Guest post written by How the Story Goes author Andrew Forrester
Andrew Forrester is a writer and former English teacher whose work has appeared in McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and Parents magazine. He holds a PhD in nineteenth-century British literature and lives in Austin, Texas with his family. How The Story Goes is his first novel.
About How the Story Goes: In this heartwarming, bookish debut, a young widower of a famous children’s fantasy author teams up with a down-on-her-luck MFA dropout to write the final book in his late wife’s series…and find their own perfect ending along the way. Out May 5th 2026.
When writing my debut novel, How the Story Goes, I did not set out to craft a romance, and I’m pretty sure that isn’t where it ended up. In fact, in a recent conversation with my editor, we landed on “Book Club Fiction with a Love Story,” which, I agree, just rolls off the tongue. I am so impressed by authors who are able to make the love story the main story, and to do so in a way that is captivating and compelling—but I’m also always equally interested in the other stuff: what are the other big problems the characters are facing, either individually or together? What things share center stage with the will-they-won’t-they aspect of the story?
In that vein, here are ten love stories that may or may not be capital-R romances, but which have a little something extra going on, too. I cannot promise you perfectly happy endings across the board, but if you’re willing to take the risk, you won’t be sorry.
You Are Here by David Nicholls
I love everything Nicholls writes, and I’m not alone. Two of his novels novel, One Day and Us, have been made into popular TV series, which I have not yet watched because I am scared of adaptations. But I want to talk about You Are Here. It is, to me, his most straightforward romance, but goodness, there is also so much more than that. It’s story of copy editor Marnie and geography teacher Michael: two lonely divorcees on a walking trip through northern England. They are very bad at anything resembling a meet-cute or flirtation, and yet they are entirely endearing. I cherish them, and you will, too.
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
I’m cheating a little because Strout’s characters—William and Lucy—are decidedly not falling in love in this book. They’ve been there, done that, and broken up. And yet! It is very much a story about their love and care for one another, about the way tenderness can linger even after romance dies, and about how love for a partner can change shape and still be very beautiful. (Mostly I just wanted to shoehorn an Elizabeth Strout book in here—other options include Lucy by the Sea, Tell Me Everything, and the classic, Olive Kitteridge.)
Flying Solo by Linda Holmes
Okay, this one is the most romancey book in the bunch, and it is so good! Linda Holmes writes about grown-ups staring down grown-up problems, but in this particular story, she weaves in a beautiful exploration of grief and a mystery about a carved wood duck that I found myself caring about much more than would be expected. She is funny, her characters are smart, and her Maine settings are perfect. Start with Evvie Drake Starts Over and, once you’ve been converted, scramble to find a copy of Flying Solo. It’s a delight.
Small Island by Andrea Levy
There is a whole lot more here than romance, but boy, was I rooting for Hortense and poor Gilbert. It’s the story of two Jamaican members of the Windrush Generation and their white English landlords, and much of it revolves around navigating the complex echoes of colonialism and their effects on daily life. If you pick it up hoping for juicy details about two married couples, you’ll be disappointed. But if you want to know more about Jamaica and England in the 1940s or what it was like to be Black in the British Airforce or how intrepid immigrants negotiated the foreign world of post-war London—well, what are you waiting for?
Possession by A.S. Byatt
Might I offer you two love stories in one? The first, historical and mysterious: two Victorian writers who may or may not have been in love; the second, that two contemporary (that is, 1980s) British scholars, trying to uncover the past. It’s chock-full of letters, poems, academic conferences, and descriptions of the British Museum that made me want to pack up and board the Concorde (still in operation in the late ‘80s) to solve a literary mystery myself. Read it with a nice cup of tea.
Landline by Rainbow Rowell
A story of falling back in love with someone thanks to a magic, well, landline. I would not say Rainbow Rowell writes “cozy” fiction, and yet it makes me feel cozy all the same. Her worlds are so lived in and realized, and in this book, Georgie McCool and her husband Neal feel like friends I’ve known for a long time. When Georgie discovers she can call the 22-year-old version of the now-distant Neal through her mother’s landline, she starts to remember why they loved each other in the first place. Oh, and it’s set during Christmastime—what more could you want?
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
This is a love story, and I won’t hear any argument against it. Nadia and Saeed meet as students in a city experiencing strange unrest—which, it turns out, has to do with unexplained (magical?) doors that are opening up all over the world. Walking through these portals takes someone from one point to another, usually across the globe. Together, Nadia and Saeed escape their city and explore Greece, London, and California, falling in love, yes, but also growing into themselves in beautiful, unexpected ways. Told in lyrical, moving prose… it’s just a perfect book.
The Wedding People by Alison Espach
So many people told me to read this, and they were right! Calling this a love story gives the game away a bit, but I think that’s okay. It is, first and foremost, a story of learning to love yourself, but there is romance, there is humor, there are ostentatious displays of wealth and a beautiful seaside inn where I would like to stay. Espach’s voice and humor are so sharp and snappy, and the story itself is a really refreshing take on that thing of “oh, no, they’re getting married, but I think I love them…” Trust the people!
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
A book that boldly asks the question: what if Kate & Leopold (2001), starring Hugh Jackman and national treasure Meg Ryan, were good? The narrator works for a secretive faction of the British government, where she is tasked with looking after Graham Gore, a British naval officer who (in real life) died on an arctic expedition but who, in this story, has been time-traveled to present-day London. While helping Graham understand the modern world, sparks fly… but so do bullets. In fact, it gets very spy thriller towards the end. I loved it, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished it.
Persuasion by Jane Austen
It’s not a list of love stories without the queen herself. I love all of Austen’s books (okay, I am lying, I hate Mansfield Park), but while Pride and Prejudice and Emma are undeniably wonderful, I think Persuasion might be my favorite. Like Linda Holmes’s books, Persuasion is about two adults, and it could be one of the earliest second-chance romances we have. Anne Elliot is 27-years-old when former flame, Captain Wentworth, shows back up in her life. He’s been at sea for years . . . and I am just now realizing that this is my third book to feature a British serviceman. Well. The point here is, two people have to figure out whether they still love each other after spending years growing up on their own. It’s funny, smart, moving, and, by Austen’s standards, very short. Read it!
