Here are 100 books that The Happy Ever After Playlist fans have personally recommended if you like
The Happy Ever After Playlist.
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There’s nothing better than sitting down at the pool to read a fun, engaging story that transports you into another world and keeps you entertained. I’ve always loved reading to escape, and when I started writing and posting my stories for free online at 17 years old, I discovered my true calling. My first story amassed 140 million reads with millions of comments, where people shared how much fun they had reading the story and how it helped them escape from their lives. Since then, I’ve continued writing stories I’m passionate about and sharing them with people who love a good, fun, romance.
When I think of the perfect, fun, poolside read, this book is the first to pop into my head.
The Unhoneymooners follows Olive, who ends up having to fake date a man she hates while on their fake honeymoon in Hawaii. I love those tropes (fake relationships, enemies to lovers, forced proximity) but on top of that, this book is laugh-out-loud hilarious.
I was giggling in the pool the entire time I read this, and the light, fast-paced, engaging vibe makes this book the perfect poolside read.
Named a “Must-Read” by TODAY, Us Weekly, Bustle, BuzzFeed, Goodreads, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Southern Living, Book Riot, Woman’s Day, The Toronto Star, and more!
For two sworn enemies, anything can happen during the Hawaiian trip of a lifetime—maybe even love—in this romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling authors of Roomies.
Olive Torres is used to being the unlucky twin: from inexplicable mishaps to a recent layoff, her life seems to be almost comically jinxed. By contrast, her sister Ami is…
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…
During my MFA, I learned to write family dramas and character-driven fiction, but I wanted more comfort, joy, and… romance! I knew the swoony and funny aspects of rom-coms could lift heavier emotional subjects like grief and loss, allowing readers to explore these resonant aspects of life safely, with a guaranteed Happily Ever After. All the books on this list explore a full emotional range of the human experience through extraordinary, utterly magical love stories about otherwise ordinary, flawed people. I hope they make you laugh, swoon, maybe shed a few cathartic tears, and come out the other side feeling better than when you turned the first page.
This enemies-to-lovers story about a romance writer and a literary fiction writer who strike a bet to write their next book in each other’s genre blew me away with its hilarious dialogue and realistic emotional stakes.
January struggles to write another Happily Ever After upon learning her recently deceased father had a secret life with another woman. She goes to deal with his beach house, only to find that her college writing rival is her neighbor for the summer.
As part of Gus and January’s renewed rivalry, they go on a series of dates to teach each other about their genre, and they develop mutual professional respect that bleeds into attraction.
One highlight is when they write flirty notes and hold them up through their neighboring windows. This is a true rom-com, so hilarious and sexy, but it commits to realism and reaches for heavy, heart-wrenching emotional stakes and the…
FROM THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION AND BOOK LOVERS!
A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.
Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.
They’re polar opposites.
In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they're living in neighboring…
I am a romance writer. I've written four contemporary romances with heat, heart, and humor and have a new series coming out in early 2023. I'm also an avid reader of romance—all genres from rom-com to historical to paranormal. I've been reading them since college and have devoured thousands of romance stories since my loved bloomed for them. I'm a firm believer I need to read stories to be able to write them—or maybe it's just an excuse to read more fantastic books and claim it's part of my writing process. Lol. Either way, it has allowed me to recommend romance stories to you with pleasure and ease.
There is so much to love about this book. Not only will it heat you up hotter than the summer sun, but it will make you laugh-out-loud! What I liked about this book besides the humor, steam, and compelling story was the sex-positive writing, the intimacy, and the sex-worker storyline. I love the message of women seeking, finding, and expecting pleasure from their lovers. This needs to be in more books! It is one that is overlooked and detrimental to relationships. Last, I adored the characters, especially Josh. He was so damn sweet and sexy but flawed enough to feel real. Another aspect I enjoyed was the opposites attract theme (it's another one of my favorites), and it doesn't get more opposite than an adult entertainer and blue blood under her parent's thumb.
'Laugh-out-loud funny, bananas sexy, and deeply romantic' Andie J. Christopher
'This book IS PURE JOY' Christina Lauren
Clara Wheaton is the consummate good girl: over-achieving, well-mannered, utterly predictable. When her childhood crush invites her to move across the country, the offer is too good to resist. Unfortunately, it's also too good to be true.
Suddenly, Clara finds herself sharing a house with a charming stranger. Josh might be a bit too perceptive - not to mention handsome - for comfort, but there's a good chance he and Clara could have survived sharing a summer sublet if she hadn't looked him…
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…
I am a romance writer. I've written four contemporary romances with heat, heart, and humor and have a new series coming out in early 2023. I'm also an avid reader of romance—all genres from rom-com to historical to paranormal. I've been reading them since college and have devoured thousands of romance stories since my loved bloomed for them. I'm a firm believer I need to read stories to be able to write them—or maybe it's just an excuse to read more fantastic books and claim it's part of my writing process. Lol. Either way, it has allowed me to recommend romance stories to you with pleasure and ease.
This is a book that you’ll love to read pool or beachside. Just bring lots of sunscreen as this story is hard to put down. I adore the characters; Jo and Micah were fun and interesting, but so were the secondary characters. I’m also a fan of books dealing with serious issues. This one touched on type 1 diabetes, multi-cultural upbringing, and transgender identity. Marlowe manages to keep it light and even funny while never losing sight of these important topics. Oh, and it had rock stars in it, always a treat for me!
In this irresistible new novel by Mary Ann Marlowe, one woman's up-close and sexy encounter with a tabloid sensation reveals the dizzying--and delicious--dilemma of dating in the spotlight . . .
Celebrities hold zero interest for photographer Jo Wilder. That's a problem, since snapping pics of the stars is how the pretty paparazza pays the rent. So when Jo attempts to catch a money shot atop the broad shoulders of a helpful bystander, the only thing she notices about the stranger she straddles is that he's seriously hot. Only later does Jo learn that he's also Micah Sinclair--one of rock's…
This book takes place in Baltimore, which always fascinates me (I lived there for a couple of decades).
There’s a fan (a father, who’s a music teacher), a kid (his son, who wants his dad to be happy), and a female rockstar (the drummer from the music teacher’s favorite band) who’s been in hiding for decades. Of course, they all come together (what more could you want?!).
In the end, this is the sweetest love story I’ve read in years.
When a single dad meets the former rock-star crush of his youth, everything they thought they knew about happiness and love is thrown into chaos in this hopeful, heartwarming romantic comedy.
“Bound to charm readers from page one . . . You’ll root for everyone in this sweet love story.”—Elissa Sussman, bestselling author of Funny You Should Ask
Billy Perkins is happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves his job as an independent music teacher and his apartment in Baltimore above a record shop called Charm City Rocks. Most of all, he loves his brainy teenage son, Caleb.
Whenever I think of my favorite book boyfriends, Krit in Bad for You is always number one. I don’t know why he struck a chord with me, but he did. Maybe it’s because he’s in a band, maybe it’s because he’s funny and chaotic, maybe it's because he seems a little lost. But mostly, I think it’s because he loves Blythe so much that he becomes a better man for her.
The notorious rock ’n’ roll star from Misbehaving might just make some beautiful music with his sweet new downstairs neighbor in this sultry installment in the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling Sea Breeze series from Abbi Glines.
Addiction is part of Krit Corbin’s nature, and women are his favorite obsession. But that’s the life of a lead singer in a band. He can have any woman he wants—anywhere, anytime.
Blythe Denton is used to being alone. The minister’s family who raised her never accepted her, and they made it clear how unworthy she was of love. So when…
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…
Kylie Scott has an infallible ability to make me laugh out loud. Her heroines are always top-notch, complicated, realistic, amazing women, and the heroes are always their perfect match.
In the Stage Dive series, all of the men are memorable and swoon-worthy. But Mal is in a whole other category. He’s random, goofy, sometimes bizarre, and obsessed with his love interest. He's the type of character readers fall in love with within only a few chapters–at least, I did.
Kylie Scott returns with the highly anticipated follow-up to international bestseller LICK Mal Ericson, drummer for the world famous rock band Stage Dive, needs to clean up his image fast―at least for a little while. Having a good girl on his arm should do the job just fine. Mal doesn't plan on this temporary fix becoming permanent, but he didn't count on finding the one right girl. Anne Rollins never thought she'd ever meet the rock god who plastered her teenage bedroom walls―especially not under these circumstances. Anne has money problems. Big ones. But being paid to play the pretend…
There’s something deeply alluring about the glamour of fame, even if it’s not all as shiny when you look closer. My first celebrity crush was on Jason Donovan—I’m guessing that some of my fellow British Gen Xers might relate! In my arguably more mature 30s, I developed an interest in a show slightly more critically acclaimed than the Australian soap Jason had come to prominence in, and it ended up changing my life in ways I could never have predicted. I’m a passionate person, and those passions have shaped me, which I think is why I love tales of celebrity crushes.
This novel utterly gripped me, and when I finished it, I wrote an eight-word review: “I think this book might actually be perfect.” It’s got everything I could ever want in a story: beautiful writing, sizzling scenes, glamorous locations, and an emotionally resonant exploration of themes like age, fame, and motherhood, as well as, of course, love.
I’ve long since lost count of the number of times I’ve recommended it to people who are looking for a book they won’t be able to put down.
When Solene Marchand, the thirty-nine-year-old owner of a prestigious art gallery in Los Angeles, takes her daughter, Isabelle, to meet her favourite boy band, she does so reluctantly and at her ex-husband's request. The last thing she expects is to make a connection with one of the members of the world-famous August Moon. But Hayes Campbell is clever, winning, confident, and posh, and the attraction is immediate. That he is all of twenty years old further complicates things. What begins as a series of clandestine trysts quickly evolves into a passionate relationship. It is a journey that spans continents as…
I have always loved getting lost in the literary world of romance and happily ever afters. Family, friends, large casts of characters, laugh-out-loud situations, and sexy thrills—the more the better. After years in the corporate world, I found my passion for writing romance. I have over 18 books published, several Best Seller banners, and am currently finishing the next book in the Men of Action series.
There is so much to say about this book. This is absolutely not your typical rockstar romance. River Wilde is so much greater than that. The connection between River and Dahlia is instant, but untimely. Connected took me on a wild ride and skyrocketed to my favorites. Not to mention, after devouring it, I messaged the author for her permission to have River as a cameo in my series.
What if a “Once in a Lifetime” could happen twice?
In Dahlia London’s world, happily ever after is a far cry from reality. Her soul has been left completely shattered by tragedy. But a surprising reunion with someone from her past is about to give her a reason to love again…
When rock star River Wilde comes back into Dahlia’s life, their super-charged connection runs deeper than either of them ever expected. The more time they spend together, the more intense their relationship becomes, and Dahlia believes at last she has found her soul mate.
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’ve been an artist all my life. In childhood, I was always drawing and after graduating from university I became an illustrator doing hundreds of drawings for major newspapers and publishers in the United States for over 25 years. It was my mission, no matter what was going on in the world, to find some humor and lightness to share through my drawings. About 15 years ago, I also began to teach drawing to adults and was amazed to discover that everyone can draw. When I saw how people seemed to become happier and bolder making art I became passionate about sharing how we can grow our creativity by developing an art practice. It makes for a beautiful life and quite possibly a more beautiful world.
While Nick Cave is primarily a musician/songwriter, this book is a visual record of Cave’s creative journey filled with his early sketchbooks, photos, drawings, and typewritten song lyrics annotated by hand. Many of us artists work in sketchbooks where we can feel free to be messy and exploratory and pour our hearts onto the page. Some of us need words as well as images to explore the world around us, decipher our feelings and uncover our work. I love musing over Nick’s here—so messy and wild to begin and a little more ordered as he ages as one might expect. The book is filled with photos of different parts of his life, drawings and doodles, tight handwritten scripts and taped over typewritten lyrics gone yellow with age. It’s a compendium of a wonderful artist’s creative process. A real joy to sit down with and muse over.
Stranger Than Kindness is a journey in images and words into the creative world of musician, storyteller and cultural icon Nick Cave.
This highly collectable book invites the reader into the innermost core of the creative process and paves the way for an entirely new and intimate meeting with the artist, presenting Cave's life, work and inspiration and exploring his many real and imagined universes. It features full colour reproductions of original artwork, handwritten lyrics, photographs and collected personal artefacts along with commentary and meditations from Nick Cave, Janine Barrand and Darcey Steinke.
