Jane Yellowrock Reading Order: The Complete Guide

If you like a great, supernatural, vampire-slashing fantasy book, look no further than Faith Hunter’s epic Jane Yellowrock series. It’s a long, epic series about a last-of-her-kind skinwalker named Jane Yellowrock, who can turn into just about any animal she wants. Oh, she’s also a killer vampire hunter and was nearly taken down by a family of brutal, savage vampires.

The series progresses in numerous interesting, unexpected ways, but the best part is, once you get sucked into Jane Yellowstone’s world, there’s so much content to go through, from full-length novels to countless short stories happening in the same universe. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the reading order of the Jane Yellowrock series.

Jane Yellowrock series reading order (at a glance)

There are fifteen full-length Jane Yellowrock novels so far, published from 2009 to 2022 (and there’ll likely be more). On top of that, there are numerous short stories and collections that Hunter wrote within the same fictional universe. Here’s a complete list of Jane Yellowrock novels in release order:

1. Skinwalker (2009)
2. Blood Cross (2010)
3. Mercy Blade (2011)
4. Raven Cursed (2012)
5. Death’s Rival (2012)
6. Blood Trade (2013)
7. Black Arts (2014)
8. Broken Soul (2014)
9. Dark Heir (2015)
10. Shadow Rites (2016)
11. Cold Reign (2017)
12. Dark Queen (2018)
13. Shattered Bonds (2019)
14. True Dead (2021)
15. Final Heir (2022)

That’s not nearly everything there is to read in the Jane Yellowrock series. The full list of the short stories in chronological order is as follows:

1. WeSa and the Lumber King (in the compilation Have Stakes Will Travel)
2. The Early Years (in the compilation Cat Tales)
3. Snafu (in the compilation Black Water)
4. Cat Tats (in the compilation Cat Tales)
5. Kits (in the compilation Cat Tales)
6. Haints (in the compilation Have Stakes Will Travel)
7. Signatures of the Dead (in the anthology Strange Brew and the compilation Have Stakes Will Travel)
8. Skinwalker
9. First Sight (published in the Jane Yellowrock World Companion)
10. Blood Cross
11. Mercy Blade
12. Easy Pickings (crossover, alternate universe novella with C.E. Murphy)
13. Blood, Fangs, and Going Furry (in the compilation Cat Tales)
14. Dance Master (in the Jane Yellowrock Companion Guide)
15. Raven Cursed
16. Cajun With Fangs (in the compilation Have Stakes Will Travel)
17. Golden Delicious (in the anthology An Apple for the Creature)
18. Death’s Rival
19. Blood Trade
20. The Devil’s Left Boot (in the anthology Kicking It)
21. Beneath a Bloody Moon, novella (in the Jane Yellowrock Companion Guide)
22. Black Water (short exclusive to Audible, will be in print in e-book form in the summer of 2014)
23. Black Arts
24. Off the Grid (in the compilation Black Water)
25. Broken Soul
26. Dark Heir
27. Blood in Her Veins (a new compilation of *all* Jane Yellowrock shorts, along with two brand-new novellas)
28. Cat Fight (in the compilation Blood in Her Veins)
29. Bound No More (in the compilation Blood in Her Veins)
30. Shadow Rites
31. AnzuDubaBeast (in the anthology WERE-)
32. It’s Just a Date (blog tour short story)
33. Short in MHI (short in Monster Hunters International anthology)
34. Cold Reign
35. Flame in the Dark (part of Faith Hunter’s Soulwood Series)
36. Black Friday Shopping
37. Death and the Fashionista – Short story collected in The Death of All Things
38. My Dark Knight – Short story collected in Temporally Deactivated
39. Dark Queen
40. Shattered Bonds
41. Circle of the Moon (part of Faith Hunter’s Soulwood Series)
42. Bound into Darkness – Short story collected in Dirty Deeds
43. The Ties That Bind – Short story collected in Dirty Deeds
44. True Dead
45. Final Heir
46. Of Claws and Fangs (Short story collection)

For this particular article, we’ll focus on the full-length novels, as they are the focal point of the series, but the above list is the correct chronological order of events in the books, should you wish to explore it deeper.

Jane Yellowrock series reading order (fully explained)

There are fifteen novels in the Jane Yellowrock series. We’ll briefly break down every book and fully explain the series.

1. Skinwalker (2009)

Synopsis: We meet Jane Yellowrock, a skinwalker of Cherokee descent that is the last of her kind. As a shapeshifter, Jane has the ability to turn into any creature she wants to and chose vampire-hunting for her career.

Despite being a notorious vampire hunter, Jane is hired by none other than Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest living vampires in New Orleans, to help track down a rogue vampire going around killing his own kind. She takes the job, but her nature might get in the way of completing her mission. In fact, it’ll take her one step away from death…

2. Blood Cross (2010)

Synopsis: Once again, Jane Yellowrock is hired by the creatures she usually hunts – the vampire council hired the skinwalker to deal with a powerful vampire who broke the rules and codes thousands of years old.

Her best witch friend and a couple of associates help her navigate out of a crossfire she found herself in, between a rivalry that might reveal the origin of vampires to Jane.

3. Mercy Blade (2011)

Synopsis: Between witches, vampires, skinwalkers, and werewolves, Jane Yellowrock has seen it all. However, the rivalries between the wolves and the vamps are getting quite hectic in the city, so Yellowrock scrambles to find a solution to the conflict. 

However, due to her employment with Leo Pellissier, the Blood Master of the City, she is viciously attacked by a pack of werewolves. Jane barely survives due to the help of a stranger, Girrard. Of course, it turns out that Girrard might not be as noble as initially thought, and Jane will have to scramble yet again, not for anyone else but her own life.

4. Raven Cursed (2012)

Synopsis: In Asheville, North Carolina, the local vampires want to establish themselves as a powerful blood-sucking clan. However, due to their oath of loyalty towards the Blood Master of New Orleans, they can’t do it unless they negotiate the terms with the Master himself. Jane is sent as an esquire, but things go sour when a group of campers is devoured by something – or someone – fanged. Yellowrock goes into detective mode to find the killer and find an equitable solution for both parties. The only problem is – she’s dealing with a powerful master vamp.

5. Death’s Rival (2012)

Synopsis: Imagine killing vampires for a living and then ending up employed by one of the most powerful vamps out there for a living. That’s what Jane Yellowrock went through but grew used to it – and quite fond of Leo.

So, when his status is challenged by an unknown, powerful foe, Jane does what she does best to protect her boss. On top of all that, a plague-like virus strikes the vampire community, taking them down and exposing their masters to harm. Jane deals with two mysteries simultaneously – finding the source of the plague and the identity of Leo’s challenger.

6. Blood Trade (2013)

Synopsis: We move from NOLA to Natches, Mississippi for this one, where their Master has a ton of problems on his hands in the form of numerous rogue vampires set out to hunt humans down as prey and nothing more. He hires Jane Yellowrock to clean up the mess, which would usually be just another day in the office for her. 

However, she doesn’t know that the vamps she’s out to get aren’t your typical vampires – there’s something in them that makes them much, much harder to kill. On top of that, a sick child is left in her care, and Jane has to do everything in her power to save the child – and herself.

7. Black Arts (2014)

Synopsis: Molly, Jane’s best friend, has disappeared from the face of the Earth. Now, her husband is in town pissed off, trying to find her, but Evan and Jane quickly realize they have a huge mystery on their hands.

Jane Yellowrock is out there, doing everything she can to find her witch best friend. However, the dark magic she’s up against might be just a little bit too much to swallow. In fact, her new enemy is more powerful than any other she ever faced in her long career…

8. Broken Soul (2014)

Synopsis: A European vampire delegation announced their visit to New Orleans, and Leo is aware they actually want to claim his territory. Hence, he hires Jane to pump up the defenses and improve security once they are there. He fails to deliver all the details, though – the details that will put both Jane and her team in incredible danger.

Not just due to the European vamps, but also a vicious creature that’s lurking in the city’s shadows, with an end goal of ending both Jane and Leo in the most brutal ways… And the worst part? The creature can’t be seen.

9. Dark Heir (2015)

Synopsis: Our favorite skinwalker has slain countless vampires in her life and is one of the best in the business. However, she’s never gone up against a Master vampire witch from the European Council, known for causing all kinds of destruction all over the world – inciting wars, political conflicts, controlling governments into their inevitable doom, and more.

Now, one of their most powerful members is in the Big Easy, causing mayhem, and Jane is tasked with hunting him down with the help of her partners in Yellowrock Securities. The question is, do they have what it takes to get the job done? This might just be Jane’s biggest test yet.

10. Shadow Rites (2016)

Synopsis: Hunting vampires is easy. But, keeping political peace between the vamps and witches of New Orleans? That’s a much harder task for Jane Yellowrock. Her house gets attacked with magic, and the journey to find the assailants leads to her finding an ancient missing master vampire, chained and bound in a pit.

Jane has to solve the centuries-old mystery before a simple conflict explodes into a violent, deadly, supernatural war.

11. Cold Reign (2017)

Synopsis: In this Jane Yellowrock adventure, her boss’s reign over New Orleans is hanging by a thread as a delegation of the Vampire Council of Europe is coming to town, looking for new territories.

However, that’s not everything that’s been going on in the city. It seems that someone is out there using magic to raise from the dead those who shouldn’t have risen under any circumstances. Now, those revenants are going haywire all over town, and Jane has to clean up the mess.

Yellowrock has seen so much, but she was never up against such dark, twisted, volatile magic that will truly test her strength and her wits.

12. Dark Queen (2018)

Synopsis: Jane is a vampire hunter but is now bound to fight alongside them to keep her city safe. Her boss, Leo, has been issued a blood challenge by the emperor of the European vampires, who want to overtake everything Leo has built and owned. If that happens, it could have catastrophic consequences on the entire country, let alone the city.

Fighting such unfathomable power proves insanely challenging, and jane has to rely only on herself and a handful of trustees to try and edge out a victory. This time, it might just be too much to handle…

13. Shattered Bonds (2019)

Synopsis: After her last battle, Jane Yellowrock has never been closer to defeat – and death – than she is right now. She retreats to the Appalachian Mountains to try to heal and get a hold of her grief after losing some of her nearest and dearest friends. The magical disease, however, isn’t letting Jane heal that easily.

On top of that, the malevolent supernatural forces are still hunting Jane down, namely the younger Son of Darkness, who doesn’t shy away from going into the hills to find her. With her body nearing death, Yellowrock has to find a way – and a form – that will help her survive to fight another day – and fur us to get a new Jane Yellowrock book!

14. True Dead (2021)

Synopsis: After healing and surviving successfully, Jane is back in the Big Easy – believe it or not – as the Queen of the Vampires. The Yellowrock Clan enjoys some peace in the mountains, but someone starts attacking her kin with ancient, dark magic, and it urges Yellowrock to go back to NOLA.

The order and peace she managed to set are on the verge of collapsing, and Jane has to find out who’s trying to do so. She’ll put her life on the line once again to protect the city and her people from harm because that’s what Queens do.

15. Final Heir (2022)

Synopsis: The last novel of the series, Final Heir, has our beloved hero – the Queen of the Vampires – fight to keep control of her crown, as the title, of course, puts a huge target on her back. There are more enemies than she could count, and Jane has no idea who to trust.

The final Heir of Leo Pelissier’s bloodline got his armies summoned, his power amplified, and his rage pointed directly at Jane. With the help of her city, family, and friend, Jane will have to do everything she can to awaken the Beast inside her and deal with this horrifying threat.

Do you need to read the Jane Yellowrock series in order?

The best way to read the Jane Yellowrock series is in release order – that is, if you’re reading the novels only. If you ought to include all the short stories about Jane happening in the same universe, then it’s best to use the chronological order we’ve established earlier in this article. The plots are connected, and you should read them in that order to avoid spoilers and unclarities.