We’ve all been there… you read an AWESOME, amazing book and then everything you try to read after it just can’t compare… and you’re stuck wanting to read a book, sometimes by authors you know you like, or wanting to read anything but you just can’t. Here are 10 books I try to read to get me back into my book flow.
- Becoming a Vincent (Wild Ones #1) by C.M. Owens
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Setting: Tomahawk, WA.
I found C.M. Owens earlier this year and MAN can this woman write. Everything from paranormal, to romantic comedies, she is amazing. The Wild Ones Series is like nothing I’ve read before. The antics the Wild Ones pull in Tomahawk make me want to find this place and move there. This is the story of Layla Vincent, Benson Nolans, and beards. Yes, I’m serious, beards. Benson and Layla have been friends for three years. While both feel a certain way for the other, neither is willing to take the risk of losing their friendship, until one night everything changes. Fireworks, crazy brothers pranks, and a water cannon fight ensues. This book is pure hilarity from the Wild Ones Rules at the beginning of each chapter to the challenges the community has. If you’re looking for a pick me up: this series is for you. More books are coming in this series, so keep a look out!
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble.
- When You Dare (Men Who Walk The Edge of Honor #1) by Lori Foster
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Romance
Setting: Kentucky
This definitely has some triggers and the whole series is based off of darker themes. Although I highly recommend this book and the series, please read the description first. Dare Macintosh meets Molly Alexander in the most unusual setting: she was kidnapped by the same sex traffickers that kidnapped his best friend’s little sister. Dare tracked them down and rescued Alani, and the other women that were held there, but Molly didn’t look like the usual suspect. She was beaten and starved. So why was she kidnapped? Dare finds himself helping and protecting Molly. And doing something he was never supposed to do, especially not with a client: fall in love.
Dare and Molly’s story is filled with suspense, crazy people, and love. It is a story with angst, action and adventure, and love that will blow you away. If you’re looking for a dark romance: this is the book for you. Lori Foster always writes amazing novels, but this is my favorite series of hers, and the first book I ever read from her.
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - A Gentle Feuding by Johanna Lindsey
Genre: Historical Romance
Setting: Scotland
Do you remember the first romance novel you read? The one that had *sex* in it? In high school, I read a lot of YA, and a lot of YA romance, but A Gentle Feuding was my first historical romance novel that started my downhill slide into addiction. It is the typical grudge match, starting with a misunderstanding, with some plaid and lots of manly Scottish men in their kilts. It is the story of Sheena, the jewel of the Fergusson tower, and Jamie MacKinnion, a violent man feared by all, and their love blossoming under years of clan duty dictating they hate each other.
Because this was the first historical novel I read, I go back to it often when I need to re-read a book and get me out of a slump. Each time, I fall in love with Sheena and Jamie all over again. Each time, I yell at them both for being stubborn. And each time, I fall back down the rabbit hole that is the romance genre. *enter girlie sigh here*
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - Property of Drex (Death Chasers #1) by C.M. Owens
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Setting: Halo, Texas
This is the second C.M. book on the list because it’s one of my favorites of hers. It’s a motorcycle club book, which ensures there’s death, drugs, guns, and some serious daddy issues. This book ends on a cliff hanger, but the second in the series doesn’t. The first two in the series follow Evie Marks and Drex Caine. Evie’s family is struggling financially since her father’s death so she does the only thing she can think to do, sell herself. She ends up with Drex Caine and the Death Dealers, and she is there permanently. The others don’t trust her, she doesn’t trust her feelings, and there’s dissent within the club. Evie struggles coming to terms with the fact that she loves life in the club, and Drex struggles with someone who once wanted to be a math teacher wanting to stay in the club. This book is inherently darker in it’s nature, but if you’re into the darker themed books, this one is so worth it. The first is even free on Amazon and B&N so download your copy.
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - Born of Night (The League/Nemesis Rising #1) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: Sci-Fi, Romance
Setting: 3000 years in the future.
This was the first sci-fi book I ever read. I was working at a convenience store as a cashier, and a woman I was ringing up had this book with her and recommended it to me. Sherrilyn Kenyon has the amazing ability to interweave her stories together, creating multiple timelines and intricate stories. This is the first in the series, and it blows my mind every time I read it. Every. Time. This is the love story of ex-assassin Nykrian Quiakides and ballerina Kiara Zamir. It is the love story of how they find each other, and how they save each other (although Nyk would argue that Kiara saved him not the other way around.) I never thought I would be into the sci-fi thing, and in many ways I’m still not a big fan, but the universe Sherrilyn creates, and the languages she makes, are stunning. I have read the entire series three times (I think) and I always pre-order the books when they come out. The characters are dynamic, and you end up falling in love with characters you swore you would always hate. It’s truly stunning. Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - The Duke and I (Bridgerton #1) by Julia Quinn
Genre: Historical Romance
Setting: London, England, 1813.
This is the first in the Bridgerton series, and it is one that always warms my heart. Daphne and Simon struggle so much, and not in the typical “I’m a Duke/Duchess and cannot marry you because you’re beneath my station” way. Julia Quinn weaves a story filled with heartache, laughter, and a love that I want for myself. Daphne is an almost-on-the-shelf lady looking for a good husband, and hopefully a love match that her parents had. Simon is a duke looking to avoid marriage at all costs. Daphne is also the little sister of Simon’s best friend.
Daphne and Simon’s love story starts with friendship, a fake courtship, and grows into love. I picked this book up at the library one day, and ever since, when I want to read a historical romance, I go to this book if I have nothing else. It is definitely one of my favorites.
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars #1) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Setting: Chicago, IL.
This is the love story of Phoebe Somerville and Dan Calebow. I don’t know if I can count how many times I have re-read this book. Phoebe is a Marilyn Monroe-type blonde bombshell who uses her good looks to make people think she’s an idiot. (Spoiler: she’s not). Dan Calebow is the coach for the Chicago Stars, a fictitious football team that Phoebe has just inherited from her dead father. Dan’s not happy, Phoebe’s not happy. The two struggle to find a balance, both professionally and personally.
This novel has everything I love: football, women who are in power and ROCK it, men who find intelligence and women in power sexy, and romance. This is a mostly fun novel to read. There are some dark themes in it, which led to Phoebe’s act of the dumb blonde, but it is not so much that it weighs the book down. If you’re looking for some fun with football, you need to check this out.
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake Vampire Hunter #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Horror, Romance
Setting: St. Louis, MO.
If you’re looking for a traditional romance, move along. This is a 25 (26th coming this summer) book series that covers everything from vampire hunting, zombie animator, were-animals, polyamory, and lots and lots of death. There’s also some old school monsters/gods/goddesses in there too. Seriously, it’s a lot. It begins with Anita Blake and her single minded dislike for vampires (with very good reason) and being the Vampire Hunter with the most legal kills in her name, and her coming to terms with love. Love with many, many people. And what love means when it comes to working with the police department. It is one of the most original series I have ever read, and it’s always fun to re-read Guilty Pleasures to see how far Anita has come since she started out 10 years earlier. There’s lots of bloodshed, lots of sex, and lots of paranormal crap explained. Laurell weaves an intricate web, creating an entire world that I so want to live in.
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - Fallen Crest High (Fallen Crest #1) by Tijan
Genre: YA/Contemporary Romance
Setting: Fallen Crest, CA (it’s not a real place but Tijan has confirmed it’s somewhere in Cali).
This series starts with Sam, Mason and Logan all in high school, but as the series continues you see them go to college. Sam’s mom divorces her dad and moves in with Mason and Logan’s father. Both parents put their children through hell, and Sam doesn’t deal with her mother well. Mason and Logan take Sam under their wing, protecting her from her mother and from the other school girls that are infuriated that Sam is living with the Kade brothers (because obviously their star football players and very popular), and that she starts dating Mason (the un-dateable of the two brothers.)
I actually found this series while reading a different book, read the first chapter on Amazon for free, and was hooked. Mason, even in high school, is super protective of Sam and I adore it. Sam finding her way in life as more and more curve balls are thrown at her, while falling in love and gaining a brother, is dramatic, suspenseful, and everything I need when I want a darker, high school novel. Tijan always delivers the emotional punches to the gut in the absolute best way possible.
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble. - #Nerd (Hashtag #1) by Cambria Herbert
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Setting: Maryland
This is your typical nerd girl/popular boy love story. Rimmel and Romeo seem like complete opposites, and they really are, but their love story is one of my favorites. Rimmel is the A+ scholarship student, hiding behind her baggy clothes and big glasses, afraid to make friends; and Romeo is the alpha Quaterback that’s looking to make a name for himself in the NFL. He is popular on campus, and is loved everywhere he goes. The growth of Rimmel and Romeo as individuals and as a couple, both coming to love and accept each other’s faults, is beautiful. When I need a good pick me up, I read this.
It does have some darker themes, with crazy psycho stalkers and dealing with the death of Rim’s mother, but for the most part, it’s not a scary read. And the flow of the novel is perfect. It’s available on Kindle Unlimited so download it now!
Goodreads. Amazon. Barnes and Noble.
Cait's Creatures 