Here are 100 books that Red Side Story fans have personally recommended if you like
Red Side Story.
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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.
I read this book in less than twenty hours—not that I had time for it, but this book demanded it.
The main characters’ emotional and tangible goals are set up so well, I felt drawn in immediately. There was so much push and pull between the two as they learned to open up and work together to write a rom-com, so much (clashing) personality and voice (I always love Center’s voicy characters).
I loved the romantic sizzle on every page, the perfectly paced plot of her helping her idol fix his writing, and the incredible banter. *While the book contains some language, there wasn’t a hint or even an implied spicy scene.
'A big hit of dopamine' EMILY GIFFIN *The instant New York Times bestseller!*
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She's rewriting his love story. But can she rewrite her own?
Emma has big dreams, though she hasn't let herself think about them in years. Until her big break comes along: she's offered the chance to write a screenplay with none other than her hero, Charlie-freaking-Yates! And it's a rom-com! It's the dream... Until reality sets in.
Charlie is a bonafide Hollywood movie-writing legend. He's also, as it turns out, kind of a jerk. He's only writing this movie to get a Mafia movie that he…
A frozen road trip. Relentless secret agents. And a Jack Russell Terrier who just drank from the Holy Grail.
Hidden for centuries, an ancient cup possessing divine grace was tucked away to protect it from a shadowy power known as the Organization. But the secret is shattered one winter day…
Until recently, my lovely in-laws kept a home in southern France near where my father-in-law grew up. Their hilltop village was everything my summer-in-France fantasies could imagine: red-tile roofs, overflowing flower boxes, croissants on every corner (or at least four), bustling markets, and palm trees framing a snowcapped peak. Downsizing in their eighties meant selling the house, but some of my fondest memories will always reside there. This summer most of my travels will take place from my garden in Colorado. I plan to trek the world through books. These are some of my favorite reads for an armchair trip to France through romance, mysteries, exploration, and cooking.
The title says it all—Paris is always a good idea! My now-husband romantically invited me to meet him in Paris, way back when, so it’s a special place for me. So is this book, which is a fun, emotional story about love, wanderlust, and finding one’s self.
Chelsea Martin threw herself into work to cope with her mother’s death. Seven years later, her father announces he’ll remarry, prompting Chelsea to examine her own life. She plans a trip to Europe to retrace the last time she remembers being happy.
I adore Chelsea for her bravery and this book for transporting me to gorgeous places, from Paris to Ireland and a vineyard in Italy.
A thirty-year-old woman retraces her gap year through Ireland, France, and Italy to find love—and herself—in this hilarious and heartfelt novel.
It's been seven years since Chelsea Martin embarked on her yearlong postcollege European adventure. Since then, she's lost her mother to cancer and watched her sister marry twice, while Chelsea's thrown herself into work, becoming one of the most talented fundraisers for the American Cancer Coalition, and with the exception of one annoyingly competent coworker, Jason Knightley, her status as most successful moneymaker is unquestioned.
I’m drawn to stories about human nature and the many lifestyles people choose to live. My mother often tells me I’m like my great aunt Freda, who has a love for beautiful and fantastic things. Freda was famous in my mind, and I believe I was further drawn to reading about fame because I wanted to know what that world looked like. Is too much money stressful? Are social events unwanted obligations? Are famous marriages bound to fail? This list is a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous and both the curses and blessings of their daily lives.
This is a story that many of us have experienced. The reality of it pulled me in. When I was in middle school, a boy I had “dated” made copies of a very personal letter I had written him. He and his buddy then handed the letter out to everyone. Classmates mockingly read the letter out loud to me. How mortifying. I feel you, Cannie Shapiro.
I also love this story because Cannie hits it off with a starlet who turns into a close friend. Who doesn’t want a famous bff? As Cannie pushed to find her way through the heartache and betrayal, I felt for her and wanted her to heal so she could find love and happiness again.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Weiner brings to life an irresistibly funny and relatable heroine in the novel The Boston Globe called “funny, fanciful, extremely poignant, and rich with insight.”
For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She’s even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.
A frozen road trip. Relentless secret agents. And a Jack Russell Terrier who just drank from the Holy Grail.
Hidden for centuries, an ancient cup possessing divine grace was tucked away to protect it from a shadowy power known as the Organization. But the secret is shattered one winter day…
I am a plus-sized woman of color, and I feel women like me are woefully underrepresented in romance books. Too many times, I read a book claiming to feature a “curvy heroine”, only to find she’s a size 6, or just wears baggy clothes. Even worse, some novels make plus-sized female leads lose weight before they get their happily ever after! There are great books out there that show love comes at any size and they deserve to be showcased.
Talia Hibbert’s characters have so much depth; this book is no exception. I saw myself in the curvy lead, Dani Brown, as she’s always looking for signs to lead her in the right direction.
It was great to see her warm relationship with her sisters, even though they are all so different. But I absolutely loved seeing her flirtatious friendship turned fake relationship with former rugby player Zafir Ansari grow into true love. Plus, the spice was top-notch!
'Talia Hibbert is a rockstar! Her writing is smart, funny, and sexy' Meg Cabot
'The author's charm and wit sings off the page in this delightful fake-romance fare' Bolu Babalola, bestselling author of Love in Colour
USA Today bestselling author Talia Hibbert returns with another charming romantic comedy about a young woman who agrees to fake date her friend after a video of him 'rescuing' her from their office building goes viral - perfect for fans of Sally Thorne, Jasmine Guillory and Helen Hoang!
Danika Brown knows what she wants: professional success, academic renown and an occasional roll in the…
Too often, I find that novelists force the endings of their books in ways that aren’t true to their characters, the stories, or their settings. Often, they do so to provide the Hollywood ending that many readers crave. That always leaves me cold. I love novels whose characters are complex, human, and believable and interact with their setting and the story in ways that do not stretch credulity. This is how I try to approach my own writing and was foremost in my mind as I set out to write my own book.
Okay, this brilliant book doesn’t quite fit with the others. But I had to include it because; 1) I couldn’t write this list without including a Canadian book; and 2) it’s one of my favourite books. Richler’s Barney is every bit as compelling a tragic character as the others I mention here, but he’s written with Richler’s sly, caustic wit.
He’s the lovable rogue who fritters away all three of his wives, including love-of-his-life Miriam, while being accused of killing his best friend. Amidst Richler’s sly critique of the modern world, we witness Barney’s slow descent into dementia and desolation. The ending, however, fits this sardonic novel like a glove and left me with a big smile on my face.
Before his brain began to shrink, Barney Panofsky clung to two cher-ished beliefs. Life was absurd, and nobody ever truly understood any-body else. Even his friends tend to agree that Barney is 'a wife-abuser, an intellectual fraud, a purveyor of pap, a drunk with a pen-chant for violence and probably a murderer'. But when his sworn enemy threatens to publish this calumny, Barney is driven to write his own memoirs, rewinding the spool of his life, editing, selecting and plagiarising, as his memory plays tricks on him - and on the reader. Ebullient and perverse, he has seen off 3…
My first clue that I was a crime writer in the making was that on nights I couldn’t sleep growing up, I would Wikipedia serial killers. (I promise I’m nice and normal!) When I discovered crime novels—specifically, those with a strong noir influence—I was hooked. My favorite definition of noir, which comes from the author Laura Lippman, is “Dreamers become schemers,” and to me, that’s the story of America. It’s what I’ve been interested in exploring in my own books, The Lady Upstairs and The Hurricane Blonde. I hope you enjoy the women who are dreamer-schemers in these books as much as I do!
I loved the voice of Tiffany, the murderous head sorority girl of this novel, so much so that I was very willing to overlook the fact that she was a serial killer. (We all contain multitudes, right?!) Like My Sister, the Serial Killer, this book manages to be tense, dark, and funny all at once, which truly ticks so many of my reader boxes.
This book is also set in Los Angeles, where I live, and I guffawed at its satiric portrayal of a certain type of Angeleno: perma-blonde pumped full of glamorous toxins and is willing to take anyone down a notch if it means “manifesting her highest self.” I thought this book was a truly dark, murderous blast.
The boys on the row are only after one thing, but that bullshit’s for pledges. Tiffany’s on the hunt for something more.
Kill for Love is a searing satirical thriller about Tiffany, a privileged Los Angeles sorority sister who is struggling to keep her sadistic impulses—and haunting nightmares of fire and destruction—at bay. After a frat party hookup devolves into a bloody, fatal affair, Tiffany realizes something within her has awoken: the insatiable desire to kill attractive young men.
As Tiffany’s bloodlust deepens and the bodies pile up, she must contend with mounting legal scrutiny, social media-fueled competing murders, and…
I am a plus-sized woman of color, and I feel women like me are woefully underrepresented in romance books. Too many times, I read a book claiming to feature a “curvy heroine”, only to find she’s a size 6, or just wears baggy clothes. Even worse, some novels make plus-sized female leads lose weight before they get their happily ever after! There are great books out there that show love comes at any size and they deserve to be showcased.
This book is one of the few slow burns I enjoyed, and the spice was worth waiting! Each scene between Noah, the grumpy single dad, and Shay, the plus-sized heroine, was laced with tension and attraction.
The characters were three-dimensional rather than merely archetypes, though I wasn’t too overwhelmed with backstory. This small-town romance was the epitome of sweetness.
When Shay Zucconi's step-grandmother died, she left Shay a tulip farm-under two conditions.
First, Shay has to move home to the small town of Friendship, Rhode Island. Second-and most problematic since her fiancé just called off the wedding-Shay must be married within one year.
Marriage is the last thing in the world Shay wants but she'll do anything to save the only real home she's ever known.
Noah Barden loved Shay Zucconi back in high school. Not that he ever told her. He was too shy, too awkward, too painfully uncool to ask out the beautiful, popular girl.
My first published novels were light-hearted romances for teenagers, so when I started writing for adults, I couldn’t help exploring the youthful origins of my characters’ grown-up relationships. Then, it dawned on me that most of my favorite novels include an element of this, too. I love reading about couples who didn’t quite make things work as young people but rekindled their relationship later in life or those who have been together a long time and maybe need a refresher to remember what they ever saw in each other. These kinds of stories leave me feeling uplifted, cheerful, and hopeful, and I hope you’ll enjoy them too. Happy reading!
I love all of Emily Henry's books–the characters feel so real, and the relationships develop beautifully. In this book, a couple who have broken up go on their usual annual stay with their group of friends in Maine, all the while pretending to be together for the sake of the others.
Everyone has viewed Harriet and Wyn as the perfect couple since they got together in college, so I couldn’t wait to discover what could possibly have gone wrong. It's also clear that their chemistry is still fizzing, and I was rooting for their reunion. It was full of passion and emotion. Gorgeous.
'At turns hilarious and wise, another knockout from the champ' Taylor Jenkins Reid, DAISY JONES AND THE SIX 'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover, IT ENDS WITH US 'Smart, sunny, sexy and also a gorgeous story of female friendship' Beth O'Leary, THE FLATSHARE
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Two exes. One pact. Could this holiday change everything?
Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.
Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world.
There is a plethora of novels that feature writers, readers, bookstore owners, editors, and publishers. It’s no surprise that bookish themes are so appealing to both writers and readers. After all, writers love to write about writing, and readers love books. Bookish characters allow authors to write about what they know and readers to see themselves in the pages of the stories that captivate their minds and steal their hearts.
As a romance novelist, writing and love are my two greatest passions. From the beginning of my career, I have always tried to combine them. My debut novel was set in the publishing world, and ever since, my novels have favored the bookish.
Tropes aplenty make this a fun celebration of the romance genre itself, which is why I could not put it down.
Fizzy Chen is a successful romance novelist whose own love life is lackluster. She agrees to star in a reality show where she’ll meet men who embody classic romance tropes.
Fizzy meets Connor Prince, a producer working on the show. A grounded, single father, Connor doesn’t fit the fantasy romance narrative, but together, can they create their own romance story out of something real?
Sparks fly when a romance writer and a documentary filmmaker join forces to craft the ultimate Hollywood love story—but only if they can keep the chemistry between them from taking the whole thing off script—from the “divine” (Jodi Picoult) New York Times bestselling authors of The Soulmate Equation and The Unhoneymooners.
Felicity “Fizzy” Chen is lost. Sure, she’s got an incredible career as a beloved romance novelist with a slew of bestsellers under her belt, but when she’s asked to give a commencement address, it hits her: she hasn’t been practicing what she’s preached.
I started my journey as an author writing YA fantasy books—then the pandemic came, publishing collapsed for a moment, and I found myself at a loss of what sort of author I wanted to be. YA didn’t call to me as it once did—and I was struggling as many of us were then. Then I found romance—it healed me, brought joy and hope back into my life, and made me love writing in a new and powerful way. The Irish Goodbye is my debut adult romance, and I hope to keep writing in this genre for many years!
This book has one of the most unique premises I’ve ever come across in any book, much less a romance—Tiffy is just out of a toxic relationship and needs a cheap apartment fast. Leon is a palliative care nurse who is working graveyard shifts and needs extra money to help his brother. They come to an agreement—without ever actually meeting each other—to split the flat: Tiffy is there while Leon works and vice versa.
They begin to communicate through Post-it notes, and it’s honestly the most beautiful development of a relationship I’ve ever read. I was tearing through the pages to eagerly find the moment when they finally—finally!—meet in real life. An exceptional book from start to finish!
'Beth O'Leary crafts novels with such wit, heart and truth' Sophie Kinsella
'Beth O'Leary is that rare, one-in-a-million talent who can make you laugh, swoon, cry and ache all in the same book' Emily Henry
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Tiffy and Leon share a flat Tiffy and Leon share a bed Tiffy and Leon have never met...
Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they're crazy, but it's the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy's at work in the day, and she has the…
