Books like 'Not the Marrying Kind'

Readers who enjoyed Not the Marrying Kind by Jae also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  romance  small town  lgbtq  wlw  slow-burn  friends-to-lovers  angst  family  realistic 

  • Rewriting the Stars by Claire Kingsley

    Rewriting the Stars by Claire Kingsley

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    Firefighter Levi Bailey is used to being alone. Not that he’s lonely. How could he be, with a band of unruly brothers, and their wives and growing families. Maybe he’s the odd man out. The one brother who isn’t destined to be with his soulmate.Besides, he has her.She’s his Juliet, the only woman in the world he can’t ever have. To an outsider, it probably seems crazy...
  • To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders

    To Catch a Firefly by Emmy Sanders

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    He was my beginning. And my never-ending. EllisThere’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless.Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying...
  • Under Your Skin by Lee Winter

    Under Your Skin by Lee Winter

    Rated: 4.58 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    What do a stolen food-delivery robot, a woman from the past, and a bizarre scheme to microchip military veterans have in common? The infamous Caustic Queen, Washington DC bureau chief Catherine Ayers, would love to find out but she has a lot on her plate right now. She and her fiancée, reporter and Iowa girl Lauren King, are busy wedding planning in Lauren’s home town...
    Categorized as:
    angst  enemies-to-lovers  family  lgbtq  slow-burn  wlw  adult  age-gap
  • Ribbonwood by Ruby Landers

    Ribbonwood by Ruby Landers

    Rated: 4.75 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Lara Bennett is world-famous in Ribbonwood, population 907. She’s the woman you don't trust your husband with: a real-life femme fatale. If there’s a scandal in town, she’s at the center of it, ruining businesses, marriages, and egos everywhere she goes, with her sharp tongue and that body that makes you look twice...
  • Cowboy Seeking a Second Chance by Janice Whiteaker

    Cowboy Seeking a Second Chance by Janice Whiteaker

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Ten years ago Boone Pace made a mistake out of selfishness and immaturity.He’s regretted it ever since.Competing as a professional rodeo cowboy was everything he wanted. All that mattered. An opportunity he wouldn’t pass by.But it meant leaving his high-school sweetheart behind.Mae Wells was sweet, and innocent, and quiet...
  • Untaken Twin by Samantha Christy

    Untaken Twin by Samantha Christy

    Rated: 4.41 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    A forbidden romance.There’s only one thing worse than your fiancé dying . . .It's having to look into his face every single day.Or should I say - the face of his twin.So I left.I never knew promises were made. Then broken.And I surely never expected those promises to be about me.When I return to my hometown and see his face, the heartache I’ve been running from is front and center...
  • The Goodmans by Clare Ashton

    The Goodmans by Clare Ashton

    Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    The lovely doctor Abby Hart lives in her dream cottage in the quintessential English border town of Ludbury, home to the Goodmans. Maggie Goodman, all fire and passion, is like another mother to her, amiable Richard a rock and 60s-child Celia is the grandmother she never had. But Abby has a secret. Best friend Jude Goodman is the love of her life, and very, very straight...
  • Running Wild: A Novel by K.A. Tucker

    Running Wild: A Novel by K.A. Tucker

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    From the internationally bestselling author of The Simple Wild comes the story of a woman at a crossroads in her life, struggling between the safe route and the one that will only lead to more heartbreak.Veterinarian Marie Lehr knows unrequited love all too well after pining for her best friend, only to watch him marry another woman...
  • My Brother's Forbidden Friend by Piper Rayne

    My Brother's Forbidden Friend by Piper Rayne

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    I’ve gone from crushing on my brother’s best friend to wanting to crush him. Cameron Baker and I have a few things in common. The first being that we were both born and raised in our small Alaskan town. Second, is that we hide our feelings and keep our hearts closed off from anyone who could break them.But hiding my feelings is harder to do with Cam than most...
  • Perfect Wreckage (The Wrecked Series) by Catherine Cowles

    Perfect Wreckage (The Wrecked Series) by Catherine Cowles

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    My past taught me to play it safe.To stay far away from handsome men who promised it all.My life was good without them. Stable, secure, predictable. But one kiss showed me that I’d been playing it safe for far too long.One night, and all I wanted was more of his wildfire.One challenge and my carefully constructed walls tumbled down...
  • Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton

    Poppy Jenkins by Clare Ashton

    Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Two old friends, one hot summer, a whole load of confusion. Poppy Jenkins makes everyone smile. She’s the heart of Wells, a beautiful village in mid-Wales, leaving light and laughter in her wake. She has a doting family, an errant dog and a little sister with a nose for mischief...
  • Don't Go Away Mad by Lacey Black

    Don't Go Away Mad by Lacey Black

    Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars
    · 13 ratings
    JasperThe kitchen: it’s my domain, where I create the best burgers in the Midwest. I’m the man behind the grill at Burgers and Brew, the restaurant and bar I co-own with my best friends. Every night, we’re packed, the demand has never been this high. It’s the only way I want it, thriving and pushing myself to be the very best.Then she started her new business across the street from mine...
  • Valentine's with the Single Dad by Whitley Cox

    Valentine's with the Single Dad by Whitley Cox

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    When a business arrangement takes a personal turn ... Welcome to Seattle, the Emerald City and home to The Single Dads of Seattle. Ten sexy single fathers who play poker every Saturday night, have each other's backs, love their children without quarter, and hope to one day find love again. This is Mason's story ..
  • All In by Eliza Lentzski

    All In by Eliza Lentzski

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Book Four and the dénouement of the Winter Jacket Series. Hollywood had been a disaster. Elle Graft—Associate Professor of English and once-budding television screenwriter—could admit that much. Now back in Minnesota and back to her old life, Elle’s determined to get her relationship with Hunter back on track. It all started with a broken classroom heater and a blue winter coat...
    Categorized as:
    angst  lgbtq  wlw  adult  age-gap  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • Someone to Love by Kelly Elliott

    Someone to Love by Kelly Elliott

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    The Seaside ChroniclesJanuary 3, 2023On the HookSeasiders,News on the beach is Braxton Bradley has caught the eye of Seaside’s very own darling, Harlee Tilson. Now, this might come as a shock to many of you, since the eldest Bradley sibling has been rumored to have made a vow to never marry. After all, his fishing charter has always been his number one love...
  • Silent Chaos by Nikki Ash

    Silent Chaos by Nikki Ash

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    BraxtonOur senior year, I promised my girl forever. Forever, as it turned out, wasn't enough. She told me so in her actions. When she took a match to my life, burning it to ash. I headed to LA with my band—Raging Chaos—like we always planned, while Kaylee went to college, taking my damaged heart with her. This was where our story was supposed to end. Only six years later, our lives collide again...
  • I've Got You by Becca Seymour

    I've Got You by Becca Seymour

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    When a single dad and a newly outed veterinarian meet by chance, it takes red-cheeked conversations, a tentative friendship, and the willingness to put their hearts on the line to show these men they’re made for each other.  Single dad Davis Jackson is busy balancing his coffee shop and being the best dad he can be. That doesn’t mean he’s not lonely...
  • Cigar Club by J.A. Armstrong

    Cigar Club by J.A. Armstrong

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Fallon Foster is Whiskey Springs' self-proclaimed token lesbian. She isn't a token any longer. After her year-long affair with best friend, Andi Maguire ends, Fallon hopes to earn the trust and win the heart of the town's newest resident, Riley Main. Ghosts from the past still haunt Fallon and Riley. Informed by loss and betrayal, the pair endeavors to find their way to each other...
    Categorized as:
    wlw  lgbtq  angst  family  romance  fiction  audiobook  contemporary
  • Off Key (Whispering Key) by May Archer

    Off Key (Whispering Key) by May Archer

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    I’m about to sing you the saddest song in the universe, and it’s called “The Man of My Dreams Married My Sister.” It’s kinda my theme song. And trust me when I tell you, it’s heavy on the violins.Because the man in question? He’s not just any guy, he’s Rafe freakin’ Goodman. My former best friend. The boy who made my summers on Whispering Key magical...
  • Perfect Rhythm by Jae

    Perfect Rhythm by Jae

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Pop star Leontyne Blake might sing about love, but she stopped believing in it a long time ago. What women want is her image, not the real her. When her father has a stroke, she flees the spotlight and returns to her tiny Missouri hometown.In her childhood home, she meets small-town nurse Holly Drummond, who isn’t impressed by Leo’s fame at all...
  • Color Me In by Riley Hart

    Color Me In by Riley Hart

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Caleb White has been a lot of places and made a lot of decisions he isn’t proud of. He’s ready to settle down and figure out who he really is. Where better to do that than Last Chance, the home he was ripped away from at sixteen? A fresh start is in order, but he has no idea how to do that when he’s not even sure what he wants in the first place. Ryan Daily is a pro at hiding his insecurities...
  • Sundae's Best by Riley Hart

    Sundae's Best by Riley Hart

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Grady Dalton is in a rut. He’s thirty-eight, without a boyfriend, and has yet to find the place that feels like home. The closest he ever got was his best friend, Nathan. But it’s been seven years since he passed, and life isn’t getting easier. That’s how he ends up in Briar County, hoping to grow roots in the place Nathan had loved...
  • 6 Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe

    6 Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Six moments lead us to two girls, one kiss, and three little words that were maybe always true in this gorgeous novel perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and Jenny Han. Penny and Tate have always clashed. Unfortunately, their mothers are lifelong best friends, so the girls’ bickering has carried them through playdates, tragedy, and more than one rom-com marathon with the Moms...
  • The View from the Top by Rachel Lacey

    The View from the Top by Rachel Lacey

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    When a driven businesswoman from Boston collides with a free-spirited artist on a Vermont mountainside, they share a memorable—and steamy—night, but life soon pits them against each other over the fate of a family business.Emily Janssen prefers to play it safe...
  • Back in Your Arms by Monica McCallan

    Back in Your Arms by Monica McCallan

    Rated: 4.24 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Seventeen years ago, Quinn McKinley left her small town of Kingsford for a shot at a happier life. Now a successful real estate agent in New York City, she’s brought back on behalf of a client, begrudgingly accepting her return home in order to close the deal of a lifetime...
  • Shaun's Salvation by K.C. Wells

    Shaun's Salvation by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Romance is the last thing Shaun wants, but what if it’s exactly what he needs – and deserves?A selfless son barely holding onShaun doesn’t have much of a life. When he’s not working in the restaurant in Portland, Maine, he’s home looking after his dad, who has dementia...
  • Charmed By Her by Chelsea M. Cameron

    Charmed By Her by Chelsea M. Cameron

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    The only thing I had to look forward to was getting as far away from my hometown of Arrowbridge, Maine, as possible. That is, until I bump into a single mom and her bug-loving daughter. Ingrid Davidson and I have absolutely nothing in common. She’s older, she has a child, and she’s settled in Arrowbridge for good.Still, I can’t stop finding reasons to spend time with her, and her adorable toddler...
  • To Be With You by T.J. O'Shea

    To Be With You by T.J. O'Shea

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Leah Vasquez and Victoria Lockwood should not fall in love.They’re smart enough to know a star-crossed lovers’ situation never works out. Leah’s a loner from the poor side of town, working two jobs, and aching to leave their sleepy hometown in her rear view forever...
  • Life after Love by J.J. Harper

    Life after Love by J.J. Harper

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    All he wanted was a new life, not a new love.MerrickMerrick has the perfect life: a husband, a baby, and a great future ahead of him. Until all that is ripped away, and he’s left alone with his daughter. After two years, he knows it’s time to move on. To find a new life for him and Willow. It comes in the shape of a derelict mill house nestled in the hills above a Devon seaside town...
  • Spring Rains by R.J. Scott

    Spring Rains by R.J. Scott

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    When love is on the line, the only way to move forward is to challenge ghosts of the past and find a place to belong.High School Teacher Chris, an amputee since his teens, has wrestled with darkness and emerged victorious. He’s a pillar of strength in the classroom, deflecting his overbearing family by day and yearning for love by night...
  • Covenant by Ann McMan

    Covenant by Ann McMan

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Present Day: Jericho, Virginia.Covenant continues the beloved saga of the residents of Jericho, a sleepy town in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, where life and love have as many twists and turns as a winding mountain road.Six weeks have passed since the fateful unfolding of events at the town’s Fourth of July celebration...
    Categorized as:
    lgbtq  family  wlw  angst  romance  audiobook  mystery  small-town
  • Side by Side by Nicole Pyland

    Side by Side by Nicole Pyland

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Sports Series Book #6. This series is related by a sports theme, not by characters.As teenagers, Belle Elrod and Chandler Wolfe had been chosen to be part of Team USA figure skating’s elite training program. But when something happened, and Belle left the program, they were both left wondering what might have been...
  • Navigating Noah by Jaclyn Quinn

    Navigating Noah by Jaclyn Quinn

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Noah HathawayThe saying 'livin' the dream' is usually said with sarcasm, but I truly am living my dream in Coral Pointe Inlet with my four best friends. Still, as I watch three of them fall in love, my heart aches a little with longing. It doesn't help when Hunter, a man I spent an incredible weekend with, comes back to Coral Pointe--not alone, I might add...
  • Levi's Love by K.C. Wells

    Levi's Love by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Unrequited love hurts like hell Levi Brown has loved Noah White since he was a teenager, but Noah isn’t looking for a relationship. Every time Levi sees him, his heart aches for what it cannot have. Because dear Lord, he wants Noah, in his life, in his bed.Especially in his bed. The only reason Levi is still a virgin is because he was waiting for Noah. Except Noah doesn’t want him...
  • Someday, Maybe by Addison Clarke

    Someday, Maybe by Addison Clarke

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Walker Forsyth is two years sober and back in her hometown of Moonflower Cove after two years away. She’s made her amends with her sisters and friends and is ready to start a new chapter in her life. More than anything though, she’s hoping to have a second chance with the love of her life.Maddie Carlson has spent two years wondering what it would be like when Walker came back to the Cove...
  • Shifting Gears by Jazz Forrester

    Shifting Gears by Jazz Forrester

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    A spicy, small-town, opposites attract lesbian romance about learning to let go, no matter the cost.Workaholic Eleanor Cromwell blows into rural Canada, laser focused on her real estate development project. Given the locals already hate her father’s company, she plans to hide away in a cabin and conceal her identity to get the job done...
  • In the Long Run by Haley Cass

    In the Long Run by Haley Cass

    Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Free-spirited and easygoing Taylor Vandenberg left her hometown of Faircombe, Tennessee as soon as she could, and in the twenty-five years since, she has rarely looked back. She wouldn’t change anything about how her life has turned out – having traveled to nearly every country, never staying anywhere long enough to feel stifled...
  • The Secret Pond by Gerri Hill

    The Secret Pond by Gerri Hill

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Grieving over the loss of her family and feeling like her life is unraveling, Lindsey McDermott quits her job, gets a puppy and retreats to her grandparents’ home in the Texas Hill Country. She spends her solitary days walking childhood trails and reminiscing, trying to reconcile the conflict within her as she struggles with survivor’s guilt...
    Categorized as:
    angst  family  friends-to-lovers  lgbtq  slow-burn  wlw  adult  animals
  • What a Tangled Web by Melissa Brayden

    What a Tangled Web by Melissa Brayden

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    As winemaker at Tangle Valley Vineyard, Madison LeGrange relies on science and logic to make the best vintage possible. It’s also how she manages her life. But with her career in its prime, her accountant thinks it’s time she diversifies her income. Not a problem because her favorite café, the Bacon and Biscuit, is up for sale...
  • Wright with Benefits by K.A. Linde

    Wright with Benefits by K.A. Linde

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    A feisty stand alone friends with benefits romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde. With new characters set in the bestselling world of the Wrights, this is a perfect jumping on point for new readers! I shouldn’t have hooked up with my one night stand... again. To be fair, I was having the worst day of my life. I was sure that nothing else could go wrong. Then in walks Jordan Wright...
  • When the Stars Sang by Caren J. Werlinger

    When the Stars Sang by Caren J. Werlinger

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    ASIN B07B7CT41D moved to the most recent editionNearly twenty-five years ago, Kathleen Halloran’s brother drowned during the last summer they ever spent with their grandmother on a remote island off Maine’s coast. Like a siren’s call she can’t resist, Kathleen is pulled back to Little Sister Island...
    Categorized as:
    angst  family  lgbtq  wlw  adult  audiobook  book  contemporary
  • Two of a Kind by T.B. Markinson, Miranda MacLeod

    Two of a Kind by T.B. Markinson, Miranda MacLeod

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Could something you can’t remember be the best decision of your life?Maisie Sullivan is a hard-working marketing assistant from Milwaukee who wants nothing more than to earn a promotion and finally finish her college degree. But when she’s swept off her feet by a charming cowgirl while on a business trip to Las Vegas, she decides there’s no harm in having a little fun...
  • Chasing Stars by Katia Rose

    Chasing Stars by Katia Rose

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Nestled in a towering fir forest on British Columbia’s famous Vancouver Island, Three Rivers Campground is calling you to come relax, explore, and maybe even fall in love...Clover Rivers is completely, totally over her ex.Sure, her first ever relationship with a girl might have ended in a catastrophic breakup people still whisper about, but Clover is done with it...
  • Tanner by Katy Regnery

    Tanner by Katy Regnery

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    New York Times bestselling author Katy Regnery is back with an addictive six-book series featuring the Stewarts of Skagway!When Tanner Stewart learns his crazy ex is returning for a summer in Skagway, he places a personal ad, looking for someone to pose as his fiancée for the summer. Enter McKenna Cabot, a commitment-phobic college professor from Seattle caring for her aging grandmother...
  • Pure Country by Kelly Fox

    Pure Country by Kelly Fox

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    I’d sooner cage a wild bird than try to pin that cowboy down. But God, I want to make him mine.Our sizzling banter and filthy texts are the stuff of legends, but Rowdy is the king of one-night stands, and one night with him will never be enough.I crave a future with him, which is exactly why I’ve kept him at arm’s length...
  • Perfect Day by Sally Malcolm

    Perfect Day by Sally Malcolm

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 11 ratings
    First love conquers all in Perfect Day, a captivating contemporary male/male retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Love doesn’t burn out just because the timing’s wrong. It grows. It never leaves. When Joshua Newton, prodigal son of one of New Milton’s elite, fell in love with ambitious young actor Finn Callaghan, his world finally made sense...
  • Tristan by Karla Sorensen

    Tristan by Karla Sorensen

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    There's one thing you should know about Tristan Whitfield: he’s been in love with Anna for years. There are two problems with that: she has no idea, and she's married. Or at least, she was. Anna Callahan knows three things about her brother’s friend, Tristan: he's quiet, incredibly handsome, and has a smolder that could set the room on fire...
  • Back to the Start by Monica McCallan

    Back to the Start by Monica McCallan

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    When Remy’s grandmother dies, it means leaving her life in San Francisco and returning to a town she swore she'd never revisit, forced to confront a world she'd worked hard to put behind her over the last twelve years...
  • Drawn to You by Jaclyn Quinn

    Drawn to You by Jaclyn Quinn

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Leaving his enormous family behind, native New Yorker, Elijah, decides to move to Brighton Pier for a fresh start. Being part of a large LGBTQ community and landing his dream job at Inkubus, a local tattoo shop, is too big of a draw for him to turn down...
  • Only You by Samantha Young

    Only You by Samantha Young

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Once upon a time, Monroe Sinclair was Brodan Adair’s best friend, but now he’s a stranger and one of Hollywood’s leading men…It took Monroe Sinclair eighteen years to return home to Ardnoch after a fateful night that devastated her friendship with Brodan Adair. She fled her unrequited love for him, as well as her difficult family life, and tried not to look behind her...
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