Let’s be honest, if you’ve heard of Lisa Kleypas, it’s probably because someone handed you Devil in Winter and told you your life was about to change.
Or maybe you fell headfirst into the Wallflowers series and spent a week emotionally wrecked in the best possible way. Or perhaps you’re deep in the Ravenels right now, completely devoted to every brooding Victorian hero Kleypas has ever conjured. Look, we get it, her historical romances are legendary for a reason. But here’s the thing: if you’ve been sleeping on Lisa Kleypas’s contemporary romances, you’ve made a mistake. Like, put-down-your-current-book-and-start-immediately missing out. So let’s talk about her two contemporary series, because they both deserve a spot on your TBR pile right now.
The Travis Family Series: Texas, Billionaires, and Big Feelings
When Kleypas announced she was writing contemporary romance, fans of her historicals were understandably nervous. Then she delivered by Sugar Daddy in 2007. And OMG this is one of my favorite books ever. (Really)
Sugar Daddy kicks things off with Liberty Jones, a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who winds up raising a younger sister named after a soap character. I mean, Liberty has no adults in her life. She only has Hardy. The coolest boy in her trailer park who finally notices her. But, as true to real life as this story is… Hardy doesn’t come through. Liberty has to let go. And when she does… oh hell man, Gabe. (Don’t worry, Hardy will get his day.)
Probably one of the best things about this series is that it reads almost like women’s fiction with a spectacular love story woven through each novel. Kleypas knows how to bring the heat with a slowly unlaced bodice and how to create yearning with chicken soup. (Don’t ask. Just read.) This series is funny, warm, full of heroes who surprise you and heroines you’ll want to be like. Also, hell, these men.
These novels are also written in first person from the heroines’ perspectives, which is a departure from the typical romance format – and it works beautifully. This is where we see the uncertainly, the longing, and even the growth–finding ourselves in the pages–which makes the emotional payoffs hit that much harder. If you’re looking for an emotional and satisfying contemporary series, look no further!
The Travis Family Series reading order: Sugar Daddy → Blue-Eyed Devil → Smooth Talking Stranger → Brown-Eyed Girl
(Get the whole series on Amazon here) (Find the Travis/Texas series at all other retailers here–with my personal favorite covers listed!)
Did you just read this and agree with everything because you already read and love this series?Â
I can tell you to go read Susan Elizabeth Phillips Chicago Stars series, or Virgin River, but how about I rec some you might not have read yet but are just as good:
Try Elsie Silver’s Chestnut Springs series (available at tons of retailers) – Rosalind James Kincaid series (read free in KU) – Savannah Kade’s Wilder Books (available wide & free in kobo plus)
The Friday Harbor Series: Pacific Northwest Magic (Literally)
If the Travis series is bold and sweeping, the Friday Harbor series is something quieter and more ethereal – and equally worth your time.
This series follows the Nolan brothers: three men shaped by a childhood with alcoholic parents, each finding love (and healing) in the misty, beautiful setting of Friday Harbor.
The first book, Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor (Also retitled Chistmas with Holly), is cozy and lovely, and gives you a taste, the real magic begins with Rainshadow Road and Dream Lake.
This is where the series hits its stride with the real focus: not just contemporary romance but magical realism. (And apparently she’s just amazing at this kind of storytelling, too.) Rainshadow Road is my rec to start the series.
Lucy is a glass artist whose creativity has a magical quality (literally) which is a good thing because she’s been betrayed in the worst possible way. Not just one close person in her life, but two. Together. Behind her back. Whether Lucy’s glass art is healing or hiding is something even she can’t tell us. As much as magic is woven through the book, Sam and Lucy’s story is full of reality, deep and complex. the heroes in this series are emotionally complex. Kleypas doesn’t flinch from the darker aspects of life, and the result is romance that feels earned. This is something Kleypas does so well in her historicals and she’s brought it into the modern century here.
(Get the whole Friday Harbor series on Amazon here) (Find this amazing magical realism romance series at all other retailers here)
The Friday Harbor Series reading order: Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor → Rainshadow Road → Dream Lake → Crystal Cove
Want other reads just as good as this? Full of magical realism?
You may have already read Practical Magic or Outlander, so here are some you may not have read yet:
Try the Stay A Spell series by Juiette Cross (read free in KU) – Second Endings series by Lulu M Sylvian (available at all retailers) – Unholy Island series by Sarah Painter (available wide and free in kobo plus)
We’ve got you covered now, wherever you read, if you have a subscription like Kindle Unlimited or Kobo Plus, it’s all here! All these books blend romance with a taste of women’s fiction, and feature the emotional, deep, complex stories you’re looking for today.
Happy reading