Love First Frost? Readers share 100 books like First Frost...

By Sarah Addison Allen,

Here are 100 books that First Frost fans have personally recommended if you like First Frost. 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 Outlander

Christine Jordan Author Of Sacrifice

From my list on immersed in a medieval world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I became fascinated with history when I moved to Gloucester in the nineties. The city is hugely historical from the early Roman settlers through to the industrial age of the nineteenth century. What is more fascinating is that many of the streets and buildings I write about still exist in the city today. I carried out extensive research when writing my first historical fiction novel to immerse myself in the medieval city as it would have been in 1497. When I came to write my second novel, listed below, the first book in the Hebraica Trilogy, I already had a good idea of the layout of the city. 

Christine's book list on immersed in a medieval world

Christine Jordan Why did Christine love this book?

I loved this book because it is another time-slip novel, but mostly because of the characters that Gabaldon has created. Claire is a strong woman both in the present time zoneā€“post-war Britainā€“and the Scottish Highland time zone of the seventeenth century and the uprising. You sense immediately that she is in danger as the story is told from her point of view. 

I loved learning about the lives of the Scottish highlanders, how the story moves from one-time zone to another, and how the characters overlap.

By Diana Gabaldon,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ā€¢ The first book in Diana Gabaldonā€™s acclaimed Outlander saga, the basis for the Starz original series.

One of the top ten best-loved novels in America, as seen on PBSā€™s The Great American Read!
 
Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldonā€™s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion andā€¦


Book cover of On the Edge

Tina Wainscott Author Of Until I Die Again (Love and Light)

From my list on to escape into another world.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve always been fascinated by things paranormal and supernatural. There is so much in the ā€œrealā€ world that we donā€™t understand and canā€™t prove their existence, but there is enough video and photos, as well as stories, that I donā€™t see how we can say thereā€™s not more beyond our five senses. Many of my own books center on paranormal abilities and events, and I do love reading about them as well!

Tina's book list on to escape into another world

Tina Wainscott Why did Tina love this book?

This is a second series for the writing team of Ilona Andrews. Though I do like the Kate Daniels series, like so many others, I liked the world here a little better. Each book focused on a different couple, and the two main characters felt real in a fantasy landscape full of nightmares and danger.

By Ilona Andrews,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Step into a whole new world in the first Novel of the Edge from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Kate Daniels series.

The Edge lies between worlds, on the border between the Broken, where people shop at Wal-Mart and magic is a fairy taleā€”and the Weird, where blueblood aristocrats rule, changelings roam, and the strength of your magic can change your destiny...

Rose Drayton thought if she practiced her magic, she could build a better life for herself. But things didnā€™t turn out the way sheā€™d planned, and now she works an off-the-books job in theā€¦


Book cover of Creatus

Tina Wainscott Author Of Until I Die Again (Love and Light)

From my list on to escape into another world.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve always been fascinated by things paranormal and supernatural. There is so much in the ā€œrealā€ world that we donā€™t understand and canā€™t prove their existence, but there is enough video and photos, as well as stories, that I donā€™t see how we can say thereā€™s not more beyond our five senses. Many of my own books center on paranormal abilities and events, and I do love reading about them as well!

Tina's book list on to escape into another world

Tina Wainscott Why did Tina love this book?

Carmen has created a more ā€œordinary worldā€ in which extraordinary people exist in the shadows. There is romance and danger and suspense, but I like that thereā€™s no graphic violence here. Each book in this series focuses on a different couple.

By Carmen DeSousa,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Derrick's desire to save one human girl will ignite a war...

For four thousand years, creatus have concealed themselves from the humans who hunted them almost to extinction. Unwittingly, one creatus will endanger them all...

As with most of his family, Derrick Ashton knows his future and what position he's destined to fill within his unique society. Everything changes, however, when he breaks one of his family's strictest laws and falls in love -- with a human.

In his quest to protect the woman he can never have, a twist of fate propels him into a new role that willā€¦


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Book cover of Then The Trees Said Hello

Then The Trees Said Hello by HJ Corning,

Two women separated by time learn what happens when they embrace their inner magic in this inspiring environmental fiction novel. 

Although Sara's college degree provided her an out, she always knew sheā€™d return home to the small logging community that is like family to her. But when she learns theā€¦

Book cover of The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death

Tina Wainscott Author Of Until I Die Again (Love and Light)

From my list on to escape into another world.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve always been fascinated by things paranormal and supernatural. There is so much in the ā€œrealā€ world that we donā€™t understand and canā€™t prove their existence, but there is enough video and photos, as well as stories, that I donā€™t see how we can say thereā€™s not more beyond our five senses. Many of my own books center on paranormal abilities and events, and I do love reading about them as well!

Tina's book list on to escape into another world

Tina Wainscott Why did Tina love this book?

This is an outlier book here, the ā€œtrueā€ story about a man who led a rather messy life, was killed in an accident, and communicated with his sister from the other side. The core messages are uplifting: we never really die, and no matter the mistakes we make in our life here, we are always loved and on track with our soulā€™s journey and growth. 

By Annie Kagan,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In 2004, bad boy Billy Fingers Cohen, a homeless small-time drug dealer and addict in a state of drug induced euphoria ran into a busy intersection and was killed instantly by a speeding automobile. He left behind a grieving sister. For weeks she struggled with grief and tried to make sense of Billy's seemingly wasted life and tragic death.

A few weeks after his death, William Cohen, aka Billy Fingers, woke his sister Annie at dawn. 'I'm drifting weightlessly through these glorious stars and galaxies and I feel a Divine Presence, a kind, loving beneficent presence, twinkling all around me.'ā€¦


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 girlā€”girl hates boyā€”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?

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

What is this book about?

ā€œOne of my favorite authors.ā€ā€”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 āˆ™ Today āˆ™ Parade āˆ™ Marie Claire āˆ™ Bustle āˆ™ PopSugar āˆ™ Katie Couric Media āˆ™ Book Bub āˆ™ SheReads āˆ™ Medium āˆ™ The Washington Post āˆ™ and more!

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

Nora Stephens' life is booksā€”sheā€™s read them allā€”and she is not that type of heroine. Not the plucky one, not the laidback dreamā€¦


Book cover of Life Without Water

Susan Emshwiller Author Of Thar She Blows

From my list on first-person narrators navigating screwed-up lives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am fascinated by first-person points of view. In writing plays and screenplays, I couldnā€™t write the inner thoughts of my characters. Now, in novels and short stories, I do that almost exclusively, even if the stories contain multiple narrators. I love the Unreliable Narratorā€”whether it is someone too young to understand what they are witnessing, someone who is in denial, or mentally ill, or a non-human experiencing the world in an odd wayā€”the discrepancy between their view and mine delights me. I love discovering all those inner thoughts, fears, anxieties, and desires. These first-person stories let me into anotherā€™s experience and allow me to empathize with a whole new perspective.  

Susan's book list on first-person narrators navigating screwed-up lives

Susan Emshwiller Why did Susan love this book?

This book immersed me in a ramshackle house, a group of hippies, the smell of bread, the feel of weeds, and the sounds of fightingā€” through the eyes and heart of Cedar, a young girl.

All the confusion of growing up play out in her unique home life. The writing, through her point-of-view, is truly magical. I kept jotting down incredible phrases as I read and identified with all the longing, anger, loving, and coming-of-age-pains this child experiences.

By Nancy Peacock,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Life Without Water as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This is the kind of book that you read, love and then give to a friend saying, "You have to read this...

In a powerful and acute debut, highly acclaimed author Nancy Peacock gives us a young narrator who is both knowing and innocent, trusting and fearful: a girl named Cedar, who reflects on her childhood in the wake of the Vietnam war. As she and her young mother Sara both come of age, Cedar explores the intense bond--and discovers the boundaries--of their mother-daughter relationship. Living as hippies in an abandoned farmhouse in North Carolina, Sara and Cedar survive aā€¦


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Book cover of Guesthouse for Ganesha

Guesthouse for Ganesha by Judith Teitelman,

Guesthouse for Ganesha asks and answers: Left at the altar, spurnedā€”what does that do to a young womanā€™s heart? And why would a Hindu God care?

Awarded the Gold Medal for Literary Fiction in 2020, Readerā€™s Favorite says "Guesthouse for Ganesha is a huge literary success, from the skillfulā€¦

Book cover of The Secret Ingredient of Wishes

Jennifer Moorman Author Of The Baker's Man

From my list on magical realism to enchant you and lift your spirits.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™ve been fascinated with the extraordinary ever since I read Madeleine L ā€™Engleā€™s A Wrinkle in Time in middle school. I was also enchanted by Dorothyā€™s trip from black-and-white Kansas into colorful Oz. I once heard Neil Gaiman mention the ā€œhyperrealityā€ of life, and I thought, Yes! Thatā€™s how I want to see the worldā€”the magic everywhere. I voraciously read not only magical realism books but also fantasy. These stories heighten my awareness of the wonder in everything and in everyone, and they deepen the richness of the stories I tell and write.

Jennifer's book list on magical realism to enchant you and lift your spirits

Jennifer Moorman Why did Jennifer love this book?

I love the idea that secrets can be baked into pies and that thereā€™s a chance I could stumble upon a place where wishes come true.

The gift of second chances is highlighted in this story, and as someone with a romantic, hopeful heart, I want to live in this story while eating a slice of Catchā€™s famous peach pie.

By Susan Bishop Crispell,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

26 year old Rachel Monroe has spent her whole life trying to keep a very unusual secret: she can make wishes come true. And sometimes the consequences are disastrous. So when Rachel accidentally grants an outlandish wish for the first time in years, she decides it's time to leave her hometown and her past behind for good. Rachel isn't on the road long before she runs out of gas in a town that's not on her map: Nowhere, North Carolina also known as the town of "Lost and Found." In Nowhere, Rachel is taken in by a spit-fire old woman,ā€¦


Book cover of The Lucky One

Elizabeth Bromke Author Of Home to Brambleberry Creek

From my list on womenā€™s fiction with gorgeous heartland settings.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love drawing gorgeous, interesting settings. Ever since my parents drove my brother and me across America to visit our cousins in Michigan, I have found myself enchanted by everything from sweet small-towns to pit stops with lots of potential for drama. I have always felt that setting can be its own character. With its bright, sunny suburbs and its dark, shadowy back-alleys, the setting is the centerpiece of any great story.

Sarah's book list on womenā€™s fiction with gorgeous heartland settings

Elizabeth Bromke Why did Sarah love this book?

You might not think about Sparks as a go-to for sweeping countryside settingsā€¦ and yet his treatment of the North Carolina lends itself so sweetly to this romance, that I bet the story wouldnā€™t be the same without it. There is something so sexy about a handsome man in blue jeans ambling down a country lane.

By Nicholas Sparks,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A U.S. Marine's brush with death leads him to the love of his life in this New York Times bestseller of destiny, luck, and the redemptive power of romance.
After U.S. Marine Logan Thibault finds a photograph of a smiling young woman buried in the dirt during his tour of duty in Iraq, he experiences a sudden streak of luck -- winning poker games and even surviving deadly combat. Only his best friend, Victor, seems to have an explanation for his good fortune: the photograph -- his lucky charm.

Back home in Colorado, Thibault can't seem to get the womanā€¦


Book cover of Where the Crawdads Sing

Melanie Maure Author Of Sisters of Belfast

From my list on women discovering strength through tragedy.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for this topic of women overcoming the odds stems from having worked with powerful, resilient women as a life coach and therapist for the past 15 years. I witness and continue to be inspired by women who surpass what they or those around them believe is possible internally and externally. Women are powerful in unimaginable ways, and I love to read a great story that depicts this truth.

Melanie's book list on women discovering strength through tragedy

Melanie Maure Why did Melanie love this book?

Kaya Clark is the wild child I longed to be growing up. Although her family story is tragic and well-explored, how she inhabits her world of nature and allows it to inhabit her is stunning. Once again, she is a young woman who is an outcast who manages to rise above her limitations and those placed on her by society. 

Beyond the incredible storytelling and intriguing plot lines, I was mesmerized by the natural world of the North Carolina marshes, being as much a main character as Kaya herself. The intricate details of the lushness and cruelty of the natural world were incredible. In looking back at my favorite novels, one of the commonalities is the writingā€™s ability to come alive in my head and to take up a permanent space as much as my own lived memories. This novel is one of those.

By Delia Owens,

Why should I read it?

57 authors picked Where the Crawdads Sing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

OVER 12 MILLION COPIES SOLD WORLDWIDE
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
A NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

For years, rumours of the 'Marsh Girl' have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to beā€¦


Book cover of Dreamland

Judy Prescott Marshall Author Of Still Crazy

From my list on later in life romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m an avid reader. I still love to hold them in my hands. Not long ago I went dumpster diving for an entire set of encyclopedias. To say I love books is an understatement. Books have always been my passion, destination, and my closest friend.

Judy's book list on later in life romance

Judy Prescott Marshall Why did Judy love this book?

Nicholas Sparks has always been high on my list of authors to read. Once again, he reminds me why I love reading his stories. Dreamland takes you on an emotional ride. First, we learn the meaning of young loveā€”then our eyes are opened by the often pain afflicted by falling in love with the wrong person. But, in the end it all comes together in a surprising way.

By Nicholas Sparks,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ā€¢ A twist you wonā€™t see coming. A love story youā€™ll never forget.
 
From the acclaimed author of The Wish comes a powerful novel about risking everything for a dreamā€”and whether itā€™s possible to leave the past behind.
 
ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: PopSugar

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St. Pete Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home.ā€¦


Book cover of Outlander
Book cover of On the Edge
Book cover of Creatus

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Interested in romantic love, North Carolina, and sisters?

Romantic Love 957 books
North Carolina 134 books
Sisters 210 books