Laying it out more structurally, the series uses three overlapping timeline layers: the backstory layer, the immediate breakup layer, and the
Aftermath/reunion layer. The backstory layer is mostly flashbacks — formative events, early chemistry, and the reasons behind trust issues — and those are sprinkled through the first two books and often expanded in shorter companion pieces. The immediate breakup layer is compact: a few intense months covering betrayal, legal drama, and emotional fallout. That’s where the tension peaks and where most readers pick up the feel of the series.
The aftermath and reunion layer takes place over a longer span — think one to four years after the split — and explores consequences, character growth, career shifts, and sometimes new partners. Some installments jump forward multiple years for emotional closure or to show how reputations and personal priorities have evolved. If you like a strictly chronological path, internal novellas sometimes have timestamps that help you insert them between main chapters. If you prefer emotional pacing, publication order preserves reveals and twists better.
From my reading, the whole arc covers roughly half a decade to nearly a decade depending on which side stories you include. I appreciate that pacing: it avoids the tired ’they broke up and instantly healed’ trope and instead insists on messy healing. It makes rereads rewarding because you notice small seeds planted early on that only bloom in later books.