Books like Divine — picked by fans

A fantasy romance where a marriage arrangement is made in hopes of bringing peace to warring nations. Medieval-type vibes and aliens (not the traditional kind) are nicely combined. Shannen and Daarik are both strong-willed and noble main characters.

I fell in love with Daarik, who is the alien in this story. He’s sweet, protective, respectful, and strong. At the beginning the flowery smell of Shannen made him gag, but that changed once he started falling for her.

This story reminded me of Beauty and the Beast, except this maiden wasn’t so innocent. I liked her.

This opened my eyes to how much I have the hots for aliens...

A fantasy romance between a young woman who finds an alluring merman while out at sea.

After her father professes to be cursed, Grace agrees to help him find treasure he lost. When their ship gets caught in a storm, a man's melodic voice guides them to safety. Grace goes in search of the stranger and finds the gorgeous mythical creature responsible—Ladarius. His shimmering skin and muscly chest entrance her; her womanly beauty captivates him. As they fall in love, the difference between their species takes center stage.

Ladarius had a sweet and sexy charm that made me swoon. It had “The Little Mermaid” vibes, but the roles were reversed. The relationship between Grace and her father was complex, and it wrapped up nicely in the ending. Fun read!

YA fantasy romance following a sixteen-year-old who is given the task of assassinating the prince she is supposed to marry.

Linnet is brought to Rajak’s palace in exchange for sparing her kingdom. She was trained to fight and is hyper-aware of the danger around her. Her mother instructs her to gain his trust and kill him.

Rajak isn’t what he appears to be and wants more for his people. Tough on the outside, she finds he has a soft heart.

Slow-building clean romance with great descriptions. I felt like I was immersed in the scenes. It is set in a fantasy world with “Aladdin” vibes.

One of my favorite parts was when Linnet said she felt Rajak’s protection as surely as she would have felt a shield in her hand.

This YA book is about a young woman, Ember, whose parents were murdered when she was young. They were Guardians, which are superheroes with awesome talents they use to keep the world safe. Flash forward to adulthood, and Ember goes off to a university where she meets Aiden, who knows quite a bit about Ember's past.

Ember and Aiden hang out and feelings generate between them. Aiden is keeping a secret from Ember, so he tries his best to keep an emotional distance from her, even though it's incredibly hard for him.

There are many interesting characters in the book; I enjoyed the descriptions of them sprinkled throughout. There is also a cute little rock golem named Lime who is a sidekick to one of the supporting characters. So adorable!

I love reading novels and stories that make me wish I’d written them, and this collection by Kelly Link made me wish that time and time again. This book also introduced me to the concept of fabulism, a form of magical realism where elements of the fantastic occur in everyday settings, which is something I find compelling both as a reader and as a writer. Link combines humor, fantasy, magical realism, and more than a touch of horror to create a collection of stories that is unique, weird, and wonderful. 

I read The Brick People when it was first published in 1988.

At the time, I was already familiar with Morales’ work, but this historical novel about the Simons Brick Factory in Southern California and the Mexican migrants who the Simons brother depended upon for their success seized my imagination.

The author blends folklore, history, myth, and magical realism into a novel that relates the story of Mexican migrants and their complicity with or rebellion against the Simons brothers and the mores of the early 20th Century Los Angeles region.

Morales shows how history from the ground up is manifested in people’s lives. His characters work and play hard as they seek to build community and pursue dreams of social mobility even when customs and laws prohibit them.

There is nothing like this groundbreaking memoir—it is as good as it gets—and it has probably influenced every memoir since (including my own).

Kingston is a poet, and I find it impossible not to sink into the striking, gorgeous language and imagery as she describes growing up between multiple worlds: the China her parents emigrated from, the California of a first-generation daughter of immigrants, the ghost-filled China of her mother’s “talk stories,” and her inner life and growing awareness. She weaves family stories, famous myths, and her own girlhood experiences into a beautiful and unforgettable narrative.

I probably re-read it once a year.

A friend recommended this book when I told her about my Shepherd theme. A neurotic fugitive, hiding on a deserted island, discovers that he is not alone. This novella is classed as magical realism—there’s a foreword by Borges—but like my book it eventually provides a scientific explanation for the strange occurrences. And like almost all my other choices, it’s a first-person narration, so we are kept wondering how much is true. It flags a bit after the initial premise, but once the revelations start, it grips you. Amazingly for a book written in 1964, its speculations address issues at the forefront of digital technology and science today. I won’t say more, except: don’t read the introduction or foreword, which contain plot spoilers!     

I have read all of Sarah Addison Allen’s books and have never been disappointed. She gives me quirky characters (which I love) and wondrous things, from wallpaper that changes to suit your mood to unexplained lights skipping across the yard to a woman who bakes hope into her cakes.

Can a hummingbird cake really bring back a lost love? I like to think so. I love that the extraordinary in her books are taken with a shrug and that the bizarre is not to be feared but to learn from. Although I have found my personal love and do feed and protect the hummingbirds, I wouldn’t mind tasting a slice of hummingbird cake.

Any time I see a new story by Russell, I drop everything to step into the funny, quirky, and insightful worlds she creates. When I first read the title story of Orange World, about a woman who has made a bargain with a devil to protect her own baby, I wanted to press this book into the hands of any mother struggling with breastfeeding.

I could think of no better way to explain my experience than Russell’s description of trying to nurse a clawed, fanged, insatiable monster—along with the mix of posturing and solidarity I found within new mom’s groups and the way that loving my children connected me with my own parents.