Here are 100 books that Faking It With the Grump fans have personally recommended if you like
Faking It With the Grump.
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I have always had a passion for small towns, both real and fictional. After living in a bunch of them myself (in real life, not my head), I decided to try creating my own picture-perfect places. Like most writers, my love of books started with reading. I have read hundreds of wholesome, small-town romance novels, and I hope to read hundreds more! This list has some of my recent favorites. Bonus: All the books on this list are the first in a series, so if you love them, more swoonworthy stories await! (PS The list is in no particular order, I love each book equally!)
Small town that you will want a realtor for: Mirror Valley, CO
What I love about Woodley’s books is that you completely forget you're reading a book at all. Her writing is like listening to one of your closest friends tell you a story, and I mean that in the best way possible. The Next Worst Thing is no exception.
I found myself making up all kinds of excuses to avoid housework, errands, and other chores, so I could spend more time with this super sweet small-town romance. And yes, it’s also a rom com, so you might get some concerned looks from family members as you actually laugh out loud.
I didn’t ask to organize this wedding. And I certainly didn’t ask for the world’s worst best man as an assistant.
But my brother is marrying the love of his life, and I’ll stop at nothing to give him a perfect wedding day–and get our family’s Inn some much-needed publicity in the process.
Which means playing nice with James Weston.
My brother’s best friend and I have been feuding for as long as I can remember. We don’t like each other, plain and simple.
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…
I have always had a passion for small towns, both real and fictional. After living in a bunch of them myself (in real life, not my head), I decided to try creating my own picture-perfect places. Like most writers, my love of books started with reading. I have read hundreds of wholesome, small-town romance novels, and I hope to read hundreds more! This list has some of my recent favorites. Bonus: All the books on this list are the first in a series, so if you love them, more swoonworthy stories await! (PS The list is in no particular order, I love each book equally!)
Small town that you will want a realtor for: Cashmere Cove, WI
If you love grumpy/sunshine, fierce sisterly love, and wholesome midwest towns, this is the book for you. Dobrinska does a wonderful job of creating likable characters and a feel-good storyline with tons of delightful twists and turns.
It’s so gosh darn good! I am talking stay-up-way-too-late-reading good. And while I have never been to Wisconsin in my life, after reading Friends Don’t, I am ready to change that!
A heartfelt and hilarious romantic comedy, loosely inspired by While You Were Sleeping.
As the oldest of three sisters, Poppy Kasper doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t the glue holding her siblings—and their lives—together. So moving across the country to Cashmere Cove, the hometown of her new boyfriend, is completely out of character. Add in the fact that said boyfriend is leaving for a months-long pro-golf tour, and it’s enough to make Poppy question her sanity. But it’s fine. Everything’s fine. She can still be a good sister from a distance, and she’ll keep the spark in her relationship…
I have always had a passion for small towns, both real and fictional. After living in a bunch of them myself (in real life, not my head), I decided to try creating my own picture-perfect places. Like most writers, my love of books started with reading. I have read hundreds of wholesome, small-town romance novels, and I hope to read hundreds more! This list has some of my recent favorites. Bonus: All the books on this list are the first in a series, so if you love them, more swoonworthy stories await! (PS The list is in no particular order, I love each book equally!)
Small town that you will want a realtor for: Sunset Ridge, AK
I actually read this book after I started my Darling Men series, and it’s a good thing it happened in that order. Because if I had read Moose Be Love beforehand, I don’t think I would’ve bothered writing my series at all.
This book perfected the Alaskan small-town sweet romance! I definitely recommend it if you aren’t sure if you would rather get lost in a heartwarming story, or go on a vacation to Alaska. Good news, you don’t have to choose! Not with Moose Be Love in your personal library!
★★★★★From the moment I started reading, I was transported to the small town of Sunset Ridge where I spent the day. I ignored anything and everything that had to do with adulting. --Reviewer
★★★★★This could be Hallmark Alaska. Cheesy, fun, Alaska and then there’s Ed -the 2000 lb moose that has befriended the town of Sunset Ridge. --Reviewer
★★★★★ This is a wonderful book. If you like a deep good, page turner this the book for you. --Reviewer
★★★★★ What a fun book! I fell in love with Ed, the moose. And the town of Sunset Ridge, Alaska. What a…
Coyote weather is the feral, hungry season, drought-stricken, and ready to catch fire. It’s 1967, and the American culture is violently remaking itself while the country is forcibly sending its young men to fight in a deeply unpopular war.
Jerry has stubbornly made no plans for the future because he…
I have always had a passion for small towns, both real and fictional. After living in a bunch of them myself (in real life, not my head), I decided to try creating my own picture-perfect places. Like most writers, my love of books started with reading. I have read hundreds of wholesome, small-town romance novels, and I hope to read hundreds more! This list has some of my recent favorites. Bonus: All the books on this list are the first in a series, so if you love them, more swoonworthy stories await! (PS The list is in no particular order, I love each book equally!)
Small town that you will want a realtor for: Ponderosa Falls, CO
Even though I haven't asked for a pony for Christmas in years, I still adore reading horse and ranch books. Falling Slow totally hits the spot with its original and heartfelt story. Family resort? Check. Horses? Check. Lovable characters? Check!
I really didn’t think that was possible, but like my love for dessert, my obsession with this story kept reaching new and amazing levels. I didn’t want the story to end, and I can’t wait to dive into book two. (Cowboy) hats off to Muse!
I’ve spent a lifetime teaching and learning. As a writer, I want teens, particularly LGBTQ+ teens, to know they are loved and accepted by exploring a variety of topics through my novels, from life in the 1960s, the world of TV sitcoms, the abuse of a holier-than-thou pastor, the restrictions of a polygamy community, dealing with a gay parent, and being Muslim and gay. Writing these led me to something I knew nothing about, but was certain it fit into my “acceptance” theme—being transgender. I poured all my passion into my novel, Bud. I think I created a character that everyone, whether transitioning or not, teenage or not, can love.
A slight little book, Dawn C. Crouch’s writing always thrills me, from her “how-to” ballet books to her sci-fi novels to this, a tale of acceptance and believing in yourself.
We all need reassurance—that we are worthy, that we have talent, that we can persevere. I love this little book, not only for its story and message but also because it fueled my love for ballet and gave me inspiration!
One long bus ride. One magical ballet class. One unforgettable Christmas.Fifteen-year-old Theresa Cazeau is overworked, underjoyed, and buried in holiday chores she must finish before heading to the studio. But the once-a-year open class brings more than sore feet and tired muscles.This time, she shares the barre with dancers from around the world—including one whose presence changes everything.A heartwarming Garage Ballet® holiday novella about grit, grace, and the Christmas magic that finds us when we least expect it.
I’m a 54-year-old gay man who has led my own messy life here in New York City, marked as much by sex, romance, friendship, and culture as by drug addiction, relationship drama, mental illness and youthful trauma. I’ve published five novels, all of which contain queer characters who’ve not exactly been poster children for mainstream-world-approved LGBTQ behavior. I’m drawn to novels like the ones I’ve mentioned because they show queer people not as the hetero world often would like them to be—sanitized, asexual, witty and “fabulous”—but as capable of dysfunction, mediocrity, unwise choices and poor conduct as anybody else.
Like a hipster Brooklyn transgender Sex and the City, this novel is a chatty, hilarious, and moving look at queer folks grasping for parenthood and family in a world where all the rules have been thrown out.
The book’s narrator, transwoman Reese, takes us on this ride with such sardonic, poignant insight about the world she lives in that we begin to feel like we live in it, too. When Reese’s ex, Ames—who has detransitioned from his former transwoman identity, Amy—gets his straight female boss pregnant, the three of them begin negotiating how they might raise the child together.
But the novel’s true power lies in how Reese explains her life and her friends to us—bravely refusing to portray trans people as angelic role models and instead offering something deeper and more endearing: showing them as real people.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The lives of three women—transgender and cisgender—collide after an unexpected pregnancy forces them to confront their deepest desires in “one of the most celebrated novels of the year” (Time)
“Reading this novel is like holding a live wire in your hand.”—Vulture
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by more than twenty publications, including The New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Time, Vogue, Esquire, Vulture, and Autostraddle
PEN/Hemingway Award Winner • Finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Gotham Book Prize • Longlisted for The Women’s…
Homeless following the death of his adoptive parents in a car crash and the subsequent loss of their farm tenancy, Seb decides to enrol as a residential student at the Asklepios Foundation, a College of Natural Medicine, boasting a sanctuary modelled on an ancient Greek healing temple. Spending a night…
Even before I became a romance writer, I already devoured young adult love stories like others eat sandwiches for dinner. It’s that innocent, sweet built-up to the very first kiss of the hero and heroine that would keep me reading or writing all through the night. I believe it’s a rare talent to craft the perfect tension and balance between hot and sweet. And as I’m writing my own love stories by now, I’m still on the hunt for those rare gems within the sea of novels out there.
If you like Rockstars, you’ll love Cannon Blackwell.
Liz is traveling with her uncle, her brother, and her two best friends on a tour bus. I mean: tour bus! That alone already creates the perfect ambiance for a super cute love story, right?? So when the band suddenly finds themselves without a bass guitarist, Cannon rounds the corner and...bamm!
The story of Liz and Cannon is so emotional and lovely, you just can’t miss out on that one. I literally squeaked, when they finally kissed.
I think all romance writers have their favourite trope, and second chances has the strongest hold on me. I’m a person who makes mistakes, so I love to see equally fallible humans getting their second chance at a happy ever after too. People with a history always lend depth to a story too. At any point, you can pluck a moment from their past to show an element of their relationship. And angst. I love a good dose of angst. With second chances, it's likely been a rocky road. Then the clincher for me, that sense of fate and destiny of people who’ve gone separate ways but find themselves drawn back together.
Stephanie Shea makes wonderful use of plucking out little bits of history and knowledge the characters have of each other in Take Two.
You get a super sense especially of Andy in this book – her physicality, the kind of human she is, and the enduring strength of Whitney’s attraction to her. This is a couple who are never going to be over each other – this comes across most strongly in this book for me.
I forgot to mention yearning in my intro. I love sapphic yearning, and in second-chance romances, the characters really know what they're missing and what they’re yearning for. And Stephanie has me totally convinced in this one.
I admire this author for word wizardry and flawed characters you can’t help loving. Take Two is book three of the wonderful Gia series but can be read standalone.
My name is Sara Jo Easton, and I’m the bisexual author of the Zarder novels, a fantasy series where a race of dragon-like creatures called Onizards learns to get past their prejudices. When I was at a book signing for my third book, The Blood of Senbralni, a strange man loudly declared I was part of an agenda to turn people to homosexuality and Satan with my evil dragons. To be clear, I am not and will never be affiliated with Satan. I made a vow that every book I wrote from that point forward would have at least one LGBTQ+ romance with a happy ending to annoy people like that man.
You might believe that I chose this book solely based on the title.
I can’t deny finding the idea of having the cover out and actively reading it in front of the kind of people wanting to ban LGBTQ+ books is a tantalizing one. That said, the real reason I chose this book is it is a helpful guide to the LGBTQ+ community that uses inclusive language and describes the different ways people identify with copious amounts of humor and quotes from members of the community.
It has important information about a wide variety of topics that I wish were around in an easy-to-read format when I was younger. There are frank sex education discussions in this book, which is vital information to fill in the gaps in sex education in most schools. I have this one saved for when the younger members of my family are ready to start…
The bestselling young adult non-fiction book on sexuality and gender! Lesbian. Gay. Bisexual. Transgender. Queer. Intersex. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations. Inside this revised and updated edition, you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask, with topics like:Stereotypes-the facts…
Marriage and Fatherhood in the Nazi SS
by
Amy Carney,
When I was writing this book, several of my friends jokingly called it the Nazi baby book, with one insisting it would make a great title. Nazi Babies – admittedly, that is a catchy title, but that’s not exactly what my book is about. SS babies would be slightly more…
I’m an academic researcher interested in this topic but also one of the people who gets demonized in conservative media: the parent of a transgender child. I want my daughter to know that similar people have existed in history and that lawmakers are wrong to claim that we’re in a scary new world when we advocate for respect and the rights of trans people. While doing that advocacy work, I’m alarmed by positions within the LGBTQI+ movement echoing right-wing ones, including what’s known as “gender critical feminism.” My book argues a positive case for coalition in the face of pressures to fracture along distinct lines of sexuality and gender identity.
Nobody has done more than Stryker to document the modern history of trans people or to fashion trans studies into an academic field. Transgender Historyis a work of substantial scholarship and also an accessible introduction to the field and the issues on which it’s centered. Each chapter of this short-ish book is really valuable, whether it’s the opening that explains important terms and concepts or the final one assessing what Timedeclared the “transgender tipping point” in 2014. Stryker is a historian of twentieth-century America, so that’s the focus of her central chapter documenting a century of trans history. Understanding that early history is crucial for the liberatory gains and backlashes that follow, and Transgender Historyconcludes with resources that can help turn its readers into informed and committed activists.
Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Chapters cover the transsexual and transvestite communities in the years following World War II; trans radicalism and social change, which spanned from 1966 with the publication of The Transsexual Phenomenon, and lasted through the early 1970s; the mid-'70s to 1990-the era of identity politics and the changes witnessed in trans circles through these years; and the gender issues witnessed through the '90s and '00s.
Transgender History includes informative sidebars…
