Reading List
Tessa Bailey
Romance Novelist
Tessa Bailey has written more than sixty romance novels and reached a much wider audience with It Happened One Summer, in which a Los Angeles socialite is exiled to a Pacific Northwest fishing town and falls for its least charming sea captain. She writes fast, publishes constantly, and is open about the genre reading that got her started, which is exactly what her picks here are: the books she was loving long before she was writing.
01
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The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne · 2016 · Fiction
“This is the book that made me want to write romantic comedy. A story about workplace enemies who are secretly hot for each other, it's plucky and clever, but it punches you in the chest at all the right moments.” — via Article
02
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On Dublin Street
by Samantha Young · 2012 · Fiction
“Set in Scotland, it's about the romance between Braden, a millionaire, and an American with a troubled past, and it is addictive, sexy, and satisfying.” — via Article
03
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The Secret
by Julie Garwood · 1992 · Fiction
“This author made me want to be a romance author myself. Her tattered paperbacks will forever grace my mantel. She wrote brave heroines and strong heroes who learn to bend for the woman they love.” — via Article
04
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How to End a Love Story
by Yulin Kuang · 2024 · Fiction
“An incredibly authentic look into a television writers' room and tension you couldn't cut with the sharpest knife. Heavy at times. Incredibly smart and memorable.” — via Article
05
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Done and Dusted
by Lyla Sage · 2023 · Fiction
“Sage is newish to the genre, but she came in and kicked the rusted saloon doors open. Her Rebel Blue Ranch series is edgy and endearing all at once.” — via Article
06
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Kulti
by Mariana Zapata · 2015 · Fiction
“This is the greatest friends-to-lovers book of all time. There, I said it. We have a professional soccer player and her legendary coach. He is hard to read and she is oblivious to his affections, so there is no end to the delight at the big reveal.” — via Article