That is undoubtedly true in the case of home renovations, where one of the most particular tropes can occasionally result in the best books. This collection includes a variety of soothing options ideal for HGTV aficionados, from motivational memoirs to endearing romances. However, we must caution you that reading about ailing inns and ancient fixer-uppers can make you want to smash your own kitchen with a sledgehammer.
The Homewreckers
Mary Kay Andrews
Hattie Kavanaugh went to work restoring homes for Kavanaugh & Son Restorations at eighteen, married the boss’s son at twenty, and became a widow at twenty-five. Now, she’s passionate about her work, but that’s the only passion in her life. “Never love something that can’t love you back,” is advice her father-in-law gives her, but Hattie doesn’t follow it and falls head-over-heels for a money pit of a house.
She’s determined to make it work, but disaster after disaster occurs, and Hattie’s dream might cost Kavanaugh & Son their livelihood. Hattie needs money, and fast.
Release Date: May 3, 2022
Under the Tuscan Sun
Frances Mayes
More than twenty years ago, Frances Mayes—widely published poet, gourmet cook, and travel writer—introduced readers to a wondrous new world when she bought and restored an abandoned Tuscan villa called Bramasole. Under the Tuscan Sun inspired generations to embark on their own journeys—whether that be flying to a foreign country in search of themselves, savoring one of the book’s dozens of delicious seasonal recipes, or simply being transported by Mayes’s signature evocative, sensory language. Now with a new afterword from Frances Mayes, the twentieth-anniversary edition of Under the Tuscan Sun revisits the book’s most popular characters.
Release Date: September 2, 1997
Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell
Taj McCoy
Savvy Sheldon spends a lot of time tiptoeing around the cracks in her life: her high-stress and low-thanks job, her clueless boyfriend and the falling-apart kitchen she inherited from her beloved grandma—who taught her how to cook and how to love people by feeding them. But when Savvy’s world starts to crash down around her, she knows it’s time for some renovations.
Starting from the outside in, Savvy tackles her crumbling kitchen, her relationship with her body, her work–life balance (or lack thereof) and, last but not least, her love life.
Release Date: March 22, 2022
99 Percent Mine
Sally Thorne
Crush (n.): a strong and often short-lived infatuation, particularly for someone beyond your reach… Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough.
Release Date: January 29, 2019
After Hours on Milagro Street
Angelina M. Lopez
Professor Jeremiah Post, the poor handsome man, is in fact standing in the way of Alejandra “Alex” Torres turning Loretta’s, her grandmother’s bar, into a viable business. The hot brainiac who sleeps in one of the upstairs tenant rooms already has all of her Mexican American family’s admiration; she won’t let him have the bar and building she needs to resurrect her career, too. Alex blowing into town has rocked Jeremiah to his mild-mannered core, but the large, boisterous Torres clan is everything he never had.
Release Date: July 12, 2022
The Shop on Royal Street
Karen White
After a difficult detour on her road to adulthood, Nola Trenholm is looking to begin anew in New Orleans, and what better way to start her future than with her first house? But the historic fixer-upper she buys comes with even more work than she anticipated when the house’s previous occupants don’t seem to be ready to depart. Although she can’t communicate with ghosts like her stepmother can, luckily Nola knows someone in New Orleans who is able to—even if he’s the last person on earth she wants anything to do with ever again.
Release Date: March 29, 2022
Practically Perfect
Katie Fforde
Anna, a newly qualified interior designer, has decided it’s time to put her money and her expertise where her mouth is and risk everything to buy a tiny but adorable cottage in desperate need of renovation.
Outside, the chocolate-box cottage is perfect, but inside, all is chaos. With a ladder for a staircase, no downstairs flooring, candles the only form of lighting, and a sleeping bag and camping mat for a bed, Anna soon wonders if she’s bitten off more than she can chew.
Release Date: April 15, 2008
Swan Point
Sherryl Woods
Determined to build a new life for her family after her divorce, Adelia Hernandez has bought a home in the historic Swan Point neighborhood of Serenity. Promoted to manager of Main Street’s most fashionable boutique, she feels revitalized and ready for a fresh start as a single mom. But barely into this new independent phase, she crosses paths with the sexiest man to hit Serenity in years.
Gabe Franklin, back in town to make amends for past mistakes, has no intention of settling down, but Adelia’s proving irresistible.
Release Date: April 30, 2019
Awaken Me
Farrah Rochon
As the baby of his family, Reid Holmes has happily played the role of the Charming, Irresponsible One. But as his 30th birthday approaches, Reid wonders whether he should be doing more with his life than working as a plumber for Holmes Construction. Now he has the chance to shed his carefree playboy image and go into business for himself, but is leaving his cousin’s construction company a sign of growing up, or the ultimate show of disloyalty? And with the arrival of Holmes Construction’s gorgeous new site coordinator, Reid isn’t sure now is the best time to jump ship.
Release Date: January 24, 2018
Somebody to Love
Kristan Higgins
After her father loses the family fortune in an insider-trading scheme, single mom Parker Welles is faced with some hard decisions. First order of business: go to Gideon’s Cove, Maine, to sell the only thing she now owns—a decrepit house in need of some serious flipping. When her father’s wingman, James Cahill, asks to go with her, she’s not thrilled…even if he is fairly gorgeous and knows his way around a toolbox. Second on Parker’s list: find a nice man to have a no-strings-attached summer fling with…if that’s even possible in a small town. Having to fend for herself financially for the first time in her life, Parker signs on as a florist’s assistant and starts to find out who she really is.
Release Date: February 8, 2021
House Lessons
Erica Bauermeister
In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us.
A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in, this book is designed for anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels for a house. It is also a story of a marriage, of family, and of the kind of roots that settle deep into your heart.
Release Date: March 24, 2020