83 books like Tease

I have read all the Winston Brother novels this author wrote, but Beard Science is my favorite. Cletus is an oddball hillbilly who meets his match in Jennifer Sylvester. Thanks to Reid's compelling storytelling, this bearded self-professed weirdo is my favorite romantic character. As a fan of hilarious romance novels with atypical heroes, this book was up my alley. And because Cletus is part of a new series, I didn't have to say goodbye to the character for some time.

This is a heartwarming, emotional small-town romance with a wounded hero (Leo) and a gamer girl heroine (Hannah). Leo and Hannah meet through their online alter egos and I love the fact they were able to develop a beautiful friendship that’s free of the complications of real life (where Leo is afraid to leave his family’s winery and Hannah is in an abusive relationship). 

When their online and actual lives meet, Leo busts free of his comfort zone to help Hannah. Their love story is real, raw, and uplifting. They help each other grow, which left me feeling warm on the inside. The ensemble cast (primarily Leo’s family) is enchanting and funny. Hidden Miles is a perfect blend of emotion and humor.

Meant to Be is the book that made me decide I wanted to write small town romance novels. Reading it somehow felt simultaneously like coming home and going on a beachside vacation. 

When Poppy goes to her aunt’s cottage in Sweetbriar Cove, she’s seeking a solution to writer’s block, but instead she finds friendship, community, and love with the gruff contractor next door. 

Cooper is that thing many romance readers (including me) seem to love: a big old grump with a marshmallow heart he’s trying to protect from the world around him. 

While the romance between Poppy and Cooper is lovely, it’s the side characters, charming village, and heart-warming sense of community that make this book one of my top five picks.

In Wrecked Palace, Catherine Cowles has created the type of characters you can’t help but adore. Caelyn dropped everything to raise her three younger siblings after her mother was arrested and her father disappeared. She’s loving, optimistic, and I’d love to have her as a friend. 

Griffin also experienced a traumatic event that changed his life, during which he lost his family. He’s determined to lock himself away from everyone and everything. His pain is so well written that my heart hurt for him.

Caelyn can’t stay away from any wounded creature, and it’s absolutely beautiful to see Griffin open up to her and her siblings. On a side note, Caelyn’s siblings are wonderful all on their own.

Though this fabulous new addition to the roller derby kidlit genre doesn’t come out until August, I was lucky enough (by nature of my derby community membership) to get a sneak peek, and am proud to say that Holden has taken a “novel” approach to enthusiastically recruiting the next generation of great roller derby players with relatable and nuanced skill.

IMO, tackling timely and relevant topics like social anxiety and family dysfunction along with team dynamics means taking a brave, 360 degree approach to the complex lives of today’s teens, however they roll. 

Speak Your Mind is a middle-grade/young adult book to read, learn from, discuss, reread, and start a book club with!

Victoria is exceedingly shy and has to overcome anxiety to be assertive. To top it off, Ms. Markovich singles out Victoria and verbally bullies her, paving the way for students to bully her.

At the story’s climax, Victoria needs to summon every ounce of her faith to speak the truth. Victoria’s strong character arc is very gratifying, and I absolutely love her friend Aiden.

This impressive novel takes on big topics including social anxiety, bullying, compassion, and living righteously in an unrighteous world, and leaves readers with several powerful lessons.

This is the story of a girl named Rose, who is autistic and obsessed with homonyms. She lives with her father who’s often impatient with her needs and abandons her to drink at the local bar. Her mother has vanished, and Rose turns to her sympathetic uncle and her beloved new dog for comfort.  When her dad lets the dog out during a storm, Rose and her uncle find the dog and realize it already has an owner. She learns the truth of her mother’s disappearance and moves in with her uncle. 

Once again, here’s a story about the healing relationship that can exist between a kid and an animal. And as the sibling of a person with Down syndrome and a former special education teacher, I’m impressed with the author’s respectful portrayal of a girl on the autism spectrum.

This book made me laugh out loud so many times—it's the funniest fantasy I have ever read. An oddball crew breaks into the protagonist’s prison cell to rescue a prince, so the protagonist claims to be the prince and is rescued along with his cellmate.

The journey back to the prince’s country is a road trip comedy with a wacky cast... but amid all the crude jokes are real emotional moments and characters being kind to each other. The protagonist can’t stop himself from falling for the prince and grows as a person in the process. Nothing about the story ever gets too serious, and the bad bits happen quickly and without prolonged trauma. I loved everything about it.

While many of John Grisham’s novels are legal-based courtroom thrillers, this is not. As a result, I personally think this is one of his most interesting thrillers.

With a cadre of selfish family members circling the waters after the suicide death of their eccentric patriarch billionaire, the plot shifts to the wilds of the primitive Amazon rainforest as a recovering alcoholic attorney tries to track down the real heir to the vast family fortune.

I loved the vivid description of the water-filled jungle that made you feel right in the middle of the journey. His intense description of the protagonist fighting to overcome his lurking addiction while on his mission to make things right made you want to keep turning the pages until you reached the startling ending.

I’m not only a mystery/suspense writer but also a fan of the genre, as I read or listen to about forty whodunnits a year, just under one a week. I tend to read these books with one eye toward the superficial story, yes, but I also study them from a technical standpoint, saying to myself, “Oh, I see what the author did there,” “Man, that was a nice way to frame that conflict,” or, “What the hell? I think the author wrote that chapter by getting drunk and taping crayons to their feet.” The point I’m trying to make is that the plot devices and metaphors tend to blur together after a while. 

But this book? Man, it stood out. I mean, Kat Rosenfield had me hook, line, and sinkers with the book’s opening line, “My name is Lizzie Ouellette, and if you’re reading this, I’m already dead.” It's… show more.