Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert (2019)

LOVED this chick lit about Chloe Brown, chronically ill web designer and grump who sees her life flash before her eyes and decides that she needs a good bucket list. 

"Red" Morgan, her super hot building superintendent, gets inadvertently involved and despite all Chloe's efforts, they embark on her list. Of course, Red has secrets and baggage of his own, primarily his artistic career and heartbreak. 

Beautifully written, with a lovely slow burn and smoking love scenes, this is a lovely romance with rich secondary characters, a beautifully diverse cast, a heroine who is curvy and a super hot but sweet romantic lead. Delightful.

The Other Mother by Carol Goodman (2018)

Interesting but strange novel that I found while researching novels inspired by Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. 

Two women meet in a post-partum support group and form a tight friendship.

Twisty, interesting, much mystery and a mental hospital. Complex and engaging.

The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller (2019)

A scandalous widow in the 19th century buys a house in order to redecorate it and write a book about the process. By the way, the house is haunted and a very sweet scientist with a loving family wants to experiment and solve the mystery. 

BTW, Professor Samuel Moore is the most dreamiest book boyfriend ever. He's a ray of light and my dream date.

I flat out LOVED this book. Diana Biller is definitely on my authors to follow list.

See also the novels of Simone St. James for this blend of spookiness and romance.

Don't You Forget About Me by Mhairi McFarlane (2019)

Really fun but substantial chick lit about a woman who is a bit lost who gets a job as a barmaid for her high school boyfriend. 

Strong, vivid characters abound and the romance itself is a lovely slow burn. 

Really quite good.

Someone Who Will Love You In All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Ben-Waksberg (2019)

LOVED. 

"Here is my impression of a play: Okay, so first you gotta imagine it's a hotel room, right? Just a normal, boring-looking hotel room, on the nice end of things, as far as hotel rooms go. And the audience is coming in, and they're taking their seats in this dinky little theater in lower Manhattan, barely bigger than a Winnebago, this theater, with seats that feel like someone just glued down some thin fabric over a block of hard metal. The main thing of a theater--like the whole point of it--is that there's going to be a lot of sitting in it, so you'd think they would at least consider investing in some comfortable chairs. Word to the wise: if they can't even get that part right, which absolutely most of the time they cannot, then buckle the fuck up, because I can tell you right now you are in for an ordeal of an evening."

I would like to recommend this book to you, friends. Someone Who Will Love You in All Your Damaged Glory by Raphael Bob-Waksberg.

This collection of stories about relationships is absurd and hilarious and live up to their titles. Some of the short stories in this collection include: Missed Connection-M4W, The Serial Monogamist's Guide to Important New York City Landmarks, Lunch with the Person Who Dumped You, and Rufus, which is about a relationship from the point of the dog. And of course, You Want to Know What Plays Are Like. DON'T MISS.

One in a Million by Lindsey Kelk (2018)

Really liked this adorable Brit Chick Lit about Annie, who owns a social media start up with her best friends. She makes a bet with her landlords that she can make someone Instagram famous in 30 days and the random stranger selected is hapless historian Dr. Samuel Page, whose girlfriend has just dumped him. 

In addition to the social media bet, Annie goes about putting Sam through Boyfriend Bootcamp, which includes a makeover, social skills, conversation and getting him into the outside world. The delight of this book is in the charming characters and their very realistic relationships, especially between Annie and her friends and family. And the relationship between Annie and Sam is a lovely slow burn. 

Am definitely checking out more Lindsey Kelk books! And she has a bunch, yay!

Read Bottom Up by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham (2015)

Lovely, unique novel written in email and text from the perspective of two characters meeting and falling in love. And then struggling in the relationship.

Shah wrote Elliot's perspective and Chatham wrote Madeleine's as well as their conversations with their best friends. This lends the novel a unique authenticity and reality.

Charming and very relatable. Unfortunately, the only book written by these two together. :( 

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (2018)

Every time Liane Moriarty comes up, I feel a little glow of having 'discovered' her with her first novel Three Wishes (2004!) Every single novel since then has been a treat.

Rich characterizations and complex relationships in unique situations are Moriarty's stock in trade. This novel is no different and has a particularly unique setting. Nine strangers meet at a health resort. Secrets unfold. Unexpected things happen. AND there's a kickass, menopausal, romance writer heroine called Frances. 

Endearing, absorbing, and so readable.

My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (2018)

“Ayoola summons me with these words—Korede, I killed him. I'd hoped I would never hear those words again."

Fantastic short novel about Korede and her sister Ayoola, the serial killer of the title, who keeps murdering her boyfriends. Korede is left to clean up the messes. When Ayoola starts to date Korede's longtime crush, things get especially complicated and messy. SO readable, engaging, and gripping, and the setting of Lagos is vivid and fascinating. 

Looking forward to Treasure and The Baby Is Mine, out in 2020.

Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco (1973)

Although this haunted (hungry) house story is from 1973, it's not remotely dated (apart from the smoking) and holds up beautifully. A family moves into a beautiful estate home for the summer and the wife becomes obsessed with the home and caring for it, as well as for the old woman who lives there. Meanwhile, things get weirder and weirder for her husband, her child and their aunt. 

Did I mention that it is genuinely creepy? Definitely a great follow-up to The Haunting of Hill House.

One Bloody Thing After Another by Joey Comeau (2010)

Short but spooky novel about Jackie and Ann, two schoolgirls, each with their own issues. 

Although this is a short book, it packs a LOT of spooky tableaus into its few pages. Kind of bananas, but well-told.

Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren (2018)

I so, so love Christina Lauren. Hazel is a kind of wacky woman, who admits that she's way too much. She gets back in touch with her crush years later, Josh, but is really worried that she'll become too much for him as well. So they try and set each other up with other people, which does not work at all. Because they can't deny their attraction and affection! 

Love it. Slow build, but hot love scenes, plus wonderfully rich characters. Heart heart heart.

"The way Emily describes it: when I meet someone I love, I become an octopus and wind my tentacles around their heart, tighter and tighter until they can't deny they love me just the same." (p. 9)

"Dinner parties at my apartment consist of paper plates, boxed win, and the last three minutes before serving featuring me running around like a maniac because I burned the lasagna, insisting I DON'T NEED ANY HELP JUST SIT DOWN AND RELAX."

Half Past by Victoria Helen Stone (2017)

A little mystery, a little romance, I'm really loving Stone's novels. Plus, this one is about a doomsday cult! I love a good doomsday cult story! 

Also, I love that she writes about 45-year-old women who are looking for answers about their lives AND maybe get a little action as well. Really well done.

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone (2018)

Surprisingly readable novel about Jane, a woman who takes a leave of absence from her job to exact revenge against the man who broke up with her best friend, which led to her suicide. She seduces this man and plots her revenge, but the part that kept me reading was Jane's internal monologues diagnosing her own sociopathy. 

Absolutely fascinating. AND, the author is Victoria Dahl, who writes terrific romances that include older, non-traditional heroines. So fun!

Ooh, there's a sequel! Problem Child (2020).

Social Creature by Tara Isabelle Burton (2018)

Eminently readable contemporary novel about Louise, a nearly 30-year-old struggling writer in NYC who meets manic pixie party girl Lavinia, with whom she becomes fast friends. Lots of wild parties and reckless spending ensues. 

About halfway through the book, the story takes a dark twist. Pretty fun and interesting.

It's Not Me, It's You by Mhairi McFarlane (2015)

Perfectly enjoyable chick lit about a thirtyish woman who proposes to her boyfriend, finds out he's seeing someone else, and takes off to London to get away. 

She gets a job with a dodgy PR firm, gets involved with an investigative reporter and is being wooed back by her boyfriend. Much drama and delightful British slang ensues. She also writes a graphic novel, but that feels very much like an afterthought.

This Could Change Everything by Jill Mansell (2018)

As I've said a million times, I love Jill Mansell because you don't know which of the players will end up together. Plus, such lovely rich characters. 

The book kicks off with Essie having a joke round robin letter sent to her entire address book, which results in her beau ditching her and getting fired (by beau's mother). But she soon finds a home with extravagant character Zillah and finding a job in a nearby bar, run by a very handsome Lucas. Much entanglement and complication ensues until everyone ends up with the right person. V. sweet.

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren (2018)

I love Christina Lauren. This is a lovely, multilayered novel that wanders back and forth in time, telling the story of Macy and Elliot, childhood sweethearts who meet again many years after something separated them. Lauren does a beautiful job of keeping the suspense up of what separated them and in telling their story since then. 

Also, ELLIOT IS TOTALLY JASON MANTZOUKAS. He is TOTALLY Mantzoukas. That's all I'm saying. Sweet and romantic and endearing and emotional and complex. Love.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (2018)

Adore Simone St. James, and this book is wonderful. 

Going back and forth in time between a girl's boarding school in the 50s and the ruins of the school in contemporary times, with a few mysteries involved, this is a lovely, involving novel. 

I love Simone for her excellent characters, relationships, sense of time and place and for not wussing out on the supernatural. She brings it! Love her.

Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeycutt (2017)

This is one of those books that you want to stay home and read it without stopping until you reach the last page.

Eleanor is a 31-year-old accounts receivable clerk in Glasgow, who lives a solitary, alcoholic, socially unskilled life and talks to no one but her mother on the phone. When Eleanor and new coworker Raymond are walking from work, and old man collapses and things become more complicated but in a good way. Also, Eleanor has decided that she is going to pursue an attractive young musician and sets about changing her life. BUT, there is a dark, dark secret in Eleanor's past.

Eleanor is a fascinating character of Olive Kitteridge proportions, and this quirky but dark novel is incredibly compelling.