Fans pick 90 books like Her Stranded Billionaire Mix-Up

The first installment of Michelle Pennington’s Shaped By Love series, A Man Worth Shaving For is a fantastic romantic comedy centering around Tessa and Logan. Tessa is the head of HR in a body-positive lingerie company, while Logan has been called in to analyse the business and give his opinion on where cuts should be made. They are not aware of their upcoming connection, however, until after Tessa is set up on a blind date with him through mutual friends… a date which did not go particularly well. 

Michelle Pennington has written a lot of romances, but with romcom she blows everything else out of the water. I had pre-order alerts set up on my phone for when the next release in the series came out because I loved them that much.

This is the book I compare all other fake-dating books to. The meet-cute sucked me in. In a panic, Olive kisses the closest (and only) man she sees, hoping her friend will believe she’s on a real date in a biology lab. Now, her friend thinks she’s dating Adam, the smug young professor who seems to hate graduate students.

Let the conflict begin. I love that Olive is a STEM graduate student searching for a method of early detection of pancreatic cancer—the kind that killed her mom. She’s smart and passionate about her work. And I fell for Adam hard. Hazelwood only gives us Olive’s viewpoint, so I was trying to read his intent right along with her. And then there was the “aha” moment when I finally tied the prologue to the story. I will always and forever recommend this book.

This light-hearted romcom is guaranteed to be a hit with Pride and Prejudice fans. The heroine, Emma Brady, is cast in a Jane Austen-themed reality TV dating show… Only she isn’t there looking for romance. Unlike the other contestants, her ulterior motive is to get exposure for her activewear brand so her business will thrive. Only things get complicated when she falls for Mr. Darcy after all – and he is committed to the show for reasons Emma can’t comprehend. Full of twists and turns, characterful contestants, and a truckload of Pride and Prejudice references, this story is an absolute riot.

I found this entire series a refreshing and original set of Billionaire trope romances, as each of the heroes lives with a permanent disability. One really important thing I think Tamie does really well with her books is that they don’t come across as shallow or exoticized – the characters are never magically healed for their happily ever afters – they have their challenges and it makes them who they are, but they don’t need those things to be fixed to be happy and whole. She has a lot of personal insight into this as well, as she covers in her Author’s Note that she wrote these books out of a personal desire to bring representation to this community out of love for her grandson who also – like Bran – happens to be blind.

When I first began writing Christian pirate romances, I had no clue such a genre existed. And then, out of the blue, I discovered MaryLu Tyndall’s The Redemption. This intense and romantic pirate adventure opened me up to a whole new world of fiction and inspired me to continue writing pirate novels that were realistic and exciting. Whether you’re a long-time pirate fan or new to the genre/topic, The Redemption will sweep you away with Charlisse and Merrick on an adventure you won’t soon forget!

Upon reading this delight, I could not scrap it from my mind. Spicier in places than many of Carla Kelly’s other Regency romances, Beau Crusoe had a bit of grit tempered with gentle, truly likable lead characters.

Despite the trauma the hero went through prior to the beginning pages, his reserved goodness shines through. I rooted for him and the heroine and their well-fought happy ending as I devoured every page.

This novel, published in 1949, is about three grown-up siblings who are still dominated by the memory of their famous parents, both accomplished performers, and their atypical early years, which they spent playing in theaters across Europe. Though the majority of the novel takes place after the parents have died, the ties of family remain paramount for the three protagonists. At times each one feels desperate to escape those ties, but their shared past exerts an irresistible pull on all three. Unusually, the novel is narrated in the first-person plural: the narrative often refers to “us,” but tells each sibling’s individual scenes in the third person. With its three intertwined threads, The Parasites vividly explores the lifelong influence of family bonds.

An interesting take on a dystopian world, whilst humanity is threatened in this book, the two main characters have pretty decent lives (aside from the fact that they’re destined to be the last humans ever). Loneliness is one of my biggest fears, and the concept of being one of the only two people left on earth is truly terrifying. This book was an intriguing take on the dystopian genre, focusing on what would happen if humans became unable to reproduce. It had some twists I honestly didn’t see coming and a really positive attitude towards diversity. Lowrie (the female narrator) is a compelling, realistic character who records the world around her with compassion. Definitely one for readers who prefer a more ‘positive’ dystopian outlook.

An incredible motivating story of a man who refused to allow his poverty-stricken working-class life define him. Tony Williams, a school caretaker, had a dream to move to a desert island. His peers in his dead-end town ridiculed him, but he persisted with his ambition. Saving up money by pretending they smoked, and needed to buy cigarettes every day, Tony and his wife managed to travel to and live on uninhabited islands in the South Pacific twice, once with their kids. Anyone who believes their own personal circumstances prevent them from achieving their dreams needs to read this book, as well as anyone interested in the Cook Islands and the South Pacific lifestyle.

This is the book which most inspired Frances’ voice in The Island. 15-year old Anais is troubled, loving, brilliant, and creative. She is also at a young offenders’ institution named the Panopticon after being found covered in blood at a crime scene. A birthday present from my brother, this book is so powerful, moving, and evocative. It’s written in spiky Midlothian. It’s raw. It’s warm. It’s brutal.

No matter what life throws at her (and there is a lot) Anais finds a way to survive with humour and defiance. I just loved it.