Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order – Complete Reading Guide

Quick Answer (TL;DR)

Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order (and publication order) is clean and simple:

1. Southern Charmer — slow burn, chef/neighbor vibes (Eli & Olivia)
2. Southern Player — brother’s-best-friend, ex-athlete farmer (Luke & Gracie)
3. Southern Gentleman — grumpy VC boss + free-spirit designer; accidental pregnancy (Greyson & Julia)
4. Southern Heartbreaker — second-chance + single dad mogul (Ford & Eva)

They’re interconnected standalones, so you can jump around. But reading Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order pays off the cameos, friendships, and little series Easter eggs.

Introduction

I picked up Southern Charmer on a sweltering afternoon when my own kitchen felt like a line cook’s worst nightmare, and—no surprise—I stayed up too late, scrolling for “just one more chapter.” Jessica Peterson’s Charleston is the kind of setting that fogs your glasses: mossy oaks, porch swings, and a humid haze of flirtation that slides from banter to oh no we’re kissing now in half a page. Each book stakes out a distinct trope—slow burn neighbors, brother’s-best-friend heat, grump/sunshine with accidental pregnancy, second-chance single dad—and threads the friend group through restaurant kitchens, farms, design studios, and boardrooms.

The charm is in the tone. These are grown-up romances with big feelings, decisive heat, and characters who sound like modern adults trying (and sometimes failing) to get out of their own way. Yes, you can read out of order. But my suggestion—and the reason I put Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order right at the top—is to start with Eli/Olivia so you meet the crew as they meet each other. The cameos hit harder, the jokes land sharper, and the later choices feel earned.

Quick Facts

Item	Details
Series	Charleston Heat (4 books, interconnected standalones)
Reading Order	Southern Charmer → Southern Player → Southern Gentleman → Southern Heartbreaker
Setting	Charleston, South Carolina (restaurants, farms, VC boardrooms, beach cabins)
POV & Style	Contemporary, dual-POV in most books, first-person present; heat on-page
Tropes	Slow burn neighbors; brother’s best friend; grumpy CEO / sunshine creative; accidental pregnancy; second-chance; single dad; found family
Pages (typical)	Varies by edition; expect ~300–380 pages per novel
Estimated Read Time	~6–8 hours per book at average pace
Reading Difficulty	Easy–Moderate (contemporary language, adult themes)
Genre	Steamy contemporary romance, small-city/lowcountry vibe
Content Notes	Explicit sexual content, adult language, workplace power dynamics (Book 3), pregnancy (Book 3), single parenthood (Book 4), past heartbreak
Media Adaptations	None announced to date
Ideal Age Range	Adults (18+)

About the Charleston Heat Book Series

Charleston Heat is the comfort-food corner of your romance shelf—bright (but not saccharine), spicy (without losing emotional ballast), and unabashedly adult. The connective tissue is community: chefs, entrepreneurs, creatives, and venture-capital suits circling the same patios and parties, where eye contact lingers and the Lowcountry heat does half the flirting. Each book can stand alone, yet the ensemble grows book by book. Reading Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order lets you watch friendships knit themselves into family, track running jokes, and feel little ripples—like a throwaway comment in one book turning into a plot point in the next.

Charleston Heat Books at a Glance

#	Title	Amazon Buy Link
1	Southern Charmer	Buy on Amazon
2	Southern Player	Buy on Amazon
3	Southern Gentleman	Buy on Amazon
4	Southern Heartbreaker	Buy on Amazon

Charleston Heat Chronological Reading Order

1) Southern Charmer (Eli & Olivia) — neighbors, kitchens, and the bravery to want more

Short blurb: Olivia thinks she has the “perfect life”—prestige job, perfect ring—until the perfection feels like a closed window, not an open door. She drives south and discovers Charleston…and Elijah Jackson, tattooed chef and perpetually shirtless neighbor with a knack for pushing her toward the life she actually wants. It’s a slow burn that respects restraint: the heat simmers until both characters make brave choices.

Why read it:

• Chef hero + neighbor proximity = delicious tension and late-night kitchen scenes.
• The central conflict is internal—career vs. desire—making the payoff satisfyingly grown-up.
• Establishes the friend group you’ll follow all series long (great launch point for Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order).

Why not:

• If you want instant enemies-to-lovers fireworks, the slow-burn patience may test you.
• Career indecision themes are front-and-center; less “big external villain,” more “heart logistics.”

For whom:

• Readers who love competence (chefs!), patient chemistry, and new-city reinventions.

Ratings snapshot:

• Amazon: 4.4/5 (≈6,205)
• Goodreads: 4.1/5 (≈7,640)

2) Southern Player (Luke & Gracie) — brother’s best friend with a take-charge reputation

Short blurb: Gracie is a boss outside the bedroom and wants a partner who can take the lead inside it. Enter Luke Rodgers, her brother’s best friend: former MLB star rehabbing on his farm, sweating through his shirts and through everyone’s self-control. They agree on no strings; then feelings throw a curveball (obviously).

Why read it:

• Classic brother’s-best-friend tension, executed with big chemistry.
• Farm setting adds cozy, tactile moments (sunset chores, dusty kisses).
• Sharp banter and a surprisingly heartfelt examination of trust.

Why not:

• If “no-strings → feelings” isn’t your jam, the mid-book pivot may feel inevitable.
• Sports-to-farmer backstory might feel familiar to trope veterans.

For whom:

• Readers who love protective heroes, sexual confidence arcs, and rural coziness.

Ratings snapshot:

• Amazon: 4.3/5 (≈2,779)
• Goodreads: 4.1/5 (≈4,156)

3) Southern Gentleman (Greyson & Julia) — grump/sunshine + accidental pregnancy

Short blurb: Greyson Parker Montgomery III (yes, the third) is a razor-edged venture capitalist; Julia is the free-spirit designer hired to overhaul one of his properties. They bicker, they combust, and then…those two lines change everything. It’s enemies-to-lovers meets accidental pregnancy, with power dynamics examined carefully and a surprisingly tender transformation from “greed is good” to “gentleman, actually.”

Why read it:

• Delicious grumpy CEO / sunshine creative energy with A+ dirty talk.
• Navigates consent and workplace dynamics while delivering big chemistry.
• Some of the series’ best post-conflict tenderness lives here.

Why not:

• If power-imbalance tropes make you uneasy, you may prefer the neighbors or single-dad books.
• Pregnancy plotlines aren’t for everyone (it’s integral here).

For whom:

• Readers who love executive heroes learning softness, high-heat banter, and found-family outcomes.

Ratings snapshot:

• Amazon: 4.3/5 (≈3,675)
• Goodreads: 4.0/5 (≈5,414)

4) Southern Heartbreaker (Ford & Eva) — second chance + single dad

Short blurb: Ford Montgomery was Eva’s first everything…and her first heartbreak. A decade later he’s a powerful VC, a devoted single dad, and still very much a danger to Eva’s self-preservation. One impulsive kiss, and Ford is done pretending he doesn’t want a second chance. The book wrestles—honestly—with ambition, family, and whether you can chase your dreams and fall back into the oldest, most familiar kind of love.

Why read it:

• Single-dad tenderness balanced with big-deal business competence.
• Second-chance ache is handled with adult conversations and genuine remorse.
• Catnip for readers who want a powerful hero who also kneels to tie tiny sneakers.

Why not:

• If a past breakup without explanation is an unforgivable sin, Ford’s arc will need to work hard for you (it tries).
• Kids in the narrative = less reckless spontaneity, more scheduling reality.

For whom:

• Readers who crave redemption arcs, cozy domestic beats, and the emotional logic of second chances.

Ratings snapshot:

• Amazon: 4.4/5 (≈2,135)
• Goodreads: 4.1/5 (≈2,930)

Series Timeline & Character Development

One of the pleasures of reading Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order is watching the friend-group lattice build out:

• Eli & Olivia (Book 1) anchor the series’ “choose your life” theme—ambition doesn’t have to mean the same thing it did at 22. Their kitchen is where half the friend group seems to congregate; Eli’s competence radiates outward and quietly shapes later choices for Luke, Julia, and Ford.
• Luke & Gracie (Book 2) bring trust to the fore—both in bed and in life direction. Their negotiation of “no strings” vs. “real thing” makes later couples braver about naming what they want.
• Greyson & Julia (Book 3) explore power, care, and responsibility. Greyson learning to listen (and Julia insisting on being heard) reframes what strength looks like in this universe.
• Ford & Eva (Book 4) deliver accountability and family—the long, hard kind where apologies are verbs and love means calendar invites as much as stolen weekends.

Across the four, you’ll see running jokes, group hangouts, and a shared Charleston that feels smaller (in the good, cozy sense) every book.

Novels Sorted in Order of In-Universe Events

1. Southern Charmer
2. Southern Player
3. Southern Gentleman
4. Southern Heartbreaker

(The internal timeline aligns with publication; each book stands alone, but details stack best this way.)

Novels Sorted by Publication

1. Southern Charmer
2. Southern Player
3. Southern Gentleman
4. Southern Heartbreaker

(Again, Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order = publication order.)

Companion Works

• Interconnected Standalones: The four main books form the core. The author’s newsletter and social posts sometimes feature extra snippets/epilogues; if you love bonus scenes, keep an eye on her channels.
• Adjacent Peterson titles: Jessica Peterson has other series (outside Charleston Heat) with similar warmth and spice; if you click with her voice, you’ll likely enjoy those too.

(No official Charleston Heat novellas or spin-off mini-series were provided in your brief.)

Editions & Formats (hardcover, collector, audio)

• Kindle/eBook: All four are available for digital reading—easy highlighting for your favorite lines.
• Paperback: The most common physical format; consistent trim sizes look great as a matching set.
• Audiobook: All four have audio editions listed in your info. Expect steamy scenes narrated with adult frankness; sample first if narrator chemistry is crucial to you.
• Collector/Hardcover: No special hardcover boxed set was provided in the brief; if a future special edition drops, consider grabbing for durability and display.

Why Read Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order?

Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order offers three concrete benefits:

1. Community payoff: The friend group coalesces book by book; cameos and callbacks bloom if you start with Southern Charmer.
2. Thematic crescendo: Career autonomy → sexual trust → power & care → family & forgiveness. It reads like a planned arc.
3. Spoiler control: Later books reference earlier relationships; reading in order preserves tiny reveal beats (who bought what building, who renovated which space, who quietly shipped which couple).

Author Spotlight: Jessica Peterson

Jessica Peterson writes romance with heat, humor, and heart—and, as she says, heroes with hot accents are her specialty. When she’s not writing, you might find her sampling the South’s best restaurant bars with her husband Ben, reading with her daughters Gracie and Madeline, or trying to convince her 70-pound lap dog, Martha, that lap-dog is a state of mind. A Carolina girl at heart, she dreams of splitting time between Charleston and Asheville, but currently lives in Charlotte, NC.

What to expect in a Peterson romance:

• Modern voices & adult stakes: careers, boundaries, and the sometimes-messy math of intimacy.
• High heat without losing tenderness: the steam serves the story, not the other way around.
• Place as character: Charleston’s culinary scene and social fabric are more than wallpaper—they shape choices.

Media Adaptations

There are no announced film/TV/radio adaptations for Charleston Heat in the information you provided. If anything changes, I’ll happily update this guide so you can decide whether to read first or watch first (my vote: read).

FAQs

Final Thoughts

If you like your romance like a Charleston summer—moist air, hot nights, and a cold drink sweating down your wrist—this series is a great weekend binge. Start with Southern Charmer to meet the crew, then ride the wave: Southern Player for farm-fresh friction, Southern Gentleman for grumpy-boss tenderness, and Southern Heartbreaker for the kind of second chance that lets ambition and family share the same sentence. Reading Charleston Heat Books in Chronological Order deepens the through-lines—friendship, consent, care—and makes every patio party feel like you’ve arrived with the right people.