A publishing phenomenon, Danielle Steel writes books faster than some people read them.
The author of more than 210 books, 182 of which are novels, Danielle Steel is by some distance the world’s best-selling living author having sold over one billion copies globally.
She shows no signs of slowing down, with five books scheduled for the remainder of 2024 alone.
Her books have been translated into 43 languages,with 24 adapted for the small and big screen, and she’s also a successful children’s author, writing the Max & Martha series and the Freddie series.
Steel continues to write several books a year so, with so many to choose from, it’s hard for a beginner to know where to start.
To help out, we’ve had a look at how the millions of readers of book website Goodreads have rated her books.
Here are the top 13.
Her books have been translated into 43 languages,with 24 adapted for the small and big screen, and she’s also a successful children’s author, writing the Max & Martha series and the Freddie series.
9. Nine Lives
2021's Nine Lives has an average rating of 4.20 from 11,156 reviews. After a carefree childhood, Maggie Kelly came of age in the shadow of grief. Her father, a pilot, died when she was nine. Maggie saw her mother struggle to put their lives back together. As the family moved from one city to the next, her mother warned her about daredevil men and to avoid risk at all cost. Following her mother’s advice, and forgoing the magic of first love with a high-school boyfriend who she thought too wild, Maggie married a good, dependable man. Together they had a son and found happiness in a conventional suburban life – until tragedy struck again. Now on her own, feeling a sense of adventure for the first time, Maggie decides to face her fears, setting off on a whirlwind trip from the US to Rome, Paris, London and Monaco. But when her travels reconnect her with the irresistible, thrill-seeking man she’s spent thirty years trying to forget, Maggie is terrified that rushing into love and sharing his life may end in disaster. But while Maggie tries to outrun her fears and painful memories, fate will surprise her in the most astounding of ways, as she walks the tightrope between danger and courage, and between wisdom and love." | Contributed
Completing the top 10 best Danielle Steel books, according to readers, is Palazzo. The 2023 book has an average rating of 4.19 from 10,557 reviews. "After her parents perish in a tragic accident, Cosima Saverio must assume leadership of her family’s haute couture Italian leather brand. While navigating the challenges of running a company at just twenty-three, Cosima must also maintain the elegant four-hundred-year-old family palazzo in Venice and care for her younger siblings: Allegra, who survived the tragedy that killed their parents, and Luca, who has a penchant for wild parties, pretty women and poker tables. Cosima handles her responsibilities with a wisdom beyond her years, but success has come at a cost. Her needs are always secondary, and her free time is given to those who rely on her . . . until she meets Olivier Bayard, the founder of France’s most successful ready-to-wear handbag company. But as Luca’s gambling spirals out of control, Cosima is forced to make an impossible choice to save him. The palazzo, the family business, or cut Luca loose?" | Contributed
Juat missing out on a place in the top 10 is The Award, published in 2016. It has an average Goodreads rating of 4.19 from 6,928 reviews. "Gaëlle de Barbet is sixteen years old in 1940 when the German army occupies France. In a matter of months, her father and brother are killed, her mother descends into madness, and her closest friend, Rebekah Feldmann, is sent to a detention camp. Taking terrifying risks, Gaëlle becomes a member of the Resistance, fearlessly delivering Jewish children to safety underneath the eyes of the Gestapo and their French collaborators. Conducted in secret, her missions for the Resistance will mark her for years. In the final days of the war, she executes a plan to help save France's art treasures. But when the war draws to a close, she is falsely accused of collaboration, and flees to Paris in disgrace. There, she begins a new life that eventually takes her to New York, from a career as a Dior model to marriage and motherhood, unbearable loss, and mature, lasting love when she returns to France. The ghosts of the past are always near. No matter where she goes, her label as a collaborator remains, until her granddaughter, a respected political journalist, embarks on a journey to see her grandmother recognized as the war hero she was..." | Contributed
An oldie but a goodie, 1979's Suspects has an average rating of 4.18 from 10,768 reviews. "Theodora Morgan is fashion royalty. Founder of a wildly popular online shopping service, she is one of the most successful businesswomen in the world, although she prefers to keep a low profile, especially in recent months. It was a year ago when the unthinkable struck her family: her husband, industry mogul Matthieu Pasquier, and their son were kidnapped and held for ransom – a nightmare that ended in tragedy. The case has gone cold, despite evidence linking the crime to Matthieu’s foreign competitors. Theo has reluctantly gone back to work running her company. On the flight to a launch party for one of her highly anticipated pop-up shops in New York City, she crosses paths with high-society ‘networkist’ Pierre de Vaumont. Theo politely invites him to her event – unaware that Pierre has been flagged by the CIA. Senior supervising CIA operative Mike Andrews investigates Pierre’s suspicious foreign contacts and clears him to enter the country but, when he realizes that Theodora Morgan is on the same flight, he becomes concerned for her safety. Posing as a lawyer, Mike begins a covert mission – starting with Theo’s opening party. When Mike and Theo meet, their connection is instant, but Theo is completely unaware of Mike’s true objective or identity . . . or that the life she is rebuilding is in grave danger." | Contributed