A sidekick is someone who knows you better than you know yourself. Someone who will travel 750 miles on your wedding day, and then help you escape out of a window before you make a huge mistake. A sidekick is someone who will have your back, even when you’re making some of the most ridiculous decisions of your life. We're best friends, writing partners, and each other’s sidekicks. We write books that reward every struggle with a happy ending because life is not always kind. We create characters who inspire us to keep laughing and encourage readers to laugh with us. Here’s hoping everyone has a humorous sidekick in his or her life.
After a heart-shattering breakup, Hannah buries herself in the basement copy-editing room. Resigned to a life without risks or adventures, Hannah’s world is rocked on its side when she receives an unexpected bucket list from her deceased best friend. The crazy list propels Hannah out of her comfort zone and into new experiences. When she meets Gabe, a down-to-earth bike enthusiast, a spark ignites. With the help of Gabe and his amazing family, they turn Hannah’s expectations positively upside down and inside out. Will she put aside her fears and let love change her life forever?
Cue the music. That’s what you’ll want to do after reading this book. Then, you’ll be disappointed to learn that Daisy Jones and The Six is a fictional 1970s rock band. Yep, that’s how good the writing feels. Structured like a music documentary transcript, the most compelling parts of the story come from the personal accounts of the bandmates. Although the book has a love story at its center, this introspective inside view of the side characters gives this novel its true rock and roll heart and soul.
Not going to lie, we’re in a fit of giggles just thinking about these hilariously raunchy sidekicks. This book is three-fourths slapstick-middle school boy humor with one-fourth romance thrown in. The love connection wouldn’t even happen if not for the hijinks of the sidekicks. When the family unit travels in an RV across the country in search of great hotdogs, it reunites the spark between old childhood sweethearts. Who wouldn’t want a road trip with a dad who cusses presidents' names, and a goofy brother who makes inexcusable references to whale sperm? Love is simply inevitable.
Never in a million years would I have pictured myself as an axe-wielding, dragon lady, chopping up multi-colored flannel shirts into my very own plaid mulch. But here I am, chopping away my frustrations.
It all started when my brother, Paul, convinced me to go on one last family road trip across the Mother Road with him and my dad.. Just like old times, right? Wrong. What Paul fails to mention is his best man, Porter, will be joining us, who just so happens to be my childhood crush and the man who broke my heart four years ago.
We are total suckers for British humor. Give us a smashing bloke or a cheeky heroine, and we are all in. Mhairi McFarlane weaves together a friends-to-lovers trope with a second-chance love story. In this novel, readers explore the fantasy of the one who got away along with the complex problems that happen in real life, such as failing marriages and self-doubt. You’ll fall in love with the main character, Rachel, but it is through her friend relationships and inner monologues that you see her development. She isn’t a damsel in distress. No, she is a strong female character with a tight group of friends who you quickly fancy. It doesn’t hurt that there is a leading man sure to make you swoon.
What happens when the one that got away comes back? Find out in this sparkling comedy from #1 bestseller Mhairi McFarlane
'Think of the great duos of history. We're just like them.'
'You mean like Kylie and Jason? Torvill and Dean? Sonny and Cher?'
'I think you've missed the point, Rachel.'
Rachel and Ben. Ben and Rachel. It was them against the world. Until it all fell apart. It's been a decade since they last spoke, but when Rachel bumps into Ben one rainy day, the years melt away.
They'd been partners in crime and the best of friends. But…
This is the first book in the series and by far the best one. Lyssa Kay Adams flips the typical all-female book club dynamic on its back and upside down in the most surprising way in this romance. Not only are all the book club members men, but they are “manly” men who are secretly using steamy Harlequin romances as relationship manuals. Their book club quickly develops into a support group where the men are free from societal restraints to become honest and vulnerable with one another. The result is hilarious and charming. It’s a wonder why this Bromance Book Club isn’t a real trend among men. If only every woman could have a Bromance Book Club for her partner.
The first rule of book club: You don't talk about book club.
Nashville Legends second baseman Gavin Scott's marriage is in major league trouble. He’s recently discovered a humiliating secret: his wife Thea has always faked the Big O. When he loses his cool at the revelation, it’s the final straw on their already strained relationship. Thea asks for a divorce, and Gavin realizes he’s let his pride and fear get the better of him.
Welcome to the Bromance Book Club.
Distraught and desperate, Gavin finds help from an unlikely source: a secret romance book club made up of Nashville's…
A friends-to-lovers romance like this one by Christina Lauren never gets old, but sometimes the rules of “romance novels” can restrain the two main characters and make their love story feel a little dated and monotonous. Well-written sidekicks, however, are free agents. They can have outrageous backstories and hilarious quirks that inject much-appreciated chaos into the story. This is the case with Reid and Millie’s funny group of fellow academics, Chris, Ed, and Alex. The fact that they are more interesting than the two main characters is no downside. This unabashed friend group is so interesting that it is a welcome addition to the main story plot. This romantic comedy lets you have your sidekick cake and eat it too, and isn’t that what we want in any good romcom? Let us all eat cake!
By the New York Times bestselling author who “hilariously depicts modern dating” (Us Weekly), My Favorite Half-Night Stand is a laugh-out-loud romp through online dating and its many, many fails.
Millie Morris has always been one of the guys. A UC Santa Barbara professor, she’s a female-serial-killer expert who’s quick with a deflection joke and terrible at getting personal. And she, just like her four best guy friends and fellow professors, is perma-single.
So when a routine university function turns into a black tie gala, Mille and her circle make a pact that they’ll join an online dating service to…
I have been a writer for more than twenty years and have favored pursuing “truth in fiction” rather than “money in formula.” I also spent over thirty years in the corporate world and was exposed to many situations reminiscent of those described in my fiction and in these recommended books. While I support enterprise, “enlightened capitalism” is preferable to the bare-knuckle type we have today, and which seems to resurface whenever regulation weakens. I also find writing novels closer to my lived experience connects me intimately with readers who are looking for socio-political, realist literature.
Avery Mann, a retired pharmaceuticals executive, is in crisis.
His wife dies of cancer, his son’s marriage is on the rocks, his grandson is having a meltdown, and his good friend is a victim of the robocalls scandal that invades the Canadian federal election. Throw in a reckless fling with a former colleague, a fire that destroys his retirement property, and a rumour emerging that the drug he helped bring to market years ago may have been responsible for the death of his wife, and Avery’s life goes into freefall.
Does an octogenarian beekeeper living on Vancouver Island hold the key to Avery’s recovery, a man holding secrets that put lives in jeopardy? Avery races across the country to find out, with crooked bosses, politicians, and assassins on his tail. Joseph spins a cautionary tale of corporate and political greed that is endemic to our times.
Avery Mann, a retired pharmaceuticals executive, is in crisis. His wife dies of cancer, his son’s marriage is on the rocks, his grandson is having a meltdown, and his good friend is a victim of the robocalls scandal that invades the Canadian federal election.
Throw in a reckless fling with a former colleague, a fire that destroys his retirement property, and a rumour emerging that the drug he helped bring to market years ago may have been responsible for the death of his wife, and Avery’s life goes into freefall.
Does an octogenarian bee keeper living on Vancouver Island hold…
