71 books like By Any Other Name

By Lauren Kate,

Here are 71 books that By Any Other Name fans have personally recommended if you like By Any Other Name. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Shipped

Carla Luna Author Of Field Rules

From my list on romance that will have you packing your suitcase.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a romance author with a perpetual case of wanderlust. Though I’m always up for a good road trip, my true passion is visiting other countries. Among my odd travel quirks are collecting hotel soaps (I have over 200 different ones!) and memorizing airline codes. Years ago, I worked as an archaeologist, and was lucky enough to travel through the Mediterranean and the Middle East. These days, I’m more of an armchair traveler, which is why I love writing (and reading!) romances that transport me to a new location. 

Carla's book list on romance that will have you packing your suitcase

Carla Luna Why did Carla love this book?

I’ve never been to the Galápagos Islands, but after reading Shipped, I wish I could afford to go! In this enemies-to-lovers romance, Henley and Graeme are office rivals who work for the same adventure travel company but have never met in person. When the opportunity for a promotion arises, their boss sends them both on a company cruise to the Galápagos archipelago, where they’ll have to come up with the best marketing pitch for the area. This book has so much going for it: hilarious travel hijinks, sizzling sexual tension, and detailed descriptions that bring the islands to life. By the end of the book, I was convinced I needed to add this destination to my travel bucket list!

By Angie Hockman,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Shipped as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Named a Best Romance Book of 2021 by Entertainment Weekly * Goodreads * PopSugar * Marie Claire * Real Simple * Insider * Vulture * CNN * Bookreporter * BookBub * and more!​

The Unhoneymooners meets The Hating Game in this witty, clever, and swoonworthy novel following a workaholic marketing manager who is forced to go on a cruise with her arch-nemesis when they’re up for the same promotion.

Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating.…


Book cover of The Marriage Code

Tracie Banister Author Of Straight from the Hart

From my list on heroines who make a love connection on the job.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an author, I run my own business and have a hand in all aspects of my product, from creation to promotion. My work is my passion, so I love to write (and read!) books about women who have that same dedication to their careers. I enjoy seeing these ladies strive for success and how they handle challenges along the way. And, of course, since RomComs are my genre, those challenges often involve a man because where else is a workaholic going to find her soulmate? The witty banter, sizzling sexual tension, snort-laugh moments, and surprising plot twists on the pages of all these books, including mine, are guaranteed to entertain you.

Tracie's book list on heroines who make a love connection on the job

Tracie Banister Why did Tracie love this book?

An office rivalry between software developer Emma and app developer Rishi takes an interesting turn when they’re sent to Bangalore to work on a project together.

Back in his home country, Rishi’s family pressures him to get married to a woman of the right caste/religion. Emma offers to create an algorithm to help Rishi find the perfect wife who might be a lot closer than he thinks!

This book does a wonderful job of delving into the challenges of an American woman dating an Indian man as well as the dynamics and relationships within an Indian family. Brooke Burroughs brings India to vibrant life on the page, and I felt as though I was falling in love with the country (and Rishi!) along with Emma.

By Brooke Burroughs,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Marriage Code as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Brooke Burroughs's endearing debut novel set in vibrant India, enemies turned allies encounter obstacles in an unexpected multicultural romance only to discover that in the end, love is love.

Emma has always lived her life according to a plan. But after turning down her boyfriend's proposal, everything starts to crumble. In an effort to save the one thing she cares about-her job-she must recruit her colleague, Rishi, to be on her development team...only she may or may not have received the position he was promised. (She did.)

Rishi cannot believe that he got passed over for promotion. To make…


Book cover of Whisked Away

Tracie Banister Author Of Straight from the Hart

From my list on heroines who make a love connection on the job.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an author, I run my own business and have a hand in all aspects of my product, from creation to promotion. My work is my passion, so I love to write (and read!) books about women who have that same dedication to their careers. I enjoy seeing these ladies strive for success and how they handle challenges along the way. And, of course, since RomComs are my genre, those challenges often involve a man because where else is a workaholic going to find her soulmate? The witty banter, sizzling sexual tension, snort-laugh moments, and surprising plot twists on the pages of all these books, including mine, are guaranteed to entertain you.

Tracie's book list on heroines who make a love connection on the job

Tracie Banister Why did Tracie love this book?

I can always count on Melanie Summers to make me laugh, and she did that repeatedly with this delightful story about a newly minted chef who gets stuck cooking for an author on a private Caribbean island.

There’s friction between Emma and Pierce from the get-go as he’s on a deadline and doesn’t appreciate her high-end cuisine. When he has a comical accident that renders his typing hand unusable, Emma steps in to help Pierce complete the final installment of his fantasy series (an affectionate spoof of Game of Thrones with expert world-building!).

I thoroughly enjoyed the organic development of Emma and Pierce’s relationship and was on the edge of my seat waiting to see how they’d overcome the obstacles in their path and achieve their happily ever after!

By Melanie Summers,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Whisked Away as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

***All books in the Paradise Bay Series are Stand-alone novels.***

From best-selling author Melanie Summers comes an irresistibly romantic, delightfully funny tale of love, passion, books, and food…

I’m Emma Banks and I have big plans. I just graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, and I’m ready to take my place as head chef at one of my family’s resort restaurants.

But upon arrival at Paradise Bay, I’m immediately shuffled off to the resort’s new private island getaway, where I’ll be stuck catering to the rich and shameless. My first soul-sucking assignment is to serve Pierce Davenport, an…


Book cover of The Ex Talk

Marceline Addams Author Of You Can't Fight Molecular Attraction

From my list on workplace romances to give an HR rep nightmares.

Why am I passionate about this?

Due to the inopportune circumstances of my birth (i.e., not being born into generational wealth), I have sadly been forced to join the working world instead of being allowed to live full-time in my imagination. Happily, the situation has allowed me to collect a treasure trove of workplace gossip. Described by my coworkers as “a great listener,” “overly curious,” and “most likely to start a cult,” the things I have heard and seen in a STEM-related office would truly leave an HR rep gagged. However, I have chosen to channel my penchant for mischief and genetic predisposition for drama into writing office romance novels instead of destroying careers.

Marceline's book list on workplace romances to give an HR rep nightmares

Marceline Addams Why did Marceline love this book?

I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I crave drama. Like if my boss told me I’d be fired if I didn’t do a podcast with my work nemesis where we gave relationship advice while pretending to be exes? I wouldn’t even be mad about it (assuming that my coworker's nemesis is as hot as Dominic in this book)! 

This is a story that brilliantly combines the drama I crave with humor, tension, and romance, keeping me hooked from start to finish. Watching Shay and Dominic navigate their forced relationship was particularly nerve-wracking since they had to fake it in such a vulnerable manner: they were on air for thousands of fans to consume.

Though the drama initially hooked me, the depth of the character growth and the authenticity of Shay and Dominic’s interactions kept me invested. But please, someone call HR to investigate Kent, the boss who puts…

By Rachel Lynn Solomon,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Ex Talk as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An Instant Indie Bestseller

Public radio co-hosts navigate mixed signals in Rachel Lynn Solomon's sparkling romantic comedy debut.
 
Shay Goldstein has been a producer at her Seattle public radio station for nearly a decade, and she can't imagine working anywhere else. But lately it's been a constant clash between her and her newest colleague, Dominic Yun, who's fresh off a journalism master's program and convinced he knows everything about public radio. 
 
When the struggling station needs a new concept, Shay proposes a show that her boss green-lights with excitement. On The Ex Talk, two exes will deliver relationship advice live,…


Book cover of The Shambling Guide to New York City

Alex Shvartsman Author Of The Middling Affliction: The Conradverse Chronicles, Book 1

From my list on funny and snarky fantasy set in New York City.

Why am I passionate about this?

I've lived in Brooklyn for over 30 years now. I've always had a weakness for fun, snarky urban fantasy where the city is always a supporting character—and sometimes a major one. One day I decided to write a short story in the style of Simon R. Green's Nightside books, only instead of London, it'd feature New York City. And thus, the Conradverse was born. I tend to combine action, humor, real Brooklyn and NYC locations and history, and copious pop culture references when writing in this setting, and I seek out other books that do a great job at handling some or all of these elements.

Alex's book list on funny and snarky fantasy set in New York City

Alex Shvartsman Why did Alex love this book?

A recent transplant from the South gets hired as a travel book editor and finds herself the sole human employee in a company run by a vampire. Her coworkers include zombies, incubi, and even a goddess. As part of her job, she must write a tourist guide to the city—for the undead.

To me, the most fun parts are the actual pages from the guide, interspersed with the narrative. 

By Mur Lafferty,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Shambling Guide to New York City as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A travel writer takes a job with a shady publishing company in New York, only to find that she must write a guide to the city -- for the undead!

Because of the disaster that was her last job, Zoe is searching for a fresh start as a travel book editor in the tourist-centric New York City. After stumbling across a seemingly perfect position though, Zoe is blocked at every turn because of the one thing she can't take off her resume -- human.

Not to be put off by anything -- especially not her blood drinking boss or death…


Book cover of Book Lovers

Christina Ford Author Of In Search of Mr Darcy: Lessons Learnt In The Pursuit of Happily Ever After

From my list on believing in the existence of love.

Why am I passionate about this?

I write about life, love and being single in my blog, A Broad In London, and I am a semi-regular guest on a Week In Review on BBC Radio London. 

Christina's book list on believing in the existence of love

Christina Ford Why did Christina love this book?

I love a great, happily-ever-after love story that makes you work for it. And that is what this book does. It is not so much the groundbreaking story of boy meets girl—girl hates boy—and then girl finds she has misunderstood boy all along.

It's a little like Pride and Prejudice meets When Harry Met Sally. I love that this book does for me what a great rom-com does: you know how it is going to end, but you lean in and thoroughly enjoy the journey.

By Emily Henry,

Why should I read it?

9 authors picked Book Lovers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“One of my favorite authors.”—Colleen Hoover

An insightful, delightful, instant #1 New York Times bestseller from the author of Beach Read and People We Meet on Vacation.

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Oprah Daily ∙ Today ∙ Parade ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Bustle ∙ PopSugar ∙ Katie Couric Media ∙ Book Bub ∙ SheReads ∙ Medium ∙ The Washington Post ∙ and more!

One summer. Two rivals. A plot twist they didn't see coming...

Nora Stephens' life is books—she’s read them all—and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dream…


Book cover of Girls They Write Songs About

Sarah Priscus Author Of Groupies

From my list on complex, chaotic female friendships.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm fascinated by stories about complicated friendships because they speak to our eternal need to be part of something. Everyone wants to have friends, especially when we’re young, but what if those friendships aren’t good for us? What happens when self-interest motivates our social choices? It seems there’s often a fragile boundary between love and hate. This volatile intensity becomes addictive. I'm a Canadian writer with a BA in English from the University of Ottawa. When writing fiction, I love exploring the toxic threads of jealousy, ambition, and obsession that both bind us together and tear us apart.

Sarah's book list on complex, chaotic female friendships

Sarah Priscus Why did Sarah love this book?

I adored Charlotte and Rose’s heartbreaking friendship.

First, Charlotte and Rose come of age in the late nineties, a perfect pair with an inseparable bond taking on New York City. As they grow up, it’s their individual problems and decisions that loosen the bolts holding them together. Some friendships shape us into who we are, so losing a friend brings grief and anger.

Charlotte and Rose are both rich, fully realized characters with goals that don’t always align. Bauer’s brilliant prose makes this a book I could read again and again.

By Carlene Bauer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Girls They Write Songs About as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'The instant feminist classic our generation has been waiting for' Ada Calhoun, author of Why We Can't Sleep

What happens when growing up means growing apart?

1997. New York.

Earnest, bookish Rose.

Brash, extrovert Charlotte.

When they moved to New York in the late nineties, coffee cost less than a dollar and you could still smoke in bars. You could stay up drinking all night, sat in vinyl booths patched up with duct tape.

Everyone has their own New York, and for Rose and Charlotte it was a place to feed their ambition, a place to dance and party and…


Book cover of The Sunday Philosophy Club

Susan Corso Author Of Legally Bond

From my list on mysteries for exceptionally quirky female sleuths.

Why am I passionate about this?

My mom always wanted to write mysteries, so I learned to read them from her. It’s the puzzle part of a mystery that pulls me. Cozies, world travelers, no matter, just not thrillers, no real menace. The mysteries, like every other book I read, need to be character-based, and the quirkier, the better. I prefer women sleuths as I write one. It doesn’t matter if they’re amateurs or professionals. Again, character. Who is this person becoming through her cases? How is she different, better, wiser, because of them? Who does she serve, help, heal? I do jigsaw puzzles for meditation. Got puzzle? Bring it. Except math.

Susan's book list on mysteries for exceptionally quirky female sleuths

Susan Corso Why did Susan love this book?

Isabel Dalhousie is a moral philosopher by profession. She edits a journal on the subject. One of the most intriguing aspects of this series is that she’s always weighing the moral shoulds and shouldn’ts of her circumstances and her cases. What is her obligation to act? To speak? To pursue? Insatiably curious, her habit makes these books ripe with meaning. Set in a charming Edinburgh, between her bassoon-playing friend Jamie, her no-nonsense, Spiritualist housekeeper, Grace, and her slightly wild, deli-owning niece, Cat, Isabel has her hands and her mind full navigating what’s right, what’s wrong, and what’s in-between. Her constant self-scrutiny is part of what caused me to be as transparent as I am about the metaphysics in my own books.

By Alexander McCall Smith,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sunday Philosophy Club as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

ISABEL DALHOUSIE - Book 1
 
Nothing captures the charm of Edinburgh like the bestselling Isabel Dalhousie series of novels featuring the insatiably curious philosopher and woman detective.  Whether investigating a case or a problem of philosophy, the indefatigable Isabel Dalhousie, one of fiction’s most richly developed amateur detectives, is always ready to pursue the answers to all of life’s questions, large and small.

In this first installment, Isabel is attending a concert in the Usher Hall when she witnesses a man fall from the upper balcony. Isabel can’t help wondering whether it was the result of mischance or mischief. Against…


Book cover of Max Perkins: Editor of Genius

Jonathan Rose Author Of A Companion to the History of the Book

From my list on the history of books.

Why am I passionate about this?

Books—broadly defined as any kind of written or printed document—are the primary means by which civilizations are constructed, memories are preserved, ideas are communicated, wealth is distributed, and power is exercised. To understand any human society, you must read its books. And as Winston Churchill said, “Books last forever.” The physical structures of civilizations eventually crumble into ruins, but the books they leave behind are immortal.

Jonathan's book list on the history of books

Jonathan Rose Why did Jonathan love this book?

Modern American literature is inconceivable without Maxwell Perkins. As an editor at Scribner's, he probably saved that dustily respectable firm by dragging it into the 20th century. He nursed F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway and performed lifesaving surgery on the baggy manuscripts of Thomas Wolfe.

For all manner of authors, he had an unprejudiced eye for brilliance. He angled for Henry Roth's radical proletarian fiction and gave Winston Churchill the idea that eventually became A History of the English-Speaking Peoples. He advised Charles Scribner to grab Bruce Barton's The Man Nobody Knows, explaining that "it treats Christ as a supersalesman." (Scribner was scandalized, and another publisher made it a blockbuster.) He published the classy mysteries of S.S. Van Dine and capped his career with From Here to Eternity. And he gave every author unstinting time, attention, and labor.

Read this classic biography, and you'll understand why…

By A. Scott Berg,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Max Perkins as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The National Book Award winner from Pulitzer Prize-winning author A. Scott Berg is now celebrating its 40th anniversary.

The talents he nurtured were known worldwide: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, and numerous others. But Maxwell Perkins remained a mystery, a backstage presence who served these authors not only as editor but also as critic, career manager, moneylender, psychoanalyst, father-confessor, and friend.

This outstanding biography, a winner of the National Book Award, is the first to explore the fascinating life of this genius editor extraordinare-in both the professional and personal domains. It tells not only of Perkins's stormy marriage,…


Book cover of The Tender Hour of Twilight: Paris in the '50s, New York in the '60s: A Memoir of Publishing's Golden Age

Louis Menand Author Of The Free World: Art and Thought in the Cold War

From my list on memoirs from a wide array of people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I started my career as a graduate student studying the Victorian period, a great age for autobiography. And although autobiography is no longer taught much in English departments, I guess I retain my passion for the genre. The greatest, of course, is Rousseau’s Confessions.

Louis' book list on memoirs from a wide array of people

Louis Menand Why did Louis love this book?

Despite the cheesy title, this is a revealing window on the world of postwar publishing. Seaver “discovered” Samuel Beckett as a graduate student in Paris after the war, and he eventually became an editor at Beckett’s American publisher, Grove, during its heyday under Barney Rosset.

By Richard Seaver,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Tender Hour of Twilight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Richard Seaver came to Paris in 1950 seeking Hemingway's moveable feast. Paris had become a different city, traumatized by World War II, yet the red wine still flowed, the cafes bustled, and the Parisian women found American men exotic and heroic. There was an Irishman in Paris writing plays and novels unlike anything anyone had ever read - but hardly anyone was reading them. There were others, too, doing equivalently groundbreaking work for equivalently small audiences. So when his friends launched a literary magazine, "Merlin", Seaver knew this was his calling: to bring the work of the likes of Samuel…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in editors, writer's block, and heroes?

Editors 10 books
Writer's Block 22 books
Heroes 112 books