If you’re looking for the Jojo Moyes books in order, the main thing to know is that Moyes has a lot of standalones, a few connected books, and several shorter pieces that are easy to overlook. Once you split out the Lou Clark books, The Girl You Left Behind books, standalone novels, short fiction, and anthology appearances, her bibliography is pretty easy to follow.
Moyes is best known for emotional contemporary fiction, romantic drama, and historical stories with a strong human center. Some books are tied together, but most can be read on their own without committing to a full series.
Jump to:
- Where to Start with Jojo Moyes
- Jojo Moyes Standalone Books
- Jojo Moyes Series
- Jojo Moyes Short Stories and Collections
- Jojo Moyes Anthology Appearances
- Jojo Moyes Adaptations
- Who Is Jojo Moyes?
Where to Start with Jojo Moyes
For most readers, I’d start with Me Before You. It’s the book most closely associated with Moyes, and it introduces Louisa Clark, whose story continues through the rest of the trilogy.
If you want historical fiction, The Giver of Stars is probably the better first pick. For a standalone contemporary story, Someone Else’s Shoes, We All Live Here, or One Plus One will let you try Moyes without starting a series.
The only places where order really matters are the connected books. Read the Me Before You trilogy in order, read Honeymoon in Paris before The Girl You Left Behind if you want the prequel first, and treat the rest of the novels as standalones.
Jojo Moyes Standalone Books
Most Jojo Moyes books are standalones, so this is where most of her bibliography sits. These books cover family secrets, second chances, wartime relationships, women starting over, and ordinary people caught in emotionally complicated moments.
- Sheltering Rain (2002)
- Foreign Fruit / Windfallen (2003)
- The Peacock Emporium (2004)
- The Ship of Brides (2005)
- Silver Bay (2007)
- Night Music (2008)
- The Horse Dancer (2009)
- The Last Letter from Your Lover (2010)
- One Plus One (2014)
- The Giver of Stars (2019)
- Someone Else’s Shoes (2023)
- We All Live Here (2025)
Jojo Moyes Series
Moyes does not have a lot of long-running series. Her connected books are mostly short groups, with the Lou Clark trilogy being the main exception. These are the books where it helps to know what connects to what.
Me Before You Books
The Me Before You books follow Louisa Clark, whose life changes after she becomes a caregiver for Will Traynor. The trilogy starts with an emotional love story, then follows Lou as she tries to rebuild her life, leave home, and figure out who she is without losing the parts of herself that make her Lou.
- Me Before You (2012)
- After You (2015)
- Still Me (2018)
- Lou in Lockdown (2020) (Short Story)
The Girl You Left Behind Books
This pair moves between wartime France and modern London, with a portrait tying the timelines together. Honeymoon in Paris gives a shorter look at the couples before the main novel, while The Girl You Left Behind turns that history into a bigger story about love, loss, ownership, and what people are willing to fight for.
- Honeymoon in Paris (2012) (Novella)
- The Girl You Left Behind (2012)
Jojo Moyes Short Stories and Collections
Moyes also has shorter fiction outside the main novels. Paris for One is a romantic novella about a woman whose weekend in Paris does not go the way she planned, while Paris for One and Other Stories collects that story with several others.
- Paris for One (2015) (Novella)
- Paris for One and Other Stories (2016) (Collection)
Jojo Moyes Anthology Appearances
These are not Jojo Moyes novels, but they include work by Moyes. Think of them as optional extras if you’re trying to be thorough, not required stops in her reading order.
- A Fresh Start (2020) (Anthology)
- Dear NHS: 100 Stories to Say Thank You (2020) (Anthology)
Jojo Moyes Adaptations
Me Before You became a film starring Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin, with Moyes writing the screenplay. It follows the first Lou Clark book, so I’d read the novel first if you want to experience that story in book form before seeing it on screen.
The Last Letter from Your Lover also has a film adaptation, starring Felicity Jones, Shailene Woodley, Callum Turner, and Joe Alwyn. It keeps the dual-timeline setup from the novel, with one story built around hidden love letters from the past and another following a journalist piecing them together years later.
The Horse Dancer has also been adapted for German television under the title Im Schatten das Licht. It is less likely to be the version most English-language readers encounter first, but it is part of the broader adaptation picture.
Who Is Jojo Moyes?
Jojo Moyes is a British novelist, journalist, and screenwriter. Before becoming a full-time novelist, she worked as a journalist for The Independent.
Moyes has written contemporary fiction, historical fiction, romantic drama, and short fiction, with several books adapted for the screen. She has also written for Quick Reads, a UK literacy program that publishes short, accessible books for adult readers.
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.