Here are 100 books that Summer Ever After fans have personally recommended if you like
Summer Ever After.
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For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
Fairy tales are all about princes and princesses, and I loved this book because it is a modern-day rom-com royal romance. Rafe is a swoony male lead, and his character is so well-developed!
I didn’t want to put this book down. I still think about it and remember certain scenes that were especially romantic.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
I loved the meet-cute for this book—technically, the second meet-cute of the two main characters. Who doesn’t want to be saved from a burning building by a hunky firefighter, especially the one you loved as a teenager?
I adored the main character, Emmy, and her belief in love and romance. The setting was especially cozy, and the book made me laugh, too!
Sometime all it takes to start a fire is a single match. . .
Owen Larrabee is not my soulmate.
He wasn't when I confessed my love to him on his wedding day, and he isn't now. I should probably say that I wasn't the bride when that happened. I don't have the best timing.
He’s got a temper, he's moody, and he has a history of being misunderstood and making big mistakes.
I, on the other hand, make pumpkin cupcakes, spend my Friday nights curled up with a beloved romance novel and long to be kissed in the rain.…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
I did not want this book to end; it’s that good! The beginning had me rolling and laughing, with the meet-cute at the basketball game and the “kiss cam” moment. But the rest of the book gave major Cinderella vibes, and that’s my favorite fairy tale of all time.
I loved how Duke cared for Nora and did everything he could to take care of her, and I loved how they overcame their past hurts together. This was a really beautiful story that truly felt like a fairy tale!
My friend told me I needed more fun in my life, so I reluctantly said yes. Fun wasn’t exactly in my wheelhouse. After watching my own mother’s love life implode time and time again it’s only natural that I have a few rules to protect myself.
Actually, it’s just one rule…
Avoid relationships with men so I don’t get attached.
I wasn’t worried. Getting attached has never been a problem for me. This guy was just a warm body in a chair. I was here for the basketball game. I was absolutely NOT here for…
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with fairy tales and love. I had imaginary friends and would pretend to be the “damsel in distress,” waiting for my prince to find me. I’ve never lost that love as an adult, but I’ve found that certain books can give me the same feelings I had as a child. And reading these stories always fills me with hope that there is good in the world and that love conquers all!
This book is so sweet, and I loved the epistolary format! My husband and I wrote each other many letters (yes, by hand) and emails while we were dating, so reading all the exchanges between Izzy and Brodie brought me back to those first fluttery feelings of falling in love. Izzy is such a sweet heroine, and Brodie really saw her, which I also loved!
Dear Reader, My name is Isabelle Louisa Edgewood-Izzy, for short. I live by blue-tinted mountains, where I find contentment in fresh air and books. Oh, and coffee and tea, of course. And occasionally in being accosted by the love of my family. (You'll understand my verb choice in the phrase later.) I dream of opening my own bookstore, but my life, particularly my romantic history, has not been the stuff of fairy tales. Which is probably why my pregnant, misled, matchmaking cousin-who, really, is more like my sister-signed me up for an online dating community.
At the age of seven, already a devoted bookworm, I came upon a large stack of early-20th century children's magazines filled with stories, poems, and especially fairy tales, some the classic kind, and some weird, scary or unfamiliar. I don't know where those dog-eared, well-thumbed annuals came from, or what happened to them afterward – they were lost or given away when our family moved, I suppose. But I have never forgotten them, or the effect they had on my imagination and longings. I've been searching for those long-lost tales ever since... and it finally led me to decide I would just have to write a few of my own.
The 19th-century Scottish writer George MacDonald is said to be the father of the modern fairy tale, inspiring C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, and many others. I chose The Light Princess because I find it his most charming tale: it's about a princess under a wicked spell who has been made weightless, unable to obey the laws of gravity. As in all good fairy tales, a prince eventually comes along to drag her back down to earth. He must sacrifice himself for her, but in the end, it is she who rescues him – from a feminist perspective, a most gratifying conclusion.
George MacDonald (1824-1905), the great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, influenced not only C. S. Lewis but also such literary masters as Charles Williams and J. R. R. Tolkien. Though his longer fairy tales Lilith and Phantastes are particularly famous, much of MacDonald’s best fantasy writing is found in his shorter stories. In this volume editor Glenn Sadler has compiled some of MacDonald’s finest short works―marvelous fairy tales and stories certain to delight readers familiar with MacDonald and those about to meet him for the first time.
I’ve always had an interest in art, growing up a military brat and constantly moving, left me time to doodle and read. I spent the first part of my life as an art professor and artist. I began writing three years ago when my manuscript was chosen for RWA’s Ramp program in 2021. With my art, my interest leans more towards the bizarre and unexplained. I believe the romance stories I write follow suit, dark and gothic romance my primary interest, but always with spiritual and hopeful undertones. I also write some non-fiction for a local magazine where I live, The Greenville Stroll and on substack a newsletter for romance writers.
This is what fairy tales would look like if they were gothic, so I love this book.
I read it a few years ago and fell in love with it. I purchased the print copy because I wanted the illustrations in front of me to look at too. Almost any story you read comes from a myth or a fairy tale if you deconstruct it, so reading this book keeps your brain tuned into this idea, but you don't need to be a writer to find delight in this book.
Once upon a time fairy tales weren't meant just for children, and neither is Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales. This stunning collection contains lyrical tales, bloody tales and hilariously funny and ripely bawdy stories from countries all around the world- from the Arctic to Asia - and no dippy princesses or soppy fairies. Instead, we have pretty maids and old crones; crafty women and bad girls; enchantresses and midwives; rascal aunts and odd sisters.
This fabulous celebration of strong minds, low cunning, black arts and dirty tricks could only have been collected by the unique and much-missed Angela Carter.…
UK-born CY Croc started her career in the health industry, but later changed professions after obtaining a postgraduate degree in teaching. It was while teaching she discovered her dream profession. An author was invited to the school to showcase her latest book. Inspired, CY wrote over 30 books in the next 3 years in contemporary, sci-fi, and paranormal romance. She loves to include positive subliminal messages in her stories about body image, prejudice, and love from a higher realm and always practices inclusion in her writing. Her main characters practice autonomy and come from all races. CY believes everyone should experience love, and that's why some of her protagonists are not of this world.
Why only settle for one unearthly lover when you can have 3? Especially when the female protagonist turns out to be somewhat monstrous herself? This book features 3 completely different male monster protagonists that will stop at nothing to protect the female protagonist. You’ll find it difficult to choose your favourite book boyfriend in this exceptionally entertaining monster reverse harem.
It took me far too long to realize that I, childhood absorber of all things fantastical, countedas an SFF fan; all the books I saw listed as “popular” or “classic” SFF were cis/het white dude parties. But SFF at its best uses the fantastical as metaphor for the mundane; imagines better (or worse) worlds; does something different, in screaming color! Who can do that better than the books lost on the fringes? To that end, I’ve organized this list based on rough reverse popularity, so if you don’t find something new by the beginning, you’ll almost certainly get it by the end. Happy reading!
The Merry Spinsterfalls into my big bucket of fairytale retelling faves, but it hardly sticks to tradition: rather than simply following old plots, Lavery draws on the tone and style of classic fairy tales to create a gender-warped world where daughters use he/him pronouns and mermaids are sort of, but distinctly not, girls. Even better, the playful attitude towards gender now seems to foreshadow Lavery’s own coming out and transition, both occurring after he published this book—something that fills me with a special kind of trans-author love. Reading this for the first time, I had the sensation of slipping pleasantly into an utter dreamworld of gender/sexuality beauty, like a warm bath: I recommend you fall in, too.
I hold a master's in writing modern stories based on ancient myth and have always been fascinated by the power of mythology and the idea of the archetypal subconscious, combine this with the wonders of the natural world and beautifully constructed sentences, and you have my dream read. All the books on this list, even though two are historical, have a modern sensibility, all celebrate the power of nature, and all are masterful in their execution. Enjoy!
In the words of the writer herself, "this is an adult fairy tale about rivers, time, and the mystery of love." I have never read anything like this little gem of a book that immerses you in the natural world to such an extent, I felt like I became half-aquatic during the reading of it. It made me want to run away and live in the Tasmanian wilderness by a river, but then again, I’m not half woman, half fish, like the protagonist of the book. A strange and wonderful read.
The River Wife is a simple and subtle fable of love. It tells the story of the river wife - part human, part fish - whose duty is to tend the river, but instead falls in love with a man. Tender and melancholy, it speaks of desire and love, mothers and daughters, kinship and care, duty and sacrifice, water and wisdom. There is a great sternness and sadness here, coupled with gentleness. A love story, an environmental fable, a retelling of the Orpheus myth, The River Wife is grave, tender and otherworldly.
I write books for intelligent, adventurous, globally-minded teens who aren’t afraid to fall in love with someone different from themselves. I started as a journalist, so it is no surprise that my YA books contain a lot of facts to go along with the fiction. Whether you want to know about Japan (Tanabata Wish), the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 (Breathe), what it’s like to be an Olympic-caliber skater (Every Reason We Shouldn’t), or how unscripted television works (Faking Reality), I take readers on swoony journeys to unusual places. So, if you like books that educate as they entertain, I hope you’ll check this book list—plus my books—out.
I wasn’t sure how Cornwell could possibly make a Cinderella retelling fresh and unique, but she did. She roots Nicolette—who her evil stepsisters call Mechanica—deep enough in the classic fairytale that we get all the satisfying beats, but then Cornwell turns them on their head. I love steampunk stories, and Cornwell replaces the Disney-fied animal helpers with mechanical insects and a metal horse fueled by coal and outlawed faery magic. She also addresses some outdated ideas in earlier renditions for a modern twist set in a Victorian-ish time period. Though Nicolette is not the first mechanical Cinderella on the YA bookshelf, Mechanica is not a rip-off of Marissa Meyer’s Cinder. I enjoyed both of them.
Nicolette's awful stepsisters call her "Mechanica" to demean her, but the nickname fits: she learned to be an inventor at her mother's knee. Her mum is gone now, though, and the Steps have pushed her into a life of dreary servitude. When she discovers a secret workshop in the cellar on her sixteenth birthday and befriends Jules, a tiny magical metal horse. Nicolette starts to imagine a new life for herself. And the timing may be perfect: There's a technological exposition and a royal ball on the horizon. Determined to invent her own happily-ever-after, Mechanics seeks to wow the prince…
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