89 Books Like The Key to Happily Ever After

At the time of writing, this is the last book I read, in the couple of weeks before the 80th anniversary of VE Day. Powerful is the only way to describe it.

I think it’s the ordinariness of the characters, particularly the main protagonists, that makes it so powerful. None of them had any training or expertise that would have helped them to ‘fight’ back, to resist; they are just ordinary people doing extraordinary things, which is what happened during the Second World War, particularly in occupied France.

It’s a reminder that we should never forget our history—even when it isn’t very palatable—and hope that one day we might start to learn from it.

This novel is an immersive read with heaps of empathy for all its characters but especially for the two sisters whose perspectives are at the center of the story: the twin who disappears to live a secret life, passing as white, and the twin left behind.

We don’t get the perspective of Stella, the vanished twin, until 14 years after her disappearance, 150 pages into the book. By then, I was fully absorbed in the grief and unanswered questions of the people she’d abandoned, eager to finally know where she’d been all this time and to understand her complex motivations and the emotional and mental toll of relinquishing—and hiding—her racial identity, her community, her sister, and her past. I picked this book up and didn’t put it down until it was done.

Give me a mystery with a fast-paced narrative and an interesting hero or heroine, and I’m hooked. This mystery, the first in a series, ticks all the boxes. When Maddie, an autistic dog handler and rumored animal psychic, discovers a dead body, she tells one reporter, "The crows told me where to look.” With that line, the book takes off down a path with many twists and turns. I fell in love with Maddie, the quirky and courageous heroine, but what resonated with me most, as one of five sisters, is the relationship between Maddie and her big sister Kenzie. The two are tight. Kenzie sees it as her role to nurture and corral Maddie in equal measures, forever trying and often failing to get her to act “normal.” Maddie chafes under her guidance but adores her. The strong and often complicated bond between sisters is vividly depicted here. I… show more.

You know a book is really good when you reread it. I read this one twice. When 16-year-old Ruby is sent to live with her married older sister Cora after their mother vanishes, she doesn’t know what to expect. She’s neither seen nor heard from Cora since Cora went away to college years earlier. As they fumble their way toward becoming reacquainted, the two sisters discover they’re more alike than they realized. While Ruby is falling for the boy next door, she’s learning to love and depend on the sister she didn’t know. This is a book you’ll want to recommend to your sister or sisters if you have one or more. I did, and my sister Karen loved it too.    

My husband is a native Bostonian, so when I discovered this novel takes place in the historic Back Bay neighborhood of the city, I was immediately intrigued.

The story follows Meena Dave, an orphan who has inherited an apartment from a woman she has never met. As she attempts to figure out their connection, she forms an unexpected friendship with a trio of meddling aunties who also live in the building and have been in each other’s lives since birth.

Through these women, Meena learns not just of her past, but of the importance of community, culture, and the sacrifices of sisterhood. 

This novel shows us how the sisters in our lives aren’t always connected by blood. That sometimes, our chosen sisters are the ones who carry us through life’s difficult moments.

Malek, Kees, and Jenna have been lifelong friends, but when a single argument threatens to pull them apart, can they find their way back to one another? Alternating between each woman’s story, the novel explores deeper themes of love, family, and faith while also shedding light on both the strengths and fragility of female relationships.

This is such a tender, funny, and honest portrait of three sisters fulfilling their mother's final wish.

I love how the pilgrimage to India becomes a mirror for each woman's private disappointments, loyalties, and quiet strengths. It captures the messiness of sibling dynamics and the complicated afterlife of a mother's expectations.

This year is a pivotal one for Mrs. Mai Nguyen.

According to her psychic, there will be one pregnancy, one funeral, and one marriage. But unless she repairs her relationships with her estranged sisters and daughters, there’s a chance she could lose it all.

This is a story not just of sisters, but of mothers and daughters, and the inexplicable bonds between generations of women who are ready to fight with and for each other. Humorous and heartwarming, this book was a rollercoaster of emotions that kept me laughing, crying, and cheering for these women all the way until the end. 

I loved this book for its blend of suspense, family dynamics, and coming-of-age. Set in 1970s Atlantic City, we meet 13-year-old Joey Goodman, who spends the summer at his family’s hotel on the boardwalk. When he gets caught up with a group of mobsters, Joey faces new challenges and temptations that test his morals and courage.

Nockowitz beautifully captures Joey’s struggle between loyalty to his family and the allure of adventure and independence. He portrays the competing values of family and self-determination, all focused around Ski-Ball as a central metaphor. The novel’s historical setting is vividly brought to life, making Joey’s journey feel like a trip in time—to a nostalgic yesteryear many young readers won’t know but soon will fall in love with.

That’s right—Charles Dickens! I laughed, I cried, I stomped my feet.

I’ve been in a Dickens reading group since the pandemic and am constantly amazed by how funny he is. His scenes are so colorful and alive that they play like brilliant movies in your brain. In other works, Dickens has some saccharine father-daughter pairs who can induce an eye roll, but in this book his bone-chilling father made me sit up. 

The icy-hearted Paul Dombey dotes on his sweet but feeble young son while completely ignoring his adorable and kind little daughter, who barely gets any scraps of his affection. We daughters read on, waiting for the Scrooge-like Dombey to learn his lesson over the course of the novel. Don’t ignore your daughters, dammit!—Oh, did I say that aloud?