Book picks similar to
Leftover Dreams by Charlotte Vale Allen


fiction
contemporary
shelfari-favorites
women-s-fiction

Live for Me


Emma Thomas - 2021
    Although she's had her ups and downs, life is good now: she lives with her twin brother, Onyx, and another friend in an artsy community in Cincinnati and is pursuing a master's degree in psychology. An avid reader, Ophelia likes everything to be orderly, including her job at a nearby bookstore. But when a good-looking stranger ends up in her apartment-invited to crash on their couch by her brother-her life begins to change forever.Brax Smith arrives to Cincinnati with nothing other than his van, having left Florida to start a new life, escaping the memories of losing his mother to cancer and dealing with his drunk father. A recovering alcoholic himself, Brax meets two guys at a group session in an eclectic area of Cincinnati when he gets to town. He feels grateful to have a place to stay but also comes face-to-face with the sister of one of his new friends, who is less than excited to have an additional roommate. Can he win her over, despite the fact that she has no interest in being his friend?In this novel, the lives of two struggling people collide and take them on a roller-coaster journey of good times and bad, ultimately leading to true love, devotion, and tragedy.

Sundays at Tiffany's


James Patterson - 2008
    Her mother, the powerful head of a Broadway theater company, has no time for her. She does have one friend-a handsome, comforting, funny man named Michael-but only she can see him. Years later, Jane is in her thirties and just as alone as ever. Then she meets Michael again-as handsome, smart and perfect as she remembers him to be. But not even Michael knows the reason they've really been reunited.SUNDAYS AT TIFFANY'S is a love story with an irresistible twist, a novel about the child inside all of us-and the boundary-crossing power of love.

Between Me and You


Allison Winn Scotch - 2018
    They fall in love, they marry, they become parents, and they think only of the future. But as the years go by, Tatum’s stardom rises while Ben’s fades. In a marriage that bears the fallout of ambition and fame, Ben and Tatum are at a crossroads. Now all they can do is think back…A life of passion, joy, tragedy, and loss—once shared—becomes one as shifting and unpredictable as a memory. And as they explore the ways love can bend and break, they recount their individual versions of the story, Ben’s moving backward and Tatum’s moving forward, each wondering what they can do now to make it all right.

The Tin Box


Holly Kennedy - 2003
    She emerged from childhood determined to find happiness. Today, at thirty-two, Kenly has a husband and a son who mean the world to her; the kind of life she always dreamed of having.When her closest childhood friend dies, Kenly is given an old tin box they once shared - a tin box they hid on the roof of a tree house fifteen years earlier. Inside is a secret she has kept for years. To reveal it could end her marriage and shatter her world, but can she continue to shoulder the weight of years of silence?Kenly's is a story filled with heartbreak, tragedy, and hope. In a small town filled with hidden treasures, young Kenly discovers people who change her life. From terminally ill Tommy, who loves her, to old Max, who shows her that a fire pit is sometimes the best medicine, to edgy Lexie, who believes life should be lived, The Tin Box will take Kenly on an unforgettable journey. The decision she finally makes will test the ties that bind people together against a wound that could tear them apart.The Tin Box is an achingly beautiful novel of one woman's desire to save all that she loves while honoring the past that made her into the woman she is.

Fools Rush in


Kristan Higgins - 2006
    Rewarding job as a local doctor on Cape Cod? Check. Cute cottage of her very own? Check. Adorable puppy suitable for walks past attractive locals? Check! All she needs is for golden boy and former crush Joe Carpenter to notice her, and Millie will be set. But perfection isn't as easy as it looks—especially when Sam Nickerson, a local policeman, is so distracting. Sure, he needs a friend after being dumped by Millie's fortune-hunting sister, but does she really need to enjoy his company that much? He is definitely not part of her master plan. But maybe it's time for Millie to start a new list...

The Counsellor


Gillian Jackson - 2012
    Struggling to make sense of her grief, it becomes evident that a complete change and a positive focus is the only thing which will help her to carry on with life. Training as a therapeutic counsellor provides this focus, bringing her into contact with people who desperately need her help. Julie and her children are living in fear of an abusive husband, Janet is crumbling under the weight of a secret she has kept for over forty years, and Karen has never recovered from her mother’s violent death. Maggie is drawn into her client’s problems as she seeks to empower them to move on with their lives. And then she is faced with her own ethical dilemma when she meets Peter...

The Poison Apples


Lily Archer - 2007
    We all know the stories of Cinderella, Snow White, and Rapunzel.  But have you ever heard of Alice Bingley-Beckerman, Reena Paruchuri, or Molly Miller?  Of course you haven’t.  Not yet.  What these girls have in common with their fairy tale sisters is this:  they are the stepdaughters of three very evil stepmothers.  And they’re not happy about it.  They think they are alone in their unhappiness until they arrive at Putnam Mount McKinsey, a posh boarding school located in lovely rural Massachusetts.  Here is where they will plot their revenge.  But first they have to meet. In her first novel, Lily Archer tells a knowing, wickedly funny story about how friendship just may turn out to be more happily-ever-after than family.

The Wishing Thread


Lisa Van Allen - 2013
      The Van Ripper women have been the talk of Tarrytown, New York, for centuries. Some say they’re angels; some say they’re crooks. In their tumbledown “Stitchery,” not far from the stomping grounds of the legendary Headless Horseman, the Van Ripper sisters—Aubrey, Bitty, and Meggie—are said to knit people’s most ardent wishes into beautiful scarves and mittens, granting them health, success, or even a blossoming romance. But for the magic to work, sacrifices must be made—and no one knows that better than the Van Rippers.   When the Stitchery matriarch, Mariah, dies, she leaves the yarn shop to her three nieces. Aubrey, shy and reliable, has dedicated her life to weaving spells for the community, though her sisters have long stayed away. Bitty, pragmatic and persistent, has always been skeptical of magic and wants her children to have a normal, nonmagical life. Meggie, restless and free-spirited, follows her own set of rules. Now, after Mariah’s death forces a reunion, the sisters must reassess the state of their lives even as they decide the fate of the Stitchery. But their relationships with one another—and their beliefs in magic—are put to the test. Will the threads hold?  Includes an exclusive conversation between Sarah Addison Allen and Lisa Van Allen  Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Stay


Allie Larkin - 2010
    Now, six years later, instead of standing across from him at the altar, Van's standing behind her best friend Janie as maid of honor, trying to mask her heartache and guilt as Janie marries the only man Van's ever loved. Before Van's mother died, she told Van never to let Peter go, but as the couple exchanges vows, Van wonders if her fairy tale ending will ever come true. After the wedding, Van drowns her sorrows in Kool-Aid-vodka cocktails and reruns of Rin Tin Tin, and does what any heartbroken woman in her situation would do: She impulsively buys a German Shepherd over the Internet. The pocket-size puppy Van is expecting turns out to be a clumsy, hundred-pound beast who only responds to commands in Slovak, and Van is at the end of her rope... until she realizes that this quirky giant may be the only living being who will always be loyal to her, no matter what. Van affectionately names her dog Joe, and together, they work to mend the pieces of Van's shattered heart. And it certainly doesn't hurt that Joe's vet is a rugged sweetheart with floppy blond hair and a winning smile. But when the newlyweds return from their honeymoon, Van is forced to decide just how much she's willing to sacrifice in order to have everything she ever wanted, proving that sometimes life needs to get more complicated before it can get better.

Love, Love Me Do


Mark Haysom - 2014
    The year the Beatles first top the charts. The year Martin Luther King has a dream. The year Truman Bird moves his family from their home in Brighton to a dilapidated caravan in the Ashdown Forest - then disappears. Truman's a charmer, a chancer. He is, inevitably, a liar. He's always got away with it, too. But now he's gone a dangerous step too far and only has one day to put things right - before he loses everything. For Truman's wife, Christie, life has not turned out the way she'd imagined. How has she, that young girl of not that many years ago, ended up like this? In a caravan. With three children. And an absent husband. In this most unique, wise and addictive of British debuts, we discover that life has a habit of getting in the way of dreams - but that people find their own extraordinary ways of bouncing back.

The Swan House


Elizabeth Musser - 2001
    But a tragedy that touches all of Atlanta sends her reeling in grief. When the family maid challenges her to reach out to the less fortunate as a way to ease her own pain, Mary Swan meets Carl-and everything changes. For although Carl is her opposite in nearly every way, he has something her privileged life could not give her. And when she seeks his help to uncover a mystery, she learns far more than she ever could have imagined.

Souls Set Free


Kimmie Easley - 2012
    Actually, she’s not loving at all. Unable to move on from a tormented childhood of abuse she’s now at risk of losing her own family. Hopeless, she goes to bed every night secretly longing to not wake up the next morning. That all changes the day her mother is murdered while living on the streets. Emma must now face all of the pain she has spent years trying to numb with pills and alcohol when she is forced to travel back to her hometown to identify her mother’s body. If only it were that easy…Will reliving the abuse all over again help Emma forgive her mother or send her spiraling back into a world she fought so hard to survive?

Ramonst


A.F. Knott - 2016
    Within a balance of terror and innocence, he bears silent witness to ghosts of the dead and the cruelties of a teenage killer while local justice plays out in a community carved from legacies of coal mining and religion.

I Liked My Life


Abby Fabiaschi - 2017
    She is the cornerstone of her family, a true matriarch...until she commits suicide, leaving her husband Brady and teenage daughter Eve heartbroken and reeling, wondering what happened. How could the exuberant, exacting woman they loved disappear so abruptly, seemingly without reason, from their lives? How they can possibly continue without her? As they sift through details of her last days, trying to understand the woman they thought they knew, Brady and Eve are forced to come to terms with unsettling truths.Maddy, however, isn’t ready to leave her family forever. Watching from beyond, she tries to find the perfect replacement for herself. Along comes Rory: pretty, caring, and spontaneous, with just the right bit of edge...but who also harbors a tragedy of her own. Will the mystery of Maddy ever come to rest? And can her family make peace with their history and begin to heal?

Why Can't I Be You


Allison Larkin - 2013
    Exploring this universal longing, Allie Larkin follows up the success of her debut novel, Stay, with a moving portrait of friendship and identity. When Jenny Shaw hears someone shout “Jessie!” across a hotel lobby, she impulsively answers. All her life, Jenny has toed the line, but something propels her to seize the opportunity to become Jessie Morgan, a woman to whom she bears an uncanny resemblance. Lonely in her own life, Jenny is embraced by Jessie’s warm circle of friends—and finds unexpected romance. But when she delves into Jessie’s past, Jenny discovers a secret that spurs her to take another leap into the unknown.