Fans pick 100 books like Codename Charming

By Lucy Parker,

Here are 100 books that Codename Charming fans have personally recommended if you like Codename Charming. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Mr. Wrong Number

Julie Navickas Author Of I Loved You Yesterday: Book One in the Trading Heartbeats Trilogy

From my list on romance that will both shatter and stitch your heart.

Why am I passionate about this?

I grew up watching soap operas and swapping novels with my grandma and mom. Romantic stories have been a part of who I am ever since I was old enough to get my hands on Nora Roberts! Now, thanks to my love for the books that inspire love, I’m a romance novelist myself, having penned the Trading Heartbeats trilogy. Each novel is a recipient of a first place BookFest award and has been traditionally published by Inkspell Publishing. I write with raw emotion and work to really shatter hearts of readers—only to repair them on the final pages. I have dual master’s degrees in organizational communication and English studies from Illinois State University. 

Julie's book list on romance that will both shatter and stitch your heart

Julie Navickas Why did Julie love this book?

Mr. Wrong Number is simply charming!

From the first page, Olivia and Colin had me in a fit of giggles, fully enamored with their witty banter and incredible push-pull chemistry. If you’re looking for a light-hearted read with a relatable, sloppy heroine and a powerful, smitten hero, you need Lynn Painter’s Mr. Wrong Number in your hands.

It’s a swoon-worthy romance that promises all the feels! 

By Lynn Painter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Mr. Wrong Number as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Things get textual when a steamy message from a random wrong number turns into an anonymous relationship in this hilarious rom-com by Lynn Painter.

Bad luck has always followed Olivia Marshall...or maybe she's just the screw-up her family thinks she is. But when a "What are you wearing?" text from a random wrong number turns into the hottest, most entertaining—albeit anonymous—relationship of her life, she thinks things might be on the upswing....

Colin Beck has always considered Olivia his best friend's annoying little sister, but when she moves in with them after one of her worst runs of luck, he…


Book cover of A Court of Wings and Ruin

Jennifer Ivy Walker Author Of The Wild Rose and the Sea Raven

From my list on paranormal romances with shapeshifting warriors.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have always loved fairy tales, myths, and fantasy, having developed a vivid imagination during childhood because we lived far from friends. When I began studying French, I discovered a love for medieval legends such as Tristan et Yseult.  During trips to France, I explored troglodyte caves of the Loire Valley and prehistoric grottos, such as La Grotte de Lascaux. The more I researched legends and myths, the more my fantasy world of paranormal romance and shapeshifting warriors evolved.

Jennifer's book list on paranormal romances with shapeshifting warriors

Jennifer Ivy Walker Why did Jennifer love this book?

I loved how otherworldly mates Rhys and Feyre formed a fierce alliance with the winged Illyrian warriors of the Night Court. A fiery novel of passion, power, politics, and pain—all wrapped up in a sizzling, steamy, paranormal romance filled with fantasy and Fae!

To me, the passion between Rhys and Feyre is very much like The Phantom of the Opera, which I adored. Rhys is dark, mysterious, and dangerously seductive, like the Phantom. And Feyre, like Christine Daaé, is irresistibly drawn to the fiercely loyal man within the terrifying beast.

By Sarah J. Maas,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Court of Wings and Ruin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The epic third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin's actions and learn what she can about the invading king threatening to bring her land to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit. One slip could bring doom not only for Feyre, but for everything-and everyone-she holds dear.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre endeavors to take her place amongst the High Fae of the land, balancing…


Book cover of Been There, Married That

Marc D. Giller Author Of Candidate Z

From my list on not minding your workout as much.

Why am I passionate about this?

Just your friendly neighborhood thriller novelist. When people find out I write books, they inevitably enquire, “Really? Have I read anything of yours?” Well, funny you should ask! I’ve been cranking out stories since I was sixteen but took a couple of decades to finally land a publishing deal for my debut novel Hammerjack and its sequel Prodigal (Bantam Spectra). A lifelong Star Trek fan, I’ve also published the novella “Revenant” in the collection Seven Deadly Sins (Gallery Books). My latest is the high-tech thriller Candidate Z, available on Amazon.

Marc's book list on not minding your workout as much

Marc D. Giller Why did Marc love this book?

My wife found this on my Kindle among the Michael Crichton and Jack Carr, and couldn’t believe I bought it—but after having made the delight of her acquaintance on Twitter, I decided to give Gigi’s latest novel a try. And boy, am I glad that I did! A screenwriter (Stepmom) and veteran Los Angelino herself, Levangie knows the ins and outs of the Hollywood lifestyle where showbiz is the only biz and the characters are always jockeying to be seen but never to be believed. No mysteries here—just a lot of laughs, with an endearing protagonist who provides the center of gravity to an orbit of crazy family and friends. Highly recommended.

By Gigi Levangie,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Been There, Married That as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In a world where therapists look like the Real Housewives of Equinox, where friends dispense Xanax like Pez, and where a woman’s status is directly linked to the how few carbs she eats…can one Hollywood wife take back her life?

Agnes Murphy Nash is in big trouble. When she returns home one evening only to find the locks changed on the gates of their mansion, the security guard breaks the news: her famous producer husband has filed for divorce. And he’s not going to play fair. Trevor Nash wants custody of their tween daughter, Pep, but only for the sake…


Book cover of Engaging Sir Isaac

Danielle Thorne Author Of A Pirate at Pembroke

From my list on clean and wholesome historical romances.

Why am I passionate about this?

Danielle Thorne has researched, traveled, read, and written sweet stories about historical gentlemen, pirates, ladies, and not-so-distressed damsels from her home south of Atlanta for over half her life. A graduate of BYU-Idaho with an English minor, she also writes clean and wholesome contemporary romance for Harlequin's tasteful Love Inspired line. She is the author of over twenty-five family-friendly books in a variety of genres.  

Danielle's book list on clean and wholesome historical romances

Danielle Thorne Why did Danielle love this book?

This is my favorite book of Sally Britton's many clean and wholesome Regency romances. I love how fully dimensional her characters are, and her research is always spot-on and entertaining. She creates wonderful stories set in England that pull at your heartstrings and bring the most satisfying happily-ever-afters in the end. Many of her books are part of a series, but they can be read in any order. 

By Sally Britton,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Engaging Sir Isaac as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

She promised she would bring the baronet to his knees, never dreaming she would lose her heart in the process.

Millicent Wedgwood will never obtain her rightful place in Society, which means she will never have an advantageous reputation, marriage, or future. All because Millie's sister eloped years before. But there is a chance to rise above that disgrace. If she can win the trust of the baronet who insulted Lady Olivia, and then betray him, she will earn back her position in Society with Lady Olivia’s sponsorship.

Sir Isaac Fox returned from war with one less arm and a…


Book cover of Happy Place

Luci Beach Author Of Happy For You

From my list on "then and now" relationships and second chances at love.

Why am I passionate about this?

My first published novels were light-hearted romances for teenagers, so when I started writing for adults, I couldn’t help exploring the youthful origins of my characters’ grown-up relationships. Then, it dawned on me that most of my favorite novels include an element of this, too. I love reading about couples who didn’t quite make things work as young people but rekindled their relationship later in life or those who have been together a long time and maybe need a refresher to remember what they ever saw in each other. These kinds of stories leave me feeling uplifted, cheerful, and hopeful, and I hope you’ll enjoy them too. Happy reading!

Luci's book list on "then and now" relationships and second chances at love

Luci Beach Why did Luci love this book?

I love all of Emily Henry's books–the characters feel so real, and the relationships develop beautifully. In this book, a couple who have broken up go on their usual annual stay with their group of friends in Maine, all the while pretending to be together for the sake of the others.

Everyone has viewed Harriet and Wyn as the perfect couple since they got together in college, so I couldn’t wait to discover what could possibly have gone wrong. It's also clear that their chemistry is still fizzing, and I was rooting for their reunion. It was full of passion and emotion. Gorgeous.

By Emily Henry,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'At turns hilarious and wise, another knockout from the champ' Taylor Jenkins Reid, DAISY JONES AND THE SIX
'One of my favourite authors' Colleen Hoover, IT ENDS WITH US
'Smart, sunny, sexy and also a gorgeous story of female friendship' Beth O'Leary, THE FLATSHARE

-----

Two exes. One pact.
Could this holiday change everything?

Harriet and Wyn are the perfect couple - they go together like bread and butter, gin and tonic, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Every year, they take a holiday from their lives to drink far too much wine with their favourite people in the world.

Except…


Book cover of Jane Doe

Sarah A. Denzil Author Of The Housemaid

From my list on for fans of Gone Girl.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve enjoyed dark fiction ever since I picked up Dracula for school. But I mostly avoided crime and thriller fiction. I couldn’t relate to a rogue detective with an alcohol problem or an FBI agent on the heels of the next Hannibal Lector. Police procedural books just aren’t my thing. But then Gone Girl came out and changed the genre. The domestic suspense subgenre has exploded over the last decade, and now there’s an abundance of books centered around the dangers within our family and friendship circle. And isn’t that the scariest part of life? Serial killers are rare, but domestic violence is, unfortunately, not rare. Where is more dangerous than in our own homes?

Sarah's book list on for fans of Gone Girl

Sarah A. Denzil Why did Sarah love this book?

If you enjoyed Gone Girl, I’m guessing you have a soft spot for a well-written sociopath. Jane Doe will be right up your street and then some. Jane is the kind of sociopath you can’t help but love. She’s funny, she’s misanthropic and she doesn’t care about what anyone else thinks. But best of all, Jane is on a revenge mission and despite every horrible thing she does, you’ll still love her.

By Victoria Helen Stone,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An Amazon Charts bestseller.

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.

Jane's days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She's just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes-meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven's bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced…


Book cover of Love at First

Amelia Jones Author Of The Stage Kiss

From my list on romance that give the best Mr. Darcy hand-flex vibe.

Why am I passionate about this?

I exclusively read and write romance. I have since I was a teenager. If there is no love story with a happy ending, you can definitely count me out. I was first introduced to Pride and Prejudice in 11th-grade English. Maybe the first assigned book I read cover to cover and let me tell you—when Mr. Darcy expressed how ardently he admired and loved Elizabeth, I was a Darcy fangirl for life. I see Darcy everywhere. He's a romantic archetype who loves fiercely but struggles to express himself. He makes mistakes. He’s capable of changing his mind. To date, I’ve published ten romance novels across three pen names, and I have no plans to stop.

Amelia's book list on romance that give the best Mr. Darcy hand-flex vibe

Amelia Jones Why did Amelia love this book?

I adore Kate’s writing. She’s brilliant at it. This romance starts with Will making quick enemies with Nora when he moves into her treasured apartment building with plans to rent out a room as an AirBnB.

The tight-knit building community is up in arms over the stranger (Will) and they expect Nora to solve the problem. Meanwhile, Will has been pining over a girl he saw on a balcony for years—Nora as a child.

When I tell you I melted the first time he called her baby (also a classic sick-bed scene) I am not lying. Will loves Nora with his whole chest and he’ll move heaven and earth to win her hand. Poetry is involved.

By Kate Clayborn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Love at First as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“The most delightful cast of characters I've met in ages…a modern romance masterpiece.“ —New York Times bestseller Christina Lauren
 
“Constantly revealing new layers of lyricism…Love at First is poetry, then — sometimes an artful sonnet, other times halting free verse. But it's never anything short of miraculous.” —Entertainment Weekly, Grade A
 
“At the end I was left with that warm, glowing love for humanity that is always what I’m chasing when I read this genre: the sense of togetherness, of hope, of even unsolvable problems feeling less impossible. Because a good romance lets you forgive the people on the page.…


Book cover of Attachments

Fearne Hill Author Of Two Tribes

From my list on romance books set in the 1990s.

Why am I passionate about this?

My life is one of two halves; I spent the first half living in the industrial West Midlands, at school and then training to become a doctor, and the second half living in rural bliss in the southwest of England. For the day job, I’m an anesthesiologist, but my true passion, thanks to my mother being an English teacher, is reading romance and writing my own. I am well-travelled and spend a quarter of each year in France, so my books often have characters from all over Europe as well as characters working in the medical profession or overcoming/ living with a variety of health conditions.

Fearne's book list on romance books set in the 1990s

Fearne Hill Why did Fearne love this book?

I loved the uniqueness of this book, centred around the novelty of email in 1999. I love the idea of a nerdy guy whose job it is to read other folks' emails as he struggles with young adulthood approaching the dreaded Y2K. I loved how his POV is beautifully interspersed with cute epistolary exchanges.

By Rainbow Rowell,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wayward Son, Fangirl, Carry On, and Landline comes a hilarious and heartfelt novel about an office romance that blossoms one email at a time....

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now—reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to…


Book cover of Paris Blue: A Memoir of First Love

Sephe Haven Author Of A Someday Courtesan: Memoir Stories

From my list on girls as they come of age.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an award-winning author of two five-star rated memoirs: “My Whorizontal Life: An Escort’s Tale” and “A Someday Courtesan,” and the creator/performer of the 90-minute solo show: “My Whorizontal Life: The Show!” I co-host the podcast My Index to Sex. and I am a Juilliard Drama Graduate and the former #1 escort in the country. Thinking about how I grew up in a safe, typical suburb in the middle of America made me wonder if the things that happened to me with men as a girl happened to many women as we came of age in the 70s. 

Sephe's book list on girls as they come of age

Sephe Haven Why did Sephe love this book?

This is a lovely memoir of falling in true love for the first time. The author was the same age as me when she fell in love for the first time in a magical Paris when she was there as a serious musical student.

As I read, I was transported with her to that time and sent spinning back into my own life at the same age as a serious drama student falling in love in Amsterdam.

The book is romantic at first and so true to the heart, as well as the experience of losing oneself to another for the first time. I loved experiencing Paris with her and her love of music. A not famous author who deserves to be.

By Julie Scolnik,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

PARIS, 1976: Twenty-year-old American student Julie Scolnik had just arrived in the City of Light to study the flute when, from across a sea of faces in the chorus of the Orchestre de Paris, she is drawn to Luc, a striking (married) French lawyer in the bass section. This moving tale of an ebullient young American and a reserved Frenchman will transport readers to the cafés, streets, and concert halls of Paris in the late seventies, and, spanning three decades, evolves from deep romance to sudden heartbreak, and finally to a lifelong quest for answers to release hidden, immutable grief.…


Book cover of Nora Goes Off Script

Jessica Saunders Author Of Love, Me

From my list on books that feature a celebrity falling for a “normal” person.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a child, I loved singing and acting and fantasized about what it might be like to be a famous movie star. Though the practical side of my brain led me to become a lawyer instead, my fascination with Hollywood never waned. When I set out to write my first novel, I finally had the opportunity to explore celebrity culture. But I'm just a regular person, living a very normal life. The books I’m recommending lift the curtain on fame and explore the ultimate fantasy: what if a beloved, uber-famous actor or actress actually fell in love with you? 

Jessica's book list on books that feature a celebrity falling for a “normal” person

Jessica Saunders Why did Jessica love this book?

Talk about swoon-worthy: recently divorced regular gal Nora is a Hallmark-style screenwriter until her latest script is tapped for the big screen starring the “sexiest man alive,” Leo.

I was drawn in by the fantasy of crushing on a movie star, but I stayed for the relatability and depth of the main character. This was one I read in about twenty-four hours because I needed to know whether Nora would find her happy ending.

I also appreciated that this book left some things to the imagination. It was heavier on the romance than the sex.

By Annabel Monaghan,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Nora Goes Off Script as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"The perfect escape." —USA Today

"Readers who loved Emily Henry's Book Lovers are sure to savor Nora Goes Off Script." —Shelf Awareness

Named one of the Best Beach Reads of Summer 2022 by The Washington Post • USA Today • Cosmopolitan • Southern Living • Country Living • Business Insider • Buzzfeed • Book Riot • The Augusta Chronicle

Nora’s life is about to get a rewrite…

Nora Hamilton knows the formula for love better than anyone. As a romance channel screenwriter, it’s her job. But when her too-good-to work husband leaves her and their two kids, Nora turns her…


Book cover of Mr. Wrong Number
Book cover of A Court of Wings and Ruin
Book cover of Been There, Married That

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