Summer Fridays - Suzanna Rindell
I love books set in the 90’s, it was when I grew up and it’s a time I have the most nostalgia for so I just loved this setting. This felt like I was reading a 90’s romcom by Nora Ephron, there was something in it’s tone and the style of writing that felt so heartwarming and cozy to me even though it takes place mostly during summer, it blends into fall nearer the end of the book. I loved this so much. I loved Sawyer and Nick and New York as a character and I thought it was a really perfect romance.
“Summer 1999: Sawyer is striving to make it in New York. Between her assistant job in publishing and her upcoming wedding, it feels like the perfect life could fall into place at any moment. There is only one problem: Sawyer's fiancé has been working longer hours . . . with an all-too-close female colleague, Kendra.
When Kendra's boyfriend, Nick, invites Sawyer to meet up and compare notes about their suspicions, the meeting goes awry. She finds Nick cocky and cynical, and he finds her anxious and overwhelming. But when Nick seeks out Sawyer to apologize, a friendship develops.
Over the summer, Sawyer and Nick start an unofficial ritual exploring New York City and they soon both begin to live for their Friday afternoons together.
But what happens once the summer is over?”
Evvie Drake Starts Over - Linda Holmes
This is always compared to Gilmore Girls, I am the biggest GG fan and I can totally understand the comparisons. but to me the similarities don’t rest in the characters or even the cute town and definitely not the storyline as its a lot more serious in places than GG but its more the beat of the writing, it feels soothing to read, there is a calmness to how this author writes, if that makes sense and that’s exactly how I feel watching GG, so if that’s something you like about GG then I think you will love this sweet and grown up romance.
“When you get a second chance, will you be brave enough to take it?
You don't always get to start your life over. Sometimes, life starts itself over for you.
One morning, Eveleth 'Evvie' Drake got up, packed her suitcase, and got ready to leave her life - and her perfect husband - behind. But before she walked out of the door, she received a phone call asking her to come to the hospital.
That day, Evvie's new life as a widow began.
Now wrestling with her guilt and grief, Evvie has found her independence, but not the way she planned. Unable to leave the house she once dreamed of escaping, it's clear to her best friend Andy that Evvie needs a change. And Andy might just have the answer....
Dean Tenney was a big-shot baseball star, until a bad case of the 'yips' meant he couldn't play anymore - or understand why. An invitation from his childhood friend Andy to stay in Maine for a few months seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button.
When Dean moves into the apartment at the back of Evvie's house, the two make a deal: Dean won't ask about Evvie's late husband, and Evvie won't ask about Dean's baseball career. But rules have a funny way of being broken sometimes, and as a friendship evolves into something more, will Evvie and Dean be brave enough to let go of the past and start over again?”
A Guy Like Him - Amanda Gambill
This is one of my all time favourite coming of age romances, it’s so sweet and the most perfect cozy books for this time of year. I have lost count of how many times I have re read this now and it just keeps getting better every time I read it. You will love following Skye and Dean and how they both help each other find themselves. It’s fun and funny, Dean is the perfect book boyfriend and you will fall in love with the authors amazing writing (go read all her books, they are the best).
“Skylar is the kind of girl who knows exactly how many seconds it takes to read this summary. She knows exactly what her perfect future looks like and how to get there because her dad has already defined it for her and her older sister has already paved the way.
That means she knows what college classes to take her junior year, what accounting firm she’ll work at after graduation, and exactly the kind of guy she needs to keep her parents happy.
So it’s only logical that she makes a pros and cons list after every coffee date. And when she unexpectedly dives headfirst into a casual fling, she defines it with a contract that clearly outlines the rules of this secret relationship.
In this coming-of-age novel — while she balances planning her sister’s wedding, going on way too many dates, and fulfilling obligations as SGA’s Social Outreach vice chair — Skylar has to find the line between perfection and what she really wants. And discover if they are the same thing or if it pays to sometimes break the rules.”
If It Makes You Happy - Julie Olivia
This is fall and Autumn in a book, again it has the most perfect 90’s setting and the sweetest little town too! I loved this a lot!
“My new next-door neighbor seems to have life completely figured out.
Small-town golden boy? Check.
Single dad extraordinaire? Check.
Hot baker forearms? I didn’t notice them, obviously.
Me? Not so much. Taking over my mom’s dream bed and breakfast in Copper Run, Vermont was supposed to help me heal after my divorce. Instead, my scones are inedible, my small talk is worse, and Cliff, yes, the golden boy himself, never fails to point it out.
The problem is, Cliff is everywhere. His charm, his flannel, his pastries, and his daughters, make it impossible not to like him. Friends? Sure, I can do friends. That’s safe.
Except I’m only here for three months before heading back to Seattle for the promotion I’ve been chasing. So why am I suddenly imagining what it would be like to kiss my hot neighbor?”
The Only Game in Town - Lacie Waldon
When I think of cozy I think of Gilmore Girls and I know there is a running theme in this list of me saying every book feels like GG but thats because that’s my thing people, I only like sweet and cozy and an eccentric small town with weird and wonderful characters. So guess what? this is genuienly like this too. I loved the town game that the whole community plays and I thought it gave this romance a really unique twist and it was just a lovely book to get lost in.
“one small town, one big prize, one handsome stranger...
Nothing ever changes in Redford, Georgia. That's what freelance editor Jess Reid loves about her hometown-and part of what keeps her from leaving. Content taking care of her father, a car mechanic who singlehandedly raised her after her mom skipped out, Jess is resigned to a safe, unremarkable existence...until Jasper Wilhelm, the town's eccentric benefactor, dies suddenly and leaves behind the opportunity of a lifetime.
Financial advisor Carter Barclay has been too busy to visit his grandfather in Redford, but he's heard countless stories about the town and its zany residents from Jasper. A small, insular town in Georgia is the last place Carter expects to be spending his summer-but it seems his grandfather had one final trick up his sleeve.
At the funeral, it's revealed that Jasper has devised a massive, high-stakes game for the people of Redford, with the winning duo taking home his entire fortune. The catch? He's already taken the liberty of pairing them up. As tensions of all kinds rise between Jess and Carter, and the life-changing prize looms closer, the two must decide what they're willing to risk to change their lives. A love story full of spirit and hijinks, The Only Game in Town is a funny, quirky homage to the people we get to call home.”
A City Bakers Guide To Country Living - Louise miller
This, like Evvie drake is another grown up romance. The characters are a little bit older but it’s got a lovely slow and cozy pace to the book and again is set in another sweet and cozy small town. I really enjoyed this one!
“When Olivia Rawlings—pastry chef extraordinaire for an exclusive Boston dinner club—sets not just her flambéed dessert but the entire building alight, she escapes to the most comforting place she can think of—the idyllic town of Guthrie, Vermont, home of Bag Balm, the country’s longest-running contra dance, and her best friend Hannah. But the getaway turns into something more lasting when Margaret Hurley, the cantankerous, sweater-set-wearing owner of the Sugar Maple Inn, offers Livvy a job. Broke and knowing that her days at the club are numbered, Livvy accepts.
Livvy moves with her larger-than-life, uberenthusiastic dog, Salty, into a sugarhouse on the inn’s property and begins creating her mouthwatering desserts for the residents of Guthrie. She soon uncovers the real reason she has been hired—to help Margaret reclaim the inn’s blue ribbon status at the annual county fair apple pie contest.
With the joys of a fragrant kitchen, the sound of banjos and fiddles being tuned in a barn, and the crisp scent of the orchard just outside the front door, Livvy soon finds herself immersed in small town life. And when she meets Martin McCracken, the Guthrie native who has returned from Seattle to tend his ailing father, Livvy comes to understand that she may not be as alone in this world as she once thought.
But then another new arrival takes the community by surprise, and Livvy must decide whether to do what she does best and flee—or stay and finally discover what it means to belong. Olivia Rawlings may finally find out that the life you want may not be the one you expected—it could be even better.”
A Sky Painted Gold - Laura Wood
I am obsessed with this book. If you loved the Great Gatsby you need to read this book, if you didn’t love the Great Gatsby and wanted more from it then you definitely need to read this book. Set in the similar time period as Gatsby, this is a YA novel that follows a young girl and her fascination with the rich and cool family who live in the big house across the water. We follow her as she finally gets to dip her toes into their world. I just think this is one of the most beautiful books, the writing is stunning, the characters are so special and the romance is perfection. The most amazing cozy book to curl up with this autumn.
“Growing up in her sleepy Cornish village dreaming of being a writer, sixteen-year-old Lou has always wondered about the grand Cardew house which has stood empty for years.
And when the owners arrive for the summer - a handsome, dashing brother and sister - Lou is quite swept off her feet and into a world of moonlit cocktail parties and glamour beyond her wildest dreams.
But, as she grows closer to the Cardews, is she abandoning her own ambitions... and is there something darker lurking at the heart of the Cardew family?”