100 Books Like The One Who Stays

I love this book because it brings two lost souls together for the trip of a lifetime. The heroine, Anna, is an emotional wreck, struggling to move on from the death of her fiance. The hero, Keane, is a steady guy recovering from a major accident. Anna needs a sailing partner for her trip around the Caribbean, and Keane is the perfect man for the job.

I’m a sucker for messy, imperfect heroines like Anna. Trish Doller delivers relatable characters in a charming page-turner of a romance. I love the island-hopping journey, Keane’s Irish accent, and all of Anna’s missteps as she navigates a sea change. 

This is the OG of island romance. It’s also controversial due to the age difference between the characters. Anna (30F) and TJ (16M) get stranded on a deserted island together after their plane crashes in the Indian Ocean. Over the next three years, they stay alive against all odds and develop an unbreakable bond. Although TJ is enamored with Anna from the start, she doesn’t return his feelings or even see him as a man until he turns 19. By then, he’d become a strong survivor and an essential life partner.

I’m not a big fan of age-gap romance, but Graves makes it work without making it weird. This is an extraordinary story with grit and heart. I got totally swept away.

I love a story about a misbehaving lady! Graciela Rodriguez is a headstrong heiress who causes a stir in her seaside town in the Spanish Caribbean. She’s on a mission to avoid matrimony by ruining her reputation. Her uptight, do-right bodyguard, Vicente, attempts to keep her out of trouble–without success.

San Andres brings the story to life with vivid descriptions and scandalous situations. The way the characters move, dress, and speak is a reflection of their clashing personalities. I appreciated the unique time period and gorgeous setting details of this lush, romantic novella.

Have you heard about the “grumpy/sunshine” trend? My next book has this popular trope and more—a jilted heroine, a jaded hero, cute banter, and sunny beach vibes.

Eden and Philip are strangers on solo vacations, both nursing broken hearts, when they meet-cute at a tiki bar. Eden’s warm personality melts Philip’s cool reserve, and they tumble into a steamy island affair. I like the way gruff workaholic Philip rolls up his sleeves to give Eden the holiday she deserves. Love is always the best revenge. 

I expected great things from this wonderful writer and was not disappointed. This was my first-ever split-time novel, and I was hesitant to pick it up because historical fiction isn’t my favorite genre. But this beautiful tale of love, duty, honor, devotion, and second chances seamlessly wove together two remarkable love stories—one present day, one Civil-War era—in a lovely, lyrical tapestry that tugged at my heartstrings. And as you can see from my list, it opened me up to other stories that use the split-time technique to tell generational stories.

This book sparked my love for Carian Cole's books, and I've one clicked on her books ever since.

This age-gap romance between Toren and Kenzi happened organically, and I loved watching their platonic love morph into romantic love. Tor’s pet name for Kenzi was Angel, which was fitting for the kind-hearted, strong heroine.

I think what most impacted me about the nickname was how it transformed throughout the book. At first, Angel was just a sweet endearment, but it matured as Kenzi did. Every time she worried about animals or showed concern for her dad, the nickname felt more and more fitting. 

This book is the most fun I’ve ever had reading a romantic comedy—and I’ve read a lot of them! As the title suggests, a lot of this story is told through correspondence between our main couple, and while many authors strive for banter that is funny and flirty, these letters actually were—which is not easy to do!

I had an absolute blast watching Teddy and Everett get to know each other in the midst of a well-formed plot about building a life around what is truly important to you.

I loved the uniqueness of this book, centred around the novelty of email in 1999. I love the idea of a nerdy guy whose job it is to read other folks' emails as he struggles with young adulthood approaching the dreaded Y2K. I loved how his POV is beautifully interspersed with cute epistolary exchanges.

This book was THE book that made me want to write a marriage in trouble.

It features characters to absolutely hate in the first few chapters, but then they turn it around and become lovable by the end of the book. I love the idea of a married couple (or engaged one) sleeping in separate rooms because of their distance and then they slowly move back into the same room.

This book also features a terrible mom who gets owned by her kid who’s finally had enough of them, which is always my favorite part of any book. This is a novel to get hooked on, and the ending scene where she finds their wedding invitations in the trash had my jaw on the FLOOR!

This is really terrible–if highly moreish–stuff: a thin, junky, first-drafty picaresque. But it formed the basis of a film starring Jackie’s sister, Joan. The film even had a tie-in aftershave (heavy on the ginseng), promising all kinds of advantages for the wearer. The film and the book both try to suggest a deluxe, upmarket, classy melding of disco culture with the post-permissive society sexual freedoms now available to the 1970s bachelor and (as an ill-informed nod to feminism) the businesswoman.

This imagined milieu was a million miles from the sleazy, criminal experience of London’s Soho, which had traditionally been where all this erotic access was clustered. The aspiration was shared by Paul Raymond, who worked to translate the risqué stage shows of the 1960s (think pre-fame Christine Keeler) to more contemporary fare for the proto-Thatcherite managerial class, keen to see what secular society had to offer them and their new… show more.