Books By Barbara O’Neal

This women’s fiction author, Barbara O’Neal, has written many romance novels since her rise in the late 1980s. Under different pen names, Barbara has written over 50 novels that border on women’s fiction, historical romance, contemporary romance, new adult romance, and more.

If you look for the name ‘Barbara O’Neal’ under some of her famous books, you may not find it as she is known to go by several pen names. However, with each of her publications, she manages to still steal the hearts and attention of her readers especially her target audience – women.

Some of her most famous books include; ‘The Lost Recipe for Happiness’, ‘How to Bake a Perfect Life’, ‘The Goodness of Kitchen Avenue’, and ‘Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas’.

Most of her novels have an undertone of recipes and food so you know you will be satisfied in more than one way at the end of the read.

Here Are Barbara O’Neal’s Best Books

1. When We Believed in Mermaids

This novel is one of Barbara O’Neal’s best sellers and a highly rated. It was published in 2019 and tells the tale of 2 sisters whose tragic separation bred a web of lies and prompted the search for the truth.

After believing that her sister, Josie had been dead for 15 years, Kit eventually sees her on the TV news one day and begins the search to uncover the truth behind the event that caused the separation and what happened afterward.

The novel was released under the genre of ‘Women’s Fiction’ and published under the name Barbara O’Neal.

2. The Secret of Everything

In this novel, there is a mystery to be solved and an understanding of one’s self. This novel takes us on a journey about the character who tries to find and understand herself by listening to her inner self.

The mystery in this novel doesn’t concern just the main character, Tessa, but involves all the characters in the story.

This novel was published in 2009 and released under the pen name ‘Barbara O’Neal’.

3. How To Bake A Perfect Life

This is one of the novels of Barbara that heavily focuses on food albeit just an undertone. This story takes us through the sometimes complex relationships between mothers and daughters and how those bonds grow over time.

This family story was released in 2010 under the name Barbara O’Neal.

4. Write My Name Across The Sky

This story is another beautiful one about family and how 2 sisters and an aunt who is a septuagenarian influencer realize that their lives are better being together than when they are apart.

The 2 generations of women forge through life, reconciling their past secrets and letting go of past regrets to become better women for themselves.

This novel was released in 2021 under the name Barbara O’Neal.

5. The Art Of Inheriting Secrets

3 common things about Barbara’s books can be found in this particular novel and they are; food, secrets, and fascination!

This novel tells the story of a food editor whose mother’s death reveals a lot about her family including a centuries-old English estate that she inherits.

6. The All You Can Dream Buffet

4 very different women are joined by food, friendship, and the freedom and desire to grow their dreams.

This Barbara O’Neal’s novel was released in 2014 and takes us on a journey of 4 women who are food bloggers and how their similar passion binds them together, eventually.

7. The Lost Recipe For Happiness

Elena Alvarez is a chef who goes on a quest to make a name for herself in the food world through every means possible. With an offer to run her own restaurant, Barbara’s main character in this novel brings to life the different themes of the story which are; a celebration of food, family, and love, of course.

All the key ingredients that make one truly happy in life, right? The novel was released in 2008 but remains one of O’Neal’s best-selling novels.

8. No Place Like Home

Jewel Sabatino, an Italian Catholic girl and the oldest of 4 daughters left home at the age of 17 and only returned when she was 40 years.

However, upon her return and reunion with her family, she begins a journey of family and friends bond as well as a romance that is described as full of lust and pent-up sexual frustrations.

This novel was released in 2014.

9. The Garden of Happy Endings

This is a story a bit different from what we know about Barbara however there are still the themes of love, friendship, and of course, gardening.

Elsa, the main character in this story is a Reverend who worked in a church in Seattle. However, after a tragedy struck the town causing the death of one of her young parishioners, Elsa’s sister and an old friend force her to return to her hometown of Pueblo, Colorado.

While in her hometown, she begins to battle with her faith in despair and turns to gardening with her old lover. However, she soon meets a broken man who brings new waves of emotions and feelings to Elsa Montgomery.

The Garden of Happy Endings was released in 2012.

10. The Lost Girls of Devon

The themes you will find in this book are loss, abandonment, betrayal, trauma, courage, forgiveness, and healing. The story follows the outcome of Poppy’s abandonment of her daughter, Zoe in Devon, driven by wanderlust.

It is another beautifully written story about the relationship between a mother and daughter and how complex it can get.

This novel was released in 2020 by Barbara O’Neal

11. Lady Lucks Map of Vegas

This is yet another thrilling mother-daughter story where we literally go on a trip with Eldora and her daughters. This journey is in search of India’s (Eldora’s daughter) twin who suffers from schizophrenia.

On this journey, we uncover truths and mend relationships. This book by Barbara O’Neal was published in 2005 but remains one of the author’s best books ever released.

12. A Piece of Heaven

This story is about 2 broken-hearted lovers who are joined together in a colorful plot that resonates around love, friendship, healing, and family.

A Piece of Heaven was released in 2003 under the name of Barbara Samuel.

13. In The Midnight Rain

Ellie Connor, the character of this novel, travels to Gideon Texas to unveil secrets that were long hidden.

The musician biographer eventually learns the truth about her parents and how her mother died young. The story of loss, family, healing, and love will leave you captivated from the first pages till you reach the end.

This novel was released in 2000.

14. The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue

This novel about making choices and earning second chances shines the light on 4 women who live on the same street but are at different stages of their lives.

The story further reveals how these women nurture dreams with a huge hunger to fulfill them all.

The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue was published under the pen name Barbara Samuel in 2004.

15. This Place of Wonder

This is another story about 4 women who individually face a tragedy that eventually leads them down the path of healing.

The women whose lives become intertwined in a messy story found a way to heal despite their grief and addiction and ended up mending a fragile family bond.

This book written by Barbara O’Neal was published in 2022.

16. The Scent Of Hours

On the list of Barbara O’Neal’s best-selling books, this one is also rated highly. It tells the story of self-discovery when a divorced perfumer begins a new life and finds herself falling for an ex-Londoner.

The plot of the story is witty and with Nikki’s (the perfumer’s) eccentric new neighbors, she weathers the new environment and feelings.

This novel was released in 2024.

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Here is the Full List of Books by Barbara O’Neal

This list shows us the titles of the novels, their dates of publication, the pen name Barbara O’Neal used in publishing them, and the genre they were published in.

1. Strangers on a Train – 1988 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
2. Summer’s Freedom – 1990 as Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
3. Light of Day – 1990 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
4. Jezebel’s Blues – 1992 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
5. A Bed of Spices – 1993 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Historical Romance)
6. A Winter Ballad – 1994 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Historical Romance)
7. Breaking the Rules – 1994 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
8. Walk in Beauty – 1994 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
9. The Last Chance Ranch– 1995 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
10. Lucien’s Fall – 1995 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Historical Romance)
11. Irish Magic – 1996 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
12. Dancing Moon – 1996 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Historical Romance)
13. Rainsinger – 1996 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
14. Marriage Material – 1997 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
15. Heart of a Knight – 1997 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Historical Romance)
16. Reckless – 1997 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
17. Her Ideal Man – 1997 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
18. Meant to Be Married – 1998 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
19. Faery Magic – 1998 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
20. For Christmas Forever – 1998 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
21. The Black Angel – 1999 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Historical Romance)
22. Rio Grande Wedding – 1999 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
23. Beautiful Stranger – 2000 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
24. Night of Fire – 2000 – Barbara Samuel (Genre- Historical Romance)
25. In the Midnight Rain – 2000 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
26. Born Brave – 2001 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
27. No Place Like Home – 2003 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
28. A Piece of Heaven – 2003 – Barbara Samuel (Genre- Women’s Fiction)
29. Lakota Legacy – 2003 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
30. The Goddesses of Kitchen Avenue – 2004 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
31. Lady Luck’s Map of Vegas – 2005 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
32. Countdown– 2005 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
33. Juliet’s Law – 2006 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
34. The Scent of Hours (Original – Madame Mirabou’s School of Love) – 2006 – Barbara Samuel (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
35. Desi’s Rescue – 2007 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
36. Miranda’s Revenge – 2007 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
37. Dragon Lovers – 2007 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
38. The Lost Recipe for Happiness – 2008 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
39. A Mother’s Love – 2008 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
40. Irish Magic II – 2009 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus re-release)
41. The Secret of Everything – 2009 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre- Women’s Fiction)
42. Chalice of Roses – 2010 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
43. The Diamond Secret – 2010 – Ruth Wind (Genre – Contemporary Romance)
44. How to Bake a Perfect Life – 2010 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre- Women’s Fiction)
45. Seal of My Dreams – 2011 – Barbara Samuel (Omnibus)
46. The Garden of Happy Endings – 2012 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
47. Random – 2013 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
48. Stoked – 2014 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
49. No Place Like Home – 2014 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
50. Epic – 2014 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
51. Brilliant – 2014 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
52. The All You Can Dream Buffet – 2014 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
53. Intense – 2015 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
54. Extreme – 2015 – Lark O’Neal (Genre – Adult Romance)
55. The Art of Inheriting Secrets – 2018 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
56. When We Believed in Mermaids – 2019 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
57. The Lost Girls of Devon – 2020 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
58. Write My Name Across the Sky – 2021 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)
59. This Place of Wonder: A Novel – 2022 – Barbara O’Neal (Genre – Women’s Fiction)

Other (Nonfiction) Books Published by Barbara Samuel

• The Care and Feeding of the Girls in the Basement: An Upbeat Guide to Life as a Writer (eBook)
• The Girls in the Basement: Celebration Book, A Writer’s Guide to Joy (eBook).