“Don’t spoil her with toys; spoil her with books.”
Love can be a wild ride, especially when you’re still figuring it all out. Enter Christina Lauren’s Love and Other Words, a heartstring-tugging journey following Macy and Elliot, childhood besties who turned into something more. But, spoiler alert: things get complicated. Fast forward eleven years, and they’re thrown back together, stirring up a mix of love, loss, betrayal, and friendship.
If you’re into the magic Christina Lauren weaves, we’ve got your next romance obsession! Check out our list of the best love story books like Love and Other Words over at What We Reading!
Who Wrote Love And Other Words?
Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of long-time writers and best friend duo, Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings. Known for their Young Adult and Adult romance works of fiction, the pair have nineteen New York Times bestselling novels to their name. Their books have been translated into 30+ different languages.
Every Summer After – Carley Fortune
No list of the best books like Love and Other Words would be complete without Carley Fortune’s 2022 book, Every Summer After. Nominated for Best Romance and Best Debut Novel in the Goodreads Choice Awards, Every Summer After follows the story of Persephone ‘Percy’ Fraser, a woman with a stylish apartment in the city and a closed heart from the rest of the world. That is until one call from her childhood friend, Sam, brings her back to the idyllic Barry’s Bay and a whirlwind of nostalgia.
Told throughout six summers in the past and one defining weekend in the present, the book follows Percy and Sam as they fall in love, break apart and attempt to rekindle their undeniable connection. Fortune’s book is a sweeping nostalgic look at love, as well as the choices and people who leave a mark on our lives.
Words In Deep Blue – Cath Crowley
When she was younger, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. Before she moved away, she left a love letter in his favourite book in the bookshop he worked at. Only Henry never responded. Now, she has returned to the city – and that very bookshop – to work alongside the boy she had hoped to never see again. But, after an unbearable tragedy in her life, Rachel is keen to find a distraction. As for Henry, his life isn’t looking too great either with his girlfriend dumping him and the bookshop slipping through his fingers.
As the pair work together, bonding over books and love stories and sharing notes between the pages, they begin to find comfort and even hope in one another. This second chance romance book is a potent exploration of how uncontrollable life can be, but also how words and love can be enough to pull us through.
Just Last Night – Mhairi McFarlane
As explored in books like Love and Other Words, the line between friendships and romance can be a fine one, and one that is prone to getting messy when crossed. And that is perfectly embodied in Mhairi McFarlane’s Just Last Night. Eve, Justin, Susie, and Ed have all been friends since they were teenagers. They meet every Thursday evening for pub trivia night and, whilst their friendship has been mostly platonic up until this point, Eve is still secretly in love with Ed. And she knows that he feels the same.
But, in an instant, their lives are upended forever. In the wake of a tragic accident, the group’s dynamic is pushed to a straining point as secrets are brought to light, leading Eve to wonder if she ever really knew her friends. And when an old ghost from the past emerges on the scene, she is left wondering whether the group is worth rebuilding, or whether they’re all better off cutting loose.
Maybe Someday (Maybe #1) – Colleen Hoover
At twenty-two, Sydney appears to have the perfect life. Rooming with her best friend Tori, in college, working a stable job and happily in a relationship with her long-term boyfriend, Hunter. However, when she discovers Hunter has been cheating on her, Sydney’s life is suddenly derailed.
That’s when she becomes increasingly captivated by Ridge, her mysterious neighbour who smoothly plays his guitar every evening out on his balcony. And Ridge soon finds himself equally ensnared by Sydney. The inevitable encounter that follows soon leads to them depending on one another in more ways than one. From the New York Times bestselling author of It Starts With Us and Verity, Colleen Hoover’s Maybe series is a gentle and soft look at hope and selflessness.
Beach Read – Emily Henry
Emily Henry’s Beach Read is the perfect steamy summer romance read like Love and Other Words. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed literary novelist, whilst January Andrews writes bestselling romance books. The pair are complete opposites, but both find themselves stuck in a creative rut when they move into neighbouring beachside cabins for three months.
As a way of pulling themselves out of their writer’s block, they agree to switch genres. Augustus writes a love story, whilst January puts pen to paper on a gripping literary novel. Delivered with Henry’s trademark humour and wit, this is a story about two novelists who both publish bestsellers and definitely don’t fall for each other in the process. We promise.
Check Out The Best Romance Books Like Beach Read
Normal People – Sally Rooney
Another one of the best books similar to Love and Other Words in demonstrating the complications of friends being attracted to one another comes from Sally Rooney in Normal People. Like Christina Lauren’s book, this is another second-chance romance tale that maps two individuals’ paths from friends to lovers and everything in between.
Connell and Marianne have very different social statuses at school and do their best to avoid each other. However, after picking up his mother at Marianne’s house one day, a connection soon springs up between the pair. A connection they defiantly attempt to keep concealed. A year later at Trinity College in Dublin, their lives have taken very different paths. But, as Marianne spirals into self-destruct mode and Connell struggles to find meaning in his life, they are both forced to confront how much they need each other, and what they are willing to do to save the other. Rooney’s bestselling novel explores the subtleties of class, the complications of family and friends and the lasting electricity of a first love.
One Day – David Nicholls
David Nicholls’ One Day is a contemporary romance tale following the lives of Emma and Dexter, who meet on their graduation evening, knowing that they have to go their separate ways the next day. Similarly to Love and Other Words, Nicholls plays with the narrative, picking up with the pair each year on the same date they first met: July 15th.
Both Emma and Dexter’s lives evolve in different ways across the story, with readers following the pair’s motivations, their hopes, dreams, aspirations and changing relationships. Spanning over twenty years, Nicholls’ book is one of the best examinations of love, friendship and the unstoppable force that is the passage of time. Poignant, realistic and profoundly emotional, Em and Dex’s life stories are sure to resonate with any Christina Lauren fans.
People We Meet On Vacation – Emily Henry
A Goodreads Choice Award-winning novel for Best Romance by the bestselling Emily Henry, People We Meet on Vacation is the story of two unlikely friends, ten summer trips and one last chance to fall in love. Similar to books like Love and Other Words, it is an exploration of how easy it is to fall for someone who lets you be yourself.
Ever since a car share home from college one evening, Poppy and Alex have been best friends, even though they are nothing like one another. She has an insatiable wanderlust, whilst he prefers staying at home. And yet, every year, they have both honoured a tradition of taking a vacation together. Until one year when they managed to ruin everything. Having not spoken for two years, Poppy realises that the last time she was happy was on that fateful final trip, so decides to reach out to her old best friend. She has one week to fix everything, but doing so will mean spilling the biggest truth of her life.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
