The most recommended books about stalking

Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of Turano's historical romances. Playing the Part is my favorite; it is about a 19th-century New York City actress who hides away at a friend's country estate. Every character is quirky and engaging. I laughed out loud, over and over, at the myriad of crazy situations they got themselves into.

This is a cute story about friendship, family, and food.

Annie and Julie are childhood best friends who reconnect in adulthood and decide to start a cupcakery called Treat. I loved reading about the start of their business and the descriptions of the cupcakes. I also loved how the title was applied to the story in that each character ate cupcakes differently, which revealed an aspect of their personalities.

Both main characters were well-developed, and I enjoyed seeing how they dealt with their problems and how their perspectives changed over time. 

What if you were secretly sketching the cutest boy in school and he accidentally found your notebook? First: Get Caught, A Stalkers Guide to Love tackles this very question. Abigail doesn’t mean to be a stalker, but the whole situation places her in an adorably hilarious situation. I loved that when it came to the true romance of this book, Ben fell for her first. He wasn’t just attracted to her, he fell for her—as she was. I loved that Ben was Korean and we really got to see inside his head just as much as we got to see Abigail. Truly one of my favorite all-time reads.

I love this book because the hero, Eric, has been in love with the heroine Piper since they were teenagers. However, the heroine is his brother’s best friend so he pulled back so as not to step on any toes. The entire time, Piper believed he hated her. I love when she realizes that not only doesn’t Eric hate her, but she loves him too.

This author is a master at romantic suspense, so while they are falling in love, there’s so much more going on in the background that when Piper realizes Eric loves her, it makes their story all the sweeter.

This book both thrilled and shocked me with its twists and turns. Between the steamy scenes and the harrowing escape from a dangerous stalker, there was never a moment of boredom in this book.

The tentative but deep bond between the main characters made me want to root for them despite lies and betrayal.

Not just anyone can grow up dirt poor, build a successful consulting business in Miami, survive being stalked, and keep the world in the dark about their crippling anxiety.

Brett Fontaine does it without letting a lock of hair get out of place – true bombshell style. A relationship with her new client, the media-clueless cinnamon roll chef Will Te’o, is completely ill-advised. So of course, that’s exactly what happens.

I adored this book because it so easy to identify with Brett. We all want to be together on the outside and respected in our fields. But there’s still the fear that we’re whatever weaknesses we may have had in the past.

Will helps Brett see the badass inside of her. Walden-West does the same for her readers.

This novel is a taboo, student-teacher, forbidden love read, but those are tag words only. I’m a little obsessed with it because the writing. This book is alive. It's electric. The words jump off the page and sink claws into your skin. The author, at the end, laments that she's not poet enough to write her hero’s poems. I beg to differ. This entire book is a poem if you go by my preferred definition, which is a string of words meant to evoke. That's all this book does. Evokes, stirs, and is unapologetic in its heroine, Layla. She is no blushing rose, but a tornado of unapologetic desire, and who defies genre tropes. Her character renders this book more than a romance novel, but a force of nature.

So. Much. Drama. When a couple of dead bodies turn up, no one can be trusted, and everyone’s a suspect since there are more than enough motives to go around.

I found this wildly entertaining and engrossing, not knowing who was “good” and “bad.” Discovering that as the pages went on made the journey so much fun, with surprises around every corner.

Another underrated and underread book, this memoir traces one woman’s descent into heroin hell and, ultimately, her recovery and redemption. I’ve known many heroin addicts in my day, and I hate to say it, especially publicly, but very few have been able to turn their lives around. Mitchell is one of the exceptions, and she sets a wonderful example for others to follow and not lose hope. Many memoirists simply make a record of their lives, or, worse, glorify their drug addiction, but not Hanson. Her book is one of insight and soul-searching into the madness of addiction. She pulls no punches about the ugliness of the addict’s life, yet at the same time, she offers hope to the most seemingly hopeless among us. At the heart of this book is a powerful message of recovery by someone, who by all accounts, should be dead.

This is a relatively new book, but not only does it take you through the case of serial killer Don Miller it explains how difficult it can be for the survivors to move on with their lives. In general, most people think that once the trial is over  that everyone can move on with their lives, but that’s not always the case. Killers like don Miller come up for parole, and that’s when the second part of the journey continues for these survivors. It becomes really hard to move forward with their lives when they have to relive the murders at every parole hearing until either the killer is released or dies.