Here are 100 books that How to Fail at Flirting fans have personally recommended if you like
How to Fail at Flirting.
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I’ve loved romance stories for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, we’d make the long drive to visit my grandma, and I would always sneak into her room, perusing the Harlequin romance books she was never without. As I grew older, I turned to novels with love stories to escape the hard times in my life. If I could rely on anything, it was that I would get a happy ending when I delved into those pages. When I began writing my own books, that feeling was what I became most passionate about giving to my readers. An escape from the everyday. The promise of a happy ending.
Maybe I need to travel? Again I have a book here that has you practically swooning over the setting.
The Channel Islands sound…wonderful, and I loved the charming descriptions. This book asks if you can fall for someone before you meet them. Is there such a thing as fate?
Or is love hiding where we least expect it? I really enjoyed that the love interest isn’t typical of a romance novel. Yay for realistic heroes!
From the New York Times bestselling author of This Time Next Year comes a heartwarming and hilarious tale that asks: What if you picked up the wrong suitcase and fell head over heels for its mystery owner?
Hopeless romantic and lifestyle reporter Laura’s business trip to the Channel Islands isn’t off to a great start. After an embarrassing encounter with the most attractive man she’s ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel and realizes she’s grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation is its irresistible contents, each of which intrigues her more and more.…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I spent my 20s and early 30s searching for my voice, passion, and romantic love. I moved every year to a different city, had many jobs (from carrot cake baker to sport autobiography co-author, to writing a Star Wars trilogy of Middle Grade novels for LucasFilm) and dated the flotsam and jetsam of the boyfriend world. It was only when I discovered my raison d’être, writing young adult and adult fiction, that I gained the confidence to pursue my dream of being a fiction author, ask for what I needed in relationships, and define my own version of happily ever after. I believe anything is possible!
A disillusioned ghostwriter must find her way back home, literally and figuratively, in this story about a woman who has lost her belief in love despite being a ghostwriter for a romance author.
I was drawn to this novel because I was once a ghostwriter for elite athletes and had my own experience with professional disillusionment. This story is full of charm as Florence Day grapples with loss while simultaneously dealing with a confused ghost who has her doubting everything she once believed about love.
The New York Times Bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club Pick!
"I LOVED this book! ...Funny, breathtaking, hopeful, and dreamy.”—Ali Hazelwood, New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis
A disillusioned millennial ghostwriter who, quite literally, has some ghosts of her own, has to find her way back home in this sparkling adult debut from national bestselling author Ashley Poston.
Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love.…
I’ve loved romance stories for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, we’d make the long drive to visit my grandma, and I would always sneak into her room, perusing the Harlequin romance books she was never without. As I grew older, I turned to novels with love stories to escape the hard times in my life. If I could rely on anything, it was that I would get a happy ending when I delved into those pages. When I began writing my own books, that feeling was what I became most passionate about giving to my readers. An escape from the everyday. The promise of a happy ending.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December . . . When a double-booking at a remote one-room cabin accidentally throws two solace seekers together, it feels like a cruel twist of fate. But what if it’s fate of a different kind?
“A perfectly executed and quintessential romantic comedy.”—Christina Lauren, author of The Unhoneymooners
Spending her thirtieth birthday alone is not what dating columnist Cleo Wilder wanted, but she plans a solo retreat―at the insistence of her boss―in the name of re-energizing herself and adding a new perspective to her column. The remote Irish island…
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…
Why do I love dual-timeline romance so much? Because, for me, it’s all about character depth. I’m fascinated by what makes characters tick—those defining moments in their past that shape their inner wounds, their dreams, and subsequently, their reactions in the present. When a dual timeline is done right, I am fully invested in both narratives. And being able to watch the main characters fall in love not just once but twice doubles the emotional impact and makes their happily ever after even sweeter. Witnessing them fall in love initially and then earn their second chance in the present always keeps me riveted!
This book really immersed me in the highs and lows of adolescence. I felt the strong emotions of falling in love for the first time when reading it. I absolutely adored the start of this book when two soulmates bump into each other again after losing track of each other years ago!
We see Macy and Elliot fall in love as hormone-ridden and earnest teenagers, and again as adults where the two are reconnecting and grappling with the aftermath of the explosion that derailed their relationship. In the present timeline, I was curious to understand more about Macy, her career as a physician, and her lukewarm relationship with her fiancé.
Meanwhile, I fell in love with Elliot’s open yet gentle pursuit of Macy and was convinced that the two were meant for each other. My heart was simultaneously torn to shreds and stitched back together by this book.
An uplifting and unforgettable read that will make you fall in love with life again . . .
'You can never go wrong with Christina Lauren!' Paige Toon
'A true joy from start to finish' Kristin Harmel
Macy is settling into an ambitious if emotionally tepid routine: work hard as a new paediatrics resident, plan her wedding to an older, financially secure man, keep her head down and heart tucked away.
But when she runs into Elliot - the first and only love of her life - the careful bubble she's constructed begins to dissolve. Once upon a time, Elliot…
I was born in Clifton, in the city of Bristol, England. Clifton is known for its elegant Georgian and Regency architecture. Growing up in these surroundings gave me an impression of what life might have been like for the people who lived there, the families upstairs and servants belowstairs. In front of a few houses on some streets, there are still stone blocks at the curb, worn smooth from countless feet entering and exiting their carriages. I have used Clifton as a setting in some of the books I have written, hoping to make those scenes more realistic and bring history alive for my readers.
While this is not a Regency romance, it is the best contemporary romance I have ever read and is another one I come back to time and again because it is so well written. The characters are well drawn, there is snappy dialogue, several twists, high sexual tension, and who could resist a heroine who blinks with one eye?
From New York Times bestselling author LaVyrle Spencer comes a novel that perfectly captures the tender and delicate beginnings of love in bloom.
Confident and practical, Winn never imagined anything-or anyone-could overturn her perfect world and perfect wedding plans. But in a single passing moment, her heart told her otherwise.
Joseph knew Winn's love was promised to another man, that he must hide his heartfelt passions. But he also knew that the heart doesn't lie: This was that love of a lifetime.
They met at a spring wedding, only months before Winn's own. Were they carried away by the intoxicating…
I am a Minnesota writer of cozy mysteries and contemporary fiction. I love the magical and care deeply about nature, the environment, and what is happening due to climate change. My novel was a chance to combine both interests. I wrote the first draft of Up There during the pandemic. While we were locked down, I spent time with a character who could fly. But while she was free, I discovered she was still lost. I spent so much of that year walking in the woods—thinking about how our world is changing, how confusing it is, and how we all are a little lost in these times.
I am a sucker for characters who find themselves through books.
In this novel, a girl enters a contest to meet her favorite author and win the only copy of his latest book. But first, she has to go to a mysterious island and compete with a band of ruthless opponents. I was never quite sure of anyone in this book, but that is a good thing when you are going after your greatest wish. It keeps you on your toes.
This is not a story of “be careful what you wish for”; it is a “keep wishing” story.
Years ago, a reclusive mega-bestselling children’s author quit writing under mysterious circumstances. Suddenly he resurfaces with a brand-new book and a one-of-a-kind competition, offering a prize that will change the winner’s life in this absorbing and whimsical novel.
“Clever, dark, and hopeful . . . a love letter to reading and the power that childhood stories have over us long after we’ve grown up.”—V. E. Schwab, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Make a wish. . . .
Lucy Hart knows better than anyone what it’s like to grow up without parents who…
A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.
Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…
I worked in a bookshop for three years in Washington, DC, and it was the best job I’ve ever had. There’s nothing like being around books all day and working with colleagues who love them just as much as you do. I’ve also worked in publishing, and loved that as well. So it’s no surprise that, like a lot of avid bookworms, I love reading about bookish environments—and writing about them, too.
Lindsey Kelk’s gentle British humour is always a winner for me, and this one was no exception! I really enjoyed her (affectionate?) skewering of the publishing industry and of attitudes towards romance novels and their fans.
It was also a bonus that a bookshop opening was part of the plot!
The new enemies-to-lovers romcom from Lindsey Kelk - pre-order now!
'Lindsey Kelk is the Taylor Swift of romance writing - she makes me PROUD to be a romance reader!' DAISY BUCHANAN
'Love Story might just be [Lindsey's] best yet. It has everything I could possibly ask for in a romcom - belly laughs, relatable, real and sexy characters, and the most compelling story' LUCY VINE
She's a small-town schoolteacher, he's a hotshot creative director. Together, it's hate at first sight.
Sophie Taylor has a secret and Joe Walsh is the last person she'd tell. He's devilishly handsome, incredibly hot -…
I’m a literary scholar by training (my doctorate is in comparative literature), but the more I experienced and thought about how digital technologies were “rewiring” me, the more connections I made to earlier cultural ideas about personhood, privacy, isolation, and community. My first book, The Four-Dimensional Human, used this training to observe digital life from an outsider’s perspective. It was shortlisted for the UK’s largest international non-fiction prize and named a WIRED Book of the Decade. Picnic Comma Lightning continues this project to explore digital realities and illusions, and the books I’ve recommended here have all influenced my own desire to capture the particular poetry of these bizarre, networked times.
I go to Ben Lerner’s writing for the shimmering atmospheres of his fictional universes. 10:04is set in contemporary New York City and follows the narrator-writer through his urban routines. But between his health scares, relationship worries, and professional commitments, the novel thrums with a strange, uneasy beat as the narrator questions the fabric of modern life in a large city. He feels the sublime abundance of the commodities that surround him, whose very abundance is precarious. The book meditates on the fragility of the global supply chains that bring cans of ground coffee onto supermarket shelves and into our baskets. There is also a superstorm approaching, which threatens the city’s power. Lerner is wonderful on twenty-first-century, first-world malaise.
A stunning, urgent, and original novel from Ben Lerner (The Topeka School and Leaving the Atocha Station) about making art, love, and children during the twilight of an empire.
Winner of The Paris Review's 2012 Terry Southern Prize
A Finalist for the 2014 Folio Prize and the NYPL Young Lions Fiction Award
In the last year, the narrator of 10:04 has enjoyed unlikely literary success, has been diagnosed with a potentially fatal medical condition, and has been asked by his best friend to help her conceive a child. In a New York of increasingly frequent superstorms and social unrest, he…
I love to laugh. Whether my oldest son and I are trading bad puns, my husband is teasing, my daughter and I are chuckling over a rom-com, or my youngest son is rolling his eyes and groaning at all of us, my family loves to laugh. Humor creates joy, relieves stress, and is just plain fun. That's what I look for in a good read. The world offers plenty of negativity and hardship. When I escape into a novel, I want fast-paced adventure and swoony romance, but I also want a reason to smile. That's the experience I love, and the one I endeavor to give my readers.
Jen Turano is the queen of quirky characters. This book had me giggling and guffawing with all its crazy shenanigans. Who knew an oversized bustle could double as a floatation device? Daphne Beekman is a successful author who pens thrilling mysteries yet swoons at the first sign of danger in real life. As a consultant for an all-female inquiry agency, she puts her intelligence and creative mind to work solving crimes. But when the reclusive author, and incredibly handsome, Herman Henderson hires the agency, Daphne determines to take a more active role. Outlandish disguises, daring adventure, and bookish banter ensue as Daphne and Herman solve the greatest mystery of all—love.
Miss Daphne Beekman is a mystery writer by day, inquiry agent by night. Known for her ability to puzzle out plots, she prefers working behind the scenes for the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency, staying well away from danger. However, Daphne soon finds herself in the thick of an attempted murder case she's determined to solve.
Mr. Herman Henderson is also a mystery writer, but unlike the dashing heroes he pens, he lives a quiet life, determined to avoid the fate of his adventurous parents, who perished on an expedition when he was a child. But when he experiences numerous attempts…
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I’m an Irish writer drawn to the ways in which the biggest questions – of human nature, existence, late capitalist realism, politics, ethics, and consciousness – play out via the minutiae of specific locations; in this case, the city of Dublin, where I’ve spent most of my adult life. I don’t think of cities as monuments but living and complex microcosms of concerns and urgencies the whole world shares.
McGahern is famous for writing slow-burning accounts of life in mid-century rural Ireland.
The Pornographer, however, is about a lonely bachelor who writes porn in his suburban bedsit then gets the bus into town to seduce women in gloomy dancehalls. He makes one of them pregnant and a battle of wills begins: he thinks she should obtain an abortion, she thinks they marry. This is remarkable because it is set in 1960s Dublin, a time and place in which the Catholic Church reigned supreme.
The book’s depiction of a night-time city composed of grimy pubs and starchy hospital wards is unforgettable, but its fascination for me lies in the protagonist’s casual cruelty towards his lover: this was what I had in mind when developing Cormac, the protagonist of my book – a passive, affable, but ultimately detached man who wreaks emotional havoc by accident and reflects a very Irish, still…
One of the preeminent writers of our time, John McGahern has captivated readers with such poignant and heart-wrenching novels as Amongst Women and The Dark.
In The Pornographer, Michael creates an ideal world of sex as a writer of pornographic fiction, while he bungles every phase of his entanglement with an older woman who has the misfortune to fall in love with him. But his insensitivity to this love is in direct contrast to the tenderness with which he attempts to make his aunt's slow death in a hospital tolerable. Everywhere in this rich novel is the drama of opposites,…
