Kerry Rea Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Kerry Rea
Kerry Rea is a 2017 and 2019 #PitchWars mentee. Kerry’s work has appeared in Seventeen Magazine.

“The Wedding Ringer” is the first stand alone novel and was released in 2021. A woman that wants nothing to do with friendship or love finds both in the unlikeliest of ways.

Willa Callister, once upon a time, was a successful blogger that had real hobbies, a good credit score, and legs that she shaved more than once per month. However after she found her fiance in bed with her best friend, she now spends her days performing at children’s birthday parties while wearing a ball gown which makes her look like a walking bottle of Pepto Bismol. She dreams of beginning fresh, where nobody knows who she used to be, however she needs to first save up enough money in order to make it all happen.

Maisie Mitchell needs something as well: another bridesmaid for her wedding. After this chance encounter at some coffee shop, Maisie offers to pay Willa to be in her bridal party. Willa wants absolutely nothing to do with weddings, or Maisie for that matter, however the money is going to give her the freedom to begin the new life that she so badly desires.

Willa’s bridesmaid duties thrust her right into Maisie’s high energy world and right into the path of Liam Rafferty, a hotshot doctor. However while Maisie and Willa form a true friendship, and Liam’s annoyingly irresistible smile makes her reconsider her mantra stating that all men are trash, Willa’s exit strategy gets to be far more complicated. Once this secret from Maisie’s past threatens to derail the whole wedding, Willa has to consider whether friendship, as well as romance, are worth sticking around for.

This novel is by turns poignant and funny, and addresses the complexities of love and friendship, while it still justly highlights the importance of princesses (and penguins) in Willa’s search for a happily ever after of her very own. The fake bridesmaid premise and all the prewedding shenanigans had readers howling, however it was the friendship that Maisie and Willa had that captured their hearts.

“Lucy on the Wild Side” is the second stand alone novel and was released in 2022. This zookeeper always on the fringe learns to pursue her wildest dreams, which includes a certain TV star.

Lucy Rourke has got two great loves in her life: the laundry list of reality TV shows that she watches in order to escape the fact that her real life does not actually exist and the gorilla troop that she cares for as a primatologist. And like any reality contestant gunning for that final rose, Lucy’s laser focused on a single thing: getting promoted to head keeper. When this wildlife docuseries that is hosted by Kai Bridges (a hotshot TV personality) selects her zoo as its summer filming location, she sees this as an opportunity to showcase her beloved gorillas to the whole world and land herself a starring role in her department.

Kai and his film crew show up, it’s obvious to Lucy that Kai just cares more about getting sky-high ratings than the gorillas, and he considers her to be a camera-averse know-it-all whose wardrobe consists totally of khaki. However she is surprised to learn that there is more to him than just his cheesy catchphrases and rugged good looks. And that a promotion might not be the only thing she wants. However when secrets from their pasts threaten to complicate it all, Lucy finds that success and happiness are not at all the same things, and that finding joy just may mean getting a little bit wild.

Kerry delivers a hilarious journey of self-discovery that features a steamy romance, a unique zoo setting, and lots of gorillas. This is heartwarming, absolutely delightful, and hilarious, and readers were just as invested in the gorilla drama as they were in Kai and Lucy’s relationship because of Kerry’s whip smart prose and her masterful storytelling. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Lucy, the hot mess of a zookeeper, while she journeys to overcome the wounds of her past.

“The Jewel of the Isle” is the third stand alone novel and was released in 2024. Two incredibly indoor people rough it on this remote island after they get swept up in this archaeologist’s hunt for this famed jewel in a dazzling new adventure.

If Emily Edwards knows anything, it is that you do not go to an isolated island all by yourself. Ever the type A personality, she does not want to hike around some unfamiliar island, however she is determined to to fulfill her late dad’s national park bucket list, beginning with Isle Royale National Park, which is home to bears, wolves, and hundred year old shipwrecks. She has got no choice but to hire a tour guide, and there’s just the one that is not booked solid.

Ryder Fleet (the co-owner of Fleet Outdoor Adventures) would not call himself a wilderness expert, and he certainly does not know how to find true north. However when his dormant adventure guide business all of a sudden finds life again after a random inquiry, Ryder finds himself on a ferry somehow headed to Isle Royale with this very beautiful yet no nonsense woman. What this woman does not know is that Caleb, his brother that died two years ago, was the outdoorsman of their business, as Ryder only took care of the marketing. However how hard could it really be to hike up a couple of mountains?

Pretty tough, actually, when a murder is involved. Emily’s perfectly planned trek takes a disastrous turn once she and Ryder witness a brutal crime and suddenly are forced to evade this group of archaeologists on the hunt for some jewel. While they spend nights together much too close for comfort, they realize that their shoddily built fire is not the only thing that is kindling, and that they will have to trust one another if they want to escape this island with their lives, as well as their hearts, intact.