After you finish a TV show, do you immediately want something that feels like watching the show? From shows set in England to the American west, we have some pairings that channel some of your favorite TV series!
An American Beauty by Shana Abe
and The Gilded Age
Lovers of Julian Fellowes’ The Gilded Age may find the character Sylvia Chamberlin eerily similar to Arabella Huntington, the dynamic and unforgettable heroine of Shana Abé’s scintillatingly scandalous biographical fiction novel, An American Beauty, which takes readers on a journey to see how the richest woman in the country made her fortune and her name. If you love Gilded Age New York this book and show are perfect picks. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the rise and fall of the upper echelons of New York society in the late 19th century.
What Happens in the Ballroom by Sabrina Jefrries
and Sanditon
Fans of period pieces with independent female leads and plenty of fun society parties and drama will fall in love with What Happens in the Ballroom. Eliza Pierce runs a party planning company with a trio of women who have decided to pursue a more glamorous career path than was open to many in Regency England. Readers may see some similarities between Eliza and Charlotte Heywood, the heroine of Sanditon who’s curious mind has led her to be involved in a myriad of pursuits while making her home in the seaside resort town of Sanditon. Charlotte and Eliza also share a reluctance to find love after disappointment in their past, but each may have their resolve tested by a dashing hero.
The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig
and Bridgerton
If your favorite character in Bridgerton is Lady Whistledown look further for a fun frothy Regency romance than The Lady Knows Best. When Daphne Burke convinces an uncertain lady to break off her engagement to Viscount Deveraux, a notorious rake, through her advice column in a controversial ladies’ magazine the rake in question sets his sights on her. He needs a bride by the end of the Season, she needs a temporary escape for the London marriage mart. Each thinks they’re in control of the situation but love plays by no one else’s rules. Anyone who saw Simon and Daphne’s “fake” courtship in season one can tell you that!
A Calder at Heart by Janet Dailey
and 1923
Is there any family more intrinsically tied to Montana and ranching than the Duttons of 1923 fame? If so it might be the Calders. As the Great War ends and Prohibition looms in Montan, a battle-scarred veteran returns to the Calder ranching land to set up his own property. His land abuts his family’s rivals, the Dollarhides, but there is one member of the clan in particular, the empathetic and strong Kristin, who may just be his best chance at healing.
P.S. For anyone who is just as big a fan of Yellowstone, the contemporary western hit show that launched 1923, Janet Dailey’s contemporary western series Calder Saga follows the modern-day ranching adventures of the Calder clan.
The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk
and Carnival Row
Not sure how to choose between a historical English drama or an epic fantasy tale? Don’t. Whether it’s witnessing people of fae and human ancestry traverse the streets of a steampunk London in Carnival Row or reading about a Regency England populated with sorceress’s and magi in The Midnight Bargain, these stories satisfy the desire for historical fiction and fantasy. Beautiful and engaging love stories exist alongside complex political machinations, motivated by the desire for power, over others or oneself, in both of these thrilling tales.
Such a Pretty Girl by T. Greenwood
and Good Girls Revolt
An old and controversial photograph of a child starlet signed by the child’s mother and found in the possession of an outed pedophile and sex trafficker opens up this emotional and evocative novel. Told from the shifting frame of Ryan Flannigan’s modern adult perspective, and her recollections of her childhood in New York City in the summer of 1977 when the photo was taken of her, Such a Pretty Girl tackles issues of memory, abuse, and consent. Ryan not only must reckon with the crimes done to her by these men of the past but with the mother still in her life today, and what that means for her future. Fans of Good Girls Revolt will relate to this tale of female empowerment, the drive for fair treatment and respect, and the question we all must ask, of what we owe to others and to ourselves.
May New Reads