Kelly Harms
Kelly Harms has published 7 books across 2 series. The recommended reading order starts with The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane (2014).
Kelly Harms is an American novelist who writes contemporary women's fiction that has reached readers in a dozen languages around the world. Her 2019 novel The Overdue Life of Amy Byler became one of the year's breakout titles, landing on lists from USA Today, Amazon Charts, and the Washington Post while earning a place among the top ten fiction books of the year on Goodreads and a WFWA Star Award nomination.
Before turning to her own writing, Harms spent years on the other side of the publishing desk as an editor at HarperCollins and then as a literary agent at the Jane Rotrosen Agency in New York, working with a wide range of authors. That apprenticeship gave her an insider's understanding of storytelling and what makes a book connect with readers. She has since published five novels, including The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane. Harms now lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her son Griffin, her partner Chris, and Scout the dog, and she can be found meeting readers both online and in person.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Short Stories/Novellas
- Tags---DescriptionYou Can Thank Me Later is a novella that follows the Dickenson family across three Thanksgivings, beginning with the one in 2016 when everything changes. Oldest brother Pete and his wife are expecting their first child. Youngest sibling Sophie runs a restaurant called The Little Plum and has no time for anything else. Middle child Charlie, a Midwestern science professor, arrives with his wife Annette — who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Knowing this will be her last Thanksgiving, Annette asks Sophie to look after Charlie when she is gone. By the next holiday, Charlie shows up with a new girlfriend — one Sophie finds insufferable. The promise Sophie made to her dying sister-in-law suddenly becomes far more complicated. The novella moves through three Thanksgivings, tracking how grief reshapes a family and whether the love that held them together can survive the loss that tore them apart. The question is whether Sophie can honor Annette's request without destroying what remains of the family she was asked to protect.Publication date2019Amazon rating3.8/5LanguageEnglishPublisherAudible Originals
Order of Standalone Novels
- DescriptionThe Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane is a novel about what happens when a sweepstakes names the wrong winner — or rather, two right ones. The HomeSweetHome Network announces that Janine Brown of Cedar Falls, Iowa, has won a fully loaded dream home in Christmas Cove, Maine. The trouble is that Cedar Falls has two women with that exact name. Janine "Janey" Brown has been hiding in her tiny kitchen since her engagement ended, burying her grief in the pursuit of the perfect pot-au-feu. The sweepstakes sounds like another of her Aunt Midge's schemes to drag her back into the world. Across town, Janine "Nean" Brown is certain the house is her destiny — a way out of the latest crappy job and the latest drunk boyfriend, a chance to become someone the world actually sees instead of the girl everyone looks past. Both Janine Browns head for Maine to claim the prize. When they arrive at the mansion on Shipwreck Lane, however, they find more waiting than a simple case of mistaken identity. Three women — Janey, Nean, and Aunt Midge, who comes along for the ride — must figure out what home actually means when none of them expected to share it.Publication dateJuly 1, 2014Amazon rating4.4/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherSt. Martin's Griffin
- DescriptionLily is a young painter whose career has stalled, whose boyfriend disappoints, and whose best friend may not be trustworthy after all. When rising costs force her out of her apartment, she finds a ten-year-old letter wedged in a drawer: paperwork for an annulment that was never finalized. She is still married to the charming man she met in Vegas a decade ago, Ben Hutchinson, and a reply this late demands a face-to-face conversation. The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay follows Lily as she tracks him down to settle the marriage neither of them knew still existed. Ben left his dot-com fortune behind to return to his family and the small town he loves, and the last person he expects at his door is a wife. Lily checks into the Minnow Bay Inn planning a quick exit, but the town offers her what the city never did: new friends, a thriving art community, and a second look at the man she married. The question is whether fixing a ten-year-old mistake might be the best decision she never meant to make.Publication dateAugust 1, 2017Amazon rating4.4/5Print length288LanguageEnglishPublisherA Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin's Griffin
- TagschildrenDescriptionA single mother gets an unexpected offer from the husband who abandoned her: he will take their kids for the summer. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler is a novel about what happens when Amy accepts and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City. Grounded and mild mannered at home, Amy lets her hair down in the city. She discovers culture, sophistication, and blind dates arranged by friends. One man in particular makes quick work of her heart, and she risks losing herself in this unexpected new chapter. As summer ends, Amy realizes she must choose between staying in this exciting life or returning to the one she left behind. Then a crisis forces both worlds together. Amy faces a future where she could lose both sides of herself and every dream she has ever nurtured in the beat of a heart.Publication dateMay 1, 2019Amazon rating4.2/5Print length332LanguageEnglishPublisherLake Union Publishing
- DescriptionMia Bell has lived her life online for years as one of the most popular influencers on social media, and she is planning the ultimate virtual wedding with her fiancé — expensive, elaborate, and entirely paid for by sponsors. Then he jilts her. Rather than admit the truth, Mia fakes the nuptials to satisfy her sponsors, but the performance is the last straw. She throws her phone off a cliff and disappears, ready to live offline for the first time in years. Her sudden absence catches the attention of Paige Miller, a techie loner who hacks Mia's account and begins impersonating her. Paige has a reason: her half sister Jessica idolizes Mia and desperately needs something to believe in, and if taking over the account is the only way Paige can connect with her, she will do it. Creating a picture-perfect life turns out to be more fun than Paige expected — until she grows too bold and gets caught. The Bright Side of Going Dark follows two women whose lives collide in a tangle of deception and need. What begins as one person's escape and another's impersonation becomes a reckoning that could change both of them, along with everyone who loves them.Publication dateMay 12, 2020Amazon rating4.2/5Print length348LanguageEnglishPublisherLake Union Publishing
- TagschildrenDescriptionThe Seven Day Switch is a body-swap novel about two neighboring mothers who despise each other until they wake up in each other's lives. Celeste Mason is the stay-at-home supermom who bakes organic snacks, keeps an immaculate house, and has the volunteering awards to prove it. Wendy Charles is the productivity consultant who runs her family on a minute-by-minute schedule and makes no apologies for spending exactly one waking hour a day with her kids. Each woman is certain the other is doing motherhood wrong, and neither hides her judgment. Then comes the neighborhood potluck, too much sangria, and a morning neither of them can explain. Celeste wakes up in Wendy's body, facing a packed work calendar and two kids she barely knows. Wendy opens her eyes in Celeste's immaculate kitchen, responsible for free-range children and a life that looks effortless from the outside. For seven days, each woman has to live the choices she has spent years criticizing. What they thought they knew about the other kind of mom starts to crack. The lives they judged turn out to be messier, harder, and maybe not so different from their own. The question is whether a week in someone else's skin can change what they see when they get back to their own.Publication dateJuly 1, 2021Amazon rating4.2/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherLake Union Publishing
- Tags---DescriptionBecca Larkin walks away from twenty-two years of marriage with a live-aboard sailboat she doesn't know how to sail and a heart full of wreckage. Wherever the Wind Takes Us is a novel about a woman who proposes what she hopes will be a fresh start: a mother-daughter sailing trip from Maine to Miami, where a buyer waits for the boat. Becca has never captained anything, but her daughter Liv agrees to come, and how hard can seventeen hundred miles of coastline be? Hard enough that they hire Grant Murphy, an Irish sailing coach Liv can barely tolerate and Becca finds herself drawn to in ways that surprise her. Grant is younger than she is, but his passion for the water is contagious, and through him Becca begins to see a future she might actually want. The miles between Maine and Miami can be measured, but the distance between the woman Becca was and the one she's becoming can't be charted on any map. The only way forward is to hoist the sails and see where the wind leads.Publication dateOctober 18, 2022Amazon rating4.3/5Print length281LanguageEnglishPublisherLake Union Publishing
Frequently Asked Questions about Kelly Harms
Kelly Harms writes both standalone novels and short story collections. The short stories are collected in You Can Thank Me Later, published in 2019. The standalone novels include The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane (2014), The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay (2017), The Overdue Life of Amy Byler (2019), The Bright Side of Going Dark (2020), and The Seven Day Switch (2021). There is one additional standalone novel not listed. These books can be read in any order as they are not part of a series, though they share a similar lighthearted and engaging style.
A good starting point for Kelly Harms is The Overdue Life of Amy Byler, published in 2019. This novel follows a mother who, after being left by her husband, embarks on a road trip to New York City to find herself. It captures the author's characteristic blend of humor, relatable characters, and a focus on personal growth and second chances. The book was well-received and offers a clear introduction to Harms's storytelling.
You do not have to read Kelly Harms's books in a specific order. The author writes primarily standalone novels, meaning each book tells a complete story that can be enjoyed independently. While there is a collection of short stories titled You Can Thank Me Later, it is not part of a narrative series that requires sequential reading. Readers can pick up any of her novels and dive into the story without needing prior knowledge of other books.
Kelly Harms writes standalone novels and a collection of short stories. The standalone novels are individual stories that do not require reading in a particular sequence. Her short story collection, You Can Thank Me Later, was published in 2019. The main body of her work consists of these self-contained novels, allowing readers to explore her writing without the commitment of a multi-book series.
Kelly Harms has written at least six books. This includes the short story collection You Can Thank Me Later (2019). Her standalone novels consist of The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane (2014), The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay (2017), The Overdue Life of Amy Byler (2019), The Bright Side of Going Dark (2020), and The Seven Day Switch (2021). There is also one additional standalone novel in her bibliography, bringing the total to at least six published works.
The first book published by Kelly Harms was The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane, released in 2014. This marked her debut as a novelist. Following this, she continued to publish standalone novels, establishing her distinct voice in contemporary fiction. Readers interested in her earliest work can start with this novel to see the beginnings of her writing career.
The most recent book by Kelly Harms is The Seven Day Switch, published in 2021. This novel follows two strangers who swap lives for a week, leading to unexpected discoveries and personal transformations. It represents her latest contribution to contemporary fiction, characterized by its engaging plot and focus on character development. Readers looking for her most current work can begin with this title.
Kelly Harms writes contemporary fiction, often with elements of romance and humor. Her novels typically focus on women navigating life changes, relationships, and personal growth. Themes of second chances, self-discovery, and the importance of connection are common. While not strictly romance novels, her books often feature romantic storylines and optimistic resolutions. The tone is generally lighthearted and engaging.
We verified the reading order for Kelly Harms's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: July 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Kelly Harms Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/kelly-harms