020)
6. An Island Wedding (2022)
7. The Summer Skies (2023)
8. Close Knit / Knitting the Stars (2024)
9. Meet Me at the Seaside Cottages / The Right Move (2026)

Jenny Colgan Doctor Who Books

Jenny Colgan has also written several Doctor Who stories under the name Jenny T. Colgan. These don’t need to be read with her romantic comedies, but they’re worth including because they’re a real part of her bibliography.

Doctor Who: New Adventures

These are full-length Doctor Who novels. Dark Horizons was Colgan’s first major contribution to the franchise, while In the Blood later returned to the modern Doctor Who line.

1. Dark Horizons (2012)
2. In the Blood (2016)

Doctor Who: Time Trips

Into the Nowhere is Colgan’s contribution to the Doctor Who: Time Trips range. It follows the Eleventh Doctor and Clara on a strange, unmapped planet.

1. Into the Nowhere (2014)

Doctor Who: Target Collection

These are Target novelizations, which turn television episodes into short novels. Colgan wrote one based on the Tenth Doctor’s first Christmas story and another based on Steven Moffat’s Weeping Angels two-parter.

1. The Christmas Invasion (2018)
2. The Time of Angels (2026)

Doctor Who Anthologies and Collections

Colgan has also appeared in several Doctor Who collections. Some collect her own short stories, while others include one of her stories alongside work by other writers.

1. Doctor Who: Time Trips (2014)
2. The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who (2015)
3. Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song (2016)
4. Doctor Who: The Day She Saved the Doctor (2018)
5. The Triple Knife and Other Doctor Who Stories (2018)
6. Doctor Who: The Target Storybook (2019)

Doctor Who Audio Stories

These are audio stories rather than print books, so I’d treat them as a separate part of her Doctor Who work. They’re useful to include for readers who want a complete Jenny T. Colgan list.

1. The Diary of River Song: The Boundless Sea (2015)
2. Doctor Who: Short Trips: Gardens of the Dead (2016)
3. Doctor Who: One Mile Down (2019)

Jenny Colgan Children’s Books

Colgan’s children’s books are all part of the Polly and the Puffin series. They’re gentle picture books about Polly and Neil the puffin, and they work well as read-aloud books.

Polly and the Puffin Series

1. Polly and the Puffin (2015)
2. The Stormy Day (2016)
3. The New Friend (2017)
4. The Happy Christmas (2017)

Jenny Colgan Anthologies and Short Stories

These are anthology appearances and short-story collections outside her main series lists. I’ve included the Jenny Colgan story title when it helps identify why the anthology belongs here.

1. Tart Noir (2002)
2. Scottish Girls About Town (2004) (Includes “The Fringes”)
3. Girls Night In (2004) (Includes “Dougie, Spoons and the Aquarium Solarium”)
4. The Weekenders: Adventures in Calcutta (2004)
5. The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas (2010) (Includes “The Real Christmas Story”)
6. The Anniversary (2016)

Who is Jenny Colgan?

Jenny Colgan is a Scottish author best known for warm romantic comedies, bookshop novels, bakery stories, island settings, and holiday reads. She has also written science fiction and Doctor Who books under the name Jenny T. Colgan, and her School by the Sea books were first published under the Jane Beaton name.

Her debut novel, Amanda’s Wedding, introduced the funny, sharp, relationship-driven style that would carry through much of her fiction. Over time, her books moved deeper into cozy communities, seaside towns, and characters trying to rebuild their lives after career changes, heartbreak, grief, or family upheaval.

Colgan’s books are comforting, but they’re not empty. She often writes about anxiety, loss, aging, class, and the fear of starting over. That mix of warmth and real-life pressure is why her books work so well when you want something cozy without losing all emotional weight.

Looking for similar books in order?

If you want more romance authors and reading-order guides like this one, start with my Romance Books in Order index.

• Books in Order (Full Index)
• Debbie Macomber Books in Order
• Elin Hilderbrand Books in Order
• Marian Keyes Books in Order