The most recommended books about single people

Character transformations do it for me every time and boy, does this book deliver. Rachel escapes a religious community knowing what she wants and unafraid to go for it. She recruits Ben to take her virginity without telling him, and when he finds out, fireworks ensue. He’s initially an unworthy hero with a cynical heart, but we gradually see him become a better man with her.

Anything by Anne Calhoun delivers great steamy scenes, but in this particular book, Rachel’s discovery of sex, with Ben to teach her, is off the charts. Anne draws you in from the first word. Their undeniable chemistry is engrossing. Couple that with complex characters and a beautiful story between two very different people, and you have a barnstormer!

I have been subjected to the control of a narcissist and reading this book was something I felt deep. 

Liv Constantine brought forth the reality of what the outside world sees in a marriage, compared to what goes on behind closed doors. The control a spouse can have on a loved one puts a different spin on love.

I couldn’t help but feel the love grow and wonder what could go wrong when two people are so happy together. Having another woman setting up a plan to steal a husband made her despicable, but in the end, it became an amazing escape for one Mrs. Parrish. 

I felt so connected to the character in this book, not as a victim but as a woman who regained her strength and escaped.

I was so tired of books that follow a formula with every author trying to imitate whoever had a bestseller that week when I picked this up. Nothing was what I expected! This was a totally character-driven book and so realistic with regard to how people actually behave and feel instead of contrived dialogue and predictable reactions. I could clearly visualize each and every person in this novel and the character development was superb. On top of that, the plot just didn’t quit! You will never believe the ending. 

Szalay sort of exposes—in the most subtle of ironic ways—how men delude themselves with respect to their intentions, their character, their attitudes towards work and women, and all the concomitant notions of competition contained therein.

He's got, it seems to me, a quite Hobbesian worldview going—and that, to me, is refreshing! Of course the writing is for the most part beautiful; but not too beautiful, not too embellished. A bit plangent. A bit lapidary.

One thing I would say is, reading him, I am sometimes tempted to cut the last sentence of his chapters. He often ends with a note, as it were, that strikes me as bathetic. I wonder if in some way he doesn't trust the reader. 

Cutting the last sentence:  that's an old New Yorker magazine trick and I think—even though this may sound presumptuous—his prose'd benefit… show more.

The First World War stripped Britain of hundreds of thousands of its young men. In an age where women’s lives were funnelled towards the certainty of marriage, this left a big shortfall on the balance sheet of matrimony, creating what became known as the Surplus Women. Now they had to find their own sources of income and become responsible for their own future happiness.

Nicholson curates many memoirs and diaries of such women from all tiers of society. Adding material from interviews she conducted herself, she tells the stories of lost potential and loneliness, together with inspirational tales of liberation, fresh-forged independence, and the unprecedented freedom that self-reliance brought for those who rose to the challenge.

I’ve seen the moody tv series adaption – but the book is a must-read for any domestic-thriller list! I really enjoyed this roller coaster ride that takes you through romance, twists, and sometimes creepy revelations. I also found the alternating of character voices and time compelling. Sometimes, it doesn’t work – but I think the author did a great job of this to build up to the surprise ending. Famed and mysterious architect Edward Monkford carefully chooses occupants for a home he rents out who must adhere to an extensive (and peculiar) list of rules in order to live there. The story follows two “lucky” occupants of the property, Emma. 

This was one of those books that I just held in my hands quietly for a few moments after I finished reading it because I felt like I’d just finished a masterpiece. (Does anyone say that about a romance novel? I do, because this book has it all.) 

I’ve always loved writing and what this author pulled off in the writing of this book is worthy of a standing ovation. The layers of the plot, those tidbits of information in the beginning that end up having a lot of meaning at the end. Ah! It was so beautifully and skillfully done! This is one of those books that makes me want to be a better writer. It’s an inspiration, and a really great story too!

I was put off by the title of this book because of the name, Morrow Little. I mean, who has a name like that? Plus, I wasn’t a fan of stories set in the 1700s American frontier. But a friend insisted I read it, and yeah, my friend knew me well. I wanted to run away with this hero, but no spoilers here. Morrow Little embodies every woman looking for honest love and she has the courage to pursue it. Or follow it. You be the judge. Because of this story, I’ve read every other Laura Frantz book I could find. She has a way of capturing the setting and atmosphere and dropping you right in the middle of it.

Like authors Montgomery and McKinley, Georgette Heyer specializes in bringing us heroines that have interests and spunk that set them apart from the conventions of their time. I could have chosen nearly any Heyer heroine to mention, but if you’ve not yet read one of her Regency historical romances, I recommend beginning with Venetia. 

Venetia Lanyon has a good deal of common sense and sees herself as intellectually equal to the men around her, even if they don’t recognize it. She is beautiful, yes, but more interested in being valued for her smarts. A kind, yet plain-speaking heroine, it’s delightful to watch Venetia fall in love with an equally direct and open-minded gentleman. His respect and affection for her gives her the courage to do what she must in an effort to secure her own happiness.

I read this book in grad school while I was working on an essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books about choosing to be child-free.

Sometimes, you just need some real talk and a reminder that the deck really is stacked against you when it comes to dating. This book helped provide some much-needed perspective so that I could understand that there’s only so much control I have over my own singleness and that there are cultural factors at play.