Book cover of The One Who Stays

Book description

Lose your heart to Summer Island, where summers are easy, winters are cozy and friends welcome you with open arms

Summer Island has always been home to Meg Sloan. She runs the Summerbrook Inn, like her grandmother did, and she loves the laid-back pace of life and the close-knit community…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked The One Who Stays as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This book offers a perfect escape. It has swoony nostalgia, down-to-earth characters, and an idyllic seaside setting. The heroine, Meg, is a seasoned woman at 39. She owns a quaint bed and breakfast that needs repairs. Seth is a mysterious loner who breezes into Meg’s life at the right moment. He has handyman skills, a Southern accent, and deep secrets. The truth is revealed in slow measures as they fall hopelessly in love.

I can’t resist a fixer-upper romance, and I love the scene where they make lilac water together. This Summer Island book gave me a peaceful, easy feeling…

From Susan's list on romance novels for island lovers.

If you love The One Who Stays...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

Want books like The One Who Stays?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like The One Who Stays.

Browse books like The One Who Stays

Book cover of Float Plan
Book cover of On the Island
Book cover of The Infamous Miss Rodriguez

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,299

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like The One Who Stays, you might also like...

Book cover of Karl's War

Karl's War by Neil Spark,

Karl's War is a coming-of-age-meets-thriller set in Germany on the eve of Hitler coming to power. Karl – a reluctant poster boy for the Nazis – meets Jewish Ben and his world is up-turned.

Ben and his family flee to France. Karl joins the German army but deserts and finds…

Book cover of Girl in the Ashes

Girl in the Ashes by Douglas Weissman,

Odette Lefebvre is a serial killer stalking the shadows of Nazi-occupied Paris and must confront both the evils of those she murders and the darkness of her own past.

This young woman's childhood trauma shapes her complex journey through World War II France, where she walks a razor's edge…

5 book lists we think you will like!