Books like His Amiable Bride — picked by fans

A swoon-worthy love story. A handsome young man who gives you all the feels. A young woman standing her ground. A passionate kiss that is so worth the wait. 

What can I say, I am totally in love with this story. Secrets and Suitors was one of the books that made me fall in love with the regency period. It has everything I want in a good story, without the steam and inappropriate scenes. The shy main character has to learn to fight for her rights and the man she loves and not let her father dictate her life. I love a strong female lead, willing to deal with the consequences by going for what they want.

What a delightful read. Lady Patience Kendrick disguises herself as a maid to prove to her elder brother that she can work just as hard as servants, and gets hired by the staff or her brother’s former general. What could go wrong? Unfortunately for her, it isn’t the general she works for, but the general’s handsome and charming son who does not have the same standing as her and is desperately trying to impress a young woman to become his bride. As if pretending to be a maid isn’t hard enough, the young man comes up with the idea of having Patience act like a lady to convince the other young woman’s parents he is a good match. Enjoyable, humorous, and lots of romantic moments.

This book gives you all the feels, including aggression and anger toward the husband of the main character who is abusive and vile. Oh, I know that it is just fiction, but abusive swine like him exist and make me so angry. Despite that part, it is a beautiful story full of love and hope while facing the dangers of the Oregon Trail. I love the interactions between Ben and Lynn, even though he has to discover first that she is a girl, since she disguises herself as a man to escape her abusive husband. It is a good clean western romance with swoon-worthy moments and characters you either love or deeply hate. I loved reading it and I hope to dive into the author‘s other books soon.

For England's top spy, love is not an option. Well, that’s at least what the main character thinks, but Eliza quickly discovers that the partner she is paired up with makes falling in love suddenly a very possible option. It is a very interesting and captivating story with a twist because Lady Eliza happens to be the daughter of a duke, yet a secret spy for the crown. Her code name: Shadow. It is an action-packed story that keeps you on the edge of your seat while falling in love with the characters and swooning along the way. A must-read for regency lovers with the hint-feel of a thriller.

Fifty Shades of Grey was recommended to me on Amazon. It took me a full year before I finally gave in and bought Fifty Shades. And this happened because I was taking part in a radio show discussing the books because of one of my recent releases.

It took me 30 hours to read all three books. It was compelling with Ana, her Inner Goddess, and Christian Grey. I personally have always found the books great escapism from daily pressures.

The book is incredibly polarizing and the vitriol directed at its fans can get exhausting. But in my reading life, Christian’s over-the-top existence and manic living epitomizes rich boys and their toys.

As someone who has worked with many college students, I recommend this book quite often.

Jefferson and Alyssa Bethke approached dating and marriage from two different perspectives and lifestyles, proving that it does not matter what your past contains. As long as you put Christ first in all relationships, He alone can mend brokenness and help you to create a love that will last.

I have had many deep and meaningful conversations with those preparing for marriage because of this book. 

This book was a perfect combination of on-the-edge-of-my-seat sexy and tug-at-my-heartstrings romantic.

The author created phenomenal dialogue between Fisher and Reese, so good, in fact, that their flirting was almost as hot as their eventual hookups. I really did adore this story for the plot twists that seemed to come out of nowhere.

Reese’s growth into a confident young woman who stopped thinking about how things were just happening to her and took control to make the things she wanted to happen was remarkable; their second-chance love story with all the sexy feels was exactly the heart-mind turn-on I had hoped it would be.

The best part? The effortless way Fisher and Reese not only fell in love with each other but loved their tribe, too. It made me feel just really good to be a part of this story.  

This bawdy 1958 novel reads like a bizarre porn script (or a parody of one).

Like the hapless hero of Voltaire’s Candide, Candy Christian is an intelligent and generous-minded (albeit naive) college student who lets herself be taken advantage of by all sorts of sophisticated perverts whose only goal (they claim) is to assist Candy on her spiritual journey.

It’s probably asking a lot of the contemporary reader to continue with this absurd (and sexist) premise, but I admit it – I laughed a lot and on almost every single page. 

Candy is prurient, amoral, and silly, but easy and fun reading. Such novels upend the stereotype of 1950s American society as prudish and straight-laced and herald a more relaxed attitude towards sex.

This book was my gateway into Christian climate action 16 years ago.

When my older brother came home from a semester abroad in New Zealand and told my conservative Christian family that he was now a vegetarian because of his environmental convictions, he handed me this book to help me understand why.

It was the first time that I was given permission to engage pollution, environmental destruction, and climate change because of my faith, rather than in spite of it. Nothing has ever been the same.

This book was perspective shifting for me because it brings together four experts on the bible and contrasts their very different views on one of the most important topics of our faith, eternity. As someone that grew up never thinking critically about hell, this book made me realize that there were still a lot of elements of my faith that I needed to investigate.