Jackie Collins Books in Order: Lucky Santangelo, Hollywood Novels, and More
Jackie Collins built her reputation writing about the glamorous, ruthless worlds of Hollywood, celebrity culture, wealth, romance, and organized crime. Her novels are full of ambitious characters who want success, money, power, or love, and who are often willing to take considerable risks to get what they want.
If you are new to her books, the Lucky Santangelo novels are an excellent place to start, especially if you enjoy a long family saga with recurring characters. But Collins wrote much more than one series, so this guide organizes her major books by series and covers her standalone novels, short stories, and other notable titles.
1. Lucky Santangelo books in order
The Lucky Santangelo novels are among Jackie Collins’s best-known books. The saga follows the Santangelo family, particularly Lucky, a fiercely independent woman who grows up around wealth, organized crime, business rivalries, and Hollywood power struggles.
For the main story, read the novels in publication order below. Confessions of a Wild Child is a prequel about Lucky’s teenage years, so it can also be read before the others if you prefer to follow her life chronologically.
1. Chances (1981)
The first book introduces Gino Santangelo, a man who rises from humble beginnings to become a powerful figure in organized crime, and his daughter Lucky. It sets up the family rivalries, ambition, romance, and danger that drive the wider saga.
2. Lucky (1985)
Lucky steps into the spotlight in her own right, determined to build a life on her terms. The novel follows her drive for success and the complications that come with her family’s reputation and influence.
3. Lady Boss (1990)
Lucky turns her attention toward Hollywood, where ambition and business competition can be just as ruthless as the criminal world she knows. The story blends her professional rise with romantic entanglements and family complications.
4. Vendetta: Lucky’s Revenge (1996)
Old rivalries return, and Lucky faces threats that reach into her personal and professional life. Revenge, loyalty, and the Santangelo family’s history are central to this installment.
5. Dangerous Kiss (1999)
Lucky returns in a story of desire, power, and dangerous relationships. The novel continues the saga’s mix of glamour, family conflict, and suspense.
6. Drop Dead Beautiful (2007)
Now an established Hollywood power player, Lucky must balance her family life with the demands of business and the risks surrounding her world. The story revisits the pleasures and complications of being wealthy, successful, and constantly in the public eye.
7. Poor Little Bitch Girl (2010)
Several characters move through a world of celebrity, privilege, and scandal, where a murder connects their lives. Lucky and the wider Santangelo world form part of this larger story of ambition and dangerous secrets.
8. Goddess of Vengeance (2011)
Lucky faces fresh challenges involving power, revenge, and the people closest to her. The novel continues the saga’s focus on family loyalty and the high price of staying on top.
9. The Santangelos (2015)
This is the final main novel in the Santangelo saga. It brings Lucky and her family back into a world of conflict, romance, business, and revenge, providing a concluding chapter for the long-running series.
Where does Confessions of a Wild Child fit?
Confessions of a Wild Child (2013) explores Lucky’s teenage years, including the experiences that help shape her fearless adult personality. Although it was published after Goddess of Vengeance, it is a prequel to the main saga. Read it after Chances if you want to preserve publication order, or start with it if you prefer to follow Lucky’s life from adolescence.
A Santangelo Story (2010) is a shorter companion story connected to the series. It is an optional extra rather than a required main novel.
2. Hollywood books in order
Jackie Collins’s Hollywood novels explore the people behind the glamour: actors, producers, executives, social climbers, and spouses whose private lives are often far messier than their public images. The books share a setting and recurring connections, so reading them in publication order gives you the best sense of how the world develops.
1. Hollywood Wives (1983)
This bestselling novel takes readers behind the gates of Hollywood’s wealthy and famous. Its characters navigate marriage, affairs, ambition, jealousy, and the constant pressure to maintain an image of success.
2. Hollywood Husbands (1986)
The focus shifts toward the men who enjoy the privileges of Hollywood life while dealing with their own romantic and professional problems. Power, infidelity, and the consequences of celebrity culture drive the story.
3. Hollywood Kids (1994)
This novel examines the children of Hollywood’s elite, who grow up surrounded by privilege but face pressures of their own. Their relationships and ambitions show that fame and family wealth do not guarantee happiness.
4. Hollywood Wives: The New Generation (2001)
A new group of characters inhabits the familiar world of wealth, scandal, and celebrity. The novel revisits the themes of the original while exploring a changing Hollywood.
5. Hollywood Divorces (2003)
Marriage breakdowns, affairs, and public scandal take center stage as Hollywood couples struggle with the consequences of their private decisions. It continues the series’ fascination with the contrast between glamorous appearances and troubled relationships.
3. The Stud and The Bitch in order
These two novels follow Fontaine Khaled, a wealthy woman who enjoys luxury, nightlife, and sexual independence. The books are connected, and reading them in order helps you follow Fontaine’s changing circumstances.
1. The Stud (1969)
Fontaine Khaled is married to a wealthy businessman, but her interests lie in nightlife, pleasure, and running a London nightclub. The story explores her relationships and the costs of living according to her own desires.
2. The Bitch (1979)
The follow-up returns to Fontaine and the world of nightclub glamour, romantic complications, and ambition. Read it after The Stud to continue her story.
4. Madison Castelli and L.A. Connections books in order
The Madison Castelli books bring together journalism, murder, celebrity, and dangerous secrets. The series begins with four short installments that were later associated with L.A. Connections, followed by two longer novels.
1. Power (1998)
The first short installment introduces the high-stakes world of the series, where influence and ambition can have dangerous consequences.
2. Obsession (1998)
The second installment explores the destructive side of desire and fixation as the connected story continues.
3. Murder (1998)
A killing raises the stakes and adds a darker edge to the story. It is best read after Power and Obsession.
4. Revenge (1998)
The fourth short installment continues the connected storyline, bringing retaliation and unresolved conflicts into focus.
5. L.A. Connections (1998)
This title collects or develops the connected story around Madison Castelli, a journalist whose work brings her into contact with secrets and dangerous people in Los Angeles. Some bibliographies list it as a separate entry after the four short installments.
6. Lethal Seduction (2000)
Madison returns in a story involving dangerous attraction, suspense, and the darker side of the Los Angeles scene.
7. Deadly Embrace (2002)
This follow-up continues the connected story of Madison and the dangerous relationships around her. It is best read after Lethal Seduction.
A note about the order: Some book databases count the four short stories and L.A. Connections differently, so the number of entries can vary. If you are reading a collected edition, check its contents before buying individual stories to avoid duplicates.
5. Jackie Collins standalone novels in publication order
Collins also wrote numerous novels that do not belong to one of her main series. You can generally read these independently, in any order. The list below follows their original publication sequence, with alternate titles noted where useful.
1. The World Is Full of Married Men (1968)
This early novel examines infidelity, sexual politics, and the double standards surrounding marriage. It established Collins’s willingness to explore adult relationships and controversial social behaviour.
2. Sunday Simmons & Charlie Brick (1971)
An early work that has also appeared under the title Sinners. It explores the darker side of desire and personal ambition in the world Collins was beginning to make her own.
3. The Love Killers (1974)
Also published under the title Lovehead, this novel follows women whose experiences of betrayal and exploitation shape their pursuit of revenge. It combines suspense with Collins’s interest in power and sexual politics.
4. The World Is Full of Divorced Women (1975)
This novel looks at life after marriage and the freedom, uncertainty, and complications that can follow divorce. It continues Collins’s exploration of changing social attitudes toward relationships.
5. Lovers and Gamblers (1977)
A musician’s rise to fame brings wealth, desire, and destructive choices into his life. The novel explores celebrity, addiction, and the personal cost of ambition.
6. Rock Star (1988)
Set in the music industry, this novel follows the people surrounding a successful rock musician. It explores fame, excess, sex, and the pressures that come with a life lived in public.
7. American Star (1993)
This novel follows a young woman’s journey into a world of glamour, ambition, and complicated relationships. It combines romance and suspense with Collins’s fascination with the pursuit of fame and fortune.
8. Thrill! (1998)
The story centres on characters whose ambitions and private desires pull them into a world of danger and intrigue. It combines suspense with the glamorous settings and complicated relationships that are hallmarks of Collins’s fiction.
9. Lovers & Players (2006)
New York wealth and social status provide the backdrop for a story of romantic rivalry and family complications. The characters must confront the difference between the lives they appear to lead and what they actually want.
10. Married Lovers (2008)
Three high-powered couples become caught in a web of affairs, jealousy, and secrets. Their decisions lead to consequences that threaten their relationships and carefully constructed lives.
11. The Power Trip (2012)
A luxury yacht cruise brings celebrities and powerful people together in an enclosed setting where personal rivalries and dangerous secrets surface. The result is a glamorous thriller filled with shifting alliances and suspense.
6. Other Jackie Collins stories and books
Beyond her novels, Collins published short stories, companion pieces, and a cookbook connected to her best-known character. These are not all essential to the main reading orders, but fans may want to include them.
- The Power Trip Prequel (2012): A short companion story that provides additional context for The Power Trip. It is an optional extra rather than a separate full-length novel.
- The Rock Star and the Lifeguard (2013): A short story related to Collins’s fiction and its recurring themes of attraction, celebrity, and complicated relationships.
- The Lucky Santangelo Cookbook (2014): A companion book inspired by Lucky Santangelo, combining recipes with the glamour and personality associated with the character.
Which Jackie Collins book should you read first?
The best starting point depends on what you enjoy most about her writing.
- For a long family saga: Start with Chances, the first Lucky Santangelo novel.
- For Hollywood glamour and scandal: Begin with Hollywood Wives.
- For a connected story about a powerful woman in London’s nightlife scene: Read The Stud, followed by The Bitch.
- For journalism and suspense: Start with Power and continue through the Madison Castelli books.
- For a standalone novel about celebrity culture: Try Rock Star or The Power Trip.
- For a shorter look at Lucky’s early life: Choose Confessions of a Wild Child, remembering that it was published later as a prequel.
You do not need to read every Jackie Collins book to enjoy her work. If a series catches your attention, start with its first book and follow that sequence before branching out into her standalone novels.
About Jackie Collins
Jackie Collins (1937–2015) was an English novelist whose books became international bestsellers for their bold portrayals of fame, sex, wealth, power, and celebrity culture. She was the younger sister of actress Joan Collins and spent much of her professional life in Los Angeles, a city that inspired many of her most famous stories.
Across a career spanning more than four decades, Collins wrote 32 novels, all of which appeared on The New York Times bestseller lists, according to her official biography. Her books were translated into numerous languages, and several were adapted into films and television productions.
What made Collins distinctive was her willingness to write about people who were ambitious, flawed, sexually independent, manipulative, or unapologetically hungry for success. Her characters rarely fit neatly into the roles of heroes and villains, and her stories often reveal the compromises people make behind a glamorous public image.
Frequently asked questions about Jackie Collins books
How many books did Jackie Collins write?
Jackie Collins wrote 32 novels during her career, along with short stories and other books. Bibliography websites may show different totals depending on whether they count short stories, collections, companion books, and alternate editions separately.
What is the first Jackie Collins book to read?
For the Lucky Santangelo saga, begin with Chances (1981). For her Hollywood series, start with Hollywood Wives (1983). If you prefer the Fontaine Khaled novels, start with The Stud (1969).
Should I read the Lucky Santangelo books in order?
Yes. The Lucky Santangelo novels follow a continuing family story, so publication order is the best choice for a first read. Start with Chances, continue through The Santangelos, and read Confessions of a Wild Child as an optional prequel.
Is Confessions of a Wild Child the first Lucky Santangelo book?
It is the prequel about Lucky’s teenage years, but it was published in 2013, long after the original novel Chances. You can read it first if you prefer chronological storytelling, but publication order preserves the way readers originally discovered Lucky’s story.
Are the Hollywood books connected?
Yes. The five Hollywood novels share a setting and explore related aspects of celebrity culture, marriage, ambition, and scandal. Reading them in publication order is a good way to follow the series.
Are The Stud and The Bitch a series?
Yes. Both books feature Fontaine Khaled, and The Bitch follows The Stud. Reading them in that order gives you the clearest view of Fontaine’s story.
What is Jackie Collins’s most famous book?
Chances, Hollywood Wives, and Lucky are among her best-known titles. Chances launched the Santangelo saga, while Hollywood Wives became a major bestseller and helped cement Collins’s reputation for stories about the hidden side of celebrity life.
Can I read Jackie Collins’s standalone novels in any order?
Yes. Most of her standalone novels tell independent stories, so you can choose one based on its subject or setting. Series novels are better read in their own publication order, particularly the Lucky Santangelo books.
Final Note
Jackie Collins wrote about glamorous worlds where money, ambition, sex, fame, and family loyalty often collide. Her Lucky Santangelo novels offer a long-running saga, the Hollywood books explore the private lives behind celebrity, and her standalone thrillers provide plenty of other ways to discover her work.
If you are starting from scratch, Chances is an excellent first choice. If Hollywood intrigue sounds more appealing, pick up Hollywood Wives. Either way, reading a series in publication order will help you enjoy the recurring characters and connections without missing important developments.
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