Below is the complete list of Karen Kingsbury’s Heart of the Story books in publication order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Heart of the Story Books in Publication Order
- The Family of Jesus (2014)
The Family of Jesus was published in 2014 and is listed as book #1 in the Heart of the Story series. - The Friends of Jesus (2015)
Published in 2015, The Friends of Jesus is listed as book #2 in the Heart of the Story series.
About Heart of the Story
Karen Kingsbury’s Heart of the Story series is a faith-centered biblical fiction and study series that presents people from the New Testament in a more personal, emotionally accessible way. Rather than functioning like her Baxter Family novels or other contemporary inspirational dramas, these books are rooted directly in Scripture, with fictionalized storytelling used to help readers imagine the lives, fears, choices, and faith journeys of people close to Jesus and the early Christian story.
The series begins with The Family of Jesus, which focuses on six people connected to Jesus through family relationships and early life context. Kingsbury’s purpose is not to replace biblical accounts, but to help readers feel the humanity of figures who can sometimes seem distant when encountered only in brief passages. By shaping their stories through fiction, she gives emotional space to questions of obedience, uncertainty, sacrifice, misunderstanding, and faith. The book reflects her familiar gift for writing about family, but here the family setting is not the Baxters or a modern household. It is the earthly family surrounding the life of Jesus.
The Friends of Jesus continues that approach by turning toward people who encountered Jesus personally and were changed by those encounters. The focus shifts from family connection to relationship, discipleship, trust, and transformation. Kingsbury uses the familiar devotional-fiction method of imagining what these people may have felt as they met Jesus, followed him, doubted, believed, or found their lives redirected. The book’s strength lies in making biblical figures feel emotionally immediate while keeping the central emphasis on spiritual change.
A planned third title, The Followers of Jesus, is sometimes listed with the series, but it has not had the same publication presence as the first two core books. That is why the Heart of the Story series can appear slightly uneven in book lists. The established, widely available heart of the series is the pair of biblical fiction titles focused on Jesus’ family and friends, both designed to combine story, reflection, and Scripture-based study.
This series is also closely associated with the “Life-Changing Bible Study” style of Kingsbury’s work. It is not simply a set of novels for entertainment, nor is it a traditional verse-by-verse Bible commentary. It sits between devotional reading and fictional storytelling. Kingsbury uses imagined scenes, emotional interior life, and narrative detail to encourage readers to connect with biblical truth through character and story. That approach fits her broader identity as an inspirational novelist, where the goal is often emotional engagement leading toward faith reflection.
Heart of the Story is best understood as one of Kingsbury’s biblical-fiction side branches rather than part of her interconnected contemporary fiction universe. It does not depend on the Baxter family, Hollywood storylines, romance arcs, or modern family drama. Its focus is older, scriptural, and devotional: the people who knew Jesus, followed him, and were changed by him. For readers who appreciate Kingsbury’s emotional style but want a Bible-centered reading experience, the series offers a more reflective and spiritually direct part of her bibliography.