100 books like French Holiday

By Sarah Ready,

Here are 100 books that French Holiday fans have personally recommended if you like French Holiday. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Highland Fling

KC McCormick Ciftci Author Of We Were Inevitable

From my list on romance about falling in love in another country.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent the majority of my twenties living and working abroad, and I've always been a sucker for a love story that crosses borders. I met my husband while living and working in Turkey, and now I write lighthearted romance novels inspired by the idea that you don't have to choose between catching flights or catching feelings - why not both? While I'm doing less traveling these days, I feel like I still get to experience different countries, cultures, and settings thanks to so many wonderful books that feel like vacations.

KC's book list on romance about falling in love in another country

KC McCormick Ciftci Why did KC love this book?

I adored the premise of this novel so mucha wee Scottish cafe needs a volunteer to come run it? Yes, please.

The setting was utterly delightful, and I just love a small town full of colorful characters. It made me want to travel back to Scotland as soon as possible.

By Meghan Quinn,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In this steamy tale by USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn, an American searching for her purpose escapes to a Scottish town but finds more questions than answers when she meets a brooding yet handsome handyman.

Freshly fired from her third job in a row, Bonnie St. James has lost her way. So when she and her best friend stumble upon a "help wanted" post to run a coffee shop in the Scottish Highlands, they apply on a whim. Who knows? Maybe traveling to a new place is just what she needs to figure out her next move.

When the…


Book cover of The Bride Test

KC McCormick Ciftci Author Of We Were Inevitable

From my list on romance about falling in love in another country.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent the majority of my twenties living and working abroad, and I've always been a sucker for a love story that crosses borders. I met my husband while living and working in Turkey, and now I write lighthearted romance novels inspired by the idea that you don't have to choose between catching flights or catching feelings - why not both? While I'm doing less traveling these days, I feel like I still get to experience different countries, cultures, and settings thanks to so many wonderful books that feel like vacations.

KC's book list on romance about falling in love in another country

KC McCormick Ciftci Why did KC love this book?

First of all, I love everything I've ever read from Helen Hoang.

Getting inside the heads of her characters feels like such a privilege, always providing a different way of viewing the world. In this book, watching the characters come to understand and love each other through neurodivergence, language, and cultural differences was so beautiful. I couldn't put it down!

By Helen Hoang,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the USA Today bestselling author of The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about love that crosses international borders and all boundaries of the heart...

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he's defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.

As a mixed-race girl…


Book cover of Royal Holiday

KC McCormick Ciftci Author Of We Were Inevitable

From my list on romance about falling in love in another country.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent the majority of my twenties living and working abroad, and I've always been a sucker for a love story that crosses borders. I met my husband while living and working in Turkey, and now I write lighthearted romance novels inspired by the idea that you don't have to choose between catching flights or catching feelings - why not both? While I'm doing less traveling these days, I feel like I still get to experience different countries, cultures, and settings thanks to so many wonderful books that feel like vacations.

KC's book list on romance about falling in love in another country

KC McCormick Ciftci Why did KC love this book?

I love that Royal Holiday features older charactersthe main character in this book is the mother of the main character in another of the same series. Because yes, whirlwind love stories shouldn't be restricted just to the 20- or 30-somethings.

The maturity and self-knowledge of the main characters was so refreshing, and of course the setting is a part of why I love every single book on this list.

By Jasmine Guillory,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Royal Holiday as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Reese Witherspoon, Oprah and Roxane Gay LOVE her! Readers love her!

Have you discovered New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick Jasmine Guillory yet?

'The queen of contemporary romance' OprahMag.com
'She writes the sexiest and smartest romances' Red Magazine
'Just as essential to a good summer holiday as SPF' Grazia

'Jasmine has done it again. A fun, engaging, light romance'

'The loveliest little snack from the talented Jasmine Guillory'

'Like a Hallmark movie in book form'
............................................................

IT'S THE CHRISTMAS ROMANCE YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS!

When Vivian Forest gets the chance to tag along on her daughter…


Book cover of Off the Map

KC McCormick Ciftci Author Of We Were Inevitable

From my list on romance about falling in love in another country.

Why am I passionate about this?

I spent the majority of my twenties living and working abroad, and I've always been a sucker for a love story that crosses borders. I met my husband while living and working in Turkey, and now I write lighthearted romance novels inspired by the idea that you don't have to choose between catching flights or catching feelings - why not both? While I'm doing less traveling these days, I feel like I still get to experience different countries, cultures, and settings thanks to so many wonderful books that feel like vacations.

KC's book list on romance about falling in love in another country

KC McCormick Ciftci Why did KC love this book?

I see the phrase "roadtrip across Ireland," and it's an immediate "yes" for me.

There was so much that I loved about this storythe adventurous main characters and the shenanigans they get themselves into, an animal sidekick, and of course the setting. There were some parts near the end that made me a little teary-eyed, but in a beautiful and cathartic kind of way. I think it's time for a reread!

By Trish Doller,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Carla Black's life motto is "here for a good time, not for a long time." She's been traveling the world on her own in her vintage Jeep Wrangler for nearly a decade, stopping only long enough to replenish her adventure fund. She doesn't do love and she doesn't ever go home.

Eamon Sullivan is a modern-day cartographer who creates digital maps. His work helps people find their way, but he's the one who's lost his sense of direction. He's unhappy at work, recently dumped, and his one big dream is stalled out-literally.

Fate throws them together when Carla arrives in…


Book cover of Punk 57

Amy Oliveira Author Of Love Me, Maddie Mendoza

From my list on friends-to-lovers romance.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a complete bookworm and romance addict. I love to see the old tropes being written with a fresh feel, and I’m a true believer that romance is so hard to write because everyone knows the end, but it’s up to the writer to bring you on a worthy journey. After reading countless friends-to-lovers novels, I can say with certainty I have the list with the best books written by the contemporary romance rock stars. Let’s get to it!

Amy's book list on friends-to-lovers romance

Amy Oliveira Why did Amy love this book?

This is a pen pals turned to best friends turned to enemies turned to lovers story. And no one could write this mess better than Penelope Douglas. Punk 57 follows the friendship of two kids who only talk through letters until Misha transfers to Ryen’s school and discovers she’s nothing like in the letters. You can blame the hormones, but this book has the same amount of angst as it has of pure goodness.

By Penelope Douglas,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Punk 57 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From New York Times Bestselling Author, Penelope Douglas, comes the latest standalone love-hate romance.

We were perfect together. Until we met." MishaI can’t help but smile at the lyrics in her letter. She misses me. In fifth grade, my teacher set us up with pen pals from a different school. Thinking I was a girl, with a name like Misha, the other teacher paired me up with her student, Ryen. My teacher, believing Ryen was a boy like me, agreed. It didn’t take long for us to figure out the mistake. And in no time at all, we were arguing…


Book cover of More Than Neighbors

Isabel Keats Author Of Skinny Legs

From my list on love hate romance with a happy ending.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a Spanish author, just an ordinary woman addicted to romance reading who one day felt like writing. I am mad about romance (especially those spiced with love/hate relationships) and I'm also a big fan of happy endings, that's why I love the good feelings that linger for a while after you finish reading a good romance. So one day, I dreamt of being able to provoke in others exactly the same feelings that all these lovely stories have awakened in me and thanks to a correct alignment of the planets now I have in Spain quite a lot of faithful readers who love my books. By the way, not to show off but... I'm the winner of the First Price HQÑ 2013 (Harlequin Ibérica digital contest).

Isabel's book list on love hate romance with a happy ending

Isabel Keats Why did Isabel love this book?

As I'm sure you have already guessed this is one of my own few stories translated to English ;-D. I chose it to be part of this selection because one of the few things that Cat and Leo, the main characters, have in common is how absolutely different they are. And this, I think, is one of the strong points of the book; the fact that two people that are poles apart can fall madly in love with each other. The other is that More Than Neighbors is an easy feel-good read.

By Isabel Keats, Simon Bruni (translator),

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

When Leopold Sinclair returned from a long overseas business trip, the last thing he expected to find was a sexy new tenant in the apartment next door. Catalina Stapleton, the beautiful, recently arrived neighbor, is the type of person who just can't help adopting every poor stray she comes across. After a brief exchange with her uptight and work-obsessed neighbor, she decides that Leopold is an unhappy man who needs to be saved from himself.

Yet soon, what started as her friendly project turns personal. After a red-hot kiss inflames their attraction, Leopold knows he must keep wild Cat at…


Book cover of Writers & Lovers

Virginia Pye Author Of The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann

From my list on a woman writer finding her own voice.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love novels that show female characters finding their way in life, and especially women who use writing to help themselves to grow and evolve. Finding my own voice through writing has been my way of staking my claim in the world. It hasn’t always been easy for us to tell our stories, but when we do, we’re made stronger and more complete. The protagonist of my novel The Literary Undoing of Victoria Swann fights hard to tell her own story. I know something about being held back by male-dominated expectations and Victoria’s situation could easily take place today. But when women writers finally find their voices, the works they create are of great value. 

Virginia's book list on a woman writer finding her own voice

Virginia Pye Why did Virginia love this book?

Lily King’s Writers & Lovers is set in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1997, where my own novel takes place a century earlier. It’s a fictional coming-of-age story of a young woman who tries to write her way into adulthood.

Casey Peabody works as a waitress in Harvard Square, spends time with her aspiring writer friends, walks along the Charles River, and sits for hours at her desk trying to write, all of which I did in those same places at her same age and often with the same sense of longing—and which, incidentally, Victoria Swann does, too, albeit while wearing a floor-length skirt and using a fountain pen.

Casey, Victoria, and I, (and I assume Lily King herself), were not alone: so many people I’ve met over the years have spent time in their twenties hanging out around Harvard Square, anxious and waiting to become the grown-ups we hoped to be.…

By Lily King,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

#ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick as Featured on Today
Emma Roberts Belletrist Book Club Pick
A New York Times Book Review’s Group Text Selection

"I loved this book not just from the first chapter or the first page but from the first paragraph... The voice is just so honest and riveting and insightful about creativity and life." —Curtis Sittenfeld 

An extraordinary new novel of art, love, and ambition from Lily King, the New York Times bestselling author of Euphoria

Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with another instant New York Times bestseller:…


Book cover of American Queen

Susan Corso Author Of Ascending Apparition

From my list on chosen family romances.

Why am I passionate about this?

Wondering why I’m such a fan of chosen families? I have a family of origin, but when I think of true family, it’s not my siblings. It’s the people of my heart. My husband, my longtime editor, who I finally got smart enough to marry. A spiritual daughter in Boston; another in Kenya. A favorite ex-husband in Santa Fe. Another man who should've been my brother, and his beloved husband in Manhattan. For me, a real friend is someone who’d raze the State Department if I were stuck in a prison in Lima, Peru. Any one of these mentioned would. I always wanted a pseudonym so I write Boots & Boas under Vivienne Hartt Quinn.

Susan's book list on chosen family romances

Susan Corso Why did Susan love this book?

Best for last. Sierra Simone is a kick-ass writer. Steamy like nobody else is steamy. Fanciful. Well-read—she used to be a librarian. Smart, smart, smart, and not a show-off about it. The threesome who make the chosen family in these novels of the New Camelot eventuate in startling public roles. The first three tell the stories of the ménage; the last two are novellas, adjunct to the main story. The parallels between the original Arthurian legend and these are break-taking. Her storytelling is exemplary. Timing. Pacing. Convincing dialogue, and the sex is off the page. Not for the faint of heart, Sierra Simone is for the hard-core sexy and worth every second of reading time. When enough time has gone by, I’ll reread these. I know it.

By Sierra Simone,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

My name is Greer Galloway, and I serve at the pleasure of the President of the United States.

When I was a girl, I received a warning: Keep your kisses to yourself.

Twice I ignored it, and twice my heart was utterly, miserably broken. I didn’t need to learn my lesson a third time. Instead, I swore off love forever.

But President Colchester hasn't sworn me off—not by a long shot.

I knew him as Ash, the soldier I once kissed in a circle of broken glass. I haven’t forgotten his broken promises and forbidden desires. But the country knows…


Book cover of Everyone Brave Is Forgiven

Deborah Hopkinson Author Of We Must Not Forget: Holocaust Stories of Survival and Resistance

From my list on World War II in Europe.

Why am I passionate about this?

The books I’ve recommended here range from scholarship, young adult historical fiction, literary fiction, and a good spy mystery—all set in World War II. I’ve read widely in the field since I’ve written several nonfiction books for young readers and teens about World War II. Along with We Must Not Forget, these include Courage & Defiance, about the Danish resistance, Dive!, about the submarine war in the Pacific, D-Day: The World War II Invasion that Changed History, and We Had to Be Brave: Escaping the Nazis on the Kindertransport. I’m currently working on a book about a 1945 POW rescue in the Philippines.

Deborah's book list on World War II in Europe

Deborah Hopkinson Why did Deborah love this book?

Chris Cleave’s fourth novel was inspired by memories of his grandparents and their letters during the war. The novel follows the lives and relationships of four young people in Britain during the early years of World War II. It also follows action on the island of Malta, a part of World War II history not as well known. It’s also a story of love, friendship, and surprising choices. A warning: Do not read ahead. The novel has an incredible last scene and you don’t want to ruin it!

By Chris Cleave,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Everyone Brave Is Forgiven as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

'Ian McEwan did this with Atonement, Sarah Waters did it with The Night Watch, and Chris Cleave does it too with Everyone Brave is Forgiven... A compelling and finely crafted novel.' FT

'An addictive, propulsive read' The Sunday Times

Summer Reading pick - Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train
Top Ten hottest summer reads - Sunday Telegraph
Instant New York Times Bestseller
Evening Standard bestseller
'A cracker' Stylist, 10 Exciting Books in 2016
'His best book to date' Esquire, 10 best novels of 2016
Guardian Literary Highlight of 2016
Independent Best Book to read in 2016
Irish…


Book cover of These Hollow Vows

Stephanie M. Allen Author Of Dueling Fates

From my list on fantasy with a little zingy romance thrown in.

Why am I passionate about this?

I absolutely adore fantasy! I love leaving our world and being transported to another. I love that characters might have magic or crazy heritages. I love the creatures that come with the genre. I adore everything about fantasy. Throwing romantic elements into the story just makes it all that much sweeter. Having a hero with a weakness for a heroine is so comforting to read. Giving the characters someone else to fight for is also a heart-warming, sometimes gut-wrenching, affair. But in the end, having romance in a fantasy just gives it a little extra push to the readers.

Stephanie's book list on fantasy with a little zingy romance thrown in

Stephanie M. Allen Why did Stephanie love this book?

This was an unexpected read on a few levels. First, that ending! Oh, that ending was rude! It definitely left me on a cliffhanger, which I both love and hate. Let’s be real, I do it in my own writing. It keeps the reader guessing and leaves the reader wanting more. But I also found it to be fast-paced, which isn’t the usual for a romantic fantasy. It had all the elements I love: morally gray heroine, lovers to enemies, love triangle, all the tropes that just go deliciously in a fantasy.

By Lexi Ryan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked These Hollow Vows as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 14, 15, 16, and 17.

What is this book about?

From New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan, Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in this sexy, action-packed fantasy about a girl who is caught between two treacherous faerie courts and their dangerously seductive princes. Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she'll do whatever it takes to get her back - including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in love triangle, romantic love, and Southern France?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about love triangle, romantic love, and Southern France.

Love Triangle Explore 73 books about love triangle
Romantic Love Explore 828 books about romantic love
Southern France Explore 15 books about Southern France