84 Books Like Second Best Men

Eli Easton’s Blame It on the Mistletoe is classic M/M romance.

An easy, angst-free read, the slow-burning romance between sporty Mick and new roommate Fielding, will melt your heart in all the best ways. A sensitive portrayal of neurodivergence completes this festive romp, singing the message that we all deserve a happy ending.

Ellie Thomas is a British author who specializes in short historical novellas.

Every single one is a small period drama in itself, where Ellie’s beautiful prose shines through. Meticulously researched these stories deliver on every level. At Christmas Charles leaves his long-term partner Avery (aka The Nicest Man in England TM) behind to care for his family.

An ill-advised proposal looms over his head as he’s faced with the hardest decision of his life. His family or the man he so desperately loves. 

Con Riley writes prose like no other, and whilst this is the second book in her Christmas series, it can be read as a standalone.

This is a well-rounded Christmas trip where best friends and roommates Pat and Seb finally figure out what it means to belong. To each other. A mystery backstory and small revelations along the way make this a very enjoyable festive read. Even though it never actually snows in London.

Sweet, cute, and full of festive magic, Barbara Elsborg is the queen of sprinkling her readers with whimsical delights.

Here Barbara mixes a contemporary setting with a touch of the paranormal, as things in this seemingly normal world? Are not always what they seem. A vet in a remote cottage? A stranger stuck in a snowstorm? This low-angst Christmas novella will make you smile and giggle and hope for good things for everyone.

A magical story to finish the perfect December.

I know a book has me in its grips when the world the characters inhabit feels as real as my own. This was so true for me with Cursed that when I got to the part where ninth-grader Ricky has a falling out with her dorky yet incredibly wise, solicitous friend Oliver, it upset me enough to affect my sleep.

Life’s thrown a lot at Ricky by the time we meet her. The end of her parents’ marriage, friends who ditched her when she got sick, bullies at her new school, and, through it all, debilitating pain from juvenile arthritis. She’s understandably angry. She’s also smart, determined, and funny as hell. I loved being in on her private jokes and innermost thoughts, watching her evolve, and ultimately evolving with her.

I really enjoyed this clever Young Adult whodunnit mystery centering on three families reuniting for their annual summer holiday in Cornwall.

When one of the teenage daughters goes missing following a game of hide and seek, her doting, yet secretly envious, best friend tries to piece together what happened.

The story is told between present and past events, but also through letters written by the main protagonist to the missing girl, phrased in such a way I wasn’t quite sure how much or little she really knew about what happened to her friend, which elevated the mystery.

The families are brimming with resentments, tensions & jealousies, heightening the intrigue and potential culprits, but what I loved most was the hugely unexpected denouement. A very clever twist I didn’t see coming!

Holiday Fauxmance—i.e., fake dating for the holidays—is a peppermint-scented novella catnip for me. Sasha’s family can be a bit much over her being single, which she knows comes from a good place but is relentless, so she makes up a girlfriend, which works until her eldest sister tries to call her bluff and dares her to bring her “girlfriend” home for the holidays.

Enter neighbor Kennedy, who is beautiful, available, and—bonus—she’s also an actress and in need of a gig. This book is sweet and cute and the couple drew me in from the start, and I can’t express how much I loved the low-angst content. Their connections came from genuine emotions coming out of the pretending and the scene where they eventually come clean about the deception. I could not stop laughing.

I’m always excited when a new Kortney Keisel book comes out.

Compared is the first in her closed-door romcom series, and it’s a brilliant debut. This book follows Meg and Tyler in a single dad, teacher/parent romance that is completely swoon-worthy and hilarious.

Kortney does a fantastic job dealing with some harder subjects while keeping the material light-hearted and fun. I always turn back to this book if I want to read something deep and meaningful, but woven with funny scenes and banter.

I also love this book for the close connection between Meg’s siblings and dad. They’re exactly what a family should be.

Maia Kobabe’s book is the book I wish I could’ve read growing up. I was struck so many times by the similarities Kobabe’s story shared with mine, as a kid with many of the same questions and feelings about my gender that e did.

With immersive and evocative illustrations that I couldn’t help but linger over, Kobabe’s graphic memoir took me on a refreshingly frank gender journey that was never afraid to delve into the uncomfortable.

It is also the most challenged and banned book in the country at the moment, which I think speaks volumes about the story’s capacity to change lives.

It’s easy to find books about vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and witches… but very rarely do you stumble across a young adult book about sirens. Not the mermaid kind (we’ve already covered mermaids), but still sinister, manipulative, and dangerous. Despite this threatening presence, this book is absolutely hilarious and a fantastic adventure. It’s also an LGBT story written by an LGBT author who has always said that this was a book he wrote for his younger self. To let him, and kids like him, know that he’s not alone. And I just love that.