Here are 100 books that Authentically, Izzy fans have personally recommended if you like
Authentically, Izzy.
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I don’t read books with explicit scenes, and I don’t write them either. I’ve read hundreds of novels in this genre and written several of my own. I believe closed-door romances can be just as tension-filled and fun as those with spice. I love the closed-door romance community and have a passion for sharing books that make me laugh, cry, and swoon.
I absolutely loved the way that Emma wrote these characters. I related to Seraphina and fell for Rafe’s charm time and time again. They’re a couple that’s perfect for each other.
Some book couples you read and think they may not make it past the last page, but I could see these two together forever. The whole book made me swoon and laugh.
A moving story of love, betrayal, and the enduring power of hope in the face of darkness.
German pianist Hedda Schlagel's world collapsed when her fiancé, Fritz, vanished after being sent to an enemy alien camp in the United States during the Great War. Fifteen years later, in 1932, Hedda…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
I loved the meet-cute for this book—technically, the second meet-cute of the two main characters. Who doesn’t want to be saved from a burning building by a hunky firefighter, especially the one you loved as a teenager?
I adored the main character, Emmy, and her belief in love and romance. The setting was especially cozy, and the book made me laugh, too!
Sometime all it takes to start a fire is a single match. . .
Owen Larrabee is not my soulmate.
He wasn't when I confessed my love to him on his wedding day, and he isn't now. I should probably say that I wasn't the bride when that happened. I don't have the best timing.
He’s got a temper, he's moody, and he has a history of being misunderstood and making big mistakes.
I, on the other hand, make pumpkin cupcakes, spend my Friday nights curled up with a beloved romance novel and long to be kissed in the rain.…
I spent years only reading the old, great classics because I couldn’t find any general market books without spicy scenes I didn’t care to read and couldn’t recommend. It was horrible to think, as an avid, eclectic reader, that I was running out of books to read. I thought wholesome romance books didn’t exist in today’s world (and that my own books wouldn’t have a space to belong), but they do. Now that I know where to look, these love stories give me joy in a dark world. I hope this list gives you some new favorites to brighten your days as they have mine.
From the first page, I knew I wasn’t going to put down Cindy Steel’s rom-com to eat or sleep until the ride was over.
The characters shine vividly, the plot set-up of being with the wrong blind date at a basketball game while a quiet, thoughtful guy takes her attention is so much fun, and the witty banter is unreal. Steel’s writing is easy to devour, and I don’t think I stopped grinning until way after the last page.
This is a yearly reread for me and the measuring stick for all banter-and-swoon books I read.
My friend told me I needed more fun in my life, so I reluctantly said yes. Fun wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. After watching my own mother’s love life implode time and time again it’s only natural that I have a few rules to protect myself.
Actually, it’s just one rule…
Avoid relationships with men so I don’t get attached.
I wasn’t worried. Getting attached has never been a problem for me. This guy was just a warm body in a chair. I was here for the basketball game. I was absolutely NOT here for…
Sine, a professor of creative writing, accompanies Sam, a neuroscientist, on a conference trip to a Hotel Castle. Sam wants to present a new device, the "monitor." Sine hopes to recover from tending to her mother who just passed away.
When they arrive, Sine is in a dream-like state. Real…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
This book is so much fun. I loved how Jane was determined to fall in love with all the romance tropes and they backfire. It felt like a reverse fairy tale, which made me laugh and swoon.
And when the main characters finally got together, I was kicking my feet in delight. Such a fun story set in the small-town island of Sunset Harbor.
I’m a bit of an introverted extrovert who has a love/ hate relationship with people. I’m lucky to have wonderful family and friends, but social media baffles me and makes me question the future of mankind. I still can’t look away though. A degree in history, a love of psychology, and being a writer definitely foster my people-watching obsession. This fascination extends to fictional characters. Plot twists and world building are fantastic, but it is cheering for a character that pulls me in and keeps me hooked. As I’m also a moody reader, I love to pick the right character story to suit my mood!
Fairy tale retellings are another favorite of mine and I enjoyed this one as a light, frothy fun read. Part of the reason it worked well was Arnessa. She makes a great Cinderella by working hard and dreaming of more. Yes, there are definitely some family issues and a cute guy too. It doesn’t hurt that you can order a shot of luck at the magical coffee shop! If you need a pick-me-up during darker times, give this sweet read a chance!
A modern magical retelling of the classic Cinderella tale
After years of slaving beneath her step-mom's rule, Arnessa longs for something more.
She dreams of leaving her small town to attend a university where she can train to master her magic. Her stepmother denies this dream.
When all hope appears lost, a charming stranger enters her life, offering to guide Amessa in her studies, giving the teen confidence to stand up for herself.
An Unexpected Brew is part of a fairytale universe - inspirational tales filled with magic, rising hope, and personal discovery. These four separate adventures can be read…
“All stories have two sides,” my fifth-grade teacher said to us one day. “Sometimes, they have more than that.” She told us to rewrite a scene from the book we were reading from the perspective of a different character. What was meant to be a quick writing exercise turned out to be the start of my lifelong fascination with retellings. I love that retold tales show the fundamental truth that everyone has a story, no matter how peripheral they might seem in the original. I’ve written two Pride and Prejudice continuations, and my forthcoming novel is a historical retelling of Beauty and the Beast.
Napoli is a master at rewriting fairy tales and other classic stories, and Zel might just be my favorite of her works. A young adult retelling of Rapunzel from three perspectives, it sticks to the original tale’s basic plot points but deeply expands the reader’s understanding of each character, particularly Rapunzel’s mother, whose feelings and motivations are written with exquisite nuance. Though it’s written for a YA audience, I still enjoy this story as much now as I did when I first read it at age 13, and now that I’m a mother myself, I experience it on an entirely different level. This is a deceptively simple book that really has layers upon layers to unwrap.
High in the mountains, Zel lives with her mother, who insists they have all they need -- for they have each other. Zel's life is peaceful and protected -- until a chance encounter changes everything. When she meets a beautiful young prince at the market one day, she is profoundly moved by new emotions. But Zel's mother sees the future unfolding -- and she will do the unspeakable to prevent Zel from leaving her..."Will leave readers spellbound."-- Publishers Weekly, starred review
In an age of splendor, a heretic king strips Egypt bare—forcing his queen to quell rebellion and plunging his children into a conspiracy against the crown.
Salvation in the Sun follows Nefertiti as she ascends the throne beside Pharaoh Amenhotep—soon to become Akhenaten—just as he declares war on Egypt’s ancient…
I'm a wife, mother, writer—and the mother of a disabled non-verbal thirty-three-year-old man. I'm also Black and a Christian, both of which can be problematic to many readers. I write fantasy and mainstream stories, Christian and non-Christian. Some fantasy readers have certain fears, stereotypes, and expectations of fantasy books written by minorities. Others have those same fears, stereotypes, and expectations of books written by Christian writers. I'm very good at accommodating my readers. For the most part, my readers never feel as if they’re being preached at or lectured. Some aren’t even aware that I'm Black or a Christian, even though my concerns—imperialism, injustice, spirituality, ethnicity, disability, and feminism—are throughout my stories.
This is a fairy tale. I’ll state this upfront because at first glance, it’s a bit of a hard read. And why is it a hard read? Because—to me, anyway—it feels like wish-fulfillment fantasy on steroids. It’s like the rantings of a terribly abused boy. Of course, much fiction—especially fairytales which is this book’s genre—is wish fulfillment. But the story feels very uncomfortable. Mio is so over-the-top happy about having been transported into the kingdom of his father the king that one feels as if one is listening to a pitiful delusion. I found myself reading the book with two minds. One mind kept saying, “Dive into the reverie and joy of a boy who has found his dead father in a faraway land and who discovers that he’s important to the world.” And simultaneously, my other mind was thinking, “Oh my heavens! This little boy…
At the age of seven, already a devoted bookworm, I came upon a large stack of early-20th century children's magazines filled with stories, poems, and especially fairy tales, some the classic kind, and some weird, scary or unfamiliar. I don't know where those dog-eared, well-thumbed annuals came from, or what happened to them afterward – they were lost or given away when our family moved, I suppose. But I have never forgotten them, or the effect they had on my imagination and longings. I've been searching for those long-lost tales ever since... and it finally led me to decide I would just have to write a few of my own.
When I was young I devoured Bullfinch's Mythology from cover to cover. Looking back, I am amazed that I had the time and the devotion to read the whole 900-odd pages, which give short, matter-of-fact recaps of the Greek and Roman myths, as well as the legends of King Arthur and Charlemagne. You'll find these tales far more beautifully told in the original Ovid or Virgil versions, I suppose, but if you just want the facts, Ma'am, the who's who of it all, then this is a fine place to start.
Legendary tales of myth and romance written so everyone can enjoy the stories!
Can’t keep all your gods and goddesses straight? Wondering about mythological references in classic literature? Bulfinch’s Mythology offers approachable accounts of ancient legends in a compilation of the works of Thomas Bulfinch, banker and Latinist. This volume includes all three of Bulfinch’s original titles: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, and The Legends of Charlemagne. Bulfinch states his purpose for the book clearly: “Our work is not for the learned, nor for the theologian, nor for the philosopher, but for the reader of English literature...who…
Like Matasha, my eleven-year-old heroine, I am the product of a big-city Midwestern 1970s childhood. I was a rabid reader who always felt that books made the world make more sense. Now as then, I am drawn to characters who are allowed to be complicated and to endings that don’t tie things up with a tidy bow. I believe “unlikeability” in fiction is a myth. I love children’s books that show kids thinking and feeling deeply.
An elderly man goes in search of a cat to make him and his wife less lonely. He comes home with not one but millions of them: how to choose which to keep? The cats solve the problem by fighting among themselves until “they must have eaten each other all up.” But one unexpected little kitten is left….
I couldn’t have articulated this when I first sat raptly turning its pages, but Ga’g’s fable, with its handwritten text and charming 1928 black-and-white drawings, acknowledges both the ferocious and the vulnerable in children’s natures.
An American classic with a refrain that millions of kids love to chant: Hundreds of cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.
Once upon a time there was an old man and an old woman who were very lonely. They decided to get a cat, but when the old man went out searching, he found not one cat, but millions and billions and trillions of cats! Unable to decide which one would be the best pet, he brought them all home.
How the old couple came to have just one cat to call their own is…
Born the heir of a master woodcutter in a queendom defined by guilds and matrilineal inheritance, nonbinary Sorin can’t quite seem to find their place. At seventeen, an opportunity to attend an alchemical guild fair and secure an apprenticeship with the…
I’ve always had a soft spot for history—in particular, mysteries, myths, and legends. If it’s strange, unexplained, obscure, supernatural, or downright weird, I’m all in. And Celtic folklore, it turns out, excels at exploiting the dark intrigue of human antiquity. Backdropped by a landscape that makes literally anything seem impossible, these stories tell us as much about fairies, merfolk, and other mystical creatures as they do about ourselves. Like so many legends around the world, Celtic mythology is a mirror. One that exposes our deepest fantasies. Reflecting the dark, dangerous side of humanity’s desires back onto itself, and making us question who the real monsters really are.
Three sisters vanish as kids and mysteriously return with no memories of what happened and a lot of strange quirks… in other words, the perfect set-up for a modern story about changelings! Initially, I was skeptical about this one because—while I shamelessly loved Twilight back in the day—I’ve also been kinda burned out from all the froofy falling-in-love-with-magical-creatures/worlds books that surfaced in its aftermath. (And c’mon. That cover? It practically screams froofy tortured teen magic.)
But let’s just say the marketing team failed here because while this book was beautiful, it was also kinda rotten, incredibly atmospheric, and genuinely creepy in places. The perfect read for a dark, modern twist on a traditional myth.
'A gorgeous, grisly modern fairy tale.' - THE GUARDIAN
'Dark and delicious. House of Hollow hums with malice and mystery. I devoured it whole.' - KIRAN MILLWOOD HARGRAVE
** SHORTLISTED FOR THE YA BOOK PRIZE 2022 **
The Hollow sisters - Vivi, Grey and Iris - are as seductively glamorous as they are mysterious. They have black eyes and hair as white as milk. The Hollow sisters don't have friends - they don't need them. They move through the corridors like sharks, the other little fish parting around them, whispering behind their backs.
