🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind
Author Barbara was born in the year 1959. She writes under different pen names, such as: Ruth Wind and Barbara O’Neal. Barbara fell in love with the secret language of spoons and restaurants when she was just sixteen years old. She spent over a decade in different restaurants, from high cuisine to dives to cafes, before she sold her first novel. O’Neal teaches workshops nationally and internationally, and she lives in Colorado Springs with her partner, a British endurance athlete. Barbara is an avid cook, traveler, and photographer, and keeps a log of recipes, photos, and travels at A Writer Afoot, a place where she will also post about writing advice. She has won seven RITA awards, and in the year 2012, she was inducted into the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame.
All Book Series by Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind
Strangers on a Train
Series opener · book 1 of 35 · published 1989 Pen name · Ruth Wind
Madame Mirabou's School of Love / The Scent of Hours
Book 19 of 35 · published 2006
The Lost Recipe for Happiness
Book 22 of 35 · published 2008 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
The Secret of Everything
Book 23 of 35 · published 2009 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
The Art of Inheriting Secrets
Book 28 of 35 · published 2018 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
When We Believed in Mermaids
Book 29 of 35 · published 2019 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
The Lost Girls of Devon
Book 30 of 35 · published 2020 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
Write My Name Across the Sky
Book 31 of 35 · published 2021 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
The Last Letter of Rachel Ellsworth
Latest in the series · book 35 of 35 · published 2025 Pen name · Barbara O'Neal
The Care and Feeding of The Girls in The Basement
Series opener · book 1 of 3 · published 2011
Born Royal
Latest in the series · book 4 of 4 · published 2001 Anthology · Alexandra Sellers
Stacked Deck
Book 22 of 30 · published 2007 Anthology · Rachel Caine,Terry Watkins
Beneath the Surface
Book 26 of 30 · published 2008 Anthology · Meredith Fletcher
Exclusive
Latest in the series · book 30 of 30 · published 2011 Anthology · Katherine Garbera
Whitehall - Season One Volume Two
Latest in the series · book 6 of 6 · published 2016
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind?
Author Barbara was born in the year 1959. She writes under different pen names, such as: Ruth Wind and Barbara O'Neal. Barbara fell in love with the secret language of spoons and restaurants when she was just sixteen years old.
Which Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind series should I start with?
The best place to start is The Red Creek Brothers / Last Roundup series, the earliest of Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind's multi-book series: it opens with Marriage Material (1997) and runs to 4 books across 1997–2000, ending with Beautiful Stranger (2000). Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind written?
Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind has 94 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1989 and 2025. 47 of them belong to 7 named series — the largest being The Red Creek Brothers / Last Roundup series with 4 books — and 47 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Rainsinger (1994–1996, 2 books), The Red Creek Brothers / Last Roundup (1997–2000, 4 books) and Men of the Land (1998–1999, 2 books), plus 3 more.
How are Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind's books organised into series?
This guide splits Barbara Samuel / Barbara O'Neal / Ruth Wind's 94 books into 7 named series and 47 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: The Red Creek Brothers / Last Roundup (4 books, 1997–2000); Firstborn Sons (4 books, 2001); Sisters of the Mountain (3 books, 2006–2007); Men of the Land (2 books, 1998–1999); Rainsinger (2 books, 1994–1996), plus 2 further series.