Order of Colleen Oakley Books

Colleen Oakley is an American author of women’s fiction novels. She is a USA Today bestselling author. Before writing fiction, she was a magazine editor at Marie Claire and Women’s Health & Fitness, and her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Parade, Redbook, Ladies’ Home Journal, and more. Her books have been translated into 20+ languages, nominated for or won awards (e.g., French Reader’s Prize, Southern Book Prize longlist), and have been optioned for film.

Colleen Oakley made her debut as a novelist in 2015 with Before I Go. Below is a list of Colleen Oakley’s books in order of when they were originally released:

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

If You Like Colleen Oakley Books, You’ll Love…

• Jojo Moyes
• Marie Bostwick
• Jesse Q. Sutanto

Colleen Oakley Synopses: Before I Go is a standalone novel by Colleen Oakley. On the night she plans to celebrate four years of remission with her husband, a woman learns her cancer has returned as an aggressive, terminal diagnosis. She may have only months left. The idea of dying terrifies her – not for her own sake, but for what will happen to her well-meaning, brilliant, but utterly helpless husband once she’s gone.

Determined to secure his future, she becomes fixated on finding someone who can take her place. She combs parks, cafés, and online dating profiles in search of the “right” woman, convinced this mission is the last, most important thing she can do for him. But the closer she gets to arranging this imagined future, the more the emotional cost becomes impossible to ignore.

As the reality of her dwindling time settles in, she must confront a painful question: should her final days be spent planning her husband’s happiness – or finally choosing her own?

Close Enough to Touch is a standalone novel by Colleen Oakley. A woman with a life-threatening allergy to human touch has spent nearly a decade hidden away, convinced that isolation is the only way to stay safe. When she finally gathers the courage to reenter the world – cloaked in gloves, long sleeves, and determination – her small steps toward independence carry her farther than she imagined.

Meanwhile, a man grapples with the wreckage of his personal life: a daughter who won’t speak to him, an adopted son whose brilliance is matched by emotional turmoil, and a growing sense that he’s lost his way. An unexpected interaction at the local library brings their paths together, drawing him toward the guarded but remarkable woman behind the checkout desk.

As their lives become increasingly intertwined, both must confront their fears – of connection, of vulnerability, and of the risks required to build something real.

You Were There Too is a standalone title by Colleen Oakley. A woman whose life seems perfectly on track – new home, devoted husband, hopes for a family – finds herself haunted by recurring dreams of an unfamiliar man. She’s learned to dismiss them as meaningless, until a move to a quiet Pennsylvania town brings her face-to-face with the very stranger who has filled her sleep for years. Even more unsettling, he reveals that he has been dreaming of her as well.

Drawn together by the mystery that binds them, the two begin searching for an explanation. But as they dig into the past, long-buried possibilities collide with the life she’s built, forcing her to confront the unsettling crossroads between fate, choice, and the future she thought she wanted.