Below is the complete list of Penelope Douglas’ Hellbent books in order. For this series, the chronological reading order is the same as the order of publication.
Publication Order of Hellbent Books
About Hellbent
Penelope Douglas’s Hellbent series is the next-generation continuation of the Fall Away universe, following the children and younger relatives of the Trents and Caruthers as they create their own rivalries, romances, and loyalties around Shelburne Falls. The original characters remain part of the world as parents, siblings, and relatives, but Hellbent is not simply an extension of their love stories. Its younger cast has its own friendships, feuds, traditions, and increasingly complicated relationships, with street racing, school rivalries, family influence, and the history of the town providing continuity.
Falls Boys introduces the series through Hawken “Hawke” Trent and Aro Marquez. Hawke comes from one of the powerful families familiar from Fall Away, while Aro has grown up with far fewer advantages and has little patience for what she assumes his privileged life represents. Their relationship develops after a confrontation leaves them hiding together inside Carnival Tower, an abandoned building filled with forgotten spaces and local history.
The contrast between them establishes an important Hellbent theme. The younger Trents and Caruthers have inherited wealth, reputations, and formidable families, but those advantages do not necessarily make their lives simple. Aro comes from outside that protected circle, allowing Douglas to examine the established Fall Away families through someone who is not automatically impressed by their status.
Pirate Girls moves deeper into the next generation through Dylan Trent and Hunter Caruthers. Dylan is Jared Trent’s daughter, while Hunter and his twin brother Kade are Madoc Caruthers’s sons. Although the three grew up treating one another like family, they are not biologically related, and the transition into adulthood complicates relationships that once seemed straightforward.
Hunter’s departure from Shelburne Falls and alignment with rival Weston creates additional tension. The longstanding competition between the towns erupts during Rivalry Week, complete with parties, pranks, school traditions, and a prisoner exchange that places Dylan in Hunter’s territory. What begins as competition exposes years of changing feelings and fractures within a group that had once been inseparable.
Quiet Ones shifts the focus to Quinn Caruthers and Lucas Morrow. Quinn was introduced much earlier in Fall Away and received substantial attention in Next to Never, making her romance one of the longest anticipated within the wider universe. Now an adult with her own business, she remains surrounded by intensely protective Trent and Caruthers men who still treat her as someone requiring supervision.
Lucas is twelve years older and has known Quinn’s family for most of his life. His return after years away turns her long-held attachment into an age-gap romance complicated by family history, old guilt, and the fact that nearly everyone around them has an opinion about their relationship. The book also continues events and relationships established in the first two Hellbent novels rather than isolating Quinn’s story from the younger generation.
Douglas has planned Hellbent as a six-book series. Following Falls Boys, Pirate Girls, and Quiet Ones, the announced remaining titles are Night Thieves, Parade Alley, and Fire Falls. As of 2026, those later books have not yet been published, and Douglas has indicated that the fourth installment will be written after other scheduled work rather than rushing the series to completion.
Fall Away is useful background but not mandatory before beginning Hellbent. Readers familiar with it, however, will recognize family relationships, locations, traditions, and references carrying considerably more emotional weight. Hellbent is therefore both a new adult romance series in its own right and a generational continuation of a world Douglas has been developing since Bully, showing what happens when the children raised inside those intense families begin making equally complicated choices of their own.