Book picks similar to
First Year by Barbara Schnell


actors
chick-lit
humor
romantic-comedy

Love On Willow Loop


Carina Taylor - 2019
    She's had the same routine for three years, and nothing has ever changed it. Ian is new to the neighborhood and recently adopted a dog from the shelter. A freak accident involving the excitable fluffball throws the two together for better–or worse. NOTE: this is a clean romantic-comedy novelette with lots of laughs, dogs, and one jealous beta fish.

An Unlikely Match


Barbara Dunlop - 2014
    He’s got all the confidence in the world where it comes to applied physics, but he’s never been the guy who gets the girl. Cheerleader Amelia Camden has sworn off boyfriends, focusing instead on her budding acting career. But when her nerdy, next door neighbor passes up his high school reunion, party enthusiast Amelia is determined to change his mind. Wanting his former classmates to appreciate Morgan the way she does, as a brilliant, compassionate, engaging man, she goads him into a haircut, a great suit and a pair of contact lenses. Morgan plays along with the sexy Amelia. Who wouldn’t? But when her flattery turns to flirtation, he knows it’s all part of the act.

Champagne and Lemon Drops


Jean Oram - 2013
    Two men. One meddling small town.Raised by her older sister in the small town of Blueberry Springs, all Beth Wilkinson wants is to create a family so big she’ll never be alone. Things are going great until her fiancé, Oz, rethinks everything from his own career to their nuptial plans—forcing Beth to do the same.As Beth works to rediscover herself in hopes of reattracting Oz, she catches the eye of the charming new city doctor, Nash. Not only does he see her as she’d like to be seen, but he knows exactly what he wants from life—and that includes Beth.Torn between the two men, as well as two versions of herself, Beth discovers that love and dreams are much more complicated than they seem.

The Little Cottage in the Country


Lottie Phillips - 2017
    Goodbye life of thirty-something, crazed single mum of two, hello country glamour queen, domestic goddess and yummy-mummy extraordinaire.But her new life at Primrose Cottage isn’t quite what she expected! Very soon she’s chasing pork pies down hills, disguising her shop-bought cakes at the school bake sale – and trying to resist oh-so-handsome Horatio Spencerville, who just so happens to be the Lord of the Manor… Could moving to the country be the biggest mistake she’s ever made? A delightfully uplifting romantic comedy to get you in the mood for summer! Perfect for fans of Christie Barlow, Holly Martin and Tilly Tennant.

Can't Stop Loving You


Peggy Webb - 1995
    When she walked out of their marriage without an explanation, he swore he’d never play another role with her, in the bedroom or otherwise. But Fate brings them together to reprise their roles in The Taming of the Shrew, and the sparks begin to fly. Laugh – and cry – as the famous and lively lovers try to untangle a web of misunderstanding and find their way back to the place where they belong.

Strictly My Husband


Tracy Bloom - 2016
     Couples who dance together stay together... or do they? Laura loves it when Tom takes her for a late night tango around the kitchen after their friends have gone home and they’re avoiding the washing up. She can’t dance but who cares when no one is watching? All that changes when Tom arrives on the doorstep with Carly, a professional dancer, and announces he’s offered her the spare room to rent while she performs in a show that Tom is directing. An outraged Laura doesn’t feel like dancing with Tom anymore but Carly does. It only takes two to tango, and given Tom’s history who knows where it could end? Will Laura be the one left watching from the sidelines whilst Carly waltzes off with her husband’s heart? Couples who dance together stay together – or do they?

The Devil Has Dimples


Pepper Phillips - 2011
    Not knowing is disheartening.Sara McLaughlin never knew she was adopted and is stunned to realize that if she wants to find out the questions burning in her brain as to the 'why' she was given up at birth, and who her father might be, she has to live in her birth mother's apartment for the next six weeks.Grant St. Romain, attorney, is supposed to be helping, but the hunky dimpled devil is making her mind think of other things.Can she find the truth? Or will she break her heart trying to find out the answers in Boggy Bayou, where many secrets are hidden?

The Ultimate Guide to Darcy Carter


Teresa Slack - 2006
    Regardless, she doubts she can guide herself out of a brown paper bag. When her editor suggests she write The Ultimate Guide to Finding Mr. Right, she wants no part of it. To avoid Mr. Right--since she's pretty sure he doesn't exist--and hopefully figure out where the discontentment with her life is coming from, she heads south to research one last ultimate guidebook. The questions and doubts swirling around in her head follow. If she's no longer America's Ultimate Guide Girl, who is she? Would she recognize Mr. Right if he was standing right in front of her? Where does an Ultimate Guide Girl turn for guidance? Her heavenly father who gives wisdom to all who seek it? Or can she rely on herself, the woman with all the answers? This clean contemporary Christian romance is a feel-good, laugh-out-loud story that reminds us sometimes the things we work so hard for don't bring the fulfillment and happiness we're looking for.

Falling Uphill


Wendy Nelson Tokunaga - 2011
    A bright, but slightly absent-minded anthropology teacher at a small Michigan college, Candace is all set to leave for Los Angeles to conduct research on 1960s TV star Pamela Parrish—America’s Sitcom Sweetheart—for her Master’s thesis on television and female gender roles. But after discovering that Ruth Fenton is a long lost relative, she’s first off to San Francisco for her memorial service where she meets a crazy(?) old lady who claims Pamela Parrish didn’t commit suicide like everybody says—she was murdered. Now Candace has to get to the bottom of it, all while fighting the nagging feeling that her long-time professor boyfriend back home is getting a little too close to one of his students, and at the same time wondering if new-found friend Brandon, a newspaper reporter and budding painter who lives on a hidden stairway street in the hills of San Francisco, is really the guy for her. It’s a funny, but moving, uphill climb for Candace who finds that things are rarely what they seem in the ups and downs of love or in discovering a surprising secret about her not-so-perfect mother, or unearthing the truth behind the death of America’s Sitcom Sweetheart.

Pretty and Pregnant


Madison Johns - 2013
    She wore one form fitting pink ensemble after the next with sky-high heels, much to the chagrin of her boss, the sexy attorney Jeremy Preston. What did he care what she wore? All she knew was that she needed to keep her secret about who the baby’s daddy really is and where he is now. Jeremy couldn’t believe any man would leave a woman as beautiful as Kimberly high and dry just because she was pregnant. He admired Kimberly for her decision to go it alone and keep the baby, versus making a choice that she’d later regret. One of the reasons he couldn’t stop himself from being attracted to her. One fateful day it all changed for her when Clive Baxter offered her the chance to become the new spokes model for his latest perfume line, Pretty and Pregnant. Soon Kimberly had to deal with signing a contract and fighting her attraction to Jeremy. Also by Madison Johns Armed and Outrageous (Agnes Barton mystery book one). Grannies, Guns and Ghosts (Agnes Barton mystery book two). Senior Snoops (Agnes Barton mystery book three). Agnes Barton Senior Sleuth Mysteries Box set (Book 1 - 3). Coffin Tales Season of Death (Includes two YA horror short stories).

The Seven Steps to Closure


Donna Joy Usher - 2012
    Things go from bad to worse when she discovers that, not only is her ex-husband engaged to her cousin - Tash, the woman he left her for - but that Jake is also running for Lord Mayor of Sydney.Desperate to leave the destructive relationship behind and with nothing to lose, she decides- with encouragement from her three best friends - to follow the dubious advice from a magazine article, Closure in Seven Easy Steps.The Seven Steps to Closure follows Tara on her sometimes disastrous- always hilarious - path to achieve the seemingly impossible.

Doesn't Everyone Have A Secret?


Sue Shepherd - 2015
    Steph is a harassed mum who's considering an affair with her children's sexy headmaster. Penny is trying to deal with a crush on her boss, OCD and a sad secret from her childhood. And Mike is a vicar who is being blackmailed for his secret, although it's not all that it seems! Meanwhile, all three are being watched over by their own guardian angels, who try to push them in the right direction and help move their lives along - but not always successfully ... Doesn't Everyone Have a Secret? is genuinely laugh out loud funny, but also deals in a sensitive way with serious problems that any of us could face in life. Sue Shepherd's debut novel is bold, it doesn't pull any punches, and it has bucket loads of heart.

You and Me, Babe


Chuck Barris - 1973
    But unlike his later books (Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Bad Grass Never Dies), You and Me, Babe is the irresistible combination of a truly affecting love story motored by Barris's classic brand of unique humor. Set in 1960s New York City, the novel centers on Tommy, a blue-collar schemer, who sets out to marry Sammy, an opinionated but dysfunctional young heiress with enough smarts to stand up to his shenanigans, though not enough to see his true motives. Her parents, however, see all too clearly, and when Tommy and Sammy announce their intention to marry, the family disinherits their firebrand daughter. Not to worry: Tommy has fallen in love with Sammy in the meantime, and the couple's fortune and fame all on their own becomes the source for this winning, and ultimately moving, New York tale.

Facebook Jeanie


Addison Westlake - 2013
    Every night after her depressing bureaucratic job (so much for saving the world), after coming home to her empty apartment Clara settles down with a pint of ice cream for some good, old-fashioned Facebook stalking. It’s her college boyfriend, The One Who Got Away. He now has a perfect marriage, perfect house, perfect life—everything she could have had if she hadn’t been so, so stupid. But, wait. Jeanie from Facebook shows up at Clara’s job. There’s a new app they’re beta-testing and Clara’s perfect for it. That night she clicks on it and… nothing happens. But the next morning when Clara wakes up at noon, hung over, listening to her roommate blow-drying her hair and singing “Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It”, she realizes she’s back in college. With the chance to do it all over again. Back in the world of frat parties, BFFs, and long-suffering, overlooked lab partners, join Clara as she discovers what it really means to hit the reset button on life. What could possibly go wrong? And, this time, can she get it right?

The Shameful Diary of a Hopeless Romantic


Suzi Case - 2011
    She wants to write a bestselling children's book, lose weight and fall in love before she hits 30. Unfortunately nothing seems to be going according to plan and she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle and signed up for a marathon when she can't even run a mile. What's a girl to do but write about it of course?