Author · guide verified September 7, 2026
L.J. Smith Books in Order
Every L.J. Smith book in publication order — 45 in total, spanning 1987–2014.
If you were a teenager in the 1990s who liked her romance with a shiver in it, L.J. Smith was probably on your nightstand. Lisa Jane Smith wrote The Vampire Diaries in 1991, then The Secret Circle, The Forbidden Game, Dark Visions and the sprawling Night World — supernatural love stories with real menace, ancient secrets and heroines who fight back. Her books helped invent young-adult paranormal romance years before the genre had a name. And then, in one of the strangest episodes in modern publishing, she lost the right to write her own most famous series, and found a way back to it anyway.
Publication Order of Dark Visions Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Strange Power | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  The Possessed | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  The Passion | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Forbidden Game Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Hunter | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  The Chase | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  The Kill | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Night World Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Secret Vampire | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Daughters of Darkness | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Spellbinder | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Dark Angel | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  The Chosen | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  Soulmate | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 |  Huntress | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 |  Black Dawn | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 |  Witchlight | 1998 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Secret Circle Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Initiation | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  The Captive | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  The Power | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  The Divide | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  The Hunt | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  The Temptation | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Wildworld Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Night of the Solstice | 1987 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Heart of Valor | 1990 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Vampire Diaries Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  The Awakening | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  The Struggle | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  The Fury | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  Dark Reunion | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Vampire Diaries: The Return Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Nightfall | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Shadow Souls | 2010 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Midnight | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Vampire Diaries: The Salvation Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Unseen | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Unspoken | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Unmasked | 2014 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Vampire Diaries: Stefan's Diaries Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Origins | 2010 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Bloodlust | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  The Craving | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 |  The Ripper | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 |  The Asylum | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 |  The Compelled | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of The Vampire Diaries: The Hunters Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Phantom | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 |  Moonsong | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 |  Destiny Rising | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
Publication Order of Point Horror Books
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hunter | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 | The Chase | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 | The Kill | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
Every title by year All 45, oldest to newest
| # | Title | Year | Get it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Night of the Solstice | 1987 | Amazon US UK |
| 2 | Heart of Valor | 1990 | Amazon US UK |
| 3 | The Awakening | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 4 | The Struggle | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 5 | The Fury | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 6 | Dark Reunion | 1991 | Amazon US UK |
| 7 | The Initiation | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 8 | The Captive | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 9 | The Power | 1992 | Amazon US UK |
| 10 | The Strange Power | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 11 | The Hunter | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 12 | The Chase | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 13 | The Kill | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 14 | The Hunter | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 15 | The Chase | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 16 | The Kill | 1994 | Amazon US UK |
| 17 | The Possessed | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 18 | The Passion | 1995 | Amazon US UK |
| 19 | Secret Vampire | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 20 | Daughters of Darkness | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 21 | Spellbinder | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 22 | Dark Angel | 1996 | Amazon US UK |
| 23 | The Chosen | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 24 | Soulmate | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 25 | Huntress | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 26 | Black Dawn | 1997 | Amazon US UK |
| 27 | Witchlight | 1998 | Amazon US UK |
| 28 | Nightfall | 2009 | Amazon US UK |
| 29 | Shadow Souls | 2010 | Amazon US UK |
| 30 | Origins | 2010 | Amazon US UK |
| 31 | Midnight | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 32 | Bloodlust | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 33 | The Craving | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 34 | The Ripper | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 35 | Phantom | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 36 | Moonsong | 2011 | Amazon US UK |
| 37 | The Divide | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 38 | The Hunt | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 39 | The Asylum | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 40 | The Compelled | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 41 | Destiny Rising | 2012 | Amazon US UK |
| 42 | The Temptation | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 43 | Unseen | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 44 | Unspoken | 2013 | Amazon US UK |
| 45 | Unmasked | 2014 | Amazon US UK |
The L.J. Smith story: the books, the firing, and the comeback
The 1990s run
Smith's first books were the Wildworld fantasies of the late 1980s, but it was The Vampire Diaries — written for the packager Alloy Entertainment and published in 1991–92 — that turned her into a name. She followed it fast: The Secret Circle (1992), a coven of teenage witches in a New England town; The Forbidden Game (1994), a shadow-world game with a darkly charming host; Dark Visions (1994–95), about psychic teens; and Night World (1996–98), nine linked books about a hidden society of vampires, witches and shapeshifters and the soulmates who cross its lines. Then, near the height of her popularity, she stepped away from publishing for the better part of a decade.
The comeback — and the contract
When the CW announced a Vampire Diaries series in 2009, Smith returned with The Return trilogy — Nightfall, Shadow Souls and Midnight — and her old books flew back onto the bestseller lists. But the original 1991 deal had been work-for-hire, standard for packaged series and ruinous in this one case: Alloy, not Smith, owned Elena, Stefan and Damon. When she and Alloy disagreed over where the story should go, the company was within its rights to continue without her, and in 2011 it did. Smith has said she learned of it when she was copied on a letter to a ghostwriter about rewriting the manuscript she had just delivered. The Hunters and The Salvation trilogies, and all of Stefan's Diaries, were published under a 'created by L.J. Smith' credit but written by someone else. The same happened to the later Secret Circle books.
Evensong: writing fan fiction of her own series
Here's the part readers love. In 2014 Smith used Amazon's Kindle Worlds — a program that let writers publish licensed fan fiction — to continue her version of the story. Evensong: Paradise Lost and The War of Roses picked up after Midnight, in her own alternate timeline, with the creator of the series technically publishing fan fiction about it. Kindle Worlds closed in 2018 and those titles are no longer sold, but the episode remains one of the great cautionary tales about author contracts, and a small act of defiance her fans still cheer.
Frequently asked
What order should I read L.J. Smith books in?
Read each series in publication order. The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening, The Struggle, The Fury, Dark Reunion, then The Return trilogy (Nightfall, Shadow Souls, Midnight). The Secret Circle: The Initiation, The Captive, The Power. The Forbidden Game: The Hunter, The Chase, The Kill. Dark Visions: The Strange Power, The Possessed, The Passion. Night World: Secret Vampire through Witchlight (nine books). The series are independent of one another.
Did L.J. Smith write all of The Vampire Diaries books?
No. She wrote the original four novels and The Return trilogy. The Hunters trilogy, The Salvation trilogy and Stefan’s Diaries were ghostwritten after her publisher’s packager, Alloy Entertainment, removed her from the series in 2011. The later Secret Circle books (The Divide, The Hunt, The Temptation) were also ghostwritten.
Why was L.J. Smith fired from her own series?
She wrote The Vampire Diaries under a work-for-hire contract, so Alloy Entertainment owned the characters. After a disagreement over the direction of the story following Midnight (2011), Alloy replaced her with a ghostwriter and kept her name on the covers as creator.
Will Night World: Strange Fate ever be published?
Strange Fate, the long-promised tenth Night World book, has been announced and delayed many times over the years and has not been published. We’ll update this page if that changes.
Which L.J. Smith books were made into TV shows?
The Vampire Diaries (The CW, 2009–2017), which spawned The Originals and Legacies, and The Secret Circle (The CW, 2011–2012), which ran one season.
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