Books like 'Better Than Expected'

Readers who enjoyed Better Than Expected by Haley Cass also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

contemporary  romance  wlw  lgbtq  friends-to-lovers  slow-burn  children  realistic  found-family  legal 

  • Tired Tired Sea by MediaWhore

    Tired Tired Sea by MediaWhore

    Rated: 4.69 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions. Until, one day, a mysterious stranger on a quest to rebuild himself rents a room for the winter...
  • Free from Falling by E.L. Massey

    Free from Falling by E.L. Massey

    Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Justin “Matts” Matthews is good at a lot of things: Rubik’s Cubes, playing guitar, herding cattle, and most importantly for his career in the NHL, hockey. He’s not good at human interactions or social cues, especially when it comes to women. This deficiency is an annoyance rather than a problem, right up until he meets Sydney Warren. If it’s not love at first sight, it’s sure something close...
  • Meeting Millie by Clare Ashton

    Meeting Millie by Clare Ashton

    Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Oxford – celebrated city of dreaming spires and class warfare – is an ambition come true for lesbian, geeky, upper-middle-class Charlotte and straight, charismatic, working-class Millie. Against the odds, theirs is an instant, best friendship. Forever. Exuberant Millie is a breath of fresh air for polite Charlotte and a force of nature within the university's hallowed walls...
  • Interference by Zoe Reed

    Interference by Zoe Reed

    Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    The last thing Jordan Marshall wants is a relationship, especially with someone like Taylor Becks, the star player from a rival roller hockey team. Taylor doesn’t talk – to anyone. When Jordan’s curiosity about the athlete overpowers her predisposition to being guarded, the two strike up an unlikely romance...
  • A Wish Upon a Star by Jeannie Levig

    A Wish Upon a Star by Jeannie Levig

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Leslie Raymond spent the past two years wishing her life had taken a different turn. It’s time for a fresh start, a move across the country, and a new set of rules to help heal her heart—no straight women, no women with kids, and no commitment...
  • Falls From Grace by Ruby Landers

    Falls From Grace by Ruby Landers

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Savannah Grace is a huge star in Nashville. At least, she was. Her hit band Twice Struck topped the country music charts for almost a decade until her high profile marriage to her bandmate and co-writer publicly exploded. Now she’s fading from the spotlight and her own life, just trying to keep her head above water. Brynn Marshall is a little lost...
  • Spindrift by Anna Burke

    Spindrift by Anna Burke

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Can a hot summer fling mend the hearts of two broken women?Morgan Donovan had everything she ever wanted: a dream job as a large animal veterinarian, awesome friends, and a loving and supportive fiancée. But it all comes crashing down when her fiancée dumps her after realizing that Morgan’s job will always come first...
    Categorized as:
    family  lgbtq  wlw  adult  book  contemporary  drama  fiction
  • 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...
  • The Cowboy Contract by B.A. Tortuga

    The Cowboy Contract by B.A. Tortuga

    Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Ryder Vittor has almost everything he could ever want. He was a successful bull rider, he runs a rodeo company and a ranch for his family, and he's right where he wants to be. Until his grandmother issues him an ultimatum...
  • He Loves Me Not by Deborah Bladon

    He Loves Me Not by Deborah Bladon

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Roman Hawthorne is tall, devastatingly handsome, and has a jawline that is so sharp that it cut could glass. He’s my dream guy on paper but let’s just say Roman is arrogant with a capital A.When I meet him in a bar on a random Tuesday, I think I’ll never see him again.But I do.Every time I show up at that bar, Roman is there with his perfectly styled hair, dark brown eyes, and megawatt smile...
  • Colton by Jenna Myles

    Colton by Jenna Myles

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Love men who fall first? Like strong curvy heroines? How about I throw in a high rise full of billionaires and a hero with some serious golden retriever energy?Evie did the right thing, she saved a life, and it cost her almost everything. I'm going to make damn sure she's made whole again.So I've been carrying her picture around with me for a couple of months...
  • She'll Steal Your Heart by Rachel Lacey

    She'll Steal Your Heart by Rachel Lacey

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    A thief seeking redemption forms an unlikely connection with a former lawyer looking for a fresh start of her own, but what starts as friendship soon feels like much more…Last year, Lauren Booker fled New York with a warrant out for her arrest. Now she’s back and ready to make amends for her crime. She wants to rebuild her life, and Brooklyn is home...
  • 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...
  • Enthralled by Her by Chelsea M. Cameron

    Enthralled by Her by Chelsea M. Cameron

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Coming...
  • Broken Bridges by Tania Joyce

    Broken Bridges by Tania Joyce

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    He's lost his band, his lover and his grandfather - the friends and family who'd accepted his lifestyle choices.She's lost her career, the love of her life and after a freak accident has to accept she'll never be the same.A chance audition for The Flintlocks could change his life.A move across the country could be the fresh start he needs.She needs to find her way in the world again...
  • Counting the Stars by Tracy McJames

    Counting the Stars by Tracy McJames

    Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Sometimes love comes when you least expect it.AlexI fell in love from the first moment I met her—seriously.And yeah, I realize that may sound ridiculous, but I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life.Gabby is one of my best friends. She gets me and accepts me for who I am; unlike my stuffy family. But we’ve been stuck in the friend zone for more than a year and I’m getting restless...
  • 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...
  • 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...
  • Bittersweet by Deborah Bladon

    Bittersweet by Deborah Bladon

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    My world exploded on my wedding day.A dark-haired, gorgeous stranger objected as I stood at the altar in my long, white gown.He told all of my friends, my family, and my fiancé that he was the man for me.I had no idea who he was, but he offered me an escape I was craving, so I left the church with him.He might have been a little drunk and horribly confused...
  • Family Rules by Jacki James

    Family Rules by Jacki James

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Justin had three simple rules for dating: No co-workers, no repeats, and absolutely no men with kids. He was happy with those rules. And no one had ever tempted him to break them. Until a night on the prowl had him crossing paths with an adorably geeky accountant. Mark spent the last year being the best dad possible to his little girl while enjoying life as an openly gay man for the first time...
  • Wanted: Understanding Daddy by Sammi Cee

    Wanted: Understanding Daddy by Sammi Cee

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Is it possible for a renewed friendship to lead to more? Dylan’s life changed for the worse back in middle school. Because of that, he ghosted his best friend, Brett, out of fear and embarrassment. Now, as things finally come together for him, he’s more concerned with earning a place back in Brett’s life than he is about finding the Daddy his friends think he needs...
  • Healing the Twin by Nora Phoenix

    Healing the Twin by Nora Phoenix

    Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Everyone thinks they know me. Hell, I don’t even know who I am anymore.We were at the top. Tomás and Tiago Banner, the most famous twins in the world. The sexiest men alive. My whole identity was rooted in being the older brother, in taking care of my twin, in being a model.Until Tiago fell in love and left me on my own. Now I’m lost, drifting without an anchor. Hurting...
  • 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...
  • Not the Marrying Kind by Jae

    Not the Marrying Kind by Jae

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Small-town florist Ashley Gaines loves her little flower shop and putting together the perfect bouquets for weddings and other happy occasions. Her own love life, however, is far from blossoming. Ash has decided that staying in the closet is safer than risking her heart again.Local bakery owner Sasha Peterson hasn’t had much luck mixing it up with romance either...
  • Dear Santa by K.C. Wells

    Dear Santa by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Ten-year-old Chris’s request to see Santa again takes Dave by surprise. He’s a little old for that, surely? But Dave will do anything to put a smile on his son’s face. Except when they get there, Santa is the one to make Dave smile. He’s pretty sure there’s a gorgeous man hiding beneath that white beard. And those eyes… Not that Dave gets a chance to even say hello. Chris tells Dave to stay back...
  • Himbo by Emmy Sanders

    Himbo by Emmy Sanders

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 12 ratings
    Surely I can’t fail at falling in love? CasNo one ever told me I might meet the love of my life on my knees in a coffee shop.I’m not one of those people who has everything figured out. I work at my dad’s company because it’s expected, not because I enjoy it...
  • Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae

    Wrong Number, Right Woman by Jae

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    A single text message can change everything! Flirting has never been Denny’s strong suit, but so what if she’s too shy to ask women out? She’s content with her simple life, working as a cashier and helping her sister raise her niece...
  • At Seventeen by Gerri Hill

    At Seventeen by Gerri Hill

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 14 ratings
    Madison Lansford and Shannon Fletcher met when they were ten years old. Madison—daughter of wealthy parents and Shannon, daughter of their live-in maid and cook—became fast friends, yet both knew their place in life.There was never a doubt that they would become lovers . . . there was also never a doubt that Madison would marry and maintain her social standing in the community...
  • The Law of Miracles by K.C. Wells

    The Law of Miracles by K.C. Wells

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    The sequel to A Christmas Promise… Joshua Trant is doing his best to support his son Micah and Micah’s partner Greg as they approach the trial of Greg’s attackers. This was never going to be easy, especially as Greg wants them prosecuted for a hate crime, but County Attorney Alexander Rycliffe assures them he’ll do his utmost to make sure the perpetrators are held accountable for their actions...
  • Casting Call by J.A. Armstrong

    Casting Call by J.A. Armstrong

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Three years passes quickly in the limelight. Writer Addison Blake, and her wife actress Emma Bronson, have weathered more than one storm together. The popular television show that the two helped create called OFF SCREEN continues to draw audiences, making the couple a hot commodity. But, something is missing for Emma...
    Categorized as:
    family  lgbtq  wlw  adult  book  celebrity  contemporary  fiction
  • Operation: Secret Santa by M.J. Duncan

    Operation: Secret Santa by M.J. Duncan

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    When Holly Burke saw who she’d drawn for Secret Santa, she knew she had to do something to make it special. It was Christmas, after all, and if anyone deserved some extra Christmas cheer, it was Mo Davy...
  • Intermission by J.A. Armstrong

    Intermission by J.A. Armstrong

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Addison Blake and Emma Bronson are headed away from the bright lights of Hollywood for the holidays. Emma is eager to take a step back and spend time with her family. The stress and demands of a television production have left Emma feeling fatigued and missing the quiet months she and Addison had spent after their daughter’s birth. Addison is battling her own demons...
  • Once a Month by Nicole Pyland

    Once a Month by Nicole Pyland

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    She has a fantasy she wants to explore and has the means to do it. Joining a monthly sex club was never part of her big life plan, but the desire to explore that part of herself is too intense, the pull – too strong. The first month she goes, she meets a woman who is every bit her type, but flees. Each month she returns to find the same woman working the event to enjoy one night with her...
    Categorized as:
    lgbtq  slow-burn  wlw  adult  book  contemporary  fiction  steamy
  • Kade & Cameron by A.D. Ellis

    Kade & Cameron by A.D. Ellis

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Cameron Lewis is left reeling when his perfect life—two beautiful children, an adoring husband, and a house on the lake—is ripped apart by loss. Kade Ramsey is living the American dream with a wife, two amazing children, and a comfortable job. But dreams are often only illusions, and Kade discovers his life isn’t all he thought it to be. Kade and Cam have been friends for years...
  • The Wilderness by Rosalind Abel

    The Wilderness by Rosalind Abel

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Will Epstein had it all—playboy good looks, wealth and prestige, and a gorgeous fiancé to costar with him on a reality television show. But that was years ago, before he was abandoned at the altar on national television. In the aftermath, Will’s world crumbled, leaving him humiliated and lost. Andre Rivera married his first love and lived a dream life until tragedy stepped in...
  • Little Harbour by Sophia Soames

    Little Harbour by Sophia Soames

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    This is a story about life and death, because there was never anyone else for Jens. He had been with Sofie almost all his life, from the day they met at school when they were fifteen, until the day she took her final breath against his chest. She was always everything to him. As he was to her. He never doubted that. Not for a minute...
  • Love on Location: A Sapphic Travel Romance Anthology by Margaux Fox, Johana Gavez

    Love on Location: A Sapphic Travel Romance Anthology by Margaux Fox, Johana Gavez

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Seven trips across the globe, and seven loves to last a lifetime. Got your ticket?Airport layovers and far-flung islands, sunny shores and breathtaking mountains—step out of your comfort zone, leave the world you know behind, and join seven of today’s top sapphic romance authors on adventures across the world...
  • Take Shelter With Me by R.M. Neill

    Take Shelter With Me by R.M. Neill

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    One thrives off order.The other lets his heart guide him.Together they are perfectly balanced.JacobAll elements of my life are controlled and measured. My days filled with check lists and colour-coded columns. With an animal and a youth shelter to run and people counting on me, I have no time for distractions.Yet I can't get the man I spent one fiery night with out of my head...
    Categorized as:
    lgbtq  wlw  legal  friends-to-lovers  found-family  family  mlm  sports
  • The Way Things Should Be by Carrie L. Carr

    The Way Things Should Be by Carrie L. Carr

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    In this, the sixth novel in the Lex and Amanda series so many readers have come to love, Amanda begins to feel her own biological clock ticking while her sister prepares for the birth of her first child. Lex is busy with trying to keep her hands on some newly acquired land, as well trying to get along with a new member of her family...
    Categorized as:
    lgbtq  wlw  children  family  romance  contemporary  lesbian-mc  crime
  • Meant To Be: A Prequel Daddy Novella by Sammi Cee

    Meant To Be: A Prequel Daddy Novella by Sammi Cee

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    PJ couldn't be more surprised that he needs a Daddy in the bedroom...Joel and PJ met as pre-teens at Takoda Outreach Center. They’ve shared every secret, first as best friends, then roommates. But now that they’ve graduated from college, adulting presents circumstances and unforeseen problems that they never saw coming...
  • A Daddy In Cameron by Sammi Cee

    A Daddy In Cameron by Sammi Cee

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Indie’s determined to navigate this world alone, but he’s never come up against a determined Daddy before. Normally, everyone likes Cameron. As the General Manager of The Tap Tavern, he’s protective, empathetic, and considerate of his employees and their needs. Especially those who’ve come in through the Takoda Career Center. Indie knows betrayal. He’s lived with the consequences and survived...
  • What Happened After... by Nicole Pyland

    What Happened After... by Nicole Pyland

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Do you ever read a story, fall in love with the characters and wonder what happens to them after the book ends? Epilogues are nice, but they’re a snapshot in time. Maybe it’s a year after the end of the book or even just six months. Maybe there’s a proposal or a wedding. Maybe a character announces she’s pregnant. Maybe a character just got their dream job...
  • To Catch a Fallen Leaf by Fearne Hill

    To Catch a Fallen Leaf by Fearne Hill

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Take one shy French gardener, mix in a naughty aristocrat, add a splash of water, a dash of sunshine, and wait for love to grow.If only it were that easy.Reuben Costaud counts his blessings daily. His run-in with crime is firmly behind him. He has a wonderful job gardening on the Rossingley estate, a tiny cottage all to himself, an orphaned cat named Obélix, and a friendly bunch of workmates...
  • Miracle by R.J. Scott

    Miracle by R.J. Scott

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    An abandoned baby, a poignant note from his long-lost twin, and unexpectedly, Jax’s world is turned upside down.Despite being adopted by a loving family when he was a child, Jax feels part of his life is missing, and driven by dreams of his brother being in danger, Jax is consumed by his search for his biological twin...
  • Drawn in by You by R.M. Neill

    Drawn in by You by R.M. Neill

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    One has endured a life of loneliness.The other is content in his solitude.Can the draw of epic love intertwine their lives?TravisWhen my grandfather died, I was swallowed by the system. Depression set in at a young age as I was bounced from foster home to youth shelter. For twelve years since, I’ve battled with my mental health issues, refusing to reveal to anyone how bad things truly are...
  • Where the Heart Is by Lily Seabrooke

    Where the Heart Is by Lily Seabrooke

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Kissing her childhood friend on a family Christmas vacation is probably a bad idea…The Jackson family is primed to explode over Christmas—with Stella’s parents hiding their divorce proceedings from the family during a two-week vacation to the cozy Christmas town of Bellsford, Stella and her sisters are under strict orders not to cause drama...
  • No More Wasted Time: A Carlsbad Village Lesbian Romance by Sabrina Kane

    No More Wasted Time: A Carlsbad Village Lesbian Romance by Sabrina Kane

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    Battalion Chief Becca Roberts is a hero firefighter in Carlsbad—even more so when she performs a miraculous rescue one night, saving another firefighter from certain death. Unfortunately, Becca is now a celebrity in town and on social media, and she hates every minute of it.Investment advisor Krissy Kincaid is smart, driven and really good at making her wealthy clients—and herself—plenty of money...
  • Touch In Excess by E.M. Lindsey

    Touch In Excess by E.M. Lindsey

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    A man lost, and one found, and together they define the meaning of Excess. Gluttony's story coming soon...
  • Worth the Risk by Carly Marie

    Worth the Risk by Carly Marie

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Two single dads in a small town. Is their connection a recipe for love…or for disaster?Mark Murray is used to chaos. Between his job as an emergency room doctor and being a single father to two boys, he’s the definition of exhausted. Yet he always makes it work. When a new job finds him moving to a small town, he’s faced with a different set of challenges...
Better Than Expected by Haley Cass
Fantastic book recommendations by book lovers for book lovers.
Find out more about thebooknaut.com.

Looking for more inspiration? Enter another book title to get more suggestions on what to read next.

Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.

romance book finder preview 1
romance book finder preview 2
romance book finder preview 3