12 of the Best Romance Novels About Writers

Content Warnings: Miscarriage, Death, Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal Death, Sexual Harassment, Misogyny, Kidnapping

When a notorious rakess and a respectable widower find themselves meeting on a remote cliffside, they never expected to find a partner. Adam is a Scottish businessman with children to raise and projects to design. Seraphina only returns home to write about her ruination to raise money for a women’s college. Neither has time for a relationship, but Seraphina is brash, sensual, and unexpectedly kind to Adam’s children. In short, even though it may cost him his professional reputation, Adam might risk it all to share a life with her.

Content Warnings: Parental Abandonment, Emotional Abuse, Racism

Tate and Sam experienced a whirlwind teen romance when they met during a two-week vacation in London. She trusted him with everything, even her secret star-studded parentage. But when Sam breaks her trust, Tate never expects to see him again. Especially not on the set of her next major film. He  became an author, and his book became a script, and his first love was cast as the leading lady. The chemistry remains between them, but can Tate reconcile her current attraction with the betrayal she felt in the past?

Content Warnings: Parent Death, Cancer, Alcoholism, Child Abuse, Abuse, Suicide

Gus and January knew each other in college as contentious critique partners and are now living in neighboring beach houses. When two rival authors reunite with cases of writer’s block, they decide to swap writing in their preferred genres, romance and literary fiction. Will Gus be able to write a HEA? Will January be able to write a bleak and hopeless ending? Most of all, will these two rivals be able to write and research together while maintaining their distance? All these questions and more are tackled in a novel that finds hope in the darkest situations.

Content Warnings: Parental and Sibling Death, Anxiety, Explicit Depiction of Mental Illness, Sexism, Racism

Danika is a PhD student and Zafir is a quiet building security guard. One fire drill turns their steady friendship into a viral internet-ship. Zafir could use the publicity from their great love to raise money for the children enrolled in his sports charity. Dani does not have time for romance with her thesis writing, but she figures, how hard can it be to fake a relationship for the children? When your fake boyfriend is a secret romantic, it is quite impossible.

Content Warnings: Emotional Abuse, Racism

When Portia accepted an apprenticeship with Scottish Armory, she thought she finally found her path. A way of applying her art history degree in a place where she could gain hands-on experience with traditional Scottish blacksmithing. Unfortunately, her new boss Tavish didn’t want an apprentice at all. Given little to do, Portia is determined to make herself useful by redesigning the website, researching the Armory, running the social media, and bringing a spotlight to the historical importance of the shop. Portia’s unwavering competence may be enough to break down her gruff boss and Tavish might let her forge a new path for his shop and his life.

Content Warnings: Misogyny, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse

If you were to watch your ex-lover marry a man she doesn’t love right as your academic future was crumbling before your very eyes, you too would move to London at a chance to translate a French astronomy text. In 1816, not many patrons would hire Lucy to translate astronomy for fear women would not understand the scientific principles underlying the work, but Lucy’s commitment intrigues Catherine, and she cannot say no. As a new widow, Catherine finds herself ready to make her opinions known whether it be asserting her right to hire a translator, publishing her embroidery, or romantically pursuing her new astronomer.

Content Warnings: Parental Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Misogyny

She has a plan. Step 1: raise funds; step 2: buy a publishing house; and step 3: publish a scathing account of marital abuse across England. However, step 2 is complicated by a childhood friend who has bought enough shares to be a co-owner of the paper. And of course, the complication makes it difficult to publish step 3, a move that would surely destroy the reputation of the business and any hope at financial success. Lady Lucie does not expect her co-owner Tristan, an exuberant rake, to be a secret poet. As a resolute suffragette, she will do anything to accomplish her goals, even if it means seducing an insurable rake.

Content Warnings: Parental Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Physical Abuse, Misogyny, Sexual Harassment

Aubrey, a small-town baker, has an unexpected one-night stand with the man who wrote a scathing review of her bakery. The critic, Landon was accidentally sold a child’s birthday cake not fit for adult consumption. But he has a policy to never give second chances to the food he reviews, no exception. To save her bakery from bankruptcy, Landon invites Aubrey to participate in a friend’s cooking show in wine country. In a battle between professionals, passion is set to bake at the baker and her reviewer’s shared villa — wait and see what comes out of the oven.

Content Warnings: Alcoholism, Parent Death, Misogyny, Sexual Harassment, Blackmail

Rumor has it that this Pride and Prejudice reimagining contains salacious serial romances, controversial gossip rags, and intra-feminist disputes regarding sexuality. Emilia is a writer on a fictional Spanish Caribbean island in 1911 who wants to shed her pen name without ruining her sister’s chance at a respectable match. Meanwhile, Ruben believes unveiling the identity of the serial romance writer will generate enough money to keep his paper open for good. Emilia and Ruben disagree on almost everything but as they continue to meet, they begin to form an attraction that even the strongest rumors will struggle to break.