Here are 71 books that The Sweetest Oblivion fans have personally recommended if you like
The Sweetest Oblivion.
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As a woman who comes from a culture that normalizes arranged/forced marriages, turning it into a more delicious fantasy in books rather than a bitter harsh reality has become an obsession of mine. Now, as I’ve written an entire series in the trope, I read and enjoy many by other awesome authors, too. I hope you enjoy the books on the list as much as I have.
Sparrow was the first book I’ve read (and liked) in the arranged/forced marriage trope. It’s what got me hooked on the trope and inspired me to write my own. Set in Boston, with Troy, a thirsty-for-revenge, morally gray Irish mafia boss that bows to no one…except for the one woman he thought he hated.
Troy Brennan Every Southie in Boston knows that name. The son of a dead mobster. The heart-throb with steel-blue eyes. "The Fixer" who can make or break you in this city. Oh, and my new husband. Sparrow Raynes That's me. No one seemed to remember my name up until he barged into my life. But then he caged me. Kidnapped me. And killed every chance I had to run away from the place where we grew up. Put simply, Troy Brennan clipped my wings. I have dreams, big ones, but I doubt he'll ever let me chase them. I have…
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…
As a woman who comes from a culture that normalizes arranged/forced marriages, turning it into a more delicious fantasy in books rather than a bitter harsh reality has become an obsession of mine. Now, as I’ve written an entire series in the trope, I read and enjoy many by other awesome authors, too. I hope you enjoy the books on the list as much as I have.
Who doesn’t love a good enemies-to-lovers book or hate to love antiheroes? Not to mention the steam! Killian Spencer and Julianna Romano were arranged to be married by their fathers. He was supposed to marry Julianna's sister, but she died in a tragic car accident. Killian was so heartbroken that he vowed to destroy the woman who caused her death in any way possible. A Vow of Hate hits home not only because of the angry heat between Killian and Julianna but also the emotional damage and scars the two are carrying. I couldn’t wait to see how a vow of hate could be turned into a vow of love.
“Once upon a time…”Hate consumed him.Love wrecked me.That night changed both our lives, turning our beginning into something toxic. We were poison together and there was no antidote.Our story began like any other fairy tale ended.With a beautiful wedding.One kiss.Two rings.Three vows.Killian Spencer became my lawfully wedded husband and I, his dutiful wife.But he was no Prince Charming. He didn’t come to save me… and he vowed there would be no happily ever after.And me?Just like the legends I'd read as a little girl, I always thought I’d be the princess in my fairy tale.Well, I was the villain of…
I’ve loved the blend of drama and romance that mafia romance brings ever since I read my first one. It’s the larger-than-life heroes: rich, powerful, morally gray but ultimately human and flawed, that draw me in. But it’s the heroines who act as these men’s sweet kryptonite that keep me reading. I’m also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling romantic suspense author, including the mafia romantic suspenses The Double, Lying and Kissing, Kissing My Killer, and Kissing The Enemy.
This is the mafia romance that upended all my beliefs about what the genre could be. I vividly remember opening this book for the very first time, reading the prologue and the first few pages, and saying out loud, “Oh!” And then settling into the chair because I’d realized I wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.
Yes, there’s a great hero and heroine, yes, there’s heat, but what I love about this book is the mystery. I just had so many questions and they were the right sort of questions: I was intrigued, not bewildered. I just wanted to sink into the book until I’d devoured every page, which is exactly what I did.
The most notorious man in the city offers me a job. Act as his dead wife. Adrian Volkov isn’t the type of person who takes no for an answer. He commands with an iron fist and all his orders are met. When he approaches me with the offer, I have two options. Go to prison or put myself under his wrath. I choose to have a roof over my head. What’s so hard about acting, right? Wrong. The moment I step into his wife’s shoes, everything spirals out of control. My only way of survival is…
Trapped in our world, the fae are dying from drugs, contaminants, and hopelessness. Kicked out of the dark fae court for tainting his body and magic, Riasg only wants one thing: to die a bit faster. It’s already the end of his world, after all.
As a woman who comes from a culture that normalizes arranged/forced marriages, turning it into a more delicious fantasy in books rather than a bitter harsh reality has become an obsession of mine. Now, as I’ve written an entire series in the trope, I read and enjoy many by other awesome authors, too. I hope you enjoy the books on the list as much as I have.
It’s amazing to see a new author soar high like this. I loved the darkness of this book, the viciousness of the antihero, the taboo, and, of course, the high steam dosage. Promises and Pomegranates is a Hades and Persephone modern retelling turned into a sizzling forced marriage mafia romance worthy of your time.
I've always loved reading romance, and something about those jealous, possessive, alpha males just always got my heart racing. I love a hero who's all in from the get-go and will do anything for the woman he loves. He knows what he wants and goes after it. I also get how crazy busy we can be. I don't know about you, but I don't always have time to sit down and read a super long novel. Insta-love romances are short and spicy and don't take more than an hour or two to read. You can count on my insta-love stories to be filled with heat, passion, and happily ever afters.
This is insta-love at its finest. It's a modern-day fairytale with an arranged marriage. King Roman is looking for a princess to make his queen, and all he needs is just a picture of sweet Alena to know that he wants her to be his princess. He's completely obsessed with her right from the jump and can't even wait until their wedding night to get some time with her, even going so far as to sneak into her bedroom at night to see her. I loved the way he was so cold and impenetrable to the outside world, yet he totally melted for his princess.
The Princess bundle includes the entire Princess Series with a BRAND NEW BONUS story at the end.
It's crowns galore as we give you all the brooding kings your heart can hold. Climb on your throne and adjust your tiara… we've got cherries to pop and heirs to make.
I’m a fantasy romance author with a love of creating real, in-depth characters with agency. To me, that’s the very definition of a “kick-ass” heroine. It doesn’t matter how she’s kick-ass (e.g., loud/vocal vs. quiet and cunning; the one charging ahead of the army or the one strategizing the attack), just that she’s in control of her own destiny. It’s important for me to have my characters feel like actual people, facing real decisions and the consequences of said decisions, and then I want those characters to have onus and show off their true bad-assery.
Listen, I’m not sure there’s a more kick-ass heroine out there than Isolde.
She’s thrust into a situation she had no intention of being in, and she still rules the world (figuratively? Literally? Read and find out.). She is in charge—of her body, her mind, her wants, everything. She takes what she wants without worrying about what others think of her, and the way she interacts with Adrian is *chef’s kiss.*
This one has a lot of spice and sex positivity, and I love that. 11/10 recommend.
An instant USA Today bestseller! From fan-favorite Scarlett St. Clair, the bestselling author of the Hades & Persephone series, comes a new fantasy filled with danger, darkness, and insatiable romance.
Their union is his revenge.
Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day to be her death day. To end a years-long war, she is to marry vampire king Adrian Aleksandr Vasiliev, and kill him.
But her assassination attempt is thwarted, and Adrian threatens that if Isolde tries to kill him again, he will raise her as the undead. Faced with the possibility of becoming the thing she hates most, Isolde…
Everyday Medical Miracles
by
Joseph S. Sanfilippo (editor),
Frontiers of Women from the healthcare perspective. A compilation of 60 true short stories written by an extensive array of healthcare providers, physicians, and advanced practice providers.
All designed to give you, the reader, a glimpse into the day-to-day activities of all of us who provide your health care. Come…
I am a voracious reader who loves to escape my hectic busy life with a good book when I don’t have the opportunity to do so in person. I’m a sucker for a good love story with a little angst and mystery. I read all genres but sexy romantic thrillers are my absolute favorite. I love them so much I started writing my own sexy stories in this genre. It has become my passion. I currently have three published books, Mr. Black, Mr. Stone, and Mr. Bennett, books one, two, and three of A Black Stone Series. My fourth book, Luke, the first book in my new Cross Security series is scheduled for release later this year.
Bad Blood is edgy, fast-paced, and thoroughly entertaining. Cora Kenborn and Catherine Wiltcher create pure magic together, giving readers two characters whose hate-fueled lust heats up the pages while war and dissent brews around them. It’s a well-balanced storyline that flows perfectly. The romance and mafia elements played really well against each other. There was humor and action and fantastically written dialogue.
From Cora Kenborn and Catherine Wiltcher comes Corrupt Gods, a brand new arranged marriage mafia duet.
A Santiago is a lesson in ruin. A Carrera bleeds for revenge.
Thalia Santiago is the daughter of my enemy. A beautiful rebel with a single cause. Impulsive. Fearless. And ripe for her father’s undoing.
I recognized her the moment she stepped into my casino. I watched her start the fires that burned her pretty fingers, and then I poured gasoline on the flames. Now she’s in my debt, and her dues are a shiny gold ring and a vow of deception.
I firmly believe that everyone, especially teenage girls, should own their right to pick and choose. Life guarantees you’ll run across the opportunity to make “bad” decisions, but these are so much more fun to read about than a path that’s straight and narrow. Cultivating radical empathy for my fellow humans, even those I don’t agree with, is a passion that makes me a kinder person and a more nuanced writer. Plus, I like shouting at books as much as the next reader. It makes my cats come running, which makes them tired, which makes them sit and cuddle. Diabolical, indeed.
In this atmospheric Portuguese historical fantasy, Princess Yzabel’s got a serious problem: Her country is plagued by famine and she can’t stop wasting food. Why? Every bite turns to flowers in her mouth. She’s crumbling under a mountain of royal pressures. What sets her apart from the “unlikeable” natures of the others on this list is that her niceness, not her dark side, is what landed her here. Decision paralysis and Pinguicha’s exploration of being “good” to a fault make Yzabel a girl worth getting to know.
17-year-old Yzabel of Aragon is engaged to the young King of Portugal, and under her touch, food turns into flowers.
With the populace starving, and barely surviving herself, Yzabel doesn't only need to end her curse - she must reverse it somehow. Turn flowers into food. Desperate, she sets to find Fatyan, an immortal rumored to live nearby, but she is imprisoned by an old enchantment. So they must strike a bargain: Fatyan will teach Yzabel how to master her magic, and Yzabel making a deal with Fatyan will release the magical bonds holding her captive.
I am a French-American writer with a passion for young adult stories and flawed female characters. Born and raised in France in a household without a TV, I spent my entire childhood reading avidly, which in turn led me to study Literature and Film. In fact, most of my life, I have been inspired by novels that offer windows into new worlds that open up possibilities. Some of the novels from the list below feature some of my favorite characters, and provide insights into other worlds and other times.
Beneath her shabby scarf and thick glasses, Ophelia hides singular gifts: she can read the past of objects, and walk through mirrors, into other worlds.
Unexpectedly betrothed to an icy foreigner, Thorn, Ophelia is torn from her peaceful home and must learn to survive in a new place, cold and cruel. She quickly comes to realize that she is at the center of a conspiracy that could threaten the entire universe.
This fantasy novel is richly layered and incredibly gripping. But while the plot and world are brilliantly crafted, what truly stuck with me is the “will they, won’t they” love story at its core, so emotional you won’t be able to put the book down.
One of Entertainment Weekly's 10 Best YA Books of 2018
One of Publishers Weekly's Best YA Book of the Year
A National Indie Bestseller
Longlisted for Irish YA prize Great Reads Award
Lose yourself in the fantastic world of the arks and in the company of unforgettable characters in this French runaway hit, Christelle Dabos’ The Mirror Visitor quartet.
Plain-spoken, headstrong Ophelia cares little about appearances. Her ability to read the past of objects is unmatched in all of Anima and, what’s more, she possesses the ability to travel through mirrors, a skill passed…
Karl's War is a coming-of-age-meets-thriller set in Germany on the eve of Hitler coming to power. Karl – a reluctant poster boy for the Nazis – meets Jewish Ben and his world is up-turned.
Ben and his family flee to France. Karl joins the German army but deserts and finds…
I grew up in a large family and was often forgotten since I wasn’t the loud and rebellious child, but I was often pushed over because I wouldn’t stand up for myself in fear of anger. My only escape was walking the seven blocks to my local library and reading about heroic deeds, beautiful ladies falling in love with the dashing prince, and wishing I could be brave like the characters in my books. In my late teens, I realized there’s more to a person than physical strength.
Romance isn’t always fireworks. I loved this book for two reasons: a sweet contemporary royal romance and Shelby. Her character was so kind and lovely that I kept hoping her arranged marriage to Nikolai would turn into one of love.
Spoilers, it does. I love happily ever after. The biggest highlight I can make regarding Shelby’s character is her silent strength and faith. She agrees to marry a prince who is still grieving the loss of his first wife and clearly doesn’t love her, but by the end, she falls in love with him, and he is with her.
In the Land of Pendaran, Shelby Parker lives a humble but good life. Her special qualities are eventually noticed by the king and queen of the House of Markham, who seek a new wife for their widowed son, Prince Nikolai.
To uphold the tradition of their country, Shelby and Nikolai agree to an arranged marriage. But while Nikolai is a perfect gentleman in public, he remains distant at home, leaving Shelby to wonder what is in his heart. Will the prince ever love her as he did his first wife? Can the faith they…
