65 Books Like Ugly Ducklings Finish First

This story was a funny, sexy romance and I loved the slow-burn as Ian falls for a woman, Blake, who is off-limits for a number of reasons. I also really loved the banter between the characters. Maybe it’s because I’m a speech pathologist, but I absolutely love dialogue in the books I read. I think it quickens the pace of the book and can reveal so much about the characters.

Although the plot was fairly simple, this book was so much fun, and it ticked all the boxes for me! 

Eloisa James has long been one of my favourite authors, and I love her witty stories in the Regency romance genre, as well as her friends-to-lovers and second-chance tropes in this story. 

The hero, James, had always cared about the heroine, Theodora, who is known in London society as The Ugly Duchess. She wasn’t ugly–just “mannish” and dressed by her mother in a way that didn’t capitalize on her looks.

I liked the fact that she grew in herself and that her transition wasn’t instant. I also loved that James didn’t fall in love with her simply because of her looks but because of her capabilities and her growth in personal confidence.  

Cinderella was probably the first romance I ever encountered where a makeover took place, but the second most memorable from my youth was definitely this story.

Mia’s journey to the throne in Genovia is such a roller coaster. Resistant to the initial plan, I love Mia’s growth, and I adore her personality. A bit of a misfit with geeky looks (prior to the makeover, of course!), I love how engaging her character is, and I love the uplifting laugh-out-loud moments that leave me with a light, feel-good vibe.

I also love that she ends up falling for someone who’s been a constant support in her life and who knows and loves Mia for herself rather than her royal title.

The heroine in this story, Lace, has been through bullying hell as a kid–both for her overweight appearance and when a letter she wrote to Cupid about her crush on football star Pierce was made public.

Sadly, there’s so much bullying in the world today, and Lace felt very real to me. She’s sassy and smart, which is a quality that’s very important to me. She’s loyal to her friends and very devoted to her family. Her defensiveness after all she’d been through hid deep pain, and being a romance author, I want everyone to have a HEA ending!

I enjoyed reading her journey to that HEA and I loved that Pierce didn’t give up on her no matter how hard she pushed him away.

I connected strongly to this book because the protagonist has experienced abandonment and must rebuild her life from the ashes, learning to trust adults to care for her and allow her a childhood rather than expecting her to be a miniature adult. Equally striking is the power of a secret, and how its revelation changes everything. In addition, through reading If You Find Me, I learned a way of using punctuation that creates tension and immediacy.

This forced proximity, opposites attract romance has always been a favorite of mine.

I read it when I was in high school, and it’s one that I always come back to. It’s the kind of book that inspired me to start writing and made me want to continue to write romance. The plotline will leave you smiling at the pages throughout the characters' banter and strengthening relationship with the kids they’re forced to babysit for a summer job.

Some books keep you up all night, grab you by the throat, and don’t let go until the last page. This book is one. This heart-pounding, fast-paced page-turner holds nothing back and inserts readers face-first into the heart-wrenching reality of parental abuse and neglect. 

I love how this dark coming-of-age tale is woven with threads of teenage angst and dysfunctional relationships. My heart broke for the teenager thrust into an impossible situation who must make life-changing decisions based on nothing more than her instincts.

It should be required reading for every high school student as a lesson on what it means to take responsibility for one’s self by facing one’s challenges rather than looking away. 

Feminist theorist Dale Spender wrote, in Women of Ideas and What Men Have Done to Them, “We need to know how women disappear….”  Although she spoke of women who disappear from the historical record, all too many women seem to disappear from any sort of public life as soon as they leave high school: so many shine there, but once they graduate, they become invisible. What happens?  

Marriage and kids is an inadequate answer because married-with-kids straight-A boys are visible.  Everywhere. Even the straight-B boys are out there. So what happens?

This is what happens.

We’ve always had a soft spot for a broken bad boy and this book creates an amazing example of that in Dean. A former marine who grew up in a foster home, he’s completely unaware of the secret crush his best friend’s younger sister, Holly has harbored on him for years. When circumstances allow them to explore that crush, things go from secret to oh-so hot and we were so on board for it. We loved watching Dean finally start to feel like someone saw and understood him and even when tragedy strikes, Holly never gives up on him. The final scenes were freaking adorable…there’s nothing better than a bad boy who is all in with his girl!

I love all of Stephanie Laurens’ books about historical London and high society during the Regency period or “the ton”, as it was called. The Bar Cynster series doesn’t disappoint. These books are fun to read and in keeping with the true romance books of boy meets girl themes and girl tames the cagy, self-proclaimed bachelor. Each book deals with a different brother or cousin in the Cynster dynasty and a specific event around their daily lives. The reader gets a sense of current events and the lifestyle of the rich during this period and how money and power can evade or remove any adverse effects on the family. 

There are six books in this series and I highly recommend reading all six. They are fun, light-hearted, and easy to read. I even like their nicknames of “scandal”, “rake”, and “devil”. It makes them seem like the bad boys of… show more.