Here are 71 books that Starting Over fans have personally recommended if you like
Starting Over.
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Ever since my younger years, I’ve spent many hours dwelling within the realms of my imagination, daydreaming myself into whirlwind romances from slow-burn to forbidden and everything in between. Why? The best answer I can give right now is my love of love, my innate understanding that the invisible string that pulls two people so fiercely together at the right time and place ultimately are the connections and relationships that propel us into up-leveling ourselves, evolving into our next best versions. So when I read, watch, or write romance, it’s beyond the physical–it’s emotional, mental, and truly spiritual.
I return to this book time and again because of the captivating connection Elizabeth and Darcy share. It’s not just the tension on the surface, but it’s what goes on emotionally and psychologically with them that has me enchanted.
Austen does a fantastic job of portraying how love will sneak up on you when you’re not even looking for it, how it will push you to face the parts of yourself you’ve been avoiding for too long and to stand boldly in your authentic character while holding compassion for another’s perspective.
Every time I read this book, I feel I know the characters at a more intimate level as new fractals of their personalities and behaviors shine through.
Jane Austen's best-loved novel is an unforgettable story about the inaccuracy of first impressions, the power of reason, and above all the strange dynamics of human relationships and emotions.
Part of the Macmillan Collector's Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is illustrated by Hugh Thomson and features an afterword by author and critic, Henry Hitchings.
A tour de force of wit and sparkling dialogue, Pride and…
Writing (and reading) have been my happy places ever since childhood. I love being able to lose myself in the characters and storyline of a book. Life can be too serious at times, so what could be better than escaping into a fictional world and romantic comedy, especially if the hero or heroine has a pet! Books in this genre have always been my preferred choices and it felt only natural when I started writing to try stick to this ideal. When not writing, reading or walking the dog, trying out new recipes is also one of my favorite pastimes, naturally, my characters also have a favorite treat that I might just have slipped in.
This is book 4 in the series, so please don’t read it first. Richard’s four main characters, all interesting people in their own rights with complex relationships, formed “The Thursday Murder Club” in Book 1.
Okay – not a romantic comedy, more a cozy crime mystery set in an old people’s home, but you get the impression reading any of his books, that Richard really loved writing them and spending time with his characters, which makes all of them such a joy to read.
Lots of twists and turns, but the crime is solved in the end – so a Happy Ever After of sorts and the author keeps throwing in lighter moments to keep you reading and smiling through to the end. There is a dog in this one too.
A new mystery is afoot in the fourth book in the Thursday Murder Club series from million-copy bestselling author Richard Osman
You'd think you be allowed to relax over Christmas, but not in the world of the Thursday Murder Club.
On Boxing Day, a dangerous package is smuggled across the English coast. When it goes missing, chaos is unleashed. The body count starts to rise – including someone close to the Thursday Murder Club--as our gang face an impossible search, and their most deadly opponents yet.
With the clock ticking down and a killer heading to Cooper’s Chase, has their…
Writing (and reading) have been my happy places ever since childhood. I love being able to lose myself in the characters and storyline of a book. Life can be too serious at times, so what could be better than escaping into a fictional world and romantic comedy, especially if the hero or heroine has a pet! Books in this genre have always been my preferred choices and it felt only natural when I started writing to try stick to this ideal. When not writing, reading or walking the dog, trying out new recipes is also one of my favorite pastimes, naturally, my characters also have a favorite treat that I might just have slipped in.
Jilly Cooper is for me, a go-to author when I need to take life a little less seriously.
I discovered Rupert Campbell Black in Riders. It wasn’t love at first read. I didn’t much care for him until I started to read the second in this series. A fabulous, fun romp with laugh out loud moments (and of course animals) set again in Rutshire - Rivals.
Divorced, Rupert is now Minister for Sport. A great book; in that this is Rupert’s journey to love and his own Happy Ever After. I defy anyone not to read it and love him by the end.
Jilly Cooper is a wonderful storyteller, with a glorious sense of humour.
Alert – plenty of sex scenes, from the queen of the “bonk-buster”!
Into the cut-throat world of Corinium television comes Declan O'Hara, a mega-star of great glamour and integrity with a radiant feckless wife, a handsome son and two ravishing teenage daughters. Living rather too closely across the valley is Rupert Campbell-Black, divorced and as dissolute as ever, and now the Tory Minister for Sport.
Declan needs only a few days at Corinium to realise that the Managing Director, Lord Baddingham, is a crook who has recruited him merely to help retain the franchise for Corinium. Baddingham has also enticed Cameron Cook, a gorgeous but domineering…
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctor—and only woman—on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.
Writing (and reading) have been my happy places ever since childhood. I love being able to lose myself in the characters and storyline of a book. Life can be too serious at times, so what could be better than escaping into a fictional world and romantic comedy, especially if the hero or heroine has a pet! Books in this genre have always been my preferred choices and it felt only natural when I started writing to try stick to this ideal. When not writing, reading or walking the dog, trying out new recipes is also one of my favorite pastimes, naturally, my characters also have a favorite treat that I might just have slipped in.
I love this author, but I could have chosen any of Jennifer’s books.
She writes contemporary romantic comedies with everything I want from a romantic comedy, good plot lines great characters you can really identify with. If her hero and heroine were real, they would be people I could imagine wanting to spend time with.
A friends to lovers trope – Nick and Quinn have such a powerful connection, they absolutely must get together by the end of the book despite all the problems along their way. All Jennifer’s books are written with a light touch and great humour.
Spoiler alert Nick and Quinn get their Happy Ever After. And there is a dog! I happily go back and read this again and again.
A bored high school art teacher dumps her football-coach boyfriend and embarks on a mayhem-filled search for happiness that lands her in trouble with the law and sends her into the arms of the one man in her small Ohio town she should probably avoid
I’m a writer/artist inspired by a lifetime of reading graphic novels. A visual artist at heart with a BFA in Industrial Design I have worked over a decade in conceptual thinking for research and development in the manufacturing sector. I love the experimentation that breaks the boring norms of industry standards. I wanted to use my talent, experience, and passion to create a sci-fi graphic novel, Bear Serum, and break the medium norms. I wrote and drew it to satiate my own wild ideas in the sci-fi category to push the medium further.
Scud is a ’90s indie comic at its best and is now in one giant collection. Vending machine robots with various whacky, funny, and violent scenarios. Artist/writer Rob Shrab created a ton of awesome indie work. His passion and talent are undeniable as he creates one crazy scenario to the next. I recommend going to a local coffee shop and spending some time with the printed copy sipping a latte while listening to 90’s grunge rock.
I suggest that you read this one on a Saturday afternoon.
In the world of Scud, bullets are cheaper than human life. Corner
vending machines provide any weapon you might need. The most popular weapons are
Scud disposable assassins: Robot hitmen that self-destruct when they kill their
target. This volume follows Scud 1373, assigned to take out a hideous female
man-eater named Jeff. While fighting the indestructible Jeff, Scud discovers his
infamous warning panel in a bathroom mirror. Realizing that to kill Jeff is to
kill himself, Scud blows off her arms and legs and hospitalizes her. Her life
support bills will have to be paid, and Scud will have to…
I retired from a district attorney’s office as a victim witness specialist and a paralegal, where I saw a disturbing side of humanity with too many female victims. There were rarely any winners on either side. Reading mysteries with strong female leads gave me hope. A dash of humor didn’t hurt, either. After a long day of vicarious trauma, it was a treat to hide behind my computer in the evenings and write cozy mysteries, where I tied up the end of the story with a pretty pink bow and where there was a winner. I’m hooked!
Cozy mysteries tend to have an amateur sleuth with a day job who lives in a small town. Not only is the protagonist everything I love in a character—flawed, relatable, and hysterically funny—but I found her day job a refreshing change from other cozies I’ve read.
Not only is she a female tow truck driver in a male-dominated profession, but she’s also a girly girl who does the job in high heels. I also loved that it was clear the author thoroughly researched the profession, making it highly believable. After reading the first, I eagerly awaited new releases in the series. I’m hooked!
Super-feminine and confirmed shoe-a-holic Delaney Morran receives an unexpected inheritance--the keys to a tow truck from a dad she's never known. Even though she hasn't changed a tire, or even driven any kind of a truck, she's determined to make the rough and dangerous business a success. When she hauls a vehicle with the body of her jerk-of-an ex hidden in the trunk, the small-town cops in Spruce Ridge, Colorado do not believe this a coincidence. They have her in their headlights as the prime suspect. When the news hits, her business stalls. As a woman trying to make a…
James Malloy is a ferry captain--or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a "girl" named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Island’s daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.
I was an avid reader from the age of six. Books inspired me and, as a shy girl, stories helped me find the confidence to be myself. I felt amazed and inspired by reading – finding out about parts of the world I had never been to. Especially as an adult, I’ve been blessed with wonderful, female friends. These are the themes I explore now in my books. I hope to inspire young readers to be themselves and celebrate friendship. I love travelling and nature. I've lived in various parts of the US and England. Through my writing, I hope to share the wonder of different cultures and natural settings.
Yanka is a strong character with a deep love of the forest. I could relate to how she felt a bit different and out of place in her village. It was inspiring to me how she faced all sorts of perils in the forest on her quest. She is brave and unique. When she returns from the forest, she finds her place in the village...as herself. This book reminds me we have unique gifts and characteristics we should be proud of and embrace, not hide away.
* "Marvelously charmed and charming." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"They call me Yanka the Bear. Not because of where I was found. Only a few people know about that. They call me Yanka the Bear because I am so big and strong."
Discovered in a bear cave as a baby, 12-year-old Yanka dreams of knowing who she really is. Although Yanka is happy at home with her loving foster mother, she feels out of place in the village where the other children mock her for her unusual size and strength.
Growing up, my mother often shared stories of her evacuation to a small Wiltshire village during World War Two. Far from a warm welcome, the local children viewed the newcomers with suspicion, and they were made to feel unwanted. My mother did, however, form one lifelong friendship that was very important to her. Her tales inspired me to write a novel about an evacuee’s experience for my Creative Writing MA. Living in Dorset at the time, I set my story there. The research was fascinating, allowing me to weave together historical insights with my own memories and experiences of today’s rural life.
I enjoyed the dual timeline of this book and the path to resolving a seventy-year-old mystery. The story is set in the Suffolk countryside, and after reading the book, I was fascinated enough to visit the location and the scene of the myth on which the story is based.
A missing child is at the core of the story, but gossip, accusation, and the unknown all combined to muddy the water of a story that captured my imagination.
The Secrets of the Lake is a gripping wartime novel, by the author of The Silk Weaver, Liz Trenow.
'Masterful storytelling, immersive locations, and characters that inhabit your heart from the first page' - Gill Paul, author of The Secret Wife.
The war may be over, but for Molly life is still in turmoil. Uprooted from London after the death of her mother, Molly, her father and younger brother Jimmy are starting again in a quiet village in the countryside of Colchester. As summer sets in, the heat is almost as oppressive as the village gossip. Molly dreams of becoming…
I was born in Clifton, in the city of Bristol, England. Clifton is known for its elegant Georgian and Regency architecture. Growing up in these surroundings gave me an impression of what life might have been like for the people who lived there, the families upstairs and servants belowstairs. In front of a few houses on some streets, there are still stone blocks at the curb, worn smooth from countless feet entering and exiting their carriages. I have used Clifton as a setting in some of the books I have written, hoping to make those scenes more realistic and bring history alive for my readers.
This is the first book in The Huxtables family series. The author blends wit, charm, and family foibles just as easily as does Georgette Heyer. The banter between the siblings is a joy to read. Even when fortune comes their way in the unexpected elevation of one family member who inherits an earldom, the characters stay true to themselves.
The arrival of Elliott Wallace, the irresistibly eligible Viscount Lyngate, has thrown the sleepy village of Throckbridge into a tizzy. It soon becomes clear that Elliot seeks a convenient marriage to a suitable bride, and desperate to rescue her eldest sister Margaret from a loveless union, Vanessa Huxtable - a proud and daring, a young widow - offers herself up instead.
In need of a wife, Elliott takes the audacious widow up on her unconventional proposal while he pursues an urgent mission of his own. But then a strange thing happens: as the wedding night approaches they become inexplicably drawn…
Return to Hope Creek is a second-chance rural romance set in Australia.
Stella Simpson's career and engagement are over. She returns to the rural community of Hope Creek to heal, unaware her high school and college sweetheart, Mitchell Scott, has also moved back to town to do some healing of…
I freely admit to reading romances―"Nurse Janes," as one of my teachers used to call them―whenever I need a break from heavier material or just from life. While I have some favorite authors (who doesn't?), I do not limit myself to any particular era or style of romance. To me, romance has many shades and flavours, and I enjoy them all. Believe you me, choosing just five to recommend was no piece of cake.
I was pleasantly surprised at how sweet and truly romantic Will North'sWater, Stone, Heart turned out to be. I wandered lazily through the Cornish countryside with the main character, meeting quirky locals, becoming fascinated by the mystery of the artist who had settled in a seaside village. And at the conclusion I felt comfortably satisfied. A lovely read. Who says men can't write romance?
Forty year-old Nicola Rhys-Jones is a woman in hiding. Fleeing an abusive husband, she finds refuge in Boscastle, a village on the rugged coast of Cornwall, England. Andrew Stratton is an American professor of architectural theory. Shocked out of his academic bubble when his ambitious wife leaves him, he signs up for something tangible: a course in the art of stone wall-building—in Boscastle.
From the moment they meet, Nicola and Andrew are attracted to each other, but at daggers drawn. Nicola, sexy yet sarcastic, is an expert at fending off men. In Andrew, she meets her match: quick-witted, funny, yet…
